Cruising Day Nine

Today as an 'at sea' day as we didn't take many pictures.  We reflected over breakfast at what a nice holiday it had been but we were ready for home.  We were beginning to remember that we had kids and that maybe we were starting to miss them a bit.  I had a smidgen of PMS and felt weepy most of the day.  We were able to sleep in today as there wasn't a port to rush off to first thing.  After breakfast I sunbathed while Keith went to a seminar put on by the captain about ship navigation.  I found the sun to be too hot (I started to get some heat blisters...eeeks!) so we grabbed lunch from the grill and ate in the shade of our patio.  After lunch I decided to take a break from the sun and join Keith as he was going to listen to a talk about ship operations.  It was actually quite interesting.  Keith stayed on for another lecture from a NASA scientist while I went back to the room and had a nap.  It was a lazy afternoon.

That evening was formal night and we took our time getting all dolled up for the final hurrah.

  I even consented to having our portrait taken by the ship's photographer as it was something that meant a lot to Keith.  It actually turned out well so we ended up purchasing it.

 

 Another great dress found by my personal shoppers, Keri and Kori.  They helped outfit me for this entire cruise which I appreciated so much!
Dinner was extra special tonight and Keith started his meal off with Oysters Rockefeller.  Blech! 

 I shocked our bar waiter by actually ordering a drink.  Usually we just waved him away as we were content with our ice water but tonight we 'splurged' and he was excited...so excited he danced off without taking Keith's drink order.  It was funny!  Pina Colada complete with umbrella.

 Lobster all around tonight!  I like lobster but it's not the be all end all for me.  The lady next to us had two!

 Another 'first' for me tonight was Baked Alaska.  I could have had two if I would have had room in my tummy for it!

 And here we are with our fantastic waiter Mohan (India) and his assistant Gilberth (Nicaragua).  You really grow fond of these people who bring you delicious food every night.  Mohan was kind, gentle and professional and Gilberth was a fire-cracker waiting to go off.  He was hilarious...and can you believe it, a grandfather of seven?!  Mohan was just about done his contract and eager to go home to his new bride of only two months. 
All the staff had their home country on their name tags so I was forever squinting at them to see where they were from.  So interesting!  Maybe I'll encourage my kids to work a cruise ship for a while before they settle down.  Seems like a great way to earn money and see the world for free!

It had been a fabulous evening.  We ended the night with a stroll around the deck.  The air was getting a teeny bit cooler so we couldn't avoid it...we were definitely getting further north.  Sigh....one more day on the ship!

Cruising Day Eight

We arrived in port for 8 am this morning....Phillipsburg, St. Maarten! 

 

We pulled up along

side a P&O cruise ship that we later found out was doing an 85 day 'around the world' cruise.  Oh my!  Our ship looked quite massive next to theirs.

 

 We could already tell from the port that this was going to be a more 'civilized' island than the last.  Phew....we wanted to end the port of call experience on a relaxing and positive note.  We left the ship early and set off for the main part of town.  This area of the town was very nice and shiny....I could tell they wanted to impress the cruisers as soon as they got off ship.

 This shot is looking back from the above welcome sign.  As you can see we dwarf the P & O ship!

 As it was a bit early none of the little stands were open yet but this guava berry that is native to St Maarten intrigued me.  I knew that I would have to partake of it at some point.

 The walk to town was pretty and the taxi/tour operators were very mild and few.  Nice!  It was a 15 minute walk.

 Once we arrived in the main part of town I spotted the beach I knew we would enjoy for the afternoon. 

 We walked around and poked our nose into shops and this church.  It was as hot as blazes and we thought sitting down in the sanctuary might bring some relief but it was as hot as outside!

 It was nice to stop for a moment anyhow and reflect as the alter was prepared for Easter.

 There was a lady in the church that encouraged us to take photos and then encouraged us to stay for mass but that was 2 hours away so we politely declined.

 We were on the Dutch side of the island.  The top half is the French side.  That is where the famous nude Orient Beach was located.  We decided that the beach right in town was good enough for us.

 A cool money shop with lots of different currencies in the front window.

 The alleyways were quaint and there were shops and more shops!  Most selling similar stuff to the next one.  Again, high end luxury brands or cheap souveniers.

 It's very clean and well maintained here.

 At this point we were super hot and sweaty...it was just rolling down my chest!  We went back to the beach, rented chairs and an umbrella and planted ourselves there for the rest of the day.

We could even see our ship from our chairs!  There was a band playing behind us and it was so relaxing.

 We thought we had avoided the nude beach but there were ladies without tops here as well.  I never noticed them...interestingly enough it was always Keith that pointed them out to me!  Ha!

 It was perfect.  The water was really clean and refreshing and we spent lots of time hanging out in the ocean.  What was really nice was that for the entire cruise we did not talk about our jobs or the kids or anything to do with home.  We simply would chat about our travels and the people around us and anything else we could think of.  That to me is truly getting away. 
The sand was lovely and full of pretty seashells.  I collected a bunch to bring home for my collection.  We also had a nice chat with some gentlemen from the P & O cruise ship and they told us all about their cruise.

 

 These motorbikes came from our ship.  There was a group of about 25 riders that brought their bikes on and off ship at each port and went on bike tours.  I never knew there was such a thing!  At each port they had a police escort as well.  They caused quite a stir among the locals!

 So after we had enough beach time we headed back in a leisurely fashion to the ship.  We hadn't had lunch and were feeling a bit peckish.  This is not to be confused with real hunger!  We stopped to pick  up more sunscreen though as we had run out. 

 We took this picture for the kids but disappointed them by telling them we didn't go inside!

 

 Keith stopped here to buy aloe vera for our tender, burned areas. 

 

 

And so we found the guava berry hut on our way back and both had a huge frozen drink...with lots of rum.  It went down like a smoothie and let me tell you I was dizzy afterwards!  It was delicious.

 

So back on board we had 'tea' and then showered off all the sand (almost impossible) and sweat and sunscreen.  It was good to feel clean.  We hit the theatre for the 7 pm show which was something like a Cirque du Soleil production.  Incredible!  We were blown away.  The level of talent in the performers was first class.

 

For whatever reason that I cannot recall anymore, this was the only picture I took at dinner time. My appy was stuffed with spinach and feta and mushrooms.   

I think I was very sleepy.  Five ports in five days...it was a whirlwind.

Even though we had started sailing north after Barbados now it was official that we were going full steam ahead back to Florida.  Bittersweet but all good things do eventually come to and end.

 

Cruising Day Seven

Good morning Rosseau, Dominca!

 This was the most 'rustic' port yet and the town sure looked charming from our veranda.  I couldn't wait to get off ship and explore by foot.

 Always nice hearty breakfast to get us going for the day.  I don't think I felt a true hunger pang our entire trip.  Again...not good!    Oh well...this was a holiday and there was to be no dieting at all!

 We disembarked and only had a short walk down the pier to shore.  This was a tiny port and we were the only ship in town.

 What we weren't prepared for was the absolute onslaught of very aggressive tour operators and taxi drivers desperate to have our business.  We couldn't walk more than a few feet without being accosted and they don't take 'no' for an answer.  It was not a good feeling.

 Once we walked out of the main part of town it became all quiet.  But too quiet for us.  We couldn't see any other tourists and the streets were a tad scary with homeless people sleeping in gutters and beggars.  My woman's intuition told us maybe this wasn't a great idea.

 We quickly looked at a few churches and then high-tailed it back to the main street.  You can see from the above photo we aren't too far from the ship.

 The island is 65% Catholic and this church was under renovation.

 Just trying to figure out what to do next!

 We went back to town and browsed the market a while.  We approached a taxi driver to see how much it would be for him to drive us to Champange Beach and he said $50 which we thought was too high!  At this point we decided to run back to the ship and see if there were any more ship-sanctioned excursions for sale. 

There were two spots left on a four hour sight-seeing and beach tour that we quickly signed up for.  We had 10 minutes before they left so raced to our room, grabbed our beach gear and high-tailed it back to the docked where we were hustled into a mini-van that was already packed with folks and away we went.  The driver was a lovely older gent named Lambert who made sure we had a great tour.  He was very knowledgable and a good driver too. 

 This was one of the shops we passed.  As you can see this port is a 'diamond in the rough'.  So different than the posh ports of St Thomas or Barbados! 

 This was one of the secondary schools.  The government on the island is very serious about education and the goal by 2015 is to have every household have a child with a university education!

 We drove up a windy, windy road (thank goodness I didn't get car sick at all) to this viewpoint.

 As you can see in the right hand side of this picture, they had a huge stadium for cricket.  Most of these islands are of the British Commonwealth and still hang onto English ways such as cricket and driving on the left hand side.

 He drove us through the botanical gardens which weren't as green and lush as I would have imagined.  The island is mostly rainforest, rivers and volcanoes and most of the people live on the outer edges of the island.

 Our final destination was a black sand beach about 35 minutes from town.  We were provided with chairs, an umbrella and each a cup of strong rum punch. 

 It was very hot and we enjoyed relaxing, wading in the ocean and walking up and down the beach.

 I read quite a bit but the three books I had downloaded to my Kobo were horrible so that could have been better.  Just back luck random choices from the Kobo store...ugh!

 

 Sinead, this picture is for you!  Now we've been to Belfast Ireland and Belfast Dominica! 

 Quite of bit of the second 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie was filmed on Dominica.  Lambert told us this coconut tree grove was in one of the scenes.  If he was pulling our leg, we wouldn't know.

 We arrived back to port in good time and got back on board for a late lunch.

 This was the Solstice Deck which was always pretty crowded with sunbathers.  As the day came to close it would finally empty out.

 We watched the ship pull away from port.  Dominica wasn't our favorite port but it had been an adventure!

 The 'best' hotel on the island. 

 

 So long, farewell!

 We were treated to a beautiful sunset.

 We didn't go to the show tonight so had a leisurely evening of getting ready for dinner and hanging out on our deck.  My appy was a spring roll.  Fresh!

 I had the grilled steak off the classic menu.

And my dessert was soufflé with Grand Marnier sauce.  My first time eating soufflé and it was so good!  The lady at the next table had to tell me how to eat it.  Poke a hole in the top and pour in the sauce. 

And then off to walk the ship before bed.  We watched the dance party at the pool deck for a while and then headed to bed.  Next port was our last.