Day 136: St. Kitts

We were awakened this morning by Captain Stenzel sending an announcement into the passenger cabins, and, in a split second, I remembered where we would be today (St. Kitts), the fact that we almost hadn't been able to dock last time we were there, and that we'd missed St. Kitts in the past due to its narrow entrance channel (in terms of water depth; you'd never know it from what appears above water). I immediately gave up hope that we would be able to dock today, and that part was correct, but Captain Stenzel is made of sterner stuff than that. Apparently, the causative issue was not wind, but a malfunction with the thruster control function. It's interesting; when G had gone down to the Promenade Deck to watch sailaway yesterday from Barbados, he told me that two tugs had been deployed to help us move away from the pier and out of the turning basin in Bridgetown. That's unusual; the ship's six thrusters generally eliminate the need for tugs. We hadn't given it another thought until this morning. 

Captain Stenzel said that, instead of missing the island, the Emerald Princess would be at anchor today and running tender service to Port Zante, just north of where the cruise ship pier is. Our plan today (assuming I wasn't going to have to fly to Michigan, but Mom is slowly improving) was to take the local ferry to the neighboring island of Nevis. This was immediately put in peril; we would likely miss the morning ferry we had been intending to take, and there was not another workable option.  No worries. We've taken the ferry to Nevis on our own in the past, and will again someday, I'm sure. 

We lingered over breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room, avoided the first rush to the tenders, and finally got to St. Kitts about 10:30am. Numbered tender tickets were being distributed in the Explorers Lounge, and passengers were being called to tenders by groups of 80.  A revised tour schedule had been almost immediately compiled and distributed, and those people on tours were being tendered to St. Kitts separately. We had never tendered to St. Kitts before, and our seats on the upper level of a tender boat provided a different view of the island. 

Once at Port Zante, we decided to use some free wifi courtesy of a friend at Del Sol, and then do a bit more souvenir shopping. The kids always wonder why everything we bring them is from St. Kitts, but, frankly, it has some of the best souvenir shopping on these itineraries. G found a not-hideous tropical shirt in two different colors for himself, and purchased both of them. 

Eventually, we made our way back to the ship, and our tender ride featured wonderful 360 degree views of the town of Basseterre, St. Kitts, the volcanic hills in the background, the Emerald Princess and the island of Nevis. 

Basseterre, St. Kitts:

The Emerald Princess with Nevis Peak in the distance:

Once back on the ship, it was a perfect opportunity to do two more loads of laundry. That's getting a bit tiresome, but G brightened my laundry room stay by popping in to promise me that one day, God willing, we'd move out of this apartment and buy a house with our own washer and dryer. What a concept!

On our way to grab two pieces of pizza for lunch, I took a chance and walked through the Horizon Court Buffet. Jackpot;  cioppino was being served. I skipped the pizza and feasted on squid and mussels and scallops and shrimp and...well, those are a few of my favorite things. G decided to tender back to the Port Zante shopping area on the outside chance he could find that tropical shirt in a third color; I opted to read.  He was unsuccessful in finding another shirt, but I had a most enjoyable 90 minutes to myself to sit and read.  Glory hallelujah!

Our lunch had been late enough that we weren't particularly hungry at Dinner with Darko. We both had salads topped with a chicken breast and a glass of wine and called ourselves done. The moon (is it full?) over the southern peninsula of St. Kitts was quite a sight. 

(That's a reflection of a dining room light on the right):

Singer Mark Preston was doing a new show in the Princess Theater tonight, but only twice, at 7:15pm and 8:45pm, and we knew seats at the 7:15pm show would be at a premium. We did find two together, and spent a most enjoyable 30 minutes listening to the Emerald Princess orchestra accompany Mark while he sang songs from the past 50 years. He is one of the top five performers we've seen all winter (and right now I can't name the other four, but do recall another singer and two pianists). 

I am heading out again tonight to watch the movie Philomena on MUTS. G is talking about going to the 10:15pm performance (the only one tonight) of Ye Olde Pub Night. 

And, finally, an update on our technical issue with the thruster control mechanism...

Captain Stenzel announced, just before we left St. Kitts, that the problem had been worked on today, and we would notice that the ship would be doing some tests before we started to cruise north to St. Thomas. Based on the outcome of those tests, we would either dock at Crown Bay tomorrow as planned, or tender into downtown Charlotte Amalie.  He assured us that, whatever the outcome, we would have no difficulty docking in Port Everglades on Wednesday, as Port Everglades has very strong tugs and very competent tugmasters. Well, the tests indicated the thruster control mechanism is not fully operational, and so we will be tendering from the Emerald Princess into Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas tomorrow morning.

Those people who despise Crown Bay might be happier with this turn of events. Or not. ;-)