The weekend has been spent unpacking, doing laundry, cooking, installing software and helping daughter # 2 who has been home from the city with her sewing machine. As well, I've attempted to sort the trip photos a bit (only 730 of them) to find some to post. I told a coworker - in response to her question as to why I hadn't posted any pics on Facebooke - by the time I organize, scale in size and post on dialup I'm (almost) tired of looking at them.
Mind you, it is fun to relive the travels so I'll summarize here and post some visual evidence as well.
March 20 - we headed down to the city after work for a quick visit with the injured Captain who it turns out afterwards is sprung the following day from his hospital hostage taking. We took in Serena Ryder in concert at the casino and she put on a wonderful show, would sure see her again if the opportunity arose.
March 21 - up at 4 a.m. so I'm not sure you can even call it a night when you only sleep for four hours but I guess insomniacs so why not? Daughter # 2 and her main man ran us out to the airport and we had an uneventful, if way too early, check in. Quick flight to Tronna and sprint to make the connection. Time to check the email while mister fetches tea and a muffin from Tim Hortons (good thing too as it was the last food we saw until the buffet on the ship in the evening). Had a good flight down to Barbados on a 767 and it's been a while since we flew in a plane of that size for sure. Managed to watch Australia on the way and it was a wonderful movi
e - as was Slumdog Millionaire which we caught on the ship and The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons which we took in on the return flight - likely three movies we wouldn't have seen until much later. Had a few hours in Barbados before we had to be on board so we took an island tour which was excellent (despite the miscommunication between hourly and total rate for the cab) to check things out which really made us look forward to our return in two weeks as you can see to the right here. We checked in quickly - they didn't think we were coming - too bad, we're here, unpacked our bags and headed up to grab a bite to eat as we sailed away. We were off to dreamland shortly after.
e - as was Slumdog Millionaire which we caught on the ship and The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons which we took in on the return flight - likely three movies we wouldn't have seen until much later. Had a few hours in Barbados before we had to be on board so we took an island tour which was excellent (despite the miscommunication between hourly and total rate for the cab) to check things out which really made us look forward to our return in two weeks as you can see to the right here. We checked in quickly - they didn't think we were coming - too bad, we're here, unpacked our bags and headed up to grab a bite to eat as we sailed away. We were off to dreamland shortly after. March 22 - Early mo
rning Caribbean sunshine through the port hole is a good way to start the day and a buffet breakfast isn't too bad either. After sustenance we head off the gangplank to check out St Lucia thinking we'll have an easy first day. In the parking lot we're lined up to join some other British tourists to do a city tour of Castries which turns into eight of us taking in a tour to see the pitons and Soufriere with stops along the way for crafts (her) and Caribbean beer tour sampling (him) as well as some wonderful views. We decide that St Lucia although beautiful is not likely on our 'spend a week here if we don't win the trip list' as it's rather edgy and fairly expensive. We do pick up some nice souvenirs for the girls though and get a start on the tan even with the SPF 30.
rning Caribbean sunshine through the port hole is a good way to start the day and a buffet breakfast isn't too bad either. After sustenance we head off the gangplank to check out St Lucia thinking we'll have an easy first day. In the parking lot we're lined up to join some other British tourists to do a city tour of Castries which turns into eight of us taking in a tour to see the pitons and Soufriere with stops along the way for crafts (her) and Caribbean beer tour sampling (him) as well as some wonderful views. We decide that St Lucia although beautiful is not likely on our 'spend a week here if we don't win the trip list' as it's rather edgy and fairly expensive. We do pick up some nice souvenirs for the girls though and get a start on the tan even with the SPF 30. March 23 - Another sunny day, another sunny Caribbean island. We dock at St. Johns, An
tigua with two other cruise ships and after breakfast head out to source a tour to Nelson's Dockyard. We take a van to see the dockyard (which we decide is highly overrated as a historical site and more suited to the rich and famous yachts) Shirley Heights and see some beautiful countryside. Antigua is a bit more to our liking for spending some time but winning the lottery first is the answer as Eric Clapton et al call this spot home. We're dropped at a beach hoping to snorkel (nothing to see) but have a wonderful swim and beach day. The ship is a good spot to head back to after all the activity.
tigua with two other cruise ships and after breakfast head out to source a tour to Nelson's Dockyard. We take a van to see the dockyard (which we decide is highly overrated as a historical site and more suited to the rich and famous yachts) Shirley Heights and see some beautiful countryside. Antigua is a bit more to our liking for spending some time but winning the lottery first is the answer as Eric Clapton et al call this spot home. We're dropped at a beach hoping to snorkel (nothing to see) but have a wonderful swim and beach day. The ship is a good spot to head back to after all the activity. March 24 -
This morning we find ourselves docked at the small developing island of St Kitts and we decide to spend the day just exploring the city of Basseterre as the tours are beginning to wear us down a bit. I spend some time attempting to connect for some volunteer opportunities as a colleague has done so here in the past with the St Vincent de Paul society. I'm not able to visit any of the missions but get some contact info to follow up on from home and discover there is a nursing school which always needs instructors hmm. This is a spot I could stay in for a bit and there is certainly a need to offer help. There's free wi-fi in the cruise port so here I am in a third world nation and able to access high speed internet while I post this on dialup - what is wrong with this statement?
This morning we find ourselves docked at the small developing island of St Kitts and we decide to spend the day just exploring the city of Basseterre as the tours are beginning to wear us down a bit. I spend some time attempting to connect for some volunteer opportunities as a colleague has done so here in the past with the St Vincent de Paul society. I'm not able to visit any of the missions but get some contact info to follow up on from home and discover there is a nursing school which always needs instructors hmm. This is a spot I could stay in for a bit and there is certainly a need to offer help. There's free wi-fi in the cruise port so here I am in a third world nation and able to access high speed internet while I post this on dialup - what is wrong with this statement?March 25 - Today finds us tendered in to Road Town,Tortola, British Virgin Islands as 
you can see us leaving the beautiful Sea Princess where we again attempt to head ashore to access snorkeling but the tours are booked. We're offered a van to the beach to snorkel and so we have a beach day where mister manages to toast himself to a lovely red shade and we do get a bit of snorekling in. The surge is quite strong, thus the water's a bit cloudy but we do some some small fish and have a great time body surfing in the waves on Brewers Beach. BVI is a wonderful (expensive) beach holiday but doesn't appear to have too much depth as in some of the other islands. Not to worry we can't afford more than a day here anyway.
you can see us leaving the beautiful Sea Princess where we again attempt to head ashore to access snorkeling but the tours are booked. We're offered a van to the beach to snorkel and so we have a beach day where mister manages to toast himself to a lovely red shade and we do get a bit of snorekling in. The surge is quite strong, thus the water's a bit cloudy but we do some some small fish and have a great time body surfing in the waves on Brewers Beach. BVI is a wonderful (expensive) beach holiday but doesn't appear to have too much depth as in some of the other islands. Not to worry we can't afford more than a day here anyway. March 2
6 - Again we find ourselves being tendered in to port at Samana, Dominican Republic and another (surprise) sunny day. We wander at the cruise port and find the prices very reasonable as we pick up some gifts, vanilla and souvenirs then head into town to stroll around. Although the streets a few back from the tourist path are somewhat more 'authentic' there is a very obvious police presence and we are quite impressed with the services. There is a private island offshore with another cruise ship anchored there so lots of visitors in. Still getting acclimatized to the heat and humidity so even a short walk is like a marathon.March 27 - A sea day and a chance to exercise our right to sleep in and enjoy the ship and the sunshine. The presentation on Grand Cayman/Jamaica goes well although only about 44 passengers can bring themselves inside to participate. Mind you the art history talk before I'm on has only 10 present and two of those are asleep.
March 28 - Awake to Montego Bay and about 1/2 of the passengers disembarking as we're exchanging about 1000 in Jamaica. We again (can you see a pattern here) attem
pt to find a spot to snorkel and after checking out options head out by bus to what we think is Doctor's Cave Beach. The miscommunication (either by error or intent) lands us at Aquasol Waterpark which has a beautiful beach and swimming but (you guessed it) no snorkeling. We have a beach morning and when heading back to the ship opt instead for a city tour. This takes us around Montego Bay to see where both the rich and famous and slums are located, Rose Hall Great House where we decline the $20 US per person admission, the Hip Strip, casinos, Jamaican Bobsled Cafe seen here on the right, Richmond Hill, a great house formerly that of DeWars whiskey owner which we wander through and get a sense of the area. Good place to buy coffee and rum and a great place to leave you with tonight as my eyes are heavy. To be continued tomorrow.
pt to find a spot to snorkel and after checking out options head out by bus to what we think is Doctor's Cave Beach. The miscommunication (either by error or intent) lands us at Aquasol Waterpark which has a beautiful beach and swimming but (you guessed it) no snorkeling. We have a beach morning and when heading back to the ship opt instead for a city tour. This takes us around Montego Bay to see where both the rich and famous and slums are located, Rose Hall Great House where we decline the $20 US per person admission, the Hip Strip, casinos, Jamaican Bobsled Cafe seen here on the right, Richmond Hill, a great house formerly that of DeWars whiskey owner which we wander through and get a sense of the area. Good place to buy coffee and rum and a great place to leave you with tonight as my eyes are heavy. To be continued tomorrow. 
