Day 81: Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands (BVI)

It's hard to imagine a better New Year's Eve day (and night) than we enjoyed today. It was spectacular, start to finish (well, it hasn't actually finished yet, but I have no doubt that all the festivities on the ship at midnight will be fantastic too). In fact, I don't ever recall a better New Year's Eve on any cruise ship (and we've done a few over the years). 

We awoke to blinding sun coming into our cabin. Our weather luck this cruise continued!  We went up to breakfast in the Panorama Buffet, and, sitting on the Panorama Terrace we could see several islands of the USVI and BVI and at least 50 sailboats. The Virgin Islands are a sailing Mecca. On a hunch, we took our iPhones off Airplane Mode to see if we could get an AT&T signal from the island of St. John, which we could see in the distance. It didn't come up automatically, but by doing a carrier search, we were able to choose it. We sat there texting and emailing Happy New Year greetings to friends at home and I was even able to phone Mom. That was a surprise!

Eventually, though, it was time to move on. We were anxious to get to a beach called The Baths for which Virgin Gorda is famous. We had been to Virgin Gorda once before, on a Speedy (that's the company name) ferry from the island of Tortola, another BVI, which had been a port on a past cruise. But to be able to tender directly from the Pacific Princess to Virgin Gorda was much easier and quicker. In no time at all we were climbing aboard a safari taxi ($4 per person each way) for the 15-minute or so ride to The Baths, on the island's far southeastern corner. It's a very small island, about 7 sq. miles, so travel distances are short though roads are narrow and winding. 

Once at The Baths, we paid the $3 per person entrance fee and walked down the rocky trail to the beach (about 5-10 minutes down and 5 minutes up). Although we'd been there before, The Baths never fail to amaze. There are huge boulders, some the sizes of cars and others as big as houses that have tumbled down into the sea. The beach itself has beautiful soft sand, and an easy entry into the ocean. We settled in under the shade of a tree (no chair or umbrella rentals here), and passenger Tony, whom I had met early in the cruise but not seen since, came by with his wife Jenny so we could meet. Tony and Jenny are from Ottawa and have been following my blog on our recent Pacific Princess travel. 

 

 

 

 

Tony and Jenny were on their way to do the walk through the boulders to the beach on the other side. This involves walking through hip deep ocean water in places and crawling on hands and knees in others as the trail navigates between the jumbled boulders on the edge of the water and there is no way to do it carrying backpacks and bags and towels. We did this walk when we visited the The Baths before but I don't recall how we handled carrying our gear. G was anxious to go too, and so I watched our things and Tony's and Jenny's while I settled in, listening to an audiobook.  It was great to see all the crew members and officers with some time off to enjoy the beach. Occasionally I'd enter the water just to cool off, but didn't want to be too far from our gear. 

Eventually G returned and I wasted no time in diving into the water myself, and swam all around the huge boulders which was a bit tricky at times. It involved constantly looking ahead to plan a path through the rocks and sometimes I'd enter a space between two house-sized rocks and battle the waves to work my way out the other side, and occasionally I'd discover that my path was closed off and I had to fight against the waves to swim back out. It reminded me a lot of all the tree climbing I did as a kid, figuring a way to climb up with an eye toward climbing back down. I swam for over an hour and remember thinking that this was exactly what I had wanted not to do this afternoon. I knew I'd need a good nap to allow me to stay up until midnight and instead I was swimming hard. But it was so darn much fun that I didn't want to stop. 

I came out of the water about 3pm to give myself a chance to dry off a little before packing up. We walked back up the hill to the taxi area; we didn't see any other Princess passengers but there was a young couple returning to the same area as our tender boats to catch a Speedy ferry back to Tortola where they were staying. Once again, $4 per person paid for a shared ride back to the harbor. We wasted no time getting in a tender boat and walked back on the ship just after 4pm. It had been an incredibly fun yet inexpensive day ($22 total). 

Tonight, being New Year's Eve, was a formal night so we raced through showers and dressing and were on the port side of the Promenade Deck, watching as we cruised past one tiny BVI island after another, most of which are uninhabited. Finally, the Pacific Princess changed course to the northwest and we left the Virgin Islands behind us. We went to the Club Restaurant for dinner and it was an incredible feast. I had lobster bisque, salad, pink champagne sorbet as an intermezzo and lobster three ways, which is an entree from the specialty restaurant Sabatinis, so weren't we lucky to have it on tonight's menu?  G had a filet mignon (the same as those served in the specialty steakhouse) and we had a bottle of champagne with dinner. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and was starved by dinner but in no time at all was stuffed. Still, I made room for dessert, a warm chocolate pudding cake served with vanilla ice cream. It was decadent accompanied by the champagne. Best New Year's Eve dinner ever!

Our tables had been set with New Year's Eve cardboard top hats for the men and headbands for the women and horns and the Club Restaurant was decorated with balloons and ribbons and there was a display in the Club Bar and it was all very special. We left the Club Restaurant and walked through the Casino Lounge en route to the Cabaret Lounge and both of these were similarly decorated with balloons and ribbons. Tonight's production show was What the World Needs Now, which is really the vocalists' show because the dancers don't do much, and then went directly to the Casino Lounge to listen to Jere Ring, who was in rare form tonight (and that's saying something!). I recorded him performing his version of Hallelujah that I mentioned a day or two ago and will eventually post it here if I get his permission. He went into detail about how he conspired to meet Liberace in the early 1980s and Lee was so impressed by him that he opened for Liberace for several months, which really kick started his career. He's a wonderful guy and deserves all the good fortune he's had in show business.

We are currently napping in our cabin for an hour or so before going up on the pool Deck 9 for the main New Year's Eve party. It is starting with a DJ right now  but beginning in earnest about 10:45pm. There is a second party going on in the Pacific Lounge and Jere Ring will continue to play in the Casino Lounge until the ball drops. We'll probably hit all three parties and end up at the big one on Deck 9 at midnight. But first...I must sleep a little to survive all the fun. 

Wishing all of you and your families a wonderfully happy and healthy and safe 2017. It's time for a quick nap...talk to you again next year! ;-)

Day 80: Antigua

Aaahhhh, what a perfect day this was.  First, we were in Antigua today, one of my favorite ports. Second, the weather was postcard-perfect, sunny, dry and about 81F. Then, of course, we spent the day on one of our favorite beaches. And finally we had a great evening with the Italian menu (soooo good after skipping lunch today) and with singer Mark Preston back to perform in the Cabaret Lounge. Oh, and Jere Ring doing Name That Tune trivia in the Pacific Lounge. It's hard to top a day like that. 

I should just leave it at that, and end this post now, but I (shockingly) still have a little energy left tonight, and so will go into a little more detail. 

We enjoyed a quick breakfast in the Panorama Buffet today (sitting on the Terrace, as it was so nice out) and walked off the ship fairly early, just after 8:30am. We hooked up with a rogue taxi driver almost right away, who offered to drive us to Fort James Beach for $4 per person. We took him up on his offer, but G reserved the right to instead go to Runaway Beach if Fort James looked too rough. Well, Fort James Beach near Miller by the Sea wasn't too rough but there was a large party setting up to take place there. Instead, we asked to be driven down closer to the fort, where G remembered seeing a beach bar with chairs and umbrellas the last time we were on Antigua. 

The bar/restaurant Beach Limerz was the ideal spot to spend the day. We shared an entire section of beach with just two other couples and a retired Catholic priest. It was quiet, it was secluded and the beach there was spectacular, with a pebble-free gently sloping entry. The color of the water in Antigua is the same all around the island, a nearly opaque turquoise blue green color. The sand is like powdered sugar and the waves are rough enough that the water doesn't have the same visibility as beaches on Barbados or St. John, simply because that light sand is so stirred up. 

 

 

 

I had forgotten until I was tumbled by a large wave that Antigua is the island where, last year, we returned from our beach day with Suzan and Greg and I peeled off my swimsuit in our cabin...and dumped a bushel of sand on the floor. I had had to leave Awesome Ambrish a note of apology for the sandbox he had to vacuum up that night. That didn't stop me from spending a large part of the day playing in the waves, but I did make an attempt to de-sand before I came out of the water the final time. 

We sat under an umbrella in the shade of a tree, in two loungers ($20 for everything) and that, in combination with copious amounts of sunscreen had us well protected from the sun. When I wasn't swimming, I was listening to an audiobook, and the day passed quickly. By 3pm we were getting pretty hungry and walked back down to the road to Miller by the Sea, where there are always waiting taxis. A driver tried to charge us $6 per person to share a cab with another couple but I would have none of that. In the end, we paid just $12 for all of us. 

We were back in our cabin by shortly after 3:30pm, hungry, tired and very sandy. I learned from last year's mistake and peeled off my swimsuit while standing in the shower, which certainly limited the mess but, darn, that Antigua sand is sticky stuff!  When we spent our entire season in the Caribbean, I always packed baby powder to help in sand removal, but we don't have such luxuries this year. Instead I used an especially long shower to achieve the same result. About 4:45pm, Captain D made an announcement that a late ship's excursion not yet returned, and because of having to wait for it, we had missed our sailaway position. Instead the Celebrity Equinox got our spot, and we were sitting in the Club Restaurant for dinner when the Pacific Princess finally sailed. Fortunately, our table is next to a window on the most scenic side, and it stayed light late enough to see us out of the harbor. 

Tonight was the Italian night menu, the best one after a lunch-less beach day. I had minestrone, spinach salad and spaghetti and meatballs and the meatballs were superb. Accompanied by merlot and followed by lemoncello sorbet for dessert, it was a spectacular meal. The Pacific Princess showband started playing in the Cabaret Lounge at 7:15pm, and so we went to the lounge early and listened to them while awaiting the start of Mark Preston's 7:45pm show. He was great (as usual) and received a standing O (as usual), and told us after the show that he'll be doing a second' different show in two night's time. I especially like that one; he sings Lady which is a favorite of ours. We next went up to the Pacific Lounge to listen to Jere Ring's Name That Tune trivia. We didn't actually play, but enjoyed testing ourselves and his music and sense of humor. 

At 10pm we are back in the cabin to get some much needed sleep before another beach tomorrow and then New Year's Eve celebrations on the ship. Just one more day, and we can sleep in on our final two sea days back to Fort Lauderdale. Something tells me we'll have no trouble at all doing that. 

Day 79: Martinique

I have not much nothing to report for today, not one darn thing, and somehow it was a wonderful day. We had said all along that this port was the only uninspiring one we'd visit on this cruise, but we figured a down day in the midst of so many beach days might be a welcome thing. We were right. We've been on Martinique four times in the past that we specifically recall, and possibly more. We've done the ship's snorkeling and bat cave excursion (it's quite good) and took the ferry ride across the harbor to Les Trois Îslets (we were not impressed) and walked around town on our prior visits. Without a decent nearby beach, and with locals who are more French than Parisians are, it is not an easy or particularly hospitable port stop. 

G was up and off the ship for a short jog before I even left the cabin. I met up with Jere and Johnny on the Panorama Terrace and we were soon joined by G. The day was already very hot and sunny, and none of us felt a great urge to rush off the ship. Still, G and I eventually did walk down the long pier (the Crystal Serenity was on the other side of the pier) and used the free WiFi in the Tourist Information tent at the end. We next walked through several shops in the port city of Fort de France looking for a local newspaper in English that Greg (of Suzan and...) had asked us to get him when we had met up in Fort Lauderdale. We found the paper, called Le France Antille, but it was not available in English. To my request, I was advised to use Google Translate to translate it into English. Um...thanks.  

We continued to walk all along the waterfront, intending to visit the imposing Fort James overlooking the harbor. However, when we got there we discovered it was closed. We walked back to the ship, picking up our pace a little because it was nearly noon and it was HOT, even along the waterfront! And it had been even worse in the narrow city streets where there wasn't the strong breeze we were feeling along the water. It felt heavenly to be met with a blast of AC when we walked up the gangway, and, once in our cabin, G even turned down our thermostat as low as it would go. It had been set pretty much right at the midpoint since we boarded in October, except for a few really chilly days in Europe. 

We went to the Panorama Buffet for lunch and didn't even sit outside on the Terrace to eat. The AC felt too good. And that was it for our day off ship; we never did leave it again. Instead, I actually napped a little this afternoon, and read, and generally recharged myself for the two more beach days that lie ahead. We went to the PES Lounge for sailaway and then to dinner in the Club Restaurant, where escargot was not on the menu but was served anyway (no 's'). I hadn't had it yet this season and was running out of time so I indulged. 

The entertainment tonight is again ventriloquist Kieran Powell, apparently recovered from the awful seasickness he (and most of us) experienced that awful night before the Pacific Princess arrived in Bermuda on the crossing. G went to the 6:45pm show but I opted out, wanting to start this post. Our plan is to listen to Jere Ring play at 8:30pm and then go to the 50s and 60s party in the Pacific Lounge beginning at 9:15pm. A slow day today has left us with energy to party like it's not a school night, and, at this point in our season, that's an amazing thing. 

Day 78: Barbados

Our beautifully sunny weather continued all day today, and our favorite island of Barbados has never looked better. We had known for a couple of weeks that the Pacific Princess would be docked on the breakwater today, but didn't know until this morning that we were docked at the furthermost berth. Barbados hosted SEVEN cruise ships today, two larger ships (Grandeur OTS and the Carnival Fascination) on the main pier, three smaller ships (Oceania Riviera, HAL Prinsendam and the Pacific Princess) on the breakwater, an even smaller cruise ship squeezed in crosswise close to the terminal and a Pullmantur ship where I had never before seen a cruise ship, docked kind of perpendicular to the main pier and its far end. 

Luckily, the Pacific Princess arrived and was cleared shortly after 7am. After a quick breakfast in the Panorama Buffet, we walked off the ship prepared for an easy beach day. We walked out of the port and down to Lobster Alive on Carlisle Bay Beach and were seated in front row loungers by 8:30am. Go us!  It was already warm with very low humidity and sun shaping up to be a perfect beach day. I was in that beautiful crystalline water in about 7 seconds and it was just spectacular, with 100% visibility as far out as I swam. 

 

 

 

We had heard about management changes at Lobster Alive from Suzan and Greg, who were there earlier this month, and, sadly, they are not happy ones. The previous bartenders have left, including Cheryl, who took with her that unmatchable rum punch recipe that I have loved for years. Terry, who rents the chairs, is still there and it was nice to see at least one familiar face. The deal there is still the same: $15 for two chairs and and umbrella (not all of them are large ones any longer) and three half-priced drink coupons. About 11am I went up to the bar for a rum punch and discovered they no longer give change in US $. I handed over US $5 and a half priced coupon and got back some local currency that I was told would be more than enough for a second rum punch. Well...one was enough, thanks very much. They taste nothing like the old ones. I was crushed. 

 

Lobster Alive has been painted blue, and they no longer have the large green umbrellas

But other than that, the day was perfect. Well, almost perfect. I had to wrestle with my miracle swimsuit again, topped by a rash guard, when I needed to use the bathroom. Good grief that is not a pretty picture. Wet rash guard, wet swimsuit, wet me. It's a week's worth of strenuous exercise in ten minutes. I have considerably wised up though, and ordered only two piece swim shorts and tops from Lands End to take to Hawaii. I'm getting too old to pull on miracle suits. 

I purchased a beautiful abalone pendant from Sonny, the same beach vendor I bought my turtle earrings from during our visit last January.  He's such a nice guy, and remembered me and what I had bought and that it had been my birthday that day. We do love Barbados and the wonderful Bajan people! Around 1pm, I took the local currency and our two remaining half-priced coupons and went up to the bar to get two local Banks beers. Good grief...I waited in line about 15 minutes. I am not impressed with the new management. In fact, for years the Lobster Alive website linked to a blog post of mine where I had said good things. They had never asked permission but I really liked the place and didn't mind. I haven't check it recently but if it still does, I am going to ask them to remove the link. Things are no longer as they once were. We'll still go there, simply because it's a quieter location on a busy beach, but will only buy beers. 

Around 3:30pm we caught a taxi ($4 per person) back to the port. G took our heavy gear and returned to the ship but I spent some time wandering the souvenir stalls looking for t-shirts for the twins. I really wanted to get them on Tobago but there was nothing that suited, and I even had a hard time finding something in the right sizes and colors today, but finally did. I didn't want to buy any on Martinique and they've had plenty from Antigua and St. Kitts over the years. It was time for a change. There was a jumble of shuttles outside the terminal building running passengers back to all the cruise ships. Even if I had wanted to walk down the breakwater to the Pacific Princess, it wasn't especially safe to do so today, if only from the shuttle bus traffic. 

G was already in the shower when I returned and I did the same and joined him in the PES Lounge for a beautiful sailaway. We went to dinner at exactly 5:30pm and ate lightly (I had beef fajitas tonight, for some reason). At 7pm, we had a cocktail party for this cruise's MTP event. I was so happy to see that they had not squeezed a lunch into one of our sea days this cruise. As a passenger, I think it is much easier having an evening event than a mid-day one. Of course, many people prefer the luncheons. It was just a bit tight on our Mediterranean cruises when we had only two sea days every 12-night cruise to spend one of them cleaned up by lunch for the rest of the day. We had wonderful lobster, crab, scallop, shrimp and beef tartar hors doerves and several sweet treats to choose from. 

G was nearly asleep over dinner, so as soon as the party had ended, we skipped all entertainment (tonight's was production show Cinematastic) and returned to the cabin.  He's been asleep since before I finished my nighttime ablutions. Five beach days in five ports are catching up with us, but tomorrow in Martinique will be considerably less exciting. With no beach nearby, we will likely just spend some time walking around the port town of Fort de France and have an early return to the ship.  

Day 77: Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

For once, Captain D's forecast was slightly off. We had smooth seas last night and almost totally sunny skies today in Tobago. And we made the most of our first visit to to the island. 

We were up early. Once again, our starboard side cabin was against the pier, and if the sounds of the thrusters hadn't awakened us, and sound of the gangway being set up almost directly beneath our cabin would have. No matter; we were anxious to get an early start today. G actually went for a short run (he is training for a race in Honolulu...kind of), and checked out taxi prices while he was off the ship. When he returned, we had a quick breakfast on the Panorama Terrace and made plans with Johnny and Jere to go to the island's closest beach. At 9:30am we met up on the pier and hired a taxi to take us the approximately 25 minute drive to Pigeon Point Beach ($40 per taxi, round trip). 

I had no idea that Tobago was as large as it is, roughly 160 sq. miles (26 miles by 6 miles). The town of Scarborough, where the Pacific Princess docked, is a sizable one, but the entire island has only 54000 residents (called Tobaganians...really). We were impressed by the quality of the roads that we took to get to the beach, and our driver, Sugar, told us that, though their economy is totally dependent on tourism, they get a lot of funding from oil-rich Trinidad. It shows. But Tobago was more like Curaçao in feeling and not a bit like Bequia yesterday. Bequia is an extremely small, sleepy island. Tobago is bustling, though not nearly as much as Trinidad does. 

We paid $3.50 each to pay for a day's admission to Pigeon Point Heritage Park. The landscaping was beautiful but the beach was really incredible.  Located on the southwestern tip of the island, there really is a point, and on the north side of that point is the Atlantic Ocean and rough surf and high winds and the beach there is not safe for swimming but is perfect for windsurfing and kite surfing and sailing. G and I went there first, and watched all the water sports for about 20 minutes but the wind was so strong that my contacts couldn't take anymore than that. Walking just around the point, the beach was calm, and protected by a surrounding reef. The sand was white and powdery (and stuck to everything) and the water was just like in Antigua, that beautiful blue-green color but more opaque than translucent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rented one chair for $5 and G sat in it but I spent much of my time in that gorgeous water, swimming the entire length of the beach two times. Tha day was sunny and the water was warm (the island is just north of South America). That was G's joke du jour:  "We don't have a lot of latitude about wearing sunscreen in Tobago". Haha. I did walk down to the two shops that were open on the beach to look for t-shirts for the boys (their sisters are taken care of) but they had nothing appropriate. Today was the official Boxing Day holiday in Trinidad and Tobago (yesterday was the official Christmas holiday) and most of the shops were closed. Oh well, there's always Barbados. I know I'll find something there. 

We asked our taxi driver Sugar to return for us at 2pm but he actually stayed and waited the entire time we were at the beach. Tobago is a 'pay on the return' island and I think he was afraid of missing out on the fare. We arrived back at the port about 2:30pm and used the free WiFi in the terminal for a few minutes. It was nice to be back on the ship a little early today. Today was a formal night, as  superfluous a thing as exists. Formal night on a beach port night. Sigh. Still, we were dressed formally and in the PES Lounge by 5pm to watch our sailaway from Scarborough. It was funny...I overheard someone across the lounge talking about this blog (I heard my name and that caught my attention). I couldn't see who it was but they were talking about Urinary Euros. It's funny how those silly sorts of things are the ones that have staying power.  Last year two readers were quoting to me my words about the BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win) and Vonage (For free! Get the app!!). Harious. 

The sun had not yet set when we went to the Club Restaurant for dinner, and we had a beautiful view of the nearly the entire Tobago coastline before it got dark. I ate lightly; I was attending tonight's Stammtisch, with different wines paired with different foods than when I did this earlier this year. Our officer hosts were Bar Manager Andre, Hotel General Manager Leonardo and Food and Beverage Director Andrea and there were 12 passengers and we all got along like gangbusters and it was a very fun event. When it was over, I went to the Cabaret Lounge to catch the tail end of Duncan Tuck's guitar performance and then to the Casino Lounge to listen to Jere for a few minutes. 

We've had quite the discussion about Leonard Cohen's song Hallalujah. A passenger had requested it early in the cruise, and Jere could play the melody (he plays everything by ear) but didn't know the lyrics. I Googled the lyrics and did a screen capture of them and Air Dropped them to his iPhone (and that's a whole other story). Jere was appalled by the lyrics (and that's saying something). So last night at sailaway, I played the YouTube video of Father Ray Kelly singing Hallelujah with different lyrics. Well, Jere and Johnny immediately sat down in their cabin and wrote new lyrics in 20 minutes, beautiful ones about cruising and love. He sang them for us tonight and I was amazed again by their talent. I stayed in the Casino Lounge long enough to hear them, but had to leave shortly afterward. It was after 9pm and I hadn't yet typed one word of this post. And I was tired!

Captain D promised us, although our weather last night and today was far better than forecasted, that we are now sailing north against the trade winds in the open Atlantic Ocean en route to Barbados and it would be rough overnight. This time he was exactly right. We are rocking and rolling and we were happy to call it an evening and get to bed early. 

Day 76: Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

There was much excitement today as we were visiting another (for us) virgin island. Bequia is the northernmost area of islands called the Grenadines and lies just 9 miles south of the capital, Kingstown, St. Vincent, which is the main island of the small country. St. Vincent and the Grenadines achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1979 but remains a member of the British Commonwealth. We had been to St. Vincent a few times in the past (and had taken one of our most memorable independent excursions there, climbing the Falls of Baleine and visiting the set of the recently released original Pirates of the Caribbean, which was filmed there), but that was the only island in the country that we've visited. Mustique is another Grenadine island, and it is famous for being a favorite vacation destination of Princess Margaret. 

Bequia is only 5 miles long and 7 square miles in total, with a small population (4,300) to match. We were up early and watching from the Panorama Terrace as the Pacific Princess entered Admiralty Bay, the harbor for the island's tiny town of Port Elizabeth. The island is green and very hilly but is not really large enough to have tall mountains. But Admiralty Bay was gorgeous, sleepy and quiet and surrounded by steep green hills on all sides. The morning was sunny with very frequent, brief tropical showers, making for a parade of full rainbows and partial double rainbows, bright and dropping right into the water. 

The showers were frequent enough to delay my wanting to go ashore but G was antsy to, and took the first tender over to check out the taxi situation. Our plan for the day involved only going to a beach...there was not much else to do on the island, especially on Boxing Day. The ship offered only two tours:  a sail and snorkel and an island tour. A beach day would be perfect for us. 

G texted me shortly, telling me what to bring and I boarded the next tender. He had already arranged a taxi to take two couples to Lower Bay Beach for $3 per person. It was about a 15 minute ride to the beach, up and down some of the steepest and worst roads I've ever seen.  They were made even more exciting by the two foot deep open storm sewers that ran down one side of the road. I commented to G that it must be a tough thing, teaching a four year old how to ride a bike when he was either pedaling straight up or coasting straight down, or falling into a storm sewer on one side or off a cliff on the other. 

Lower Bay Beach was a perfect place to spend the day. In fact, it was located on Admiralty Bay with a view of the Pacific Princess at anchor. We settled in two loungers ($5 each) under palm trees at Keegan's Beachside Restaurant and Bar. It was still early, just after 9am, and if I tell you we stayed there until after 3pm, you know how much we loved it. I wasted no time getting in the water and it was a little rough, making it quite a workout to swim the length of the beach and back. I collapsed on a lounger and listened to an audiobook while G tried to get their WiFi to work (it was non-existent on the beach). 

 

 

 

By noon I was starving, and we knew not to wait too long for lunch or we'd have no appetite for dinner (we still didn't...read on). We split a burger with fries and a side of breadfruit fries in Thai sweet chili sauce. I haven't had those since we were at the Intercontinental Tahiti almost exactly two years ago. Eaten surfside and accompanied by the local beer (Hairoun) and the sound of waves crashing and a live steel drum performance in the background, it was a memorable meal. 

 

We took turns then, G walking the length of the beach and back and me swimming it (I remembered while I was swimming Mom's old rule about waiting an hour after eating to get in the water. Ha! How about 15 minutes? I sometimes eat ice cream for breakfast too, Mom, and it hasn't killed me yet! ;-)). I was weary as we boarded a taxi back to the tender pier about 3:15pm. We still had time to spare (last tender was at 4:30pm) and so we walked into a tiny grocery store where G bought another beer and a bag of Lays potato chips and I got a Bitter Lemon (a local soft drink) and we sat under a tree watching all the comings and goings around the Admiralty Bay pier. There were well over 40 sailboats moored in the bay and the water was busy with their tiny zodiac raft tenders crossing between boat and land. 

Finally, we caught the second last tender about 4:20pm. By the time we had showered and I had washed out and hung up my swimwear, I was not only very hungry but also too tired to go to dinner in the Club Restaurant. Instead we were on the Panorama Terrace for sailaway, and it was beautiful. The rain had held off all afternoon until about 4:30pm but by 5pm it was again dry and we could see St. Vincent in the distance and the lights of Bequia and some of the other Grenadine islands off our port side. We had our open bottle of Chardonnay retrieved from the Club Restaurant and finished it accompanied by wine and cheese from the Panorama Buffet, and called it dinner. It wasn't our healthiest food day but it was a fun food day. 

I am simply too tired after all the swimming to attend the 7:45pm show of vocalist Bobby Brooks Wilson, son of Jackie Wilson. He is good- we've seen him several times in the past- but he is not in the cards for me tonight. I am back in the cabin and will be asleep soon after I publish this post. Captain D said the weather tomorrow in Tobago is not very promising (well...shoot) and advised that we may have some bounciness tonight and tomorrow night, but, again, it's Caribbean rough, not North Atlantic crossing in December rough, and there is no comparison. 

Day 75: Christmas Day at sea

Captain D told us, in his noon announcement, that overnight the wind gusts rose to 40 knots and though the Pacific Princess' planned route to our next port of Bequia in the Grenadines was on the outside (eastern side) of the Lesser Antilles, during the night he had turned the ship around and we are now traveling down the Caribbean side of the Lesser Antilles. We hadn't noticed a thing and slept through any bounciness we might have encountered. As I've said before, it's all relative. 

G was up and out early today, and had his main breakfast in the Panorama Buffet, but I was slower to get moving. Finally, around 8:45am he returned to the cabin and then joined me at breakfast in the Club Restaurant. I splurged and had banana walnut pancakes, because I knew that lunch was a sure thing and there would be plentiful opportunities for more nutritious meals today. Eggnog was served in the Panorama Buffet but not in the Club Restaurant but our waiter ran up and got me a small cup of it. Nothing says Christmas like a little egg nog. Except stollen. :-)

G and I went only as far as the sunny side of the Promenade Dexk where we sat in loungers and watched the sun dance on the swells and saw hundreds of flying fish. It was still windy, but not as much as we saw on those first two days out of Fort Lauderdale, so we were covered with salt spray but not as much or as quickly. G fell asleep and I plugged in ear buds and listened to an audiobook (Winter Solstice, which I could recite by heart) and quickly fell asleep myself. We awoke in just enough time to go to an activity of interest we had seen in the Princess Patter:  Christmas cookie decorating. 

Have I mentioned how much we love cruising on the Pacific Princess at Christmas?  I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?  On the larger ships, these sorts of activities are pretty much limited to families with kids, which is fine and right, but with only five kids on the Pacific Princess (and at least two of them too young to participate), all of these things truly are open to everyone. We went up to Sabatinis where we found stacks of huge sugar cookies (about 7" in diameter) with a hanging hole and a loop of ribbon at the top. Three members of the cruise staff were there to help us fill decorating bags with different colors of frosting and there were all sorts of decorations to be applied:  candied cherries, Froot Loops, marshmallows and rainbow sprinkles. 

I took two cookies, one for each of us, and basically decorated both of them because G was too busy getting email addresses to send photos and videos from last night's caroling to the cruise staff's families. Several fellow passengers remarked how wonderful it was on this ship to have this laid backed atmosphere and ability to truly participate in all these sorts of things. We could have decorated gingerbread houses three days ago but I couldn't find anyone to do it with, though Johnny said later that he'd have joined me. So maybe next year... Not wanting to take our cookies back to our cabin, G and I took them to lunch in the Club Restaurant. I had a chicken Caesar salad and he had four cheese pasta and we both had a few bites of our cookies for dessert. And left them there. That sort of thing gets kind of gamey in the cabin after a day or so. 

 

 

 

G finished in time to go to Goofy Golf in the Atrium where he tied for first place and won a nifty Princess neck wallet filled with candy that we'll give to a 10 year old on board named Charlie who tells the best jokes. I went to the cabin and caught the movie White Christmas on the cabin TV from the beginning, but fell asleep (again!) and missed part of it. No worries; it looped over and over again the rest of the day so I eventually saw the middle and just now watched the very end. It's not like I haven't seen it before!

We stopped by the PES Lounge for a few shrimp, and then went to dinner at exactly 5:30pm. I took photos of the Christmas menus but we went with the traditional: salad and turkey dinner for me and fruit and a Virginia ham for G. The waiters all sang two Christmas carols in a language not their native one, and it was very sweet and much appreciated. We skipped all the wonderful desserts; we were full by then and, frankly, have had each of them at least once in the past. 

 

 

  

 

The big entertainment tonight was a much anticipated Christmas Variety show. The Pacific Princess showband started it off with some Christmas tunes, and then vocalists Simon Breen and Deana Julian from the production show casts each sang two songs and comedian/juggler Thien Fu did a funny bit and guitarist Duncan Tuck played some wonderful Christmas folk songs and finally the dancers came out in those darling Christmas costumers we've seen before (looking very Rockettes do Dickens) and danced and it was all just perfect and fun. We went right into the Casino Lounge to listen to Jere Ring for an hour but then called it a day. I said yesterday that we have have five upcoming port days in a row, but I was wrong. It's six. And only one of them (Martinique) is not as exciting to us as all the others, so we may use that day to slow down a bit. 

 

 

The Pacific Princess dancers (and cruise staff)

Officially today we must now say that we are going home next week, and although there are many wonderful things about that (I received a new photo of the boys and their older sisters today that made me a tad homesick), this will not be a happy disembarkation. They may have to pry my fingers off the ship's hull when it's time to leave. We've had the BEST time!

Happy Holiday wishes!

 

 

Day 74: St. Kitts

Today was the bestest best day of our season at sea, for so many reasons. But it is already 10:30pm as I start this post, so I will have to be succinct, lest I fall asleep and get hit in the nose by my iPad. 

For our first time ever, the Pacific Princess was docked at the freight port on St. Kitts, about 15 minutes east of the cruise ship pier and all the shopping at Port Zante. We were thrilled by this, as we were able to walk right off the ship and get a taxi a shorter distance to a beach. For those passengers interested in shopping, a free shuttle ran back and forth to Port Zante all day long. After a quick breakfast on the Panorama Terrace, during which a brief shower passed over (and we saw a beautiful rainbow), we gathered up our minimal beach gear and walked off the ship. The rain had already stopped and the rest of the day was mostly sunny with no additional showers. 

We soon discovered the one drawback of being on the Pacific Princess at the freight port...nearly every disembarking passenger wanted to shop instead of go to the beach (go figure). We waited a few minutes for two more passengers to join us in a taxi; the price was $16 for 1 to 4 people and G is just frugal enough to not want to pay $16 for two of us. Finally, two crew members showed up wanting to go to the beach and, in the end, we still paid the $16 as a gift to them, but that way G was fine with it. At least we weren't wasting money. ;-)

We wanted to go to the beach bar on the east end of South Friars Bay Beach called Shipwresk. Carambola on the west end is far more upscale and trendy, but there is a charge for chairs and umbrellas and an even higher charge for food and drinks. Shipwreck is a dive through and through, and the beach is quite narrow, but the chairs and palapas are free and there is no pressure to buy food and drinks. Since we weren't sure at that point what the day would bring, weather-wise, we decided a no investment day gave us the opportunity to return to the ship if it started to rain. 

We first went to Shipwreck over ten years ago, when it was even more of a shack, selling just beers and drinks. Now there is a kitchen and small restaurant/bar with a sand floor. We settled into two loungers and I wasted no time getting in the water. As far as beaches go, none of them on St. Kitts compare to St. John yesterday (the sand is browner and coarser and the water rougher), but we love the atmosphere on St. Kitts. I plugged in ear buds and listened to an audiobook (Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher; I read/listen to it every December), and we enjoyed watching the five masted sailing vessel Royal Clipper tendering its passengers directly into Carambola. Carambola has built a huge business since it opened just a few years ago, with Royal Clipper and Azamara tendering passengers there instead of Basseterre where Port Zante is located. 

 

 

 

Carambola Beach bar is down by the white canopy  

 

Cheeseburger in paradise

I swam and played in the waves app much that by 1pm I was starving. We walked into the beach bar and I ordered a cheeseburger (I only crave them after being in the water) and G got nachos and cheese and we drank a couple of beers and enjoyed the phenomenal views east towards Nevis. About 3:30pm we decided to walk down the beach 10 minutes to Carambola because it would be easier to hook up with two more passengers to share a taxi back to the Pacific Princess from there, and it was. By shortly after 4pm we were reboarding the ship. 

After quick showers, we watched sailaway at 5pm from the Panorama Terrace. At the same time, the Royal Clipper raised its many square sails and made quite a picture sailing away with Nevis in the background. We went to dinner at 5:30pm. It featured a menu that was new to us. I ordered roasted asparagus with  bacon and a warm vinaigrette dressing and -wait for it- an Austrian pot roast with red cabbage for my entree. I mostly hate German food but I do love red cabbage, and the beef pot roast was surprisingly good. 

 

Nevis

 

The southern end of St. Kitts

 

Port Zante

 

 

 

The Royal Clipper sails away

 

G and Maitre d'Oscar

 

G and headwaiter Petros

At 7pm we were gathered in the Atrium for what I had been looking forward to since we booked this cruise. The Pacific Princess crew and officers (including Captain D in a Santa hat) stood on the T-shaped stairs and, accompanied by Jere Ring on the keyboard, we all sang Christmas carols. It was my favorite part of Christmas on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia and will no doubt be my favorite part of it this year too. There is just something so homey and fun about doing that, especially with Captain D waving his Santa hat in the air during Jimgle Bells. Both Decks 4 and 5 were full of passengers, but it wasn't crowded. It's the Pacific Princess!

 

Jere Ring at the keyboard

 

Caroling in the Atrium

 

Captain D sings along

Tonight's entertainment was guitarist Duncan Tuck. We had seen him in French Polynesia two years ago and he is so talented and does a very entertaining show. Following that, we listened to Jere Ring in the Casino Lounge playing mostly Christmas carols but other songs too, and he played Do You Hear What I Hear, which he announced is my favorite song (it's certainly my favorite Christmas song he sings). We stayed until I could stay no longer, but when I returned to the cabin to prepare this blog post, G went into Duncan Tuck's late show. He has just returned to the cabin as I am finishing up this post, so that worked well. 

We are at sea tomorrow, which I think is a perfect way to spend Christmas Day. It will also be an opportunity to recover from two beach days and prepare for five port days in a row. Thankfully, even days spent playing in the waves are less strenuous than walking 20 zillion steps in a European port. We've been cruising for more than ten weeks, and less strenuous is a wonderful thing. 

Finally, I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday. All the best from me and G. :-)

Day 73: St. John, USVI

Oh what a wonder it is to tender directly into Cruz Bay on St. John!  In all the times we've been on the island, this was the first one that didn't involve a taxi ride and a ferry ride from St. Thomas to get there. We loved it!

Backing up, though, to that alarm that went off at 5:30am...I turned it off, looked out the window at the still-night sky, re-set it for 6:30am and immediately fell back asleep. When the alarm sounded again, it was getting lighter outside, and I dressed in the dark (laying everything out the night before helps) and went up to the Panorama Buffet where I enjoyed coffee, stollen and an egg white veggie omelet with Johnny on the Panorama Terrace. The scenery was gorgeous...I could see a larger cruise ship approaching Havensight pier on St. Thomas, but was happy to sail on by, heading for St.  John. There were clouds at the horizon obscuring the sun but it soon poked through them and I was busy taking photos first of the sunrise off the starboard side, and then of St. Thomas and the myriad of little islands that surround it on the port side. 

It felt so very good to return!

Shortly after 7am, I phoned Mom using the AT&T signal I'd had since I awakened at 6:30am. She said she was glad I called when I did. Today was going to be a busy one for her:  Christmas trivia followed by the Christmas party revealing the results of the door decorating contest, then lunch, then the Walking SenioRitas, then a Christmas movie. I asked if I could phoned her later today, and she said she thought she might be back in her apartment by 5:30pm my time. (All of this was music to my ears.)

And how was I planning to spend my day, she asked. Um...lying on a beach, swimming in crystal blue water and drinking alcoholic beverages, though i was a bit ashamed to admit it after hearing how productive she was going to be. 

G eventually showed up for breakfast but I had to return to the cabin to plug in my iPhone before going ashore. Still, by 8:30am or so!we were taking a rough tender ride through Cruz Bay to the tender dock, which is located in a harbor just north of the ferry dock, next to the Virgin Islands National Park office. All along, we had felt certain we didn't want to go to Trunk Bay today. First, we were at St. John with the Azamara Quest, which is the same ship as the Pacific Princess, plus a SeaDream Yacht Club ship (very small) was also at anchor there. Then there were all the cruis ship passengers coming over from St. Thomas, and finally all the people staying on both islands for the holiday week. Instead we had decided to go to Honeymoon Beach, the first beach just north of Cruz Bay and one that involved a hike to reach. 

We decided to hike from the National Park office. The Lind Point trail leaves from behind the office and takes about 30-40 minutes to reach Homeymoon Beach. We took 45 minutes because, although it's not a steep  trail, it is a very rocky one. It had just rained last night and it was fairly slippery, but I had come prepared with my collapsable walking stick. We did not encounter any mosquitoes walking through the rain forest, but did hear the bleating of donkeys all along the way. 

 

The Line Point trailhead just behind the National Park Service office

 

Our first sighting of the beach was heady stuff. The view of the surrounding small islets and St. Thomas was breathtaking but it was the crystal blue water that had me ditching my backpack and diving in as fast as I could get there. The beach is fairly wide with perfect soft sand and is rock free, and though it isn't a bery long beach, it is a perfect one for walking. The water was just like the water at Matira Beach in Bora Bora, but on Honeymoon Beach there are waves, while Matira Beach is protected by the surrounding reef. 

 

 

 

 

 

G rented one chair for the astronomical price of $15; I decided I didn't want one, and there was plenty of shade without an umbrella. We went down to the north end of the beach, because a ship's tour was using the middle part. I'm glad we went to a beach that was a little harder to reach today, because even Honeymoon had a fair amount of people. I can't imagine what Trunk Bay was like. 

We had packed thoughtfully, but it was our first beach outing of the year and I forgot to take reading glasses. While I initially busied myself with swimming and drinking the sangria we had bought in Barcelona (We had purchased a 1.5 liter plastic bottle. Today I put .5 liter in an empty water bottle and poured it over ice in a disposable  cup we had brought from the ship), eventually I started realizing I was missing a window of opportunity to test beach pictures to friends. I ended up removing my hard contacts on a sandy beach so I could see my iPhone, and quite happily spent several hours interneting and swimming without them. Cleaning the sand off my fingers to re-insert them was a bit tricky but I managed just fine. (G just shook his head, picturing himself digging through sand looking for a tiny piece of plastic when things went wrong.)

I had had enough sangria and nothing to eat since breakfast to lead us to choose to walk the 10 minutes or so along a trail north to the Caneel Bay Resort to catch a taxi back to the tender pier ($5 per person).

 

We arrived back on the ship about 3:45pm, covered in sand. G, of course, showered and made himself scarce, leaving me to empty out and wash out and hang up to dry the many things that were coated with sand and salt water. I joined him on the Panorama Terrace' bringing the cold bottle of Barefoot Bubbly from Walgreens that we hadn't drank at sailaway from Fort Lauderdale and..:.well, this is when things started to get fuzzy. We each had a slice of pizza which was not enough to cancel out the wine, and watched sailaway from the Panorama Terrace (gorgeous) and by 5:30pm decided to go to dinner in the Club Restaurant and just eat lightly and I ended up finishing off an open bottle of Reisling while I wa there. It is now 8:25pm and I am already in bed for the night, having had a fairly inebrious day. G is in the Cabaret Lounge watching juggler Thien Fu. I'm sure he's very good, but that is not in the cards for me tonight.