Day 56: Barbados

I have no beach outing to report about today. In fact, I don't even have photos taken while on one of G's forced marches. We did start out to take quite a long walk along the waterfront, and carefully planned our route on Google Maps this morning over breakfast in the dining room. But the weather was iffy all day; at times it was warm and sunny, but throughout the day it rained on and off. And always, always, it was very windy. In fact, these same winds made for a very disturbed sleep last night, as the ship shuddered and shook all night long. We were awakened at least 30 times overnight, which made this morning another one of those where I woke up after 8am and felt like I hadn't yet slept.

Between the dragging morale of his troops and the questionable weather, G re-thought today's march and we instead walked only as far as the terminal.

The sailing yacht Sea Cloud was docked right next to our ship, and we spent considerable time watching supplies being hand carried up its gangway, trash offloaded and repairs made to its considerable rigging.The yacht holds just 64 passengers and has a fascinating history, which can be read at:
http://www.sailingshipadventures.com/index.cfm?event=GetVesselDetails&VesselID=99

Just as interesting is the fact that a 10 night cruise on this ship, beginning today in Barbados, started at just under $6000 per person and went up from there. Yikes!!

The ship at full sail must be an awesome sight, but I can't imagine how rocky a sailing ship with no stabilizers must be. I would never sleep! I do envy that the ship is small enough to get into ports like Bequia and Iles-des-Saintes, that I would love to visit. But I don't see a cruise on the Sea Cloud in my immediate future.

After using free wifi available in the port terminal, we walked back to the ship, dodging raindrops. We ended up spending a couple of hours in the buffet talking with the ship's DJ Rockit. He is from Flint, Michigan, and so we had quite a bit to talk about in that regard, but even more because he is considered a guest entertainer on the ship, like the comedians, hypnotists, magicians and some musicians on the ship, and, as such, is closer to a passenger in status than crew. He is on board for 5 months, and works every night in the disco in Skywalkers. It was interesting to hear about some of the behind the scenes aspects of shipboard entertainment.

By that time rain stopped for a bit, so G headed to a hot tub and I lay out on the terrace deck. After a short time, we dressed for dinner and went up to Skywalkers to watch the two other cruise ships in port, the Celebrity Summit and the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas, both of which we've cruises on, sailaway at 5pm, 2 hours before we sailed. By the time we went to dinner at 6pm, it was once again pouring outside. We'll have to see what tomorrow's weather will bring.

After dinner: Beatle Maniacs second show. Then, for me, early to bed (10pm). G is still out listening to live music on the ship.

Thankfully, despite the rain, the ship seems calmer tonight. I predict a good night's sleep and sunny skies tomorrow in St. Lucia.