Jan.10 continues into Jan.11

Last evening we had our get together at 4:30 . It was at Randy and Janeen’s cabin. Then we went to dinner and it was a lot of fun as usual. After dinner we were undecided as to what to do so we finally decided on a walk on deck. It was a beautiful moon lit night and it was warm and the sea was calm. It was almost like a movie set it was so nice. When we were standing trying to figure out which island we could see just off the port side Janeen came along. The others had either gone to bed or went to do laundry, We visited for a bit and then decided to go to the EFFY prize draw. It wasn’t too crowded and they were showing the pieces that featured the EFFY panther. At one point they decided that they needed a model and I was chosen to display a ten thousand dollar piece. It really was lovely with yellow gold and diamonds and emeralds. They offered to sell it to me for a bit less that half price. I declined their gracious offer. Neither Janeen nor I won a gift bag.

I went to the international café and picked up a specialty coffee for each of us to enjoy on our balcony. The evening was almost magical.

Then we returned to our room and I watched the farewell speech by President Obama. He certainly is an amazing speaker. The world is a better place because of him. He will be missed.

Today we are in St.Thomas. We did have an excursion planned but it was cancelled so we had no definite plans except meeting the group for lunch.

When I awoke the ship was docked. When we cruise to St Thomas the ship often docks at Crown Bay but today we are at Havensight. It was here that we stopped on our very first cruise and it was here that we bought my ring with the blue diamonds. This is one of the US Virgin Islands and because of that is a much more commercialized area. There are million dollar yachts docked in the harbour and they are well known for their shops selling diamonds. I don’t know that the locals have a better quality of life but from the ship you can see many very high end homes.

Breakfast was fun and the waited was a real comedian. Again there was lots of laughing going on.

After breakfast we walked the decks and watched all of the people pouring off of the 3 huge ships that are in port today. The Regal Princess is behind us and a Holland ship is in front of us.

We thought about going shopping but we really had nothing that we were looking for and the ship certainly was peaceful and calm. So we decided to stay on board. I made an appointment for a pedicure. That appointment was for 12:30 so a nice nap seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.

The pedicure was very good but very expensive. This is the last time I will not make certain to have my pedicure before I board a ship.

After the pedicure I basically enjoyed the ship and then got ready for Formal night. Tonight is escargot, my favorite and lobster, Ken’s favorite. Ken ate 3 lobster tails and I enjoyed my 6 escargo. During dinner the captain announced that there would be rough seas tonight and he advised us all to be careful when moving about.

I asked for strawberries for dessert and Pat delivered a wonderful serving of fresh luscious berries, yum.

All six of us headed for the captain’s circle cocktail party. We enjoyed our cocktails and the music. The most travelled passengers were in the 6,8 and 9 hundred day categories. There are 425 Elite members on board.

After the party we headed back to our rooms because the ship was already dancing a jig.

We are scheduled to get to Grand Turk around one o’clock.

St.Thomas

The US Virgin Islands are America's paradise, offering an easygoing blend of island ways and American practicality. St. Thomas, capital of the island group, offers every imaginable sport: snorkeling, golfing, hiking, and sailing. Just a few miles away lay St. John and Virgin Islands National Park. Stunning mountain scenery, crystalline waters, and white-sand beaches with palms swaying in the breeze - the US Virgin Islands are truly a slice of paradise. The harbor is easily one of the Caribbean's most scenic. The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million in gold. St. Thomas has a reputation as a duty free-mecca for shopping.

Our Day in St.Kitts

January 10^th and we are in St.Kitts

We were awakened by the telephone. We had put in a wake up call and it is a good thing that we did. We were sleeping soundly when the phone rang. The ship had docked and we were already along side our birth.

Just the same as yesterday, I recognized the terminal at St.Kitts even though that image had not come to mind when making plans. It was a bright sunny warm day. Perfection

We had our breakfast delivered to the room and it included strawberries.

Before we knew it the time had come to head out. Today we are doing a private tour arranged by Randy and Janeen. The tour is through Thenford Grey and we had toured with him before so we knew it would be good. Our guide was Frankie and he was very informed and a lot of fun.

In St.Kitts the streets are narrow and the pavement leaves a lot to be desired. We were very glad on more than one occasion that he was doing the driving. After touring us around the city and pointing out the important buildings and the churches and stores we headed out of the city

.

Even though Ken and I have been here a few times before we thoroughly enjoyed the day. Fred entertained us all with his quips and stories. It was made even more fun when our guide Frankie joined in also.

We visited the famous Caribelle Batik fabric crafts factory. This was once owned by an ancestor of Thomas Jefferson. Here thousands of slaves were imported from Africa to work in the cane and tobacco and cotton fields. Today tourism has replaced those industries. We were given a demonstration of Batik and we saw many beautiful pieces. I bought a cushion cover with lots of blue in it . It will be just perfect for our new living room. The grounds here were amazingly beautiful, beyond description.

We had a visit to Brimstone Hill Fortress. This is now a national park and a UNESCO heritage site. Prince Harry was here a couple of weeks ago and because of that visit there was a smooth stretch of asphalt. At the fort itself there was a huge canvas structure that has been used for his reception. It was now being used by tour guides to get a cool spot with shade.

We finished our day with a glorious hour at Friar’s Bay. The beach was idyllic with soft sand and warm . water. I even enjoyed spending time in the water.

On our return to the ship we spent a little bit of time in the cruise terminal area. We were entertained by dancers in local costumes accompanied by amazing drummers.

Ken bought himself a broad brimmed sun hat but I did not buy anything.

The island of St.Kitts is more affluent than Antigua and it shows in the housing especially. The houses are much nicer and well maintained. The island is very clean and well organized. The language is English and you can use Caribbean dollars or US dollars.

It is a country made up of 2 islands, St.Kitts and Nevis. We like this island and we would seriously consider a vacation here ,……if we were not cruising that is..:-)

St Kitts, St. Kitts and Nevis

Jagged volcanoes soaring above azure and turquoise seas, dense rainforests in myriad shades of green, rolling fields of sugarcane--welcome to St. Kitts. Along with its neighbor, Nevis, St. Kitts presents an exotic landscape more common to Polynesia than the Caribbean. The islands' terrain, rich soil, and climate made them ideal locations for raising sugarcane. In fact, St. Kitts and Nevis were once the crown jewels of the Caribbean. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Spain, France and England vied for control of the islands, with the English finally winning out in 1787. Today, British and French heritage is evident on both islands. Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts, boasts fine, restored colonial buildings. Impressive Brimstone Hill Fortress, called the "Gibraltar of the West Indies," is one of the most impressive fortresses in the Caribbean.

Day of fun!

Antigua

This was our day to return to Antigua. Randy had arranged for a private tour of the Island. We had been here before and had seen the highlights of the island. The company was Lawrence of Antigua and our driver was Samuel. He had a very strong Caribbean accent and at times it was hard to understand him.

The van was a 15 passenger but we had the van all to ourselves, so with only six there was lots of room. It was air conditioned and had a speaker system

 As we drove we asked him questions and we learned a lot about the Island.

The currency is the Caribbean dollar but US dollars are accepted everywhere.

They have a health care plan and people contribute to it. Trips to a clinic are free and the medications are partially paid for by the government.

They have a college but students must go abroad for university. Each school has a distinct uniform that all students must wear. Education begins at 3 with government supported kindergarten and it continues on till eighteen years of age.

They have a parliamentary system with a Prime Minister and 17 members of parliament, elections are held every 5 years.

The island is 105 square miles big. The area is divided into towns with each town having a school and municipal government.

The main religion is Seven Day Adventist with most other religions represented.

They say they have 365 beaches, a different one for each day of the year. We saw several on our driving tour but nothing close to 365 so they must be remote. The capital of St.John’s is quite commercial, with lots of stores but most are obviously catering to the tourists.

Tourism is the main industry because the cotton and sugar industries have died.

The island is very scenic but they have a shortage of water. Homes have cisterns and many buy water.

Gasoline is 15.00 a gallon.

English is the main language.

Laborers earn about $100.00 a day and trades men earn about $150.00 a day.

Their coolest temperatures are in the mid sixties and their hottest are in the high eighties.

The population is about 70,000.

Besides answering our questions Samuel took us to see Fig Tree Drive, Shirley Heights, Nelson’s Dockyard and the National Park. We stopped at a beach for lunch and then made our way back to the ship.

We had the gang into our cabin for drinks before dinner. I got some nibblies to go with the wine. I think I overdid it because at dinner we all had trouble finishing our meal

The show in the Princess Theatre was “Broadway Ballroom” and it was sensational. They combined singing and dancing and fireworks and smoke and wonderful costumes with their amazing voices.

After the show we returned to our room and called it a night. Tomorrow we are in St.Kitts and we have a Thenford grey tour and beach time.

Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda

The largest of the British Leeward Islands, Antigua (pronounced an-tee-ga) boasts one of the Caribbean's most spectacular coastlines with secluded coves and sun-drenched beaches. The island's rolling hills are dotted with stone sugar mills, relics from the bygone era when sugar was king. Historic Nelson's Dockyard, where Admiral Horatio Nelson quartered his fleet in 1784, attests to Antigua's long and colorful nautical history during colonial times. And St. John's, the island's bustling capital, offers visitors a wealth of boutiques, restaurants and pubs.

Second Sea Day

January 8, 2017

After such a busy day we decided that we would not order room service for breakfast. We would sleep until we woke and then we would go to the dining room for breakfast. That did not work. It was so comfortable that we slept until around eight. Breakfast is only served until nine and I had agreed to do water aerobics with the gals at ten. There would be no time to dress and get down to the dining room and eat and be up on deck 17 wearing a swim suit and ready to exercise by ten.

So we headed to Horizon Court and had our breakfast there. It was not busy and we ended up sitting alone which is not the norm.

After breakfast we got ready to go topside. Ken was going to get some sun and I was meeting the girls for exercise. Again the water was cold or I should say cool but before long I didn’t notice it. We spent about an hour in the cool pool and the hot tub.

I came back to the room, got out of my wet suit and headed for deck 5. Today is the Holiday Sale. Things are ten dollars and since I forgot to bring an evening bag I went shopping. I saw a few different things but I was good to resist temptation. I bought an evening bag, navy this time.( I have several black ones.)

I also bought a navy sunhat. I asked a few of the other ladies what they thought and all agreed it was a good choice.

Next stop was the International Café. It was not busy so I got 2 quiche and 2 oatmeal cookies and that was lunch for Ken and I. On the way back to the room with lunch I met Randy and Janeen and Fred and Mary and they have invited us to come for a drink before dinner. Today it will be in Fred and Mary’s mini suite. Boy I really like a mini. Did I mention that I won’t get a BF balcony again?

After lunch we laid down to nap for an hour. Just as we did there was a knock on the door. I had asked for a change of some of the drinks in our mini bar and I also ordered some fruit. At one time they always put fruit in your room and you could order more when you wanted it. They gave a selection of 2 orange, 2 apples and 2 bananas etc. Because there was so much waste they stopped doing it. Now you have to call room service and make a special request. So I asked for fruit when I asked for a drink change. Well instead of getting the usual small metal bowl with 6 or 8 pieces of fruit they delivered a lovely wire basket with a wonderful selection that includes grapes and strawberries and pears and bananas and apples and oranges. We are so impressed. I have checked our account a few times and there has not been a charge for the fruit… at least not yet.

We went to Fred and Mary’s cabin and had a very nice visit. Then the six of us headed for dinner. I know you must find this boring but the food was very good as usual. Because we left our anniversary cake last night they brought us another cake and the waiters sang again.

After dinner we headed for the Princess Theatre. The entertainment tonight was a comedian

His name was Steve Caouette. He basically worked off of his audience and I laughed so hard my ribs hurt.

Then we headed back to our room. Tomorrow we are in Antigua. This will be our first stop in Eastern Caribbean.