; Lisa Walls We wanted to beat the rush so we aimed to be on the 1st tender out to the island. Mission accomplished! We were in the first group to arrive; it was so unbelievably beautiful and tranquil. We decided to settle in the first beach as you get on to the island and since we were so early, were able to get an umbrella type thing; I have no idea what they are called. It keeps you in the shade. Before you knew it, the beach was filled with people and became a bit crowded, so we picked up our stuff and went to a more secluded beach just walking distance away. We wanted to relax and enjoy the sun the first day so we didn’t book any excursions. But we did rent some floating mats for $10.00/each. After relaxing on the beach, we walked around the market and were approached by some locals trying to get me to buy their merchandise. It’s so funny sometimes to hear the way they approach you “Miss, miss, I need to show you something.” If you want to shop, keep in mind to NEVER buy at selling price. You can always talk them down to AT LEAST half of what they are asking. Being that it was my honeymoon and my first time in the Caribbean, I got the braids done! They were asking for $60-65, but we got it for $50.00. I kept them in for 3 days and they did a really great job. What I didn’t do and regret not doing is putting some sunscreen on my scalp the remainder of the time that I had the braids in. That Caribbean sun is HOT and I ended up peeling pretty bad once I came home and looked like I had dandruff, yuck. After the braids (took a little over an hour) we headed to the complimentary lunch provided by Royal Caribbean. They had a good selection of good food, there were also some locals putting on a show. We did a little more shopping then headed back to the ship about 2 pm.