Oldies On Tour

First thing this morning, we had to sign in to America, it’s a joke, we have our Esta, our passport has been checked, we were checked before we boarded the ship, and now we have been done again, still we were lucky as we went quite early, and got sorted, we have our stamp in our passport, so we can go everywhere now, in theory.

We had breakfast, then

took pictures of bay. Today we are going sailing, I am really looking forward to that.

Found the bus, which took us to the Marina, it seemed like the middle of nowhere, anyway, we boarded Adventurous, a catamaran, and we headed over to St.Johns, we motored over, as guess what the wind was on the nose! The crew are very young and easy going, so it was good fun, picked up a buoy, and we all went snorkelling, I loved it. I have been in better bays, and seen a lot more, but I swam with a load of angel fish, saw a yellow tuna, stingrays, and some saw turtles, but I missed them.

. Back on board we had a bite to eat. And some more rum punches, we could have had champagne if we wanted.

Geoff was propping up the bar, talking with the staff, who were putting extra rum in his drink, I was happy as they were.

. We headed back and this time we had the sails up, and no engine, very good.

Back in the marina, we got back on bus, and headed back to Boat. Despite having our boat cards with red stickers, which indicate we have clearance, we had to show ID again, hey ho, suppose it’s for our own good.
We changed, had a quick cuppa, then headed off the ship again, to get emails etc., after tonight we are back at sea for two days, before we reach Florida.

well we have spent many good times here, so we decided to go back to Simpson Bay, where we used to moor up.

We left the ship, walked to Philipsburg, then caught a bus, well actually it was more a beaten up van, but the guy was very friendly, and took us to where we wanted to go, 2$ each, far better than a ships trip, as we have been round the island with Andrew many times, and enjoyed many of the bay’s etc.,

. some big boats have arrived, but most are still making their way across for the winter season, so it’s very quiet here.

We had a coffee caught up with the Internet, and then walked to the beach, we moored here, and in those,days, I could swim to the boat , we looked how far it was and decided against it, must have
been fitter. I remember doing it with Andrew, and he was encouraging me all the way.

Next stop lunch, where we had rum punches again, they were lovely.

. We also ordered spicy chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, and jalapeño’s, well the chicken was so spicy, we nearly exploded, they were hot hot hot! We had to drink another rum punch to cool ourselves down.

We caught the bus back to town, and wondered through the market, I found a fridge magnet, and a pool dress, so can’t be bad.
We decided to catch the water taxi back to ship, to avoid the 20 minute walk, it’s very warm and sticky now, so just as well.

There are four ships in now, two very big Royal Caribbean, Queen Mary 2 and we are the poor relation.
We had dinner, and went to show, another nap was taken whilst he was on, an American Comedian. We just didn’t get the humour.

Woke up today approaching St.Kitts, we went down for breakfast, then headed off the ship to the harbour entrance.

We waited for the coaches to collect us, and then headed off for the train, what a lovely trip we had, the lady gave us so much information on the Island, on our travels previously we have never been here, so it was different. Apparently the is,and is over run with green monkeys, the driver suggested we took one home with us!

. We arrived at the train station, in the middle of nowhere, and we boarded, to be told drinks were complimentary, oh dear!

what a fantastic trip we had, lots of fantastic scenery, with lots of rum punches, and friendly chatter.

the trip took about three hours, through lots of fantastic areas, some very poor, some for the tourists. We passed the schools, and the children ran out to wave, it was a lovely sight.

. We eventually returned to the coach, six rum punches later (in Geoff’s case) after a lovely trip.
The town where we are moored, is geared for the tourists, very pretty, but very expensive, we have stopped for wifi and lunch, but most have gone back on the ship to eat. We meandered around the town then headed back.
Having got on board about 4, instead of staying in the cabin, we went for a lovely swim and jacuzzi, it was great, we had the pool to ourselves, we did the daily sudoku, then went down to change for dinner.
After dinner we went to the theatre, they had acrobats on, Jan, Mike and I all fell asleep, that’s how good it was! We walked around the deck, then bed. Goodnight

Well we are back, we jumped ship at 9am, walked around, found an Atm then headed for the bus station, we were told the buses don’t run on Sunday’s , but think that was a ploy by the taxi drivers. Anyway we arrived at bus depot, caught a bus and arrived in Falmouth Harbour, it’s just like we haven’t left, except the harbour is not as busy as I remembered it.

We wondered around, then made our way to English Harbour, such good memories of this place, so lovely to be back, not many boats in though, I guess it’s just the beginning of the season, we saw Leander the boat the Queen borrows when in need of one, and saw a couple of other big ones, but nothing like things used to be. I believe Antigua week starts in December, so things will be busy then.

We stopped for lunch, lobster on the menu, plus a couple of rum punches, and Geoff had a pain killer, which consisted of coconut, rum and pineapple juice, very very nice.

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As we are at sea for six days, not much going on, we have been doing our exercises everyday in the jacuzzi, and walking around the deck, we decided to use the promenade deck, which is much better, not so many people around, and very pleasant. We have to do three trips around the deck which is just over the mile, and it takes 21 minutes, not a lot I know but better than nothing! We have also been doing one or two in the evening as the sea is calmer now, and the evenings warmer. The first night we left Madeira, I kept waking and feeling queasy, but since then I have felt fine, and the weather as we are approaching Antigua is very good, lovely and warm.

The pool is now open again, it had to be closed for three of the days, as the waves were causing it to sway so much, that it was dangerous. We managed a swim today, the water is chilly, but ok once you are in.

We have been to several shows, a tribute band to the Beatles was best, they were amazing, and very much like the originals, we all enjoyed them, they did two shows, there was a comedian, hypnotist, show band, and of course the juggler. Most evenings we have been for meals in many of the restaurants, the food on board is very good, and yes we are putting on weight! One night we went into the French restaurant, where Geoff could have his l’escargot, plus rack of lamb, I had scallops and duck, it’s very difficult to choose.

Lots of good food, lots of laughs with Mike and Jan, we have been playing dominoes, and to date the girls are winning, but I guess it won’t be left like that. We have enjoyed the pool and the jacuzzi, and tomorrow we will once more be in Antigua….

We talked ourselves into getting up early and doing our exercises before breakfast! Thought we were on holiday, oh well off we go, we did our one mile walk, it was really good, the sun was shining, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Whilst we were walking, others were spending their time to choose where they were going to sit all day, and placing their towels on the sun beds, no wonder we couldn’t get a seat, can’t be all the Germans, as not that many on board! The pool looked as if it had a wave machine on, as it was splashing all over the place.

We decided to go to a different breakfast restaurant, this one was lovely, it was called ‘windows’, and when we arrived we could see why, they had huge windows aft. The food was very good and healthy, I had fresh fruit, followed with kippers and poached eggs, no bread, very good, the service was excellent, and I enjoyed it better than the self service.

After breakfast we went for coffee, as neither Geoff or Mike could get a decent coffee, one minute it was too weak, then they bought one that was too strong, you just can’t win.

Back to the room where we changed and went to the pool, only to find due to the swells, they had emptied the pool, such a shame as I fancied a swim, so we went into jacuzzi, which was good, we even managed to do half hour of exercises, as we had it too ourselves. There are four jacuzzi’s one on each corner of pool, but because they had a BBQ going on, most people were eating, we did not bother, as breakfast was good enough for us. We lounged around for a bit, and read, then went back to the room, as getting cooler.

As we hadn’t eaten since breakfast we went and had some scones and cream which were nice, and played crib with Mike and Jan for awhile, before changing for dinner.

We decided to try the ‘shogun’. Which was Asian, bordering on Chinese, the food was very well presented, and very tasty and tangy, better than the local Chinese, probably try it again another night, as we all enjoyed it. After dinner we went to the show, which had a juggler doing his thing, I was not very impressed. I had an early night as I was shattered, it’s hard work doing nothing!

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