Arrival in Bridgetown, Barbados was early, at 7am, and the thrusters were doing their thing at 6:28am. Still, we managed to fall back asleep for a bit longer. It was almost 9am before we finished breakfast, and our subsequent stroll on the Promenade Deck showed us it was a beautifully sunny day, but still so windy. In fact, that large Bermuda flag was never even flown from the back of the ship today...it probably would have torn itself apart.
Despite the sun, we weren't in a beach mood today, which was fairly shocking. Part of it was that there were three cruise ships in Barbados today: the Emerald Princess, the Celebrity Summit and the P&O Oceana. We knew the beaches would be busy. But mostly it was because G wanted to do some laundry and I wanted to use a steam room and by the time we were done with both those things, it was almost time for lunch. With a 3:30pm on board time, the day was getting away from us.
Instead we set out to walk, and first walked over to the Mount Gay Rum factory and the beach that's right across from it. We didn't take the $10 rum factory tour today, but have in the past and may return this winter. We also stopped by the bus terminal for northbound buses and got some information on taking a bus to Harrison's Cave. We've never toured the cave, but are considering it for a future trip. The bus is US $1 each way; the entrance fee is $30 per person. It could make a fun and easy day.
Once back in the port terminal, I purchased two prints of chattel houses done by local artist Neville Crawford. He's the artist who made those bookmarks I gifted to friends a couple of years ago, with Barbados sand footprints on the back. I love his work and I love the chattel houses of Barbados, so the prints were perfect. Afterwards, we walked down to the end of the breakwater where the Celebrity Summit was docked and I took several photos along the way to show you how large the port of Barbados is.
The Celebrity Summit on the breakwater (aka the bad dock)
The angled part of the breakwater is where the Crosieres de. France Horizon was short enough to dock during our last visit on December 24th
The P&O Oceana and the Emerald Princess
The Emerald Princess and the Celebrity Summit from the end of the breakwater
We could tell that the P&O Oceana had previously been a Princess Sun Class ship (the funnel surround was that telltale Princess arch), and so looked it up online. It was previously the Ocean Princess.
The Emerald Princess had the first berth (aka the good dock) today, and this is why it's called that; look how close it was to the cruise terminal.
We reboarded the ship at exactly 3:30pm, and went immediately to the hot tub on the back of Deck 17 for sailaway, but didn't stay long. There are so many Platinum and Elite passengers on this cruise that three Captains Circle parties were held tonight. We were going to the first one, at 5pm, and so got ready for the evening early. We sat with friends Bob and Janet and Ross and Claudette and were pleased to be recognized, along with another couple, for our 50th Princess cruise. Afterwards, we were gifted a bottle of Korbel from a couple who had won it in the drawing but doesn't drink. We're going to take it to Skywalkers tomorrow to share with friends. There has been no shortage of champagne this cruise!
I really appreciated Dinner with Darko tonight after two days away, and too many meals of pizza and ice cream. I had the seafood skewer and sautéed spinach and a glass of wine and was a happy camper. Even better: pianist Ryan Ahern is back on board. We had seen him in November (I think) on the Emerald Princess, and loved his show. I didn't mention, because we didn't go, that singer Mark Preston is on board and did a show last night, and will preform again tomorrow night. Also back: the ventriloquist act with dummy Mathilda. It seems like the entertainment is repeating just every couple of months, which is so much better for back to back cruisers than two winters ago, when we saw Rollin Jay Moore every. single. cruise.
We followed up Ryan's show with popcorn and fuzzy water. I hadn't yet typed a single word of this post, and needed to get started. We have a big day tomorrow, and want to try to sleep well despite the bounciness on the back of the ship tonight.
Christmas has been over for almost three weeks. Someone forgot to tell the winds. ;-)