Day 145: Grenada

Well, we awoke again today with a purpose: to do some serious walking. Unfortunately, we didn't wake up until almost 9am, which, considering we wanted to eat lunch in the dining room at noon, didn't give us a lot of time to squeeze in breakfast and a hike.  So we skipped breakfast, packed just water bottles, and walked off the ship, through the terminal at the Esplanade Mall and turned left. We wanted to figure out Grenada's public "buses" as part of our walk, and the main terminal in the capital city of St. George's, where the cruise ships dock, is just north of the pier. 

We found the people there very helpful about telling us which bus to take to get to a destination (those minivans are the buses), at a cost of about US$1.50 per person. The problem is there was no place we wanted to go. 

We then continued on, walking past the several fruit and vegetable stands that inevitably spring up around every island bus terminal, and the fish market, right next door (just like on Antigua). It was another mouth-breathing opportunity. 

Across the street was an older building with the sign Meat Market on its front, which I found amusing, for its obvious colloquial connotations, but it appeared to not be in use. This isn't a huge surprise; these islands have lots of fish but very little in the way of meat, other than chicken. 

Walking through St. George's like this no longer surprises us. First, we're pretty accustomed to the fact that most of the world doesn't live as we do, and, second, the sidewalks and streets are a bit better than in Dominica, which isn't saying much, but, after nearly five months, we've kind of grown used to them, such as they are. 

Everywhere you look, there are buildings in various states of disrepair, whether due to age or hurricanes or being bombed by the US in 1983 (and not repaired since). 

I love this kind of signage!

Finally, we needed to climb a hill today, and so headed up this street to the church at the top, which provided a whole new experience from several different perspectives. 

Eventually, even with several months of experience, we were starting to feel a bit culture-shocked and headed back to the ship, arriving on board just before 12:30pm. After a good wash up, we went to lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room where I had a delicious chef's salad that I wished I'd tried earlier this winter, because it was served in a homemade tortilla bowl and was really good. 

We finished lunch in time to be out on the Promenade Deck for sailaway at 2pm, which was made even more interesting by the 5-masted Royal Clipper yacht anchored in St. George's Harbour. We'd seen this ship a few cruises ago in Barbados, but it was pretty to see it at anchor and not docked. 

It was so pleasant sitting in the shade on the Promenade Dexk that we stayed there until nearly 3pm, when Grenada was far behind us. 

At 3:30pm, there was an event called Escape Completely in the Princess Patter, and we knew what that was, having seen it on the Royal Princess last fall. The singers and dancers dress as crew and officers and passengers, and do a flash mob in the Piazza. Since we knew what to look for, we had fun spotting the cast members in various uniforms and dressed as passengers. 

All three of these are dancers:

Darling Rodney as Mr. Pizza:

It's very fun to watch, but there were no more than 50 passengers there to see it, and it's sad that so much effort is placed on 4 minutes of entertainment that so few people see. (But that's just me going on again about Piazza entertainment.)

We had time for just a quick rest before getting cleaned up for Dinner with Darko. We kept it get simple tonight, but G warned me that he might want another dinner before the evening was over (and he did!). Entertainment options tonight were comedian Phil Tag in the Princess Theater and mentalist Brent Webb in the Explorers Lounge; we've seen both, and recently, and had the Captains Circle party for this cruise at 7:30pm, and so skipped the entertainment tonight. (Sadly, there were no movies on MUTS tonight, perhaps due to the Ultimate Deck Party being held at the Neptunes Reef pool area next door). 

We did return to the Michelangelo Dining Room and were seated at the table next to our regular one. It was about 8:30pm, but the dining room was nearly empty. Darko and Komang had maybe six guests; it's quite a change from 5pm when they get slammed with 16 (18 if we get there that early). We started talking with the delightful couple at "our" table who "knew all about us" ( it's always a little scary when we're told that!), and, along with Darko, chatted until after 9:30pm. What a pleasant hour!  G had another filet, and I had sorbet and happiness reigned. 

Since it was already so late, we stayed up for our first Ultimate Deck Party of the winter (at least a bit of it), but at 10:30pm, picked up popcorn and fuzzy water on our way back to the cabin.  

Only four more nights of this. Something tells me tears will be shed. I'm so torn; I want to be home so badly, but I want to be here too. It helps greatly that so many crew friends, most notably Darko, are leaving on the 29th, and Komang and Raymond leave by April 8th. It wouldn't be quite the same here for us after that even if we stayed. 

But I think I fear it will never be this good again. 

Day 45: Grenada

Another early arrival in St. George's, Grenada. When the ship docked at 7am, we were still making our way to the IC. You know the drill...decaf, DaVinci Dining Room, oranges, berries, salsa, yada, yada, yada. Once again our plan had been to take a water taxi to Grande Anse Beach, but, good grief it's hard to get psyched for that at 8am. 

Instead, we walked off the ship without a plan beyond getting a free rum sample in the Esplanade Mall at the cruise ship pier, and finding some free wifi. We struck out on both counts. Being a Saturday leading up to Christmas, the locals were naturally doing their shopping, and I guess the store that generally offers the rum samples figured that the locals already knew what Grenadan rum tastes like. As for the wifi, what was free was agonizingly slow and what was fast was $3 (at a kiosk in the mall as you head to the left). Naturally, finding wifi is more of a sport than a necessity for us, so we skipped paying for it today. 

The German cruise ship, Aidavida, was docked next to us today, and, as we have previously done, we saw several features on that ship that we liked:  hammocks on all the balconies and lots (like 100 or more) bikes on board for passenger use in port. What great ideas!

Welcome home...

We walked around the town of St. George's a bit, to the left of the mall instead of our usual turn to the right through the Sendall Tunnel, but the traffic and the heat eventually forced us back on to the ship, just in time for lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room. Frankly, that's one of my favorite parts of the Southern Caribbean itinerary...we may have two short days in two ports (Grenada and Bonaire) but we have two additional dining room lunches. 

Following lunch, I went to party line dance class in preparation for tonight's Ultimate Deck Party which I knew we would never get to (but I still enjoy the line dancing). Afterwards, I changed into a swimsuit and spent an hour on the Terrace Deck and Pool before finishing the afternoon in the spa at the steam room and sauna.

Our Captains Circle party was held tonight at 5:15pm in Club Fusion. We sat with two ladies, Pat and Tru, and when they told us about what they've doing this cruise- zip lining and river tubing and swimming with dolphins- well, it made me feel like I needed to do more than spend an afternoon lounging near a pool. By the way, Tru is 74 and Pat is 84.

:-)

Dinner with Darko, popcorn and fuzzy water later, we've decided it's time to start acting THEIR age, and are heading back out to the Ultimate Deck Party. 

;-)

Day 25: Grenada

When this Southern Caribbean itinerary is done in this direction (which I could mention is my favorite, but, if you read along last year, you already know that), the Emerald Princess arrives in Grenada early, at 7am. Early, Sunday morning. In Grenada. Let's just say that, on our arrival, it wasn't a hive of activity on the pier.  

We had thought about taking a water taxi from near the cruise ship pier to Grande Anse Beach, but, although we were up early and in the DaVinci Dining Room shortly after it opened at 7am, and could see from our table some of our fellow passengers on water taxis leaving for the beach by 8am, it's hard to get excited about a beach that early in the morning. We'll eventually do this itinerary in the opposite direction, and so we're postponing the beach until then. 

However, the weather was perfect:  sunny, not too hot and windy, and so, once breakfast was done, we decided to make it a third walking day in a row, which is easily done on Grenada. We first walked into the mall which serves both cruise passengers and locals, looking for the free wifi which we've usually been able to find there. I should mention that our need to wifi on land has been reduced considerably this year; the Emerald Princess wifi is allowing us to both check our Nest thermostat (which we've never had before this year so we didn't know what to expect) and our security webcams (which we've had but have never been able to see from the ship in the past). These two things provide a measure of comfort that will eliminate the need to have to actively search for wifi on shore. Still, we found it and it was fast and free and shaded and quiet, though definitely not cool. I made a phone call for free using the Vonage app before we continued on our way. 

John, the dreadlocked seller of water taxi tickets in the terminal gave us a big smile when he saw us. This is the Emerald Princess' first visit here this winter, and John said he had been watching for us to come through the terminal. When the locals start expecting us, I guess we are predictable. But it was wonderful to talk with him again. 

We walked through the Sendall Tunnel for the first and surely not the last time this winter, and I took the requisite photo of G walking close to the side as a vehicle passed by.

We then walked along the Carenage, the harbor of St. George's, Grenada. The cruise ships dock at a more recently built pier separated by the tunnel from the Carenage. Occasionally we'll still see a small cruise ship docked in the Carenage, but today all that were there were fishing boats.

We stopped near the statue at the head of the Carenage dedicated to the people of Grenada who assisted when the Italian freighter the Bianca C caught fire and sunk in the harbor.  

Several locals were seated there, some selling spices (Grenada is known as the Spice Island), others not and while G fed brioche to the pigeons, I struck up a conversation with a local named Morris who was born and raised on Grenada. It turned out that Morris was a taxi driver/chef/budding float plane pilot (this career combination being not at all strange on the islands), and he was simply the nicest guy I've ever met in Grenada. I asked for his card in case anyone reading is looking for a reliable and friendly and NON-AGGRESSIVE driver on Grenada- Morris would be your guy. 

Here's his info:  Morris Taxi Service, 1-473-457-5275, altonmorris2010@gmail.com. I recommend him only because if you've been to Grenada before you know how aggressive some of the drivers can be (but not mean...just a bit pushy) and sometimes it's nice to have someone in mind before you arrive. 

Sitting there feeding pigeons and finding out about daily life on Grenada was so relaxing that we never did make our usual climb to Fort George, but instead returned to the ship and immediately went to the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch (it was open today due to the ship's early departure).  It was one of my favorite lunch menus, and I chose gazpacho followed by a stuffed bell pepper which I adore. The nice thing about the Southern Caribbean itinerary is that the dining room is open for lunch on two additional days, Grenada and Bonaire, when we leave and/or arrive early. 

After lunch, G went to a hot tub to enjoy sailaway and then to a rum tasting at 3pm in the Wheelhouse Bar. I chose to touch up my nails and go to party line dancing class (in preparation for tonight's island night party on the pool deck that I won't get to, because football is so much more important, but I like the line dancing anyway) followed by Zumba. I hadn't done any cruise staff activities yet this cruise, because, frankly, I haven't felt like it (I think I'm being a bit solitary after the wild week on the Allure), so it felt good to be slightly more participatory. We had already met cruise staffer Christopher from Australia, and didn't recognize any of the others on board. 

Today's NFL football schedule needs to be mentioned here, although I did not go to watch the first game of the day; these are all being shown on MUTS, and the final (and most important) game is also going to be shown in Club Fusion.

2:00pm:  Jets v. Ravens
5:30pm:  Cowboys v. Giants
9:15pm:  Broncos v. Patriots

So, as you can see, the chances of watching a particular game on the ship is pretty slim, at least until playoff time, but there is plenty of football available to be seen on Sundays, and Monday and Thursday nights. 

The Captains Circle parties for the Platinum and Elite Captains Circle members were tonight; we went to the party held from 5:15pm to 6:00pm.  Captain Nick Nash is a bit of a hoot; we'll see if his jokes change a bit from cruise to cruise. He made a stunning announcement (and gave a shout out to Cruise Critic at the same time) when he said that, in response to all the chatter on Cruise Critic, the new Regal Princess, that is launching next year, will have a central staircase for passengers. Huge news to me...I had previously read the Princess announcement about an aft pool and a promenade deck, but not a mid-ship stairway. Captain Nash was harious, said he never read Cruise Critic but he wife did, and then would call him to ask, "Now what have you done?"  Amanda, the Captains Circle hostess from the US is new to us, but, wow, she knocks it out of the park during her part of the party...perfectly polished and professional but friendly too. 

From the party we went to dinner. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that our table for dinner is in the Michelangelo Dining Room mid-ship on Deck 5. Corn and Immanuel are looking after us quite well, but we didn't dawdle; two courses and coffee and we moved on. We wanted to return to our cabin to change for football, and try to get a chair well ahead of the Broncos-Patriots game.  Another aside:  from where we sit we have a full on view of the table setting for the Chefs Table and there have been two so far this cruise. We try to get out of the way before the fanfare starts, but it certainly brings back wonderful memories of attending the Chefs Table last February with friends Martha and Betsy. 

Other entertainment was light tonight; singer Bobby Wilson did two more shows in the Princess Theater, but except for dance music and a game in the Explorers Lounge, that was it until the island night party at 10pm. Dressed in shorts, we're catching the end of the. Cowboys-Giants game while waiting for the start of the important one. 

;-)

Day 106: Grenada

I had a rough night, but slept until nearly 9:00am this morning, and from then on, G and I were like two ships passing in the night, never connecting until the on board time of 1:30pm. After a quick breakfast in the buffet, I dropped by the Medical Center for another bottle of Robitussin (my new favorite drink? NOT!), and then made a quick run off the ship to purchase two handmade gifts that I had seen on an earlier cruise in one of the extensive terminal shops. Even the thought of free wifi couldn't entice me to go upstairs in the Esplanade Mall to brave what I knew would be hot, stuffy conditions. I can't imagine the temperature in that mall in August!

I spent a bit of time in the sun on the Terrace Deck, just to give Johnathon the time to do the morning clean up of the cabin, had some delicious chicken tortilla soup from the buffet for lunch, and then returned to the dark, quiet calm of our cabin.

Leaving Grenada at 2:00pm is required to get to Bonaire, a favorite island of mine, by noon tomorrow. I really hope I feel better by tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I will. I'm much better tonight.

We took care of haircuts this afternoon, cleaning up a bit for the Captains Circle party tonight. Most travelled passengers for the past four cruises, and again this cruise are Steve and Peggy Kerridan, with nearly 1200 days on Princess, and they've asked us to join them for the party tonight. We really owe our winter lifestyle to Steve and Peggy; when G was still working, we took these 10-night cruises back to back for 20 nights every January, and that's when we met them. They come on for 50 days at a time during the winter, basically using the Emerald Princess as their winter home. Sounded like a fine idea to us!!

We went to dinner early, at 5:30pm, so as to be in Club Fusion at 7:15pm before the party started. Entertainment was provided by favorite band Sol Provider, and two Breeza Marinas later the party was over and G and I stayed for the Emerald Princess orchestra playing big band favorites for 45 minutes. We are truly old souls, and though we didn't dance too much ourselves, we enjoyed seeing all the other couples on the dance floor, especially a couple who have stayed on from last cruise. At 84 and 82 years old, they are on the dance floor for hours every night. We've had lunch with them; they walk 3 miles every day at home to keep up their endurance for their dance marathons.

I want to be them when I grow up!

At nearly 10:00pm, we're in our cabin, fuzzy waters on the night stand, watching a 35-year old Love Boat re-run. We're a long way from being them!

Photo 1: Steve and Peggy, most traveled passengers this cruise

Photo 2: Deputy cruise director Frenchie, kicking off the
party (she has the BEST shoes!)

Grenada- Part 2

Photo 1: the steps that China built (the nicest steps in all of Grenada)

Photo 2: St. George's from Fort George

Photo 3: the Emerald Princess was the only ship in port today

Photo 5: Carlos Oscar performs in the Explorers Lounge

Day 76: Grenada

After last night's Ravens-Patriots game (New England, we feel your pain. Brady was off his game last night as much as Peyton was a week ago), we were slow to stir today. It was nearly 9am by the time we'd showered and arrived in the dining room for breakfast, but waiter Stephen and junior waiter Lem know what we want before we even order. We were out of the dining room by 9:30am, quickly, but it certainly wasn't an early start to the day. Blame it on the football.

I have to say that I really am so much happier doing this Southern Caribbean itinerary in this order. As you've heard me say (too many times, I'm sure), Grenada is not our favorite island, and so I'd rather arrive here early and leave early too, at 1:30pm, than to do the same on Bonaire. As it is, we will arrive in Bonaire about noon tomorrow, and leave at 6:30pm, giving us a full 6 hours to do things on the island. Arriving in Grenada today at 7:00am and not actually leaving the ship until almost 10:00am is no big loss (in my opinion), whereas it would be a big loss on Bonaire. On our last visit to Grenada, just before Christmas, we'd had a fun beach day on Grande Anse Beach, and so we planned to make today a walking day, and three hours was plenty of time for that.

We walked through the Esplanade Mall in the terminal in search of wifi and found it on the second floor. I was able to place a call to Mom, and then we checked on things at home. The wifi was pretty fast, and it was free and shaded but it was definitely not cool or quiet, and it was with some sense of relief that we stepped back into the sun outside and started our walk. Since the temperature outside was 88F degrees and humid, you know how HOT it was on the second floor of that mall.

We first walked through the Sendall Tunnel, that very narrow, very old tunnel that connects the two sides of St. George's harbor by tunneling through the volcanic stone that Fort George is built on. On the other side, we first stopped to admire the offices of the Grenada Treasury Department (honestly, the government buildings are the nicest things on Grenada) and then walked the entire perimeter of Grenada's Inner Harbour, called the Carenage.

There were several large fishing vessels tied up in the Carenage, as well as a multi-masted sailing vessel that, we were told, serves as a training vessel for Grenada's 16 and 17 year olds, to learn about sailing and the names of all the ropes. I guess when you live on an island, those sorts of things are pretty important.

We stopped in a small plaza area halfway around the Carenage to enjoy beverages we'd brought from the ship, and G struck up a "conversation" (there was a lot of gesturing going on) with an older Frenchman who was busy feeding the pigeons. This was the Grenada equivalent of feeding the iguanas at Crown Bay on St. Thomas, and the man shared some of his feed with G so he, too, could feed the pigeons (and provide me with a photo op).

After we reached the end of the Carenage, we backtracked to BB's Crab Shack and began to climb the hill up to Fort George. It's a very short but good climb, and the views of Roseau and the Emerald Princess from the top are worth it.

We went back to the ship via the older stairs that lead down to the Esplanade Mall and had lunch in the buffet, watching the sailaway from our table.

At 2:30pm, I went to the party line dance for tonight's tropical deck party. These are the dances for the 11-minute party song mix that follows the Emerald Princess singers and dancers and the cruise staff's flash mob to kick off the party. After this many cruises, I'm finally feeling pretty comfortable with the dance steps. The class is taught by cruise staffer Leesh and today cruise friend Vickie also attended and we got a bit of a workout while having fun.

By then I was more than ready for the pool, so I took my new iPhone in its old Lifeproof case and listened to a book while I enjoyed the Terrace Pool. Oh, and I not only made sure the charging port cover was closed, I dressed the phone in its orange life jacket so that there would be no chance that it would open on its own.

Hey, I'm teachable. ;-)

The Captains Circle parties for this cruise were held tonight, and we went to the 5:15pm party (more Breeza Marinas!). This was also the first time we've met the new Captains Circle host Tracy, who just came on board in St. Thomas as former host Catherine left to begin training for her new position on another ship. We miss her, but her promotion is well deserved.

We spent a few minutes on the Promenade Deck to watch another beautiful sunset before heading to dinner. I predict we're really going to miss Jim and Marcia from the table next to us. We may be at tables for two, but we talk all throughout dinner every night.

Our entertainment choice for the evening ("choice" because, for the third time this cruise we had two options) was to see comedian Carlos Oscar perform in the Explorers Lounge. There was also a vocalist from the Lettermen in the Princess Theater. Both entertainers are also performing different shows tomorrow night. Now, this is an abundance of riches. Last January when the entertainment formatting on the Emerald Princess was changed, we went from two different shows every night to one. Period. When we came back on board in November, things were pretty much the same. But apparently the feedback, loud and negative, has been heard. Starting with the holiday cruises, we've seen steady improvement...that's why I've been highlighting the nights when we have two different shows to choose from.

Just call us thrilled that things are looking up.

Anyway, back to Carlos Oscar. He won the Princess Entertainer of the Year for 2012 (beating out the Beatle Maniacs...go figure). We had seen him in August on the Island Princess. Most of his show is based on travel and marriage humor, which have been done to death on cruise ships, but his style is so funny that he can say the same thing you've heard 100 times before and it's still funny.

Afterwards, we returned to our cabin for a bit of a rest before tonight's Tropical Deck Party at 10:15pm, but I can see the likelihood that we'll actually make it slipping away. Let me put it another way: I've washed my face. I've taken my contacts out. I'm eating popcorn and drinking fuzzy water. That sounds like bedtime to me.

Well, there's always next cruise...

Photo 1: Sendall Tunnel, St. George's, Grenada

Photo 2: training vessel for Grenadian teens

Photo 3: G doing his part for the local pigeons

Photo 4: climbing the hill to Fort George

Photo 5: St. George's from Fort George

More Grenada photos

Photo 1: water taxi pier, Grand Anse Beach

Photo 2: a nice place to spend the afternoon!

Photo 3: seen on the boat ride back to the ship

Photos 4 and 5: sunset from the back of the Emerald Princess

Grenada (continued)

Photo 1: Grand Anse Beach

Photo 2: the Emerald Princess from Grand Anse Beach

Photo 3: fishing boats on Grand Anse Beach

Photo 4: catch of the day

Photo 5: the fish processing plant, Grenada-style

Day 46: Grenada

Grenada is not our favorite island. I'm certain I've mentioned that before. ;-). The closest beach to where the cruise ships dock, in St. George's, which is called Grand Anse Beach, is certainly not the prettiest nor the cleanest nor the least crowded beach we visit on these itineraries. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy a perfectly perfect day in Grenada, and today was proof of that.

This was our first time stopping in Grenada in 20 days. This fact scares the bejeebers out of me, because, honestly, it seems as if we were just there last week. Again I say, time is flying by much, much too quickly, and I'm so glad I'll have this blog to remind me of all we did and saw (and ate) during our winter at sea.

Our late arrival into Grenada today afforded us the opportunity to do some typical "sea day" type things but also a holiday related activity in the morning.

First, there was an activity billed as the Emerald Princess Showcase at Sea in the Piazza beginning at 10am. I happened on it almost by chance...it had been listed in the Patter but, sadly, I didn't take notice. But when I was in the Piazza just as it kicked off, it drew me in. First, two of the singers performed Christmas songs, and then four of the dancers did a routine (their Mambo routine). Then, for the duration of the event, party band Sole Provider was playing and they are good, good, good. And Cruise Director Lee announced that the different ship departments would have tables set up throughout the Piazza and would be holding raffles for different products and services. Now, this sort of mass of humanity is not normally my thing (it's right up G's alley, but he was in a hot tub), but I must have been feeling a holiday high, because I found myself going from table to table, picking up raffle tickets for the spa, three different shops, the Internet Cafe (40 free minutes!!), the photo gallery, etc. I then purchased my once-every-four-cruises iced white chocolate blended coffee from the International Cafe, which is bad for me from every perspective (but I did get a decaf!) and settled in a chair on Deck 5 in the Piazza listening to Sole Provider and awaiting the raffle.

Did I win anything? Of course not. Need you have asked? Now, G...he would have won something, but, again, he was still in that hot tub, so I was carrying the burden of hope alone.

But backing up, before that, this morning after breakfast, I sat down and wrote out another set of Christmas cards, this time for people on the ship to whom we want to send holiday cheer. We debated sending them to our Thai waiter friends -they are Buddhist- but then noted the cards also said Happy New Year, and decided it was the right thing to do. After all, we celebrated with them the occurance of their king's birthday on December 5th.

So, anyway, I was in the Piazza at the Passenger Services Desk "mailing" the cards when the Showcase at Sea kicked off, which is how I happened to become aware of it.

We actually arrived earlier than scheduled into Grenada, which was remarkable as the Emerald Princess had been bucking a headwind since we started heading north after leaving Bonaire yesterday. In fact, it made for some spectacular sprays of water over the bow, which is the other thing we did this morning: stood on the Promenade Deck and ooh-ed and aah-ed over the plumes of water sent up almost as high as Deck 7 on the front of the ship (it's kind of the maritime equivalent of watching fireworks). Oh, and I have forgotten to mention too that we saw dolphins this morning as we were watching the sprays. Actually, we first saw flying fish, and then we saw the reason they were flying out of the water...the dolphins were hot on their trail for a meal.

So, moving ahead again, to when the ship actually arrived in St. George's, Grenada...

We walked off the ship with the intention of finding some free wifi in the Esplanade Mall, right where the cruise ship docks. I had had no luck with this during our last visit, on a Sunday, and today it looked like we would be similarly out of luck but then we climbed the stairs to the second floor of the mall and found it...shaded, fast and free wifi. No, it wasn't cool, and it certainly wasn't quiet, what with the ubiquitous reggae music blaring and all the Christmas shoppers around, but it was certainly good enough, and I was able to get a Vonage call out to Mom to hear just how bad she sounded, which is pretty darn bad. I hope you feel better soon, Mom!!

After catching up on things at home and texting a friend a bit, we returned to the ship in time for lunch in the dining room (again, although it was a port day, the dining room was open because we arrived late in the day). It happened to be our favorite lunch menu- fried mozzarella sticks for G and that spaghetti aglio, olio and pepperacino for me. It was there that we firmed up our plan for the day: to take the water taxi to Grand Anse Beach.

It's hard for us to believe, but we didn't do this a single time last winter, and I really don't know why not, because, despite its bad rap, it really is a wonderful way to spend a short day in port.

We pared down our typical beach packing list so that everything fit in my backpack, and made the 5 minute walk from the cruise ship to the water taxi pier. It's about a 15 minute boat ride to Grand Anse Beach, and the water taxi docks at a pier there. We walked onto the beach expecting to walk down to one end and lay out our tarp, but G must have felt like livin' large today, because we rented two chairs and an umbrella right by the pier and settled in to people watch and boat watch and wave watch.

Eventually, a light rain moved in, but it quickly cleared, and then a heavier rain followed, and lots of people were boarding the water taxis to return to the cruise ship, but we stayed dry and happy under our large umbrella and so waited it out. Sure enough, the sun came out again, and we had another wonderful hour or so on the beach. Finally, we saw only one other set of Princess's blue and white striped beach towels on the entire beach, and when those passengers boarded a water taxi about 5:00pm, we thought we should do the same. We had a beautiful boat ride back to the ship, and, once on board, bypassed our cabin to walk right out to the Terrace Deck to watch sunset off the back of the ship.

We didn't get to the dining room until 6:20pm, but since the all on board time was 6:30pm, everyone was running late. We ate a quick (very quick) dinner and were in the Princess Theater for the 7:15pm show, comedian Darrell Joyce. We should have taken our time. :-(

Then it was back to the dining room for coffee and dessert before we headed to Club Fusion for the second Beatle Maniacs show of the cruise. All the best Beatles songs that they didn't perform last night, they did tonight, and it was a great show. I'm so sorry we won't see them again until the January 6th cruise!!

Finally, it was after 10pm and blogging time, to be followed immediately by bedtime.

Photo 1: party band Sole Provider performs in the Piazza

Photo 2: that yummy white chocolate blended mocha

Photo 3: Fort George on a hill above the port. We walked up to this several times last winter.

Photo 4: G and John, the water taxi guy in the terminal. That's his real hair (John. G too.)!

Photo 5: the Carenage, St. George's Grenada

Evening- Grenada

For the first time, I truly have nothing to say about today. But I'll try to make something from nothing...

When the ship was cleared by the local authorities in Grenada, we went ashore to use the (historically) free, fairly fast wifi in the terminal. Much to our chagrin, it did not exist. Whether this was simply because it was a Sunday, or this represents a change from past years, I'm not certain. I sincerely hope it's the former; on our upcoming Noordam cruise, where we'll have no free Internet on the ship, I was counting on wifi in Grenada to catch up. We'll see...our Noordam stop in Grenada will not be on a Sunday, so perhaps we'll have better luck.

We were in no mood today to do our usual Grenada walk around the Carenage and up to Fort George. (I'm fighting to keep this cold out of my lungs. Interesting that it was exactly this cruise last winter when I also got sick, but then stayed well the rest of the winter). Nor did we particularly want to take the water taxi ($4 or $5pp each way) to Grand Anse Beach, another go to activity for us on Grenada. There was another ship, the Aida Luna, already in port when we arrived. We suspected that those passengers, coupled with the locals out on the weekend, would make the beach a very busy place (and this was later confirmed by several people we spoke with who HAD gone there). So, in the end,we returned to the ship. We skipped lunch,but did later have tea in the buffet, and I spent the afternoon watching FOUR episodes of Downton Abbey on my laptop. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. Oh my, that show IS addictive!!

So, in the end, it was a very unexciting, but very fun day.

We skipped Skywalkers tonight, but did make it to dinner in the dining room, and then skipped any entertainment in favor of sitting on the Terrace Deck and watching our sailaway after dark.

I'm hoping I feel a bit better tomorrow, when we're in Dominica, but, like Grenada, that is another port where we typically do some walking and hill climbing. If I'm not up to that, it may be another Downton Abbey island for us.

And that holds some major appeal also.

Photo 1: a musical greeting

Photo 3: sunset from our dining room table

Photo 4: sailaway from Grenada after dark...beautiful!