2015 Cruise Day Seven

February 24, 2015

2015 Cruise Day Seven

Barbados. Finally. I was really looking forward to this. Didn’t know it was almost going to kill us!

Woke up. Did the usual morning things. Watched it rain. Was happy the rain stopped before we needed to disembark. Did the backwards math and figured when we would need to be on the pier in order to make our excursion.

Took off to do a little shopping. Found a nice Barbados hat I’ll enjoy wearing as well as a t-shirt that matched my sense of humour. “When I die make me look like I was doing something cool in Barbados.” Diane was in the market for a larger beach bag and found one. 

Then we started looking for our tour. The ticket said to go on the pier. Through the terminal, On the pier. Or something like that. Not clear at all. We went back to the ship and worked our way back through the terminal until we found our group – with minutes to spare.

A short ride later we were at the beach. Chairs, umbrella, and rum punches provided. We dropped our stuff and headed out over “the white sands” to “cool off in the refreshing, crystal-clear waters.” Right. 

The sand part was okay. But it only extended some ten feet into the water and then there were rocks. Not little rocks like gravel, hard to walk on, not flat rocks, but big knobby rocks where you can get your foot caught and break your ankles. And did I mention the nice, big, strong waves?

I quickly found myself lying down in the water pulling myself forward looking for one of the wee patches of sand where you could stand. I looked back to see how Diane was doing. About the same. I called out to her and told her where the sand patches were and we finally met in the middle. We worked our way out a bit further to see if the rocks would eventually go away. They didn’t. We basically body-surfed our way back to shore muttering unkind things about whoever had decided this was a good place to be,.

I spotted a life guard and asked him what was the deal. He pointed out some yellow flags about 100 yards down the beach that marked where it was sandy all the way out. Ahh… 

 We settled back to work on our sun. It’s a bazillion below zero back home so we have to enjoy this while we’re here.

The Tiki Bar right near the beach had free wifi so I could check in on Facebook,

I met a waiter, nice guy, who brought me a special rum-based something. Really good. Had another. Way really good. Had a third. Yup. That’s it. Hold my hand and walk me back to the ship. For that moment, right then, I was done being responsible, It was all good, mon, no worries. 

Time to head back. Figured out I had left my shirt on the beach. Bought a replacement. Boarded and went to the pool deck to let it all wear off.

Once reality and I had become reacquainted, we went up to the Next Cruise office. When we were done there, we were booked on a ten night cruise leaving Fort Lauderdale February 26, 2016, cruising to Tortola BVI, St, Kitts, Martinique, Antigua, and St. Maarten. There are two outbound sea days and two return sea days. Got a good price, And now we have something to look forward to. 

My plan for the next cruise is not only to prepay the excursions, the hotels and the airfare but also the gratuities. RCI adds $12 per person per day for gratuities. This is divided up amongst all the people who make you time on board pleasant. If everything is prepaid we only need to pay for our drinks and whatever we find of interest in the ports. 

Dinner. We got a bottle of white zinfandel to share with the table. Appetizers for us were shrimp cocktail for her and clam chowder for me. Diane had the salmon. I had a pasta dish. Very good. She passed on dessert and I had warm chocolate cake ( a scoop of cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream) and the chocolate sensation. Conversation with our table mates was, as always, fun and interesting. 

Tomorrow finds us in St. Lucia at the ungodly hour of 7:00 am. Our tour leaves at 8:30 so the alarm is set for 7. We are set to do a tour of the island including finding a waterfall, an herb garden and trying freshly roasted cashews.

The official description is: “Visit a gorgeous waterfall in the center of a St. Lucia rainforest on a scenic island drive in an open-top jeep. The route takes you through Castries onto backroads that deliver charming glimpses of rural village life on the island’s east coast. Inside the rainforest, stroll the flower and herb-filled gardens of La Tille Waterfall & Garden. Swim in the pool below. Sample hot cashews, freshly roasted over a fire, before your return to ship.” 

As always, we shall see what we shall see.

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