Rhum Runner II

Grenada

Another perfect day. The ship docked early and we could hear the steel band playing on the dock. We arrived at seven and our excursion began at nine so there was no rush. We had our usual room service leisurely breakfast with the treat of fresh berries.

We gathered our things together , wearing our swim suits because this involves a beach stop.

The ship is docked parallel and we were able to get some amazing shots of the ship. We found the gathering area for the Rhum Runner II right away. We were given yellow wrist bands and were required to sign a waiver. Basically it said that if we got drunk it was our own responsibility and they were not to blame.

We boarded on time and we were greeted by Shawn. We had to repeat his name several time to make sure we knew it.  The catamaran had an upstairs and a down stairs and we choose to sit downstairs so we were not in the direct sun. We went to the bow because the band was mid ship and we didn’t want to be too close. We were barely underway when a powerful rum punch was served. I know that was the first time I have had rum at nine o’clock in the morning. The party was underway. A serving of fresh fruit followed.

Anyway back to the day. As we sailed along Archie(our narrator) told us the story of the history of Grenada. The French and the English fought over these Caribbean islands in much the same way they fought over Cape Breton and Louisburg. A young man who said his name was Moses demonstrated the making of wonderful hats from palm leaves.

Not long into the voyage we slowed down and some of the crew began to throw what looked like crackers into the water. Almost immediately the water began to boil with fish in a feeding frenzy. Archie told us that these were yellow snappers. We were surprised by the size and I took many pictures trying to catch some of them in mid air.

Then we arrived at our destination, Morne Rouge Beach.

 


Here we disembarked being told to make certain that we had our lovely yellow bracelet because it was the key to service. Getting off was in ankle deep water, not a problem at all.

Ken and I went left, found a nice spot on the soft white sand and got into the water. It was wonderful, so warm that I had no trouble getting in.The beach was beautiful and the palm trees provided ample shade. There were vendors renting lounge chair and others offering speed boat trips for water skiing and the like. We choose not to take part and the rental of a chair was definitely not necessary. As it turned out we did not once sit on our towel even once so rental of a chair would have been a mistake for sure.

 We could hear lots of singing and yelling coming from the area to the right of Rhum Runner II and of course we wondered what was happening. Then suddenly Shawn appeared. He was carrying a tray of glasses of rum punch. He came right out into the water, chest deep to serve Ken a glass of rum punch. Another first!!

We walked to the other side to discover that the singing and shouting was being led by Shawn. If you remembered his name and could do the actions he was leading that meant you were not too drunk to have another rum punch. It was hilarious. At one point Shawn swam underwater holding the tray of drinks above the water to serve the quests.  Sounds of DAY O filled the air as the revelers drank and sang and drank some more.

Ken and I walked the shore and all together we found 5 pieces of green sea glass. We each limited ourselves to a total of 2 drinks of that powerful punch, one on board and one on shore

All too soon it was time to return to the catamaran. As we boarded they took our yellow band. They said ti was to keep track that all guests had returned to the ship. On the return the rum flowed freely again, they served cheese and crackers and more fruit; the steel band entertained; they had a conga line; they had a limbo contest and the party continued all of the way to the shore, with lots of singing of calypso songs and dancing and more rum drinking..

When it was time to disembark it was plain to see that some of the passengers had consumed entirely too much of that rum punch.

We checked out the spice vendors in the cruise ship center and have decided where and what we will buy when we return. Then we boarded the ship; another wonderful adventure.