Marvy Mare

ST. KITTS & NEVIS Sunday, March 19 I had to double check. I looked back on my report to check on something. Lost my latest post, I think. Fortunately there wasn't too much there but 'note to self', hit 'Submit Reply' before leaving the current page. There was dancing on the way back. Our boat 'director' was really taken with little Frieda. We had noticed Frieda on the ship and in a couple of ports. Very cute, serious and impeccably dressed. Her good looks ran in the family - her mom and grandma were also very attractive. There were very few children on the Silhouette. It appeared that the ones on board enjoyed themselves. I saw a couple of sullen teens but they were just being teens. A couple from Texas were great dancers and a few others joined in. I couldn't resist. I do love to dance, even with two left feet. Though the water was no calmer, the trip back was less stressful. Could have been due to the Carib on the beach. That sailboat had a lot of people on it. Must have been some kind of excursion. Close up crop. They look calm.

Thank you so much for following along. I enjoy writing these reports and sharing my photos but it's always nice to know that others are actually (that favourite word again) reading it. Maris

Thanks! As I mentioned, birds are one of the things I miss on a cruise. They are returning now to Ontario with more songs each morning. I can get out with camera with the huge lens that I couldn't take on the cruise. Maris I did write a report on that cruise. It was quite popular because cruising came to a halt after March 15, as you said. Funny, while not really, that you said 'dodged a bullet'. A fellow photographer and former co-worker returned from a trip to Portugal on March 14, 2020. I was telling him about the dramatic end to our vacation and he said that yes, he got home just in time and he 'dodged a bullet.' He was a fit healthy man in his 60s. Two weeks later, he was dead of Covid. Scary times. I know it has become more like the common cold. We were certainly afraid back then. We do have a close family member who had 'long Covid'. I didn't believe in it until it happened to her. We are still being somewhat cautious, though we were on a cruise 😁. People did come down with Covid after this cruise but as far as I know, all mild cases. And mentioning Grand Cayman; I thought that might be a test that things weren't so bad, but they were. We met a young woman there at a bar by the waterfront. Managed to grab one of the seats left in that crowded port. She was Canadian and had spent time at university in the city near us. She was spending 6 months working in a bar Grand Cayman, before getting on with her working life. Her dad was to visit within the next few days. I wonder if he ever made it or if she had trouble getting home again. We have booked a similar itinerary in 2025. We hope to enjoy that cruise stress free. Maris

The view from our shaded seat. We spoke with a nice couple next to us. They had an excursion planned for the next day to sail in St. Maarten. The boats were Americas Cup retired boats. Canada's True North and maybe Canada One were to be two of the boats. You actually (I see that that is one of my favourite words - I'll have to dig out the thesaurus, or not) get to help sail them. As former windsurfers and sailors we could talk sailing but it sounded like work to us. A schooner, without it's sails up. Maybe an excursion and it was too windy? Brown Pelican. As a birder, I do miss seeing many birds on our cruises. I guess I'll have to check into those shore excursions next time. Turns out the Brown Pelican is the National Bird of St. Kitts and Nevis. Imagine that, and it even posed for me.

The beach wasn't the pristine white sand beach like the one in Antigua, but Nevis is a volcanic island after all. It felt a bit like we were castaways. The boat (I don't even know if it had a name) dropped us off at the beach and then anchored out between the sailboats. If we wanted drinks we had to carry them off with us, which we did of course. It didn't matter whether it was 5 0'clock somewhere. The Carib went down smoothly and helped calm my beating heart. There was a snack bar that wasn't open yet, but the washrooms were open for us. Looks like the boat's name was Prince Devonte J? I see St. Kitts way in the distance. Look at that empty beach. Paradise. The water was beautiful. A perfect temperature, but rough again. I had to wait for the waves to recede to get in. The beach dropped off. You can't see in this photo. The water also dropped off quickly too. There was a small area where you could stand and past that it was very deep. There were these dried palm leaf 'umbrellas'. We sat back a bit under a real palm tree.

I inserted another copy of a map of St. Kitts (which is officially called St. Christopher) and Nevis to show the route of our boat ride. I wish I had looked at the map before our trip, so I had a better idea of where we were going. But maybe that would have made me more nervous. We left from Basseterre and ended up somewhere around Cotton Ground. I really don't know exactly where they beached the boat but possibly around there. Passing that long narrow mountainous strip of land on the south of St. Kitts, I kept thinking that we must be almost there. The Narrows seemed quite wide. Our host announced that in the Narrows, we would be sailing between the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea and it would be a little rough 😒 for 10 minutes (3 km.). Really? St. Kitts and Nevis are both volcanic islands. St. Kitts is made up of a number of extinct volcanoes, with only one 'live' or likely to erupt again volcano (Mt. Liamuiga) but the most recent major eruption was 1,600 years ago. Still St. Kitts Land ahoy. Nevis is the misty mountain on the right in this photo. Our fearless captain. He's giving me thumbs up while talking on the phone to tell someone that he thinks we are going to make it. 😅 All calm on the stern. There were a few yachts anchored just off the narrow part of St. Kitts. Heading out into the Narrows. Looking towards the Atlantic Ocean. Nevis. Finally! The island of Nevis is one big volcano that rises to 3,232 ft. Nevis Peak is a potentially active volcano. There are active fumaroles (vent from which volcanic gases are emitted) and hot springs on the island. There have been no eruptions in thousands of years. We headed into the beach to the right of the blue umbrellas. I can actually make out the dried palm 'umbrellas' on the right side of this picture.

ST. KITTS & NEVIS (cont.)

Thanks clochette! Maris

ST. KITTS & NEVIS (cont.) We signed in for our excursion at the theatre but were sent right outside and soon boarded our boat. The staff were very friendly and enthusiastic. Our trip was to be from St. Kitts to Nevis. I thought that we might get a bit of a tour around St. Kitts but it was just a beeline to Nevis. It took close to an hour. The boat was an 85' pontoon boat. At least they had lots of life jackets. There was a bar and you could purchase chips there as well. Also a fairly clean bathroom and seating up top that I didn't hear about until after the fact. There was no shade on the roof, so we were probably better off downstairs, close to the bathroom and the life jackets. Our musician (steel drummer) also gave the safety drill. It was like the one they used to do on the airplanes, but a bit more entertaining. Bartender and builder of the boat. He handed out drink tickets. Three drinks each - pop, beer or rum punch. No turning back now. The water was rough. I don't think anyone was sea sick. I was just a little worried that we might not make it. I was trying to think if I had read about any cruisers perishing on an off shore excursion. Ken appeared calm, though maybe in shock. 😁 He's holding on, but sort of smiling. I thought that this was the ladder to upstairs but on closer inspection, I guess it wasn't. That's why I didn't try to go up there. What do you think she's saying?

I'm sure there are places where you can find the sunset time. I use an app called Photo Pills to plan my photos. You can find sunset, sunrise times and all kinds of information on the skies anywhere in the world. I check that out and then book dinner. Lol Maris

ST. KITTS & NEVIS (cont.) We were parked at the next pier over, so still had a good view from our veranda! We had watched videos of all the ports that we stopped at so it was extra cool seeing them in person. The mooring crew. No conflict here. Our last Shore Excursion was the Coastal Cruise, Beach and Steel Band. We always felt that since we were spending days on a ship, why take an excursion on a boat. Probably good advice considering the water and wind conditions.

They told us in St. Croix and Antigua that it was never that windy. The only way I could understand Captain George was if it was quiet and we had our room door open. Maris

DAY 7 CRUISE - Sunday, March 19 Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis I was up too early again, 3:30am and it was still dark. At least I never sleep through a sail in to a port. I read for a while so Ken could sleep a little longer. Then off to get coffee, first up to the Ocean View and the second trip to Cafe al Bacio. Walking around deck 14 is always busier on a port day but I got my basic steps in and then had an early breakfast. We were due to arrive at St. Kitts at 7am. Mein Schiff was just pulling into port. And it looked like another windy day! The library was right near our room. I looked for a book there but the selection was limited. The few books that I thought looked interesting weren't in English. Mein Schiff Basseterre Captain and crew trying to figure out where to park. Was it just us or did anyone else not understand a work that Captain George said? The nosey neighbour again. Checking out some passengers on Mein Schiff. Notice how many are still in their housecoats. It was 7am. I'd been up for hours. 😊 The sun peeping through the clouds.

DAY 6 - Saturday, March 18 Antigua (cont.) Just the sail away onto the sunset. One of the reasons that I booked late for us 7:15 dinners, was so we could see the sunsets. I'm never sure about the time but usually earlier than our later up north sunsets. We face west over a lake at home but Caribbean sunsets are better than ours. Maybe something to do with being warm while I take the pictures. First the Pilot Boat. Me, the nosey neighbour again. As the sun set below the horizon, the clouds turned from gold to pink. And a final goodbye to Antigua!

Did you just take a cab? It was certainly a beautiful beach. I didn't see the red phone booth. Probably should have walked a little further. I have arthritis in my feet. Put a stop to my running career. 😁 I find that walking in sand really helps my feet. I even asked my doctor for an Rx for a beach vacation. He just laughed. Maris

Happy Easter to you too! It will be a busy weekend at our place. Glad the wild storm is over and our hydro stayed on! We would have been in trouble. Our sump pump that rarely runs was going non-stop yesterday. Maris

ANTIGUA - continued We talked to some nice people sitting near us at the beach. One couple from New York and Florida and another couple from my home town - Vancouver, Canada. I think they were in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. They were telling us that they sold their waterfront home in the Okanagan, and bought in a family 'compound' outside of Vancouver. They bought property with a few houses on it. One for each of the families. They had 2 or 3 grown children with children of their own. I thought that it sounded like a cool idea. Better than sharing a house. We have one of those next door. There always seems to be minor conflict over who does what or is it whom does what? And worst of all, the older couple has the basement. I think they footed most of the bill. A basement is a basement, even if it's a walkout. That's about all we use our walk out basement for. Walking in and out on the lakeside in the summer. I digress. Back to Antigua. It was a beautiful day and a nice relaxing time at Dickenson Bay. I walked the length of the beach. Only fell once when the waves washed away the shoreline. (19,000 steps that day) I swam a few times. The water was the perfect temperature. Salty though 😆. The bottom dropped off very quickly. Not safe for non-swimmers or good for stand and pee in the water types. And you had to wait for the waves to recede to enter and leave the water. But it was fun and why go to the beach if you aren't going to swim? The trip back to the port was uneventful. We found seats in our favourite area on Deck 14, with our friends Angus and Lorie, overlooking the pool area. No fighting over seats on Port Days. I didn't even notice too much of that on this trip. There were times we couldn't sit where we liked but always found somewhere with shade and a view. I wasn't thrilled with the people who saved seats in the sun and the shade, so they could move back and forth but other than that Que Sera Sera! And I actually don't get the sitting in the sun all day either. I'm sure some folks got miserable burns. I got burnt sitting in the shade. We went back to our room later in the afternoon to have a glass of wine on our veranda. Our next door neighbour. I'm not sure if our neighbours spoke English. Didn't speak to us anyway. There are those yellow catamarans. We probably saw one of them a few hours earlier. Looks like rush hour. Almost time for sail away. Lady Lisa and crew provided the Sail Away entertainment. If you were on the port side you'll probably remember them. Lady Lisa picked up some of the fellows that did the tying and untying or the mooring lines. The fellow standing in the back of the boat was not happy. Clearly saying f...ing over and over. It was the only thing we could hear clearly from the 10th floor. Very animated and very entertaining but he was clearly very angry about something. I wonder if he still has a job. Goodbye St. Johns, Antigua.

I meant to just copy your comment. Thanks for sharing your pictures. That must be locally brewed beer - Leatherback. I like to try the local brew too. Yes a coral beach. I think we will find water shoes for our next vacation. Maris

DAY 6 CRUISE ANTIGUA We waited in the theatre to be called for our excursion. Can you find Ken in this picture? It was a fairly big group on our excursion. We were early and waiting. If we weren't about 1/2 an hour early for everything we do, it would mean that Ken was off his game. We end up waiting. That's why I always have a book to read on my iPhone. At 9:30 we headed out to the waiting buses (more like large vans). Each bus held 15 to 20 people. As we were the last ones in our small group to board (even though we were early) Ken got to sit up right next to the driver. Poor guy. Ken is a bit of a nervous passenger and that driver knew his way around quickly. It was a bit of a wild ride. The beach turned out to be Dickenson Bay Beach, a beautiful stretch of white sand beach. The little chair rental/snack bar that we were by (Sneaky Pete's) was right next to Sandals, Antigua. Relaxing after a harrowing ride. These folks are waiting for the catamaran to come in. It was very windy. Snorkelling tours had been cancelled again. Sandals Still waiting Oops

First ship in port. Seven Seas Splendor was supposed to be there an hour before us and Marella Discovery arriving around the same time. I don't think they were in port at all that day. I checked the port schedule later in the day as well. It still said that those ships were supposed to be there. Lost at sea? Getting ready for us! The dogs are ready to go to the park. It was a wild day here in Central Ontario, Canada yesterday. Thunderstorms all day. So they need a good walk today.

It was cloudy and windy again. Hold on to your hat! Starting to clear! One of the 365 beaches. Another rainbow! Hey there lonely guy! Not sure where everyone was. It was 6:30am. And the sun was ready to break through the clouds.

DAY 6 CRUISE - Saturday, March 18 Antigua I finally figured out that I hadn't adjusted the time on my camera to Daylight Saving Time. Are the islands on Eastern Time? Do they need Daylight Saving Time? I'll have to check that out. Anyway, something that I also figured out on Day 6 of our 4th cruise - Cafe al Bacio opens at 6am. Some mornings we'd had our second coffee by then but if not it was a great choice. We always have cookies with our morning coffee, that we pick up the evening before in the Oceanview. On this particular morning we had forgotten the evening pick up. Hence, Cafe al Bacio! It was a bit more of a walk for me - down to the 5th floor from the 10th, rather than up the the 14th (skipping the 13th all together). But it was worth the extra steps. And I could always use the extra steps. We just drink plain old coffee (they call it Americano at those fancy places) but the Cafe coffee was fresh ground and wonderful. The treats changed every day, and the staff was friendly and enthusiastic. I see why people raved about it. I was a little late for my walk around the deck, probably 5:15am by the time I got there. But I needed to put in my steps early. We had our second 'Shore Excursion' that morning at 9:30. It was just a 'Beach Transfer'. We probably could have arranged it ourselves but we still remembered our last visit to Antigua and being overwhelmed by the tour guides offering their services. We did an island tour that time. It was also a Celebrity Shore Excursion. It was great and we saw a lot of the island. Ken, also spent 3 months in Antigua many years ago and had lots of great stories of island life. The sail in to Antigua is beautiful. The Cruise port is in a protected bay, marked in red on this map.

Thank you. From Bradenton. I guess you could drive to your cruises. That would make it easy! Maris

Thank you for following and commenting. As I mentioned before it's nice to know that I'm not alone!😁 Maris

I will have to keep that in mind. Add to my notes as an idea for future visits. Funny name. It must have something to do with the town name. Lol! I checked it out on Trip Advisor and the ratings are good. On a normal calm day the beach would probably be great too. Though it looks like you might require water shoes there. I did a crop to show 'The Fred'.