Day 97: St. Kitts

We didn't arrive in St. Kitts today until (our scheduled time of) 10am. We slept in a bit; the operation of the ship is so quiet when it's simply progressing forward. We made it to breakfast in the dining room just before it closed at 9:30am, and enjoyed being served by waiter Adrian from Romania again. He is possibly the most outgoing waiter we've met and has a photographic memory. After serving us breakfast just one time a couple of months ago, he still remembered that G liked four juices, and knew that they were orange, grapefruit, pineapple and V8. We were thrilled for him that he has been pressed into service as sommelier for the wine tastings this cruise, and hope a permanent promotion is imminent. He deserves it.

We will miss these people who have made all the difference between making this feel like a cruise and making it feel like home.

So it was a pleasant start to the day, and while we ate, the ship docked in Basseterre, St. Kitts. It was a beautifully sunny day- another perfect beach day- but one of us (I won't name names) got a LOT of sun yesterday during our fun day in Barbados, and HE didn't seemed inclined to have another beach day so soon. That was fine with me...after 97 days, it was time to turn some serious attention to buying gifts for the kids in our life, and St. Kitts is the perfect place to do that. The stores are all clean and well run, and located right where the ship docks in Port Zante. I thought I'd run off the ship and do some power buying, and then we'd be free to go somewhere if so inclined afterwards.

I had been picking up friendship bracelets for the kids throughout our trip, but my favorite place to get them from is in St. Kitts. In fact, last year's purchases survived an entire summer in swim league and at water parks, so I was certain of the quality. I chose four more of them, and then turned my attention to T-shirts. I sure hope we have room for them in our suitcases going home. Yes, we've used a lot of toiletries, but I fear we've replaced that weight with paperwork and mail from home.

G caught up with me (those 2-way radios again), and, as we shopped, we saw simple wedding bands for a good price. I had lost a wide gold cigar band ring on (coincidentally) St. Kitts on our last visit here, while playing in the ocean. I needed an inexpensive replacement and G needed a ring that fit. We walked back on the ship with matching bands that should serve us well, at least until arthritis takes over. :-o

After a leisurely lunch in the buffet, neither of us seemed inclined to rush off the ship to do more sightseeing. G gave me a much needed hair trim, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool (it was too hot for the hot tub in the bright sun) and listening to my latest book (my 14th of the cruise). It's now after 5pm, and time to prepare to eat again. It's obvious we'll skip Skywalkers tonight, and our dinner will be a light one.

It's also obvious that we're not kids anymore. Yesterday's generous amount of rum, sun, wind and waves simply wiped us out.