Advertisement
Published: March 27th 2014
Last Blog for this voyage!
It’s hard to believe but this 49-day journey ends tomorrow morning in Ft. Lauderdale. The Captain in his midday announcements stated that he expected to pick up the harbour pilot tomorrow morning at 4:15 and that we would be at the pier by 5:30. Our disembarkation time is set for 08:15am and a short trip over to the airport for a 11:51am flight home. We expect to be back to the house by early evening.
You will see that the following notes cover a full week of days at sea and shore excursions. Our internet connectivity has been intermittent, especially in areas close to the equator and a number of island ports. It was explained in one of the daily “Today On Location” bulletins as follows:
Possible Satellite Outages – Solar outages happen when the sun appears in the sky behind the satellite that the earth station antenna is pointing towards. The energy from the sun is received by the earth station antenna, and is more powerful than what the satellite is sending, resulting in total loss of signal.
Thursday – Mar. 20/14, Last day cruising on the Amazon
The Captain was really making for up lost time since our brief turn around for the medical emergency. He had to cross the bar at the mouth of the river before the tide drops, as there will only be 3 m under the keel at high tide.
As was fitting for our last full day in the Amazonian basin it rained off and on all day. We have been travelling in and out of clouds, fog and passing showers.
Now that the “code red” status has been eased somewhat Stefaney, the Culinary Arts Host, was able to resume the Cooking Show demos. This morning Linda made three post Lent treats for us; Rum Balls, Sex in a Pan and Raspberry Meringue Bars. This afternoon Raj prepared Jerk Chicken with Peppa Cream Sauce and Mango Chutney.
Friday – Mar. 21/14, At Sea,
Unfortunately we left the Amazon Delta area in the dark so we could not see where the silt-laden river dropped off and the blue ocean began. We might not have actually been able to witness that event as some other passengers told us that the boundary line was some 500 miles off shore. At any rate we are now truly once again out to sea.
The daily program was filled with 55 listed activities, including lectures, cooking demos. Of course there was the just plain old reading, relaxing and snoozing.
During the Captain’s 1:00 pm update address he told us that we were one day too early to watch a satellite being launched from the facilities in French Guiana. That would certainly have been an awesome sight to witness from sea.
Saturday – Mar. 22/14, At Sea,
Today was another laid back do whatever you want type of day. There were two major events scheduled for the day: 1/ The Towel Animal Zoo and 2/ the Filipino Crew show. The Filipino crew serve primarily as bar and
wine stewards , front office staff and the bulk of the engineering and deck crews. The Filipino crew members represent 30%!o(MISSING)f the total personnel onboard. This afternoon was their opportunity to take center stage and perform some of their traditional music, songs and dances for us.
The Stewards of the Housekeeping Department took some of their precious spare time to present us with the Towel Animal Zoo. For most of the voyage, before the GIS outbreak, the Room Stewards routinely left a towel animal on our bed when they prepared the room each evening. Today was their opportunity to show off all their animal creations. The animals were arranged around the Lido deck pool midship. It was a unique display of all kinds of animals and birds of every shape and size. Some of the younger officers were out taking pictures, as they had never seen such a display.
Sunday – Mar. 23/14, Barbados,
After three days at sea we docked in Bridgetown, Barbados in the morning. This marks the first time Brooke and I have ever visited this island. Barbados is a 431 square mile dot in the Atlantic lined with white sand beaches, lush tropical forests and spectacular vistas. It is also the easternmost Caribbean island. The Spanish first discovered the island in the 15
th century but it was the British who took ownership in the 17
th century. Sugarcane was the basis for its strong economy, which has now been transplanted by a robust tourist industry.
B & I took two different shore excursions, which in fact overlapped in several locations. I went on “Barbados In-Focus: A Photographic Expedition” while B went out to see the “Natural Wonders of Barbados”.
On the photographic tour we were guided around the island by Ronnie Carrington a local photographer, videographer, producer, and writer. While Ronnie showed us the natural wonders of the island he also provided photographic tips and techniques in the hope that our photos would do justice to the spectacular photographic opportunities that the island presented. Since he was born and raised on the island
he provided a running commentary on the history, the geography/geology, the people, the economy, social conditions past and present along with some personal family history.
He took us through the center of the island over to the east coast to the Bathsheba Rock formations. Barbados, unlike many of the Caribbean islands, was not formed by volcanoes but was the product of the upward thrust of the seafloor when two tectonic plates collided. Along the eastern coastal highway of the island you can see the different bands of exposed sediment.
Brooke’s tour also included a tour of the countryside with a stop on the east coast of the island where the next point of land to the east is Africa. Her tour included a stop at Park’s farm for an up close visit with the island’s famous black belly sheep and a stop at the Andromeda Botanic Garden.
Since our two tours were the same length we opted to meet in the terminal after to do some shopping before returning to the ship for a relaxing afternoon of reading.
The evening performer was a comedian with a very keen
and reflective viewpoint on life, Fred Klett.
Monday – Mar. 24/14, Dominica,
Today we docked in Roseau, Dominica a 290-square mile dot in the eastern Caribbean. This island is dominated by some of the highest elevations in the Caribbean and has 365 rivers running through it making it unique in this region where many of the islands lack good water reserves. Because of the plentiful water supply the interior of the island is a lush tropical rain forest.
Dominica was christened on Sunday, November 3, 1493 by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to the New World. He was not the first to arrive at the island though. The Carib Indians, a fierce, cannibalistic people who paddled up from South America a 1000 years previous to Columbus’ arrival were there to greet him. The last remnants of the Caribs still call Dominica home. The French arrived and took up residence in the 16
th century only to cede the island to the British in the 18
th century. The architecture of the island reflects the combination of French
and English influences.
Today’s excursion “Accessible Dominica & Rainforest drive” took us first to a lookout point, Morne Bruce View Point above the city of Roseau. After a brief stop for photos we were driven back down the slope to the Botanical Gardens where our guide took us on a hike through a portion of the grounds where she pointed out the tropical plants and flowers. The last stop on this tour took us out into a portion of the rainforest in the interior of the island. The purpose of this stop was to showcase the Hibiscus Waterfall. While the falls were fairly small and not overly spectacular the gorge they were situated in were truly primeval. One had to descend 100 feet into the gorge to get a full viewing of the falls. The walls of the gorge were covered with ferns and other tropical plants and it was very lush. The humidity within the confines of the gorge made all the rock surfaces very slick; fortunately there are solid concrete stairs and a wooden path leading to the floor of the gorge.
We returned to the pier just before noon and did
a little shopping in the booths set up along the seawall.
This evening we were invited by Donna and Fran to join them in the Pinnacle Grill, one of the specialty restaurants on board, which features premium steaks and seafood.
This evening’s performer was Jon Courtney a comedic piano man.
Tuesday – Mar. 25/14, St. Maarten,
As we came into port this morning we were the leader of a parade of cruise ships: a Seaborne Yacht, a P&O, a NCL, a Disney and a HAL.
Today we had our last stop before returning to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday This was in Philipsburg on the island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin. Two governments jointly govern this island, covering only 37 square miles. Originally colonized by the Spanish who abandoned it in the 17
th century the island was occupied almost simultaneously by the Dutch and French. After some conflict the two nations decided to spit the island in two. Legend has it that a drunken wager between a Dutchman and
a Frenchman decided the border. Each agreed to see who could claim the most land by walking in opposite directions around the shore of the island and meeting on the other side. The Frenchman won the challenge and claimed 21 square miles leaving 16 to the Dutch. It was the Dutch however, who have made the most of their portion of the island by creating the first duty free port on the island. The Dutch side of the island also boasts the only deep-sea port where cruise ships can dock.
Today our tour was entitled “Art Around the Island” where we visited 5 different artists at their galleries/homes in both the Dutch and French sectors. It was a very pleasant way to see how the island’s beauty has inspired these artists. We certainly felt that the art spoke to us and we assisted, in a small way, the island’s economy.
Wednesday – Mar. 26/14, At Sea,
Today I attended a special Cooking Class, which was for only twelve
individuals who participated in this demonstration by Raj. The demonstration chef prepared a brunch menu that was featured in Food and Wine Magazine. The brunch menu included: Hellfire Club Bloody Mary, Spiced Bacon Twists, Flash-Roasted Broccoli with Spicy Crumbs, Citrus Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed dressing all to accompany a Monte Cristo Strata. Each item was prepared for us in the demonstration kitchen. Due to health rules we could not sample the dishes in that location but were served the menu in the Pinnacle Grill.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.21s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0926s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Yvonne Hertzberger
non-member comment
Can't wait to see you both
I have been following this and it's whetted my appetite for a good gab and many more details. Hope to see you soon.