Wednesday, May 13
Well, I suppose I need to finish off this cruise log although there’s not much more to tell. On Saturday, May 9 we were back at St. Thomas again. I still didn’t need anything ashore, so stayed on board for a last lazy day and in the evening got packed up. I wound up with less than $30 to claim on my customs form, and most of that was sun screen, toothpaste and a ship’s souvenir lanyard.
Sunday, May 10 we arrived back at San Juan, got off the ship and went home. Princess has got disembarkation down to a real science. There’s almost a background noise that sounds like flushing as the passengers are hustled through an early breakfast, down the gangway, past immigration, through the sea of luggage, past customs, and out of the building to buses or taxis. Thus I was at the San Juan airport well before 10:00 a.m. to wait for my flight scheduled to leave at 2:40 p.m. Fortunately, both my flights were on time, although I had another long wait in Charlotte, NC. I finally got home about 10:00 p.m.
As of today, I am still catching up on mail and things, and will eventually get around to unpacking.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Thursday, May 7
Grenada. Up early to go deal with the Shoe Excursion folks again for my tours on Dominica and St. Thomas, plus to arrange transport to the airport in San Juan. Then get ready for Grenada. I brought 6 books by Jan Karon, and Mark contributed about 8 books of various kinds.
I just got back from a most delightful afternoon spent with Cathy and Greg Wybern. Since parking is impossible near the dock, they dropped me off out in front of the terminal. Between the hike to the ship and the sudden tropical rain shower, I’m not sure if I was wetter from rain or sweat by the time I got back on board! Either way, the priorities are fluid replacement, salt removal, and writing up an account of the day...back in a little while.
Okay, that’s better. For those of you who are involved in the Grenada project, yes, I took tons of photos, but no, none is of any of the ladies (or men) who like to read. Nicole was supposed to have lunch with Cathy and Greg and me, but she had two 3 hour exams today (she’s working on a master’s degree) and just couldn’t make it. Cathy and Jesse (Greg’s secretary or assistant, I’m not sure which) will see that photos get taken and sent on to me, and I’ll pass them along then. Meanwhile, I gave them photos of us, and have promised to send along some info about each of us...where we live, a little background, what we do, etc. as they want to put this up on a bulletin board. So break out your bios and send them to me...or be at my mercy for a write-up.
At one point during the afternoon Greg checked in with his office and was telling Jesse that he was with one of the ladies who sent all the books. She said that she has read 30 of the books since they arrived! I even got introduced to the Dean of the Veterinary School (both Cathy’s and Greg’s boss), and he went on about how great it was that we sent the books. It turns out that when the books arrived, the Vet School people sent down a truck to the port to get the boxes and bring them to the University where they were initally stashed in Greg’s office because he had more room than the Dean’s Office.
Evidently each of the six boxes (once the contents were sorted), wound up in a different department to serve as a staff book swap center. Different staff members will take a bag of books back to their own village and swap them around, then bring them back for different ones. Nicole dreams of setting up even more book swap sites out in the villages, especially in the northern, mountainous parts of the island. The roads out there are not good, and from some places a person would have to take 3 different buses one way to get to St. George’s at the US equivalent of 50 cents/bus which is a whole lot of money for these folks. By the way, there is a small public library on Grenada in St. George’s, but it really isn’t accessible to most of the inhabitants, especially considering the transportation constraints.
Cathy described the excitement that spread among all departments of the University when our shipment of books arrived. She said it took a day or two for it to sink in on Nicole that these books were a free gift from us to her and her friends. She kept asking if this was really okay. Several women were involved in sorting out what would go where. Word spread and staff in other departments asked to get in on the bounty. Meanwhile, some of younger men would pass by the door but not come in. Finally Cathy asked them if they would like some books to read also. They were surprised that the books weren’t just for the women. Fortunately one of us had included some westerns that the young men really liked.
Cathy and Dean Siss suggested that, while they are ecstatic to get whatever we can send, it would be useful to have some books for younger children, or at least some books that parents could read to their children. I told them I didn’t know what we might come up with, but that I would pass the word along.
So Cathy and Greg took me on quite a tour of the more populated part of Grenada. This photo of downtown St. George’s looks all bright and new...mostly because it pretty much is. Hurricane Ivan, five years ago, destroyed about 95% of the island. The massive influx of relief aid has allowed not only the rebuilding of much of the island, but improvements as well, like in some cases adding plumbing and electricity although there are still many many Grenadians who do not have electricity in their homes. If they want to read the books we sent, they must do so during the day, or go sit under a street light.
Like many, if not most, Caribbean islands, Grenada is of volcanic origin and is very vertical with houses and buildings velcroed to very steep hillsides. The roads aren’t quite as precipitous as on Tortola, but they’re at least as curvy as Donna and Vince’s place. The difference here is that many are narrower and some are one way, but with no signs to tell you which one way...and looking at the cars parked along the side doesn’t always solve that question! Kudos to Greg’s driving!
We toured St. George University, Greg’s Small Animal Division of the Vet School, and several of the peninsulas that stick out like fingers (or maybe pseudopods) all around the southern end of the island. We had lunch at this lovely open air restaurant on True Blue peninsula. And I was shown the areas where the US invaded back in 1983 to restore order after several years of political unrest and the murder of virtually the entire Grenadian government. These sites included where the Navy Seals came ashore (losing 4 of their number of fierce rip tides) and where the Black Hawk helicopter was shot down.
All in all, it was a great afternoon, and I feel so lucky that I was able to come here, meet Cathy and Greg and see the island again.
Friday, May 8
Dominica. I took a tour this morning billed as a rainforest scenic drive and Jaco Falls. Dominica is a very eco-minded place, and they have worked hard and very successfully to preserve the quite spectacular beauty of their island. The tour guide was excellent. From several remarks she made, I would guess that she is of Carib Indian descent. There are about 3,000 or more Caribs still living on Dominica.
The driver was also superior in skill, although I cannot say the same for the suspension in the bus or the local roads. Dominica is one of the most mountainous islands I’ve seen. It has 9 volcanos (none erupting at present), and the highest mountain is over 4,600 feet. The mountains may be taller than Tortola, but they also have more space to get up them, so I would say the roads are nowhere near as scary as Tortola was. We drove along the drier western side of the island for a while, then headed up into the rain forest areas. We stopped at a lovely river (the island has hundreds of rivers, all steep and picturesque) to walk on the volcanic sands and admire the clear waters as you can see.
Many hundreds of feet higher, we arrived at Jaco Falls just as the rain showers began. I did not descend the 55 steep steps to the pool at the base of the falls, but was able to get a wet look at them from up above, although I left my camera on the bus to keep it dry. I then consumed a rum punch that was mostly rum with a splash of punch (whew!) and chatted with some local ladies about the scruffy little chicken (see photo taken after the rain stopped) that seemed inordinately interested in my sandals. Then a rather impressive rooster appeared. He was so busy posing and showing off, that our driver was able to sneak up and grab him by the tail and pick him up...much to the rooster’s consternation and embarrassment!
After the trip back down to Roseau (the capital city), and through it’s very narrow streets with no traffic signals of any sort during rush hour, we ascended a hill called Morne Bruce where we had a fine view of the city and our ship. Then we had a stop in the local botanical garden where there was a tree called a cannonball tree which evidently only grows on Dominica and bears round items that look exactly like the tree’s namesake.
This evening is the last formal night, along with the Captain’s Circle party for this week. Mary is number one again in days sailed, and Mark is in third place.
Grenada. Up early to go deal with the Shoe Excursion folks again for my tours on Dominica and St. Thomas, plus to arrange transport to the airport in San Juan. Then get ready for Grenada. I brought 6 books by Jan Karon, and Mark contributed about 8 books of various kinds.
I just got back from a most delightful afternoon spent with Cathy and Greg Wybern. Since parking is impossible near the dock, they dropped me off out in front of the terminal. Between the hike to the ship and the sudden tropical rain shower, I’m not sure if I was wetter from rain or sweat by the time I got back on board! Either way, the priorities are fluid replacement, salt removal, and writing up an account of the day...back in a little while.
Okay, that’s better. For those of you who are involved in the Grenada project, yes, I took tons of photos, but no, none is of any of the ladies (or men) who like to read. Nicole was supposed to have lunch with Cathy and Greg and me, but she had two 3 hour exams today (she’s working on a master’s degree) and just couldn’t make it. Cathy and Jesse (Greg’s secretary or assistant, I’m not sure which) will see that photos get taken and sent on to me, and I’ll pass them along then. Meanwhile, I gave them photos of us, and have promised to send along some info about each of us...where we live, a little background, what we do, etc. as they want to put this up on a bulletin board. So break out your bios and send them to me...or be at my mercy for a write-up.At one point during the afternoon Greg checked in with his office and was telling Jesse that he was with one of the ladies who sent all the books. She said that she has read 30 of the books since they arrived! I even got introduced to the Dean of the Veterinary School (both Cathy’s and Greg’s boss), and he went on about how great it was that we sent the books. It turns out that when the books arrived, the Vet School people sent down a truck to the port to get the boxes and bring them to the University where they were initally stashed in Greg’s office because he had more room than the Dean’s Office.
Evidently each of the six boxes (once the contents were sorted), wound up in a different department to serve as a staff book swap center. Different staff members will take a bag of books back to their own village and swap them around, then bring them back for different ones. Nicole dreams of setting up even more book swap sites out in the villages, especially in the northern, mountainous parts of the island. The roads out there are not good, and from some places a person would have to take 3 different buses one way to get to St. George’s at the US equivalent of 50 cents/bus which is a whole lot of money for these folks. By the way, there is a small public library on Grenada in St. George’s, but it really isn’t accessible to most of the inhabitants, especially considering the transportation constraints.Cathy described the excitement that spread among all departments of the University when our shipment of books arrived. She said it took a day or two for it to sink in on Nicole that these books were a free gift from us to her and her friends. She kept asking if this was really okay. Several women were involved in sorting out what would go where. Word spread and staff in other departments asked to get in on the bounty. Meanwhile, some of younger men would pass by the door but not come in. Finally Cathy asked them if they would like some books to read also. They were surprised that the books weren’t just for the women. Fortunately one of us had included some westerns that the young men really liked.
Cathy and Dean Siss suggested that, while they are ecstatic to get whatever we can send, it would be useful to have some books for younger children, or at least some books that parents could read to their children. I told them I didn’t know what we might come up with, but that I would pass the word along.
So Cathy and Greg took me on quite a tour of the more populated part of Grenada. This photo of downtown St. George’s looks all bright and new...mostly because it pretty much is. Hurricane Ivan, five years ago, destroyed about 95% of the island. The massive influx of relief aid has allowed not only the rebuilding of much of the island, but improvements as well, like in some cases adding plumbing and electricity although there are still many many Grenadians who do not have electricity in their homes. If they want to read the books we sent, they must do so during the day, or go sit under a street light.
Like many, if not most, Caribbean islands, Grenada is of volcanic origin and is very vertical with houses and buildings velcroed to very steep hillsides. The roads aren’t quite as precipitous as on Tortola, but they’re at least as curvy as Donna and Vince’s place. The difference here is that many are narrower and some are one way, but with no signs to tell you which one way...and looking at the cars parked along the side doesn’t always solve that question! Kudos to Greg’s driving!We toured St. George University, Greg’s Small Animal Division of the Vet School, and several of the peninsulas that stick out like fingers (or maybe pseudopods) all around the southern end of the island. We had lunch at this lovely open air restaurant on True Blue peninsula. And I was shown the areas where the US invaded back in 1983 to restore order after several years of political unrest and the murder of virtually the entire Grenadian government. These sites included where the Navy Seals came ashore (losing 4 of their number of fierce rip tides) and where the Black Hawk helicopter was shot down.
All in all, it was a great afternoon, and I feel so lucky that I was able to come here, meet Cathy and Greg and see the island again.
Friday, May 8
Dominica. I took a tour this morning billed as a rainforest scenic drive and Jaco Falls. Dominica is a very eco-minded place, and they have worked hard and very successfully to preserve the quite spectacular beauty of their island. The tour guide was excellent. From several remarks she made, I would guess that she is of Carib Indian descent. There are about 3,000 or more Caribs still living on Dominica.
The driver was also superior in skill, although I cannot say the same for the suspension in the bus or the local roads. Dominica is one of the most mountainous islands I’ve seen. It has 9 volcanos (none erupting at present), and the highest mountain is over 4,600 feet. The mountains may be taller than Tortola, but they also have more space to get up them, so I would say the roads are nowhere near as scary as Tortola was. We drove along the drier western side of the island for a while, then headed up into the rain forest areas. We stopped at a lovely river (the island has hundreds of rivers, all steep and picturesque) to walk on the volcanic sands and admire the clear waters as you can see. 
Many hundreds of feet higher, we arrived at Jaco Falls just as the rain showers began. I did not descend the 55 steep steps to the pool at the base of the falls, but was able to get a wet look at them from up above, although I left my camera on the bus to keep it dry. I then consumed a rum punch that was mostly rum with a splash of punch (whew!) and chatted with some local ladies about the scruffy little chicken (see photo taken after the rain stopped) that seemed inordinately interested in my sandals. Then a rather impressive rooster appeared. He was so busy posing and showing off, that our driver was able to sneak up and grab him by the tail and pick him up...much to the rooster’s consternation and embarrassment! 
After the trip back down to Roseau (the capital city), and through it’s very narrow streets with no traffic signals of any sort during rush hour, we ascended a hill called Morne Bruce where we had a fine view of the city and our ship. Then we had a stop in the local botanical garden where there was a tree called a cannonball tree which evidently only grows on Dominica and bears round items that look exactly like the tree’s namesake.This evening is the last formal night, along with the Captain’s Circle party for this week. Mary is number one again in days sailed, and Mark is in third place.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 6
Wow! That was a two and a half hour Dinner last night. The service was good and the company was fine, but the food was outstanding! One of the best filets I’ve had in eons, cooked to perfection and topped with a garlic butter almost as dangerous as my own recipe. As there were 6 of us, they simply brought serving dishes of all the side items, all of which were great. And dessert...double wow!! I had a chocolate thing that had a name so long I can’t remember it...but I do remember that it contained the words “molten,” “fudge” and “obsession.” It was sort of like a double chocolate souffle with a double helping of double chocolate sauce...all nice and warm, with a serving of the most chocolate ice cream I’ve ever tasted on the side. I couldn’t even LOOK at the pillow chocolates when I got back to my cabin!
Bonaire. We are only here for the morning so there’s not a lot that can be accomplished. In fact, when I went out on deck to see what was what, I saw an attractive town with a long, hot way to walk to get anywhere. I immediately contracted a bad case of lazy and spent the rest of the time in port watching the comings and goings from a deck chair. I had lunch with Mark and his cousin, Pat, and they confirmed that it was a hot walk to get to the shopping area of town, even though it was, in reality, only a few blocks from the dock. So I’ll just have to come back sometime to check Bonaire off my list of visited islands.
The ship is now boogeying off toward Grenada at rather a good clip. The skies are clear and the seas are pretty calm, but there’s enough stabilizer action aat this pace to produce a bit of hula motion at the rear of the ship. Actually, this is about the first time during this trip that the ship has had any motion at all. Most of the time you could hardly tell you were on a ship.
Wow! That was a two and a half hour Dinner last night. The service was good and the company was fine, but the food was outstanding! One of the best filets I’ve had in eons, cooked to perfection and topped with a garlic butter almost as dangerous as my own recipe. As there were 6 of us, they simply brought serving dishes of all the side items, all of which were great. And dessert...double wow!! I had a chocolate thing that had a name so long I can’t remember it...but I do remember that it contained the words “molten,” “fudge” and “obsession.” It was sort of like a double chocolate souffle with a double helping of double chocolate sauce...all nice and warm, with a serving of the most chocolate ice cream I’ve ever tasted on the side. I couldn’t even LOOK at the pillow chocolates when I got back to my cabin!
Bonaire. We are only here for the morning so there’s not a lot that can be accomplished. In fact, when I went out on deck to see what was what, I saw an attractive town with a long, hot way to walk to get anywhere. I immediately contracted a bad case of lazy and spent the rest of the time in port watching the comings and goings from a deck chair. I had lunch with Mark and his cousin, Pat, and they confirmed that it was a hot walk to get to the shopping area of town, even though it was, in reality, only a few blocks from the dock. So I’ll just have to come back sometime to check Bonaire off my list of visited islands.The ship is now boogeying off toward Grenada at rather a good clip. The skies are clear and the seas are pretty calm, but there’s enough stabilizer action aat this pace to produce a bit of hula motion at the rear of the ship. Actually, this is about the first time during this trip that the ship has had any motion at all. Most of the time you could hardly tell you were on a ship.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tuesday, May 5
Aruba. Aruba has a very dry climate...in fact, I suspect that its official flower/plant must be some sort of cactus as there are so many kinds on the island. However, both times that I have been here now, it has rained. You’d think that the local establishment would consider paying my way down here every so often just to bring rain! This photo of Oranjestad shows how flat most of the island is with just a few odd humps of hills here and there. I like the pink and white gingerbread building about halfway up the left side of the photo. I seem to recall that it is a government building of some kind.
Anyway, I didn’t do much today. The Shore Excursion people, as of 7:30 a.m., had not had an answer from their tour operator about access questions on the boat for the snorkel tour, so I crossed that one off. The alternate was a two hour glass bottom boat tour to view a shipwreck and a reef. Given the weather, I decided to opt out of that one, and was later advised that the underwater visibility was bad, so I lucked out there. I did go ashore very briefly for a stroll around the souvenir shops in the terminal. Usual stuff...didn’t buy anything.
I spent some of the day in one of my now-favorite locations on Promenade Deck until the odor of varnish overwhelmed me. Have I mentioned varnish? Maybe not. Anyway, I’ve been on a lot of ships, and as may be obvious to one and all, ships are exposed to the elements and need a lot of upkeep. So I’ve seen just about every upkeep activity on board at one time or another...mopping, washing, scraping, painting, polishing, etc. etc. etc. But this ship has the absolute corner on varnishing. Every single day there is a new collection of “Wet Varnish” signs, and I swear, they are now repeating themselves in the same locations from last week!
This evening all six of us are going to dinner at the Crown Grill, a specialty dining room featuring fine steaks and other fancy stuff. Last night was Tony and Cath’s joint birthday, but we didn’t want to miss formal night in the dining room, so we delayed the special dinner until today. I haven’t eaten in the “special” dining room on a Princess ship in a number of years, so will be interested to see how it compares to the Pinnacle Grill on Holland America.
.
Aruba. Aruba has a very dry climate...in fact, I suspect that its official flower/plant must be some sort of cactus as there are so many kinds on the island. However, both times that I have been here now, it has rained. You’d think that the local establishment would consider paying my way down here every so often just to bring rain! This photo of Oranjestad shows how flat most of the island is with just a few odd humps of hills here and there. I like the pink and white gingerbread building about halfway up the left side of the photo. I seem to recall that it is a government building of some kind.Anyway, I didn’t do much today. The Shore Excursion people, as of 7:30 a.m., had not had an answer from their tour operator about access questions on the boat for the snorkel tour, so I crossed that one off. The alternate was a two hour glass bottom boat tour to view a shipwreck and a reef. Given the weather, I decided to opt out of that one, and was later advised that the underwater visibility was bad, so I lucked out there. I did go ashore very briefly for a stroll around the souvenir shops in the terminal. Usual stuff...didn’t buy anything.
I spent some of the day in one of my now-favorite locations on Promenade Deck until the odor of varnish overwhelmed me. Have I mentioned varnish? Maybe not. Anyway, I’ve been on a lot of ships, and as may be obvious to one and all, ships are exposed to the elements and need a lot of upkeep. So I’ve seen just about every upkeep activity on board at one time or another...mopping, washing, scraping, painting, polishing, etc. etc. etc. But this ship has the absolute corner on varnishing. Every single day there is a new collection of “Wet Varnish” signs, and I swear, they are now repeating themselves in the same locations from last week!
This evening all six of us are going to dinner at the Crown Grill, a specialty dining room featuring fine steaks and other fancy stuff. Last night was Tony and Cath’s joint birthday, but we didn’t want to miss formal night in the dining room, so we delayed the special dinner until today. I haven’t eaten in the “special” dining room on a Princess ship in a number of years, so will be interested to see how it compares to the Pinnacle Grill on Holland America.
.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3
San Juan, PR (again). This was most-everybody-else-gets-off day. The 50 or 60 of us who are staying on for this coming week still had to get up early to get breakfast in one of the dining rooms. Then about 10:45, after everyone else had disembarked, we grouped up in one of the lounges, trailed off the ship, through the terminal (which looked very strange and empty without any luggage in it), were handed our new key cards, and trouped back onto the ship again. It all went extremely smoothly, so maybe this week will show some improvement in their attention to details (which was rather lacking last week). The new lot of passengers began trickling on board around lunchtime.
This week I made it a priority to be first in line at the Shore Excursion Desk. So I got all my questions asked about accessibility of various tours. Presumably the answers will come back from the various islands and tour operators over the next day or so. And hopefully, I’ll be able to do some snorkeling and other neat stuff this week in addition to my much-anticipated visit with Cathy and Greg and Nicole and maybe et al. in Grenada.
When I finally touched base back at my cabin this afternoon, I found a whole second complimentary mini-bar set up on a tray! I haven’t used any of the stuff in the fridge from the first week, so have asked a rather startled Adan to take the second set away. Being a multi-multi-returning passenger has some nice perks: like enough Internet credit to take care of everything I need to do online, the free mini-bar set up, free laundry and dry cleaning, plus 10% off everything in all the shops on board, and a few others I haven’t used yet like afternoon tea in the cabin and hors d’oeuvres delivered to your cabin on formal nights (you need to plan ahead and place your order at least 6 hours in advance for these two...hey, I’m on vacation...who’s planning ahead!).
Speaking of food, it will be interesting to see what happens at dinner this evening. They have again got me assigned to a completely different table from Mark and Mary, and who knows where they’ve put Mark’s cousin and the couple from England who are supposed to be with the 3 of us this week. Mary assures me that she’s got it all fixed with the Maitre d’ this time, so we’ll see. Later: yes, everything worked out okay at dinner. We were joined by Mark’s cousin, Pat, and an English couple, Tony and Cath, whom Mark and Mary met several years ago when Tony and Cath were on their honeymoon cruise. It’s a good group!
I didn’t take any photos of San Juan today since we’re docked at the same place as before...way away from the old picturesque downtown area. There are commercial docks visible from the port side and, if you’re high enough to see over the passenger terminal building on the starboard side, about all you can see is an air strip for small planes. Not worth spending battery power and pixels on (sorry, Tom, I know you’d be interested in the planes.)
Monday, May 4
At sea. Our second and last sea day of the trip. I spent a big chunk of it in a comfy deck chair on Promenade Deck.
Deck chair day dreaming –
the sea breeze, the waves and the
fitness folk marching.
It’s a long time between lunch and second sitting dinner, so eventually I came back inside and collected a couple of cookies to take back to my cabin. The buffet on Lido Deck almost always has really excellent brownies...of which I try to limit my intake...and one flavor of cookies. The latter are large and quite durable (yet not crunchy) with a minimum number of chocolate chips included. A couple of these do definitely fill the void and give the old jaws a workout.
San Juan, PR (again). This was most-everybody-else-gets-off day. The 50 or 60 of us who are staying on for this coming week still had to get up early to get breakfast in one of the dining rooms. Then about 10:45, after everyone else had disembarked, we grouped up in one of the lounges, trailed off the ship, through the terminal (which looked very strange and empty without any luggage in it), were handed our new key cards, and trouped back onto the ship again. It all went extremely smoothly, so maybe this week will show some improvement in their attention to details (which was rather lacking last week). The new lot of passengers began trickling on board around lunchtime.
This week I made it a priority to be first in line at the Shore Excursion Desk. So I got all my questions asked about accessibility of various tours. Presumably the answers will come back from the various islands and tour operators over the next day or so. And hopefully, I’ll be able to do some snorkeling and other neat stuff this week in addition to my much-anticipated visit with Cathy and Greg and Nicole and maybe et al. in Grenada.
When I finally touched base back at my cabin this afternoon, I found a whole second complimentary mini-bar set up on a tray! I haven’t used any of the stuff in the fridge from the first week, so have asked a rather startled Adan to take the second set away. Being a multi-multi-returning passenger has some nice perks: like enough Internet credit to take care of everything I need to do online, the free mini-bar set up, free laundry and dry cleaning, plus 10% off everything in all the shops on board, and a few others I haven’t used yet like afternoon tea in the cabin and hors d’oeuvres delivered to your cabin on formal nights (you need to plan ahead and place your order at least 6 hours in advance for these two...hey, I’m on vacation...who’s planning ahead!).
Speaking of food, it will be interesting to see what happens at dinner this evening. They have again got me assigned to a completely different table from Mark and Mary, and who knows where they’ve put Mark’s cousin and the couple from England who are supposed to be with the 3 of us this week. Mary assures me that she’s got it all fixed with the Maitre d’ this time, so we’ll see. Later: yes, everything worked out okay at dinner. We were joined by Mark’s cousin, Pat, and an English couple, Tony and Cath, whom Mark and Mary met several years ago when Tony and Cath were on their honeymoon cruise. It’s a good group!
I didn’t take any photos of San Juan today since we’re docked at the same place as before...way away from the old picturesque downtown area. There are commercial docks visible from the port side and, if you’re high enough to see over the passenger terminal building on the starboard side, about all you can see is an air strip for small planes. Not worth spending battery power and pixels on (sorry, Tom, I know you’d be interested in the planes.)
Monday, May 4
At sea. Our second and last sea day of the trip. I spent a big chunk of it in a comfy deck chair on Promenade Deck.
Deck chair day dreaming –
the sea breeze, the waves and the
fitness folk marching.
It’s a long time between lunch and second sitting dinner, so eventually I came back inside and collected a couple of cookies to take back to my cabin. The buffet on Lido Deck almost always has really excellent brownies...of which I try to limit my intake...and one flavor of cookies. The latter are large and quite durable (yet not crunchy) with a minimum number of chocolate chips included. A couple of these do definitely fill the void and give the old jaws a workout.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1
Tortola, BVI, I just got back from the most fun tour I’ve had in the Caribbean in a long, long time! It was a half-day tour where we spent the first half on a small boat running around Drake’s Passage from Roadtown up to Peter Island and Norman Island. Our guide on this part of the trip was a riot...we were all in hysterics about half the time...and that was before the rum punch!
We then came back to another part of Tortola, boarded an open-air jitney bus, and came back to Roadtown over roads that make the trip up to Donna and Vince’s place at High Knob look like a walk on the Bonneville Salt Flats! Virginia had described Tortola’s roads before, but nothing quite makes the same impression that being on them in a jitney bus does! Turns of 150 to 180 degrees at a very real 45 degree (minimum) slope with no sight distance or room to pull over if something should be coming the other way, which it often is. And that’s scary enough going up! Going down is like cresting the first hill on a major roller coaster...you literally cannot see the road, plus you still have the curves and traffic to deal with! The high point on the island is about 1700 feet, but we’re talking start and end at sea level! A very cool trip...hope my photos came out so that I have something dramatic to post here!
It will be an extra Tylenol night tonight, and maybe tomorrow too, but worth it! Now to get cleaned up for formal night and the Captain’s Circle cocktail party! Mary and Mark have won the top two prizes for most days on board Princess ships. In fact, I probably should have won third, but evidently Princess’ record-keeping isn’t up to par, so I’ll go have a chat with them...not that I actually want a bottle of bubbly, but Princess has a habit of losing track of such things every so often.
Saturday, May 2
St. Thomas, USVI. We docked at Crown Bay instead of Havensight, so couldn’t see downtown Charlotte Amalie. Only a few shops were open at Crown Bay, and most of the rest of the island was closed as today was the big Carnival parade downtown. I considered going to watch, but decided that discretion was the better choice just in case the celebrations got a little too celebratory!
After lunch I actually got off the ship and ambled over to the shop area here at Crown Bay. I found a spot in the shade where a nice breeze made for the ideal temperature. There I sat and watched the other passengers come and go (probably not talking of Michelangelo) and listened to the Carnival sounds from downtown echoing off the hills. I particularly enjoyed watching many of the passengers notice and take innumerable photos of several butt-ugly rock iguanas perched on the rip-rap along the waterfront. It certainly doesn’t take much to amuse me!!
As this is the first time that I have taken back-to-back cruises, I am really enjoying this last night of the first one, since I can just relax while most other passengers struggle to pack all their souvenir t-shirts, native wood carvings, bead necklaces, etc. Hmmmm...now that I think of it, so far I haven’t really bought anything other than some postcards, stamps, and a new lanyard for my camera (and then found that I like the old one better). I’ve said for years that I’ve put more Caribbean souvenirs into yard sales than most people ever see in their lives, and I guess this trip really proves that! (At least so far.)
Tortola, BVI, I just got back from the most fun tour I’ve had in the Caribbean in a long, long time! It was a half-day tour where we spent the first half on a small boat running around Drake’s Passage from Roadtown up to Peter Island and Norman Island. Our guide on this part of the trip was a riot...we were all in hysterics about half the time...and that was before the rum punch!
We then came back to another part of Tortola, boarded an open-air jitney bus, and came back to Roadtown over roads that make the trip up to Donna and Vince’s place at High Knob look like a walk on the Bonneville Salt Flats! Virginia had described Tortola’s roads before, but nothing quite makes the same impression that being on them in a jitney bus does! Turns of 150 to 180 degrees at a very real 45 degree (minimum) slope with no sight distance or room to pull over if something should be coming the other way, which it often is. And that’s scary enough going up! Going down is like cresting the first hill on a major roller coaster...you literally cannot see the road, plus you still have the curves and traffic to deal with! The high point on the island is about 1700 feet, but we’re talking start and end at sea level! A very cool trip...hope my photos came out so that I have something dramatic to post here!
It will be an extra Tylenol night tonight, and maybe tomorrow too, but worth it! Now to get cleaned up for formal night and the Captain’s Circle cocktail party! Mary and Mark have won the top two prizes for most days on board Princess ships. In fact, I probably should have won third, but evidently Princess’ record-keeping isn’t up to par, so I’ll go have a chat with them...not that I actually want a bottle of bubbly, but Princess has a habit of losing track of such things every so often.
Saturday, May 2
St. Thomas, USVI. We docked at Crown Bay instead of Havensight, so couldn’t see downtown Charlotte Amalie. Only a few shops were open at Crown Bay, and most of the rest of the island was closed as today was the big Carnival parade downtown. I considered going to watch, but decided that discretion was the better choice just in case the celebrations got a little too celebratory!
After lunch I actually got off the ship and ambled over to the shop area here at Crown Bay. I found a spot in the shade where a nice breeze made for the ideal temperature. There I sat and watched the other passengers come and go (probably not talking of Michelangelo) and listened to the Carnival sounds from downtown echoing off the hills. I particularly enjoyed watching many of the passengers notice and take innumerable photos of several butt-ugly rock iguanas perched on the rip-rap along the waterfront. It certainly doesn’t take much to amuse me!!As this is the first time that I have taken back-to-back cruises, I am really enjoying this last night of the first one, since I can just relax while most other passengers struggle to pack all their souvenir t-shirts, native wood carvings, bead necklaces, etc. Hmmmm...now that I think of it, so far I haven’t really bought anything other than some postcards, stamps, and a new lanyard for my camera (and then found that I like the old one better). I’ve said for years that I’ve put more Caribbean souvenirs into yard sales than most people ever see in their lives, and I guess this trip really proves that! (At least so far.)
Friday, May 1, 2009
Still Wednesday, April 29
Went out on Promenade Deck to watch us sail. There were still passengers straggling in from a tour bus. It looked like one of the “day at the beach” kind of tours...everyone looked pretty tired and sandy, although I didn’t notice any glowing red. After they boarded, and it was now definitely sailing time, there began to be announcements of the “Would Mr. So-and-so of Dolphin 564 please call the front desk immediately.” This means that person hasn’t turned back up after leaving the ship earlier in the day. Or if he has come back, something slipped up on checking him in on the security system. Well, this time there were 4 names, then the next announcement had 3 names. Then eventually two older women came puffing along the dock toward the gangway. They had a certain amount of trouble locating their IDs in their huge purses while the crowd along the ship’s rail jeered and applauded...evidently these two already had a reputation from yesterday for spending too much time in local bars. They got on, but there were no more announcements, and after waiting another 5 minutes or so, the gangway and lines were pulled and we sailed away. If the fourth person wasn’t already on board, he or she got left on St. Lucia! If so, I can only hope he or she had passport and credit card on them so they can get to Antigua!
Thursday, April 30
Antigua. The first time I visited Antigua was in 1981. Our ship arrived two days after Antigua and Barbuda became an independent country. The new flags and bunting and other decorations were still up, and they were still celebrating...big time! I think I still have the t-shirt at home...should have brought it!
I’ve got a tour booked this afternoon to Lord Nelson’s Dockyard...an incredibly historic and scenic area, so I’ll evidently get off the ship today... Yup, I got off, and am now thankful to be back on! The tour was fine, but quite warm and completely exhausting.
I love the Caribbean concept of personal responsibility. In this photo of Shirley’s Height overlooking Lord Nelson’s Dockyard, you can see a low stone wall, maybe 16 to 18 inches high with a sign that says, “Do not go beyond this point.” At another spot about a mile away, a sign says, “Cliff Edge.” At that place, there is no barrier at all to keep you away from the crumbly edge of a very steep cliff other than a few decorative stone pillars about 4 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet apart with a paved walkway outside the pillars. They figure you’ve been warned by the single signs and the fact that most people are able to see the cliff itself, and that you have enough brains not to muck about on it. In the U.S. there would be a 7 foot tall, fine mesh fence between you and the spectacular view.
Went out on Promenade Deck to watch us sail. There were still passengers straggling in from a tour bus. It looked like one of the “day at the beach” kind of tours...everyone looked pretty tired and sandy, although I didn’t notice any glowing red. After they boarded, and it was now definitely sailing time, there began to be announcements of the “Would Mr. So-and-so of Dolphin 564 please call the front desk immediately.” This means that person hasn’t turned back up after leaving the ship earlier in the day. Or if he has come back, something slipped up on checking him in on the security system. Well, this time there were 4 names, then the next announcement had 3 names. Then eventually two older women came puffing along the dock toward the gangway. They had a certain amount of trouble locating their IDs in their huge purses while the crowd along the ship’s rail jeered and applauded...evidently these two already had a reputation from yesterday for spending too much time in local bars. They got on, but there were no more announcements, and after waiting another 5 minutes or so, the gangway and lines were pulled and we sailed away. If the fourth person wasn’t already on board, he or she got left on St. Lucia! If so, I can only hope he or she had passport and credit card on them so they can get to Antigua!
Thursday, April 30
Antigua. The first time I visited Antigua was in 1981. Our ship arrived two days after Antigua and Barbuda became an independent country. The new flags and bunting and other decorations were still up, and they were still celebrating...big time! I think I still have the t-shirt at home...should have brought it!
I’ve got a tour booked this afternoon to Lord Nelson’s Dockyard...an incredibly historic and scenic area, so I’ll evidently get off the ship today... Yup, I got off, and am now thankful to be back on! The tour was fine, but quite warm and completely exhausting.
I love the Caribbean concept of personal responsibility. In this photo of Shirley’s Height overlooking Lord Nelson’s Dockyard, you can see a low stone wall, maybe 16 to 18 inches high with a sign that says, “Do not go beyond this point.” At another spot about a mile away, a sign says, “Cliff Edge.” At that place, there is no barrier at all to keep you away from the crumbly edge of a very steep cliff other than a few decorative stone pillars about 4 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet apart with a paved walkway outside the pillars. They figure you’ve been warned by the single signs and the fact that most people are able to see the cliff itself, and that you have enough brains not to muck about on it. In the U.S. there would be a 7 foot tall, fine mesh fence between you and the spectacular view.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)