Live from QM2 - Dec 22, 2018 - Caribbean Celebration

[Germancruiser]

Thank you for takeing the time to write this great report of your QM2 voyage! I agree she is a wonderful, unique ship.

I can´t wait for my next BTB- Transatlantik!

I look forward to the next installment of you voyage report! ( Nobody EVER calls a voyage on a Cunard ship- " Cruise"- absolutly nogo! LOL!

[Host Hattie]

Great report, looking forward to reading more.

[Underwatr]

I'll jump into cougaraz's thread with a couple of observations.

 

Corkage remains at $20, but I noticed on the receipt that the $20 is apportioned as $17.50 corkage plus $2.50 gratuity, where previously the split was $15/$5.

 

Top-ten passenger nationalities according to the captain:

 

Bahamas 5
Spain 11
Japan 13
Switzerland 16
Ireland 27
Australia 40
Germany 80
Canada 116
US 936
Great Britain 1309

 

Total 2609 passengers from 34 countries.

[cougaraz]

Current situation....perfect. 

[BklynBoy8]

Melissa & Scott, thank you for a wonderful review of your Christmas & New Year Sailing on the QM2.

 

Truly enjoy your voyage, each and everyday and thanks for taking us along for the ride.

 

Merry Christmas! 

[cougaraz]

Monday 24 December at Sea (In the Bermuda Triangle)

It has been an absolutely glorious day at sea.  Temperatures are very pleasant, warming into the 70s with abundant sunshine, gentle breezes and calm seas.  The ship has continued its southeasterly transit and conditions are pretty much what I would describe as ideal. 

Since we last wrote,  we have continued to have a fantastic trip and are beginning to enter full relaxation mode with abandon now.  Yesterday afternoon we attended the new planetarium show about dark matter at 1:30PM.  It was a well-presented and interesting show especially for the gentleman behind us who fell asleep and started snoring rather loudly until his wife gave him a nicely aimed poke with her elbow.  Total show time was under 30 minutes.  Ticket distribution had begun at 9AM and we were able to walk up, with very little line, and receive tickets at our preferred show time.  After the show, we proceeded to the Kings Court as Melissa had been blissfully napping and missed my earlier visit for some dumplings.  I did manage to find room to squeeze in a dumpling myself while she at a late lunch.  After lunch, the travel and stress of the year required additional attention and so we both drifted off for a deep afternoon nap. 

Post-nap it was time to get ready for the evening.  Of course, with last night being a gala evening, that process takes quite a bit longer.  Between showers, hair make up and the down-right preposterous amount of work required to piece together my dinner dress uniform, it really is quite a production that has to take place in a very small space.  We managed to succeed in getting dressed in our finest and around 7PM we headed to the champagne bar for a refined glass of cheer to start our evening.  This seems like a very natural point to pass on my observations on the dress code.

For the smart attire evening, the norm for gentlemen in dress pants, a jacket and dress shirt with about a third of men opting to include a tie.  The ladies are in a mix of dresses, pants suits and dressy separates.  During the day, attire has become more casual as the weather has warmed, still mostly slacks and collared shirts for men, but sweaters are fast disappearing and shorts are starting to appear.  Last night, the overwhelming majority (I would venture 95%+) of men were wearing tuxedoes with a handful of dark suits on younger men sprinkled in.  Women were generally dressed to the nines, including what I am quite certain was an arctic fox stole.  Given our destination and the warmer temperatures, it has felt comfortable both nights.  The gala evening is the night to get dolled up and the smart attire evenings resemble what you would see at a nice country club or restaurant in a major city for dinner.

After our glass of champagne, we made our way to the Queens Room for the welcome reception with the Captain and officers.  We opted to go through the receiving line and Captain Aseem  Hashmi was very warm and welcoming.  We took advantage of a complimentary glass of bubbly wine, but it did pale in comparison to the Laurent-Perrier from earlier, but the price was right.  The room was packed with everyone in my evening finest and in a festive mood.  We stayed for the obligatory introduction of senior staff officers before moving to the Britannia dining room for late sitting dinner.  As  anticipated our table companions were at the steak house and so we had a private table for two.

Our meal ended up being a wonderful date night with exquisite food and great service all around.  We managed to work our way through a very diverse segment of the menu and found great flavors and originality at every turn.  Melissa and I both started with the lemon and ricotta ravioli with smoked salmon.  In my mind it presented the single best bite of the cruise so far, it was rich, smoky, silky and utterly delicious, it would have been a fine main course.  Next, Melissa had the roasted heirloom carrots and I had the shrimp cocktail.  For our mains, Melissa opted for the paillard of beef and I had the salmon.  My fish was cooked perfectly and despite my strong preference for red meat most nights, it was truly magnificent.  I cleaned my plate and internally debated the gluttonous regret and social judgment I would have  faced had I ordered a second serving.  However, I passed and we moved on to dessert.  Melissa had a raspberry tart that really had delicious berry flavor and highlighted one of my overriding observations about the food onboard; the food is not over seasoned and thus really celebrates the inherent flavor of the obviously very high quality ingredients being used in the kitchen.  My dessert was the lemon and blackberry tart and it tickled one of my favorite tastebuds that craves very tart or piquant desserts.  I was infamous as a child for requesting a lemon birthday cake so sour that I was the only one who enjoyed it.  The tart was not that tangy, but it was very good.  We finished our evening with the cheese plate.  Originally, we had thought a glass of port might be the perfect accompaniment, but with two glasses of champagne and the balance of our previous night’s red wine, we were comfortable on our consumption and so we will save the port for another evening. 

One note on service in the dining room.  We noticed the table next to us, a very jolly and pleasant group of New Yorkers had bread sticks.  So, Melissa asked if we could have some bread sticks too.  Our waiter was off in a flash and then very apologetic that it took all of about five minutes to return with them.  Overall, the service has been excellent in the dining room and we are very satisfied.

After dinner, we made our way to the Royal Court Theater for a performance by the violinist Gary Lovini who proved to be consummate showman.  He played a wide variety of music across diverse genres and nationalities.  Overall, a thoroughly entertaining performance and great wrap up to a day at sea. 

This morning, we slept until we woke up naturally and then proceeded to the buffet for breakfast.  The offerings were diverse and presented something for everyone and I find the quality of the buffet food to be very good. The only negative about the buffet is where we chose to sit. We managed to select a table that was next to a table of five small kids whose parents wisely had decided to take a separate table across the hallway. Needless to say, we survived their food fight but it was a very noisy affair. Overall, we would say that the buffet is a cut about Princess in quality.  After breakfast, we hustled down to Illuminations where Lieutenant Colonel Graham Jones gave an excellent lecture on ceremonial music and military drill and events.  He was quite clearly an expert in his field, but also had an engaging and dynamic speaking style that made him easy to listen to and hard to ignore. 

Seeing the beautiful weather and needing to do something to combat the caloric intake of the trip, we headed out on deck for a few laps around the promenade.  It was a nearly perfect temperature and an increasing number of people were on deck walking, lounging with a book or just watching the ocean go by.  We wrapped up our morning with a lecture on the Art Deco stylings of the 1920s and 30s by Giancarlo Impiglia.  Art Deco has always been one of my favorite design styles and his presentation that linked the art, the social and design worlds was really fascinating.

We took our lunch in the dining room and were not disappointed.  Starters of egg and sweet corn soup for Melissa and a beef salad for me were well-received followed by mains of chicken fajitas and a bowtie pasta putanesca.  For dessert we opted for the churros in homemade chocolate sauce and the hazelnuts carrot cake.  Our waitress sensing that a strenuous afternoon of napping and typing lay ahead knew that the unrequested, but welcome bowl of ice cream would help sustain us until we could again seek sustenance.

We spent the early afternoon, blissfully napping and recharging out batteries before a quick tea in the Kings Court.  I am quite certain that Melissa didn’t actually want any scones, but they are the only socially acceptable delivery device for the jam and clotted cream that she was so desperately craving!

Tonight being Christmas Eve, we are planning to sing some carols, enjoy the Christmas themed show and then attend the late night protestant service just before midnight. 

That is all for now folks, see you tomorrow.

 

 

[Host Hattie]

It all sounds wonderful, have a very Merry Christmas on board QM2 tomorrow.

[fizzy1]

Thank you so much for your wonderful reports . Two of our friends are also onboard. Please keep the blogs coming xx

[CruiseLady88]

Our TA has 39 passengers on board for the same cruise (2 weeks ago, she brought 110 PAX onboard). I think they will stay in the Queen’s room dancing every night. One lady reported that there was a couple getting married in the Queen’s room around the high tea time.

 

Any one saw that?

[cougaraz]

13 hours ago, CruiseLady88 said:

Our TA has 39 passengers on board for the same cruise (2 weeks ago, she brought 110 PAX onboard). I think they will stay in the Queen’s room dancing every night. One lady reported that there was a couple getting married in the Queen’s room around the high tea time.

 

Any one saw that?

We did not see it, but through conversation did hear that there were multiple weddings yesterday. 

[cougaraz]

On 12/22/2018 at 8:02 PM, pbb said:

Thanks for the updates. Just out of curiosity, what time did you arrive at QM2??

Sorry, I missed this. We got to the terminal about 1245 and inboard about 115. 

[Georgina1]

On 12/24/2018 at 1:06 PM, cougaraz said:

Current situation....perfect. 

Hi Cougaraz,

 

Happy Holiday to you both.   Really enjoying your Blog.

 

Bytheway we would be interested in any comments you have on the Sheltered Balcony Stateroom as we are in 5215 from 10th January.

 

Enjoy St Kitts Railway excursion, we have done that for the 

last two Caribbean Cruises.   Be wary of the Rum Punches and Pina Coladas - they keep on coming!

 

Best Wishes,

 

Georgina1

[cougaraz]

7 hours ago, Georgina1 said:

Hi Cougaraz,

 

Happy Holiday to you both.   Really enjoying your Blog.

 

Bytheway we would be interested in any comments you have on the Sheltered Balcony Stateroom as we are in 5215 from 10th January.

 

Enjoy St Kitts Railway excursion, we have done that for the 

last two Caribbean Cruises.   Be wary of the Rum Punches and Pina Coladas - they keep on coming!

 

Best Wishes,

 

Georgina1

Thanks for the advice on the drinks, we will try to watch our step.

 

I will get together a few thoughts on the room and update next time I login.

[cougaraz]

Tuesday 25 December, Christmas Day at Sea (North of Puerto Rico)

Weather conditions continue to be delightful, with a fresh breeze, temperatures climbing comfortably in to the mid-70s and the sea temperature also following a warming trend.  There are a few wind-whipped white caps about, but there is very little swell running and the ride is quite smooth.  Skies are patchy clouds and abundant sunshine!

Last night being Christmas Eve was festive and many folks were out and about in seasonally inspired outfits.  Despite it being smart attire, we noticed a definite uptick in the formality of dress from the night of embarkation.  I surmise that this was driven by both the holiday and the fact that folks were not dealing with the fact that they had just boarded and unpacked. 

We started our evening in the champagne bar on deck three midships and enjoyed a couple glasses of very nice Laurent-Perrier as we waited for dinner and enjoyed the carol signing in the atrium.  The entertainment staff led a spirited, well-attended and quite stirring round of signing by officers and passengers of the ship in classic Christmas carols.  We really enjoyed the voices and the ambiance that it lent to the ship.  Everywhere we went last night there were friendly and smiling faces and both crew and passengers seemed genuinely happy and celebratory.

Our table in the dining room was once again a group of four last night and we enjoyed our dinner conversation thoroughly.  The menu had a holiday flavor to it, but I would not go so far as to say that it was a fully Christmas themed dinner.  I continue to be impressed with the fact that there are widely diverse offerings in terms of proteins, vegetarian, vegan, healthy and regional variation on the menu at lunch and dinner.  I started with an excellent little quiche topped with a poached egg and Melissa opted for a ham and pea terrine.  Next, I had the beef consommé and she had the roasted cauliflower soup.  My appetizer was a little better and more interesting that hers, but her soup was definitely more engaging than mine.  As anticipated, we did not have to repeat our request for breadsticks and they were waiting on the table when we arrived.  We accompanied our dinner last night with a very nice, dry Riesling from Germany.  For our mains, I had the roast goose and Melissa opted for the grilled double entrecote.  Both were very well executed; the accompaniments were great and the plates were clean when they left the table.  For dessert, Melissa tried the gingerbread, which was very much like a moist bread pudding or dense soufflé and I had the marmalade ice cream.  In both cases, it was a very pleasant way to round out the meal. 

After dinner, we hustled to the Royal Court Theater as the dining and conversation had taken us dangerously close to 1030 and the second performance of the production show was about to start.  The company of the theater and the house orchestra performed and review show of classic popular Christmas songs, including the controversial Baby its Cold Outside with a flirty dialogue between the two lead singers, and I was impressed.  First, production shows are generally not my favorite thing on a ship and I generally don’t attend.  Second, considering that they preform the show only twice in a year, in the same night, the level of performance and the specifically dedicated costumes seemed above and beyond what one could reasonably expect.  We stayed in the theater after the show and attended the late night Christmas Eve Protestant service, which featured more carols, scripture reading, a short sermon and communion.  It was very nicely executed and a perfect way to ring in the holiday.  By the time we made it to our room, it was pushing 1AM, but we made a conscious decision to set an alarm and wake up in time to have breakfast in the dining room.  This decision was driven by my single real complaint about our trip so far.

So, what is my single real complaint, it is the behavior of our fellow passengers in the buffet.  While I like the new layout of the Kings Court, think the food is delicious and well-present, and give credit to the overwhelming majority of passengers onboard for being polite, courteous and pleasant to be around, even in the buffet, this isn’t true of everyone.  There is a small segment of the passengers who treat the buffet like the wild west, where survival of the fittest and the desperate quest to be the next to dish into a pot that is guaranteed to never run out of its bounty leads to aggressive, rude and quite frankly unacceptable behavior.  This is coupled with a small segment of passengers who do not properly supervise their children.  Again, they are in the minority, most of the children onboard are polite and well-behaved, but there are a few parents who seem to have taken a holiday from parenting.  To be fair, this is no different than any other cruise we have taken in the last five or so years.  Everywhere we have sailed, some very small segment of the ship’s passengers behave in an ugly and uncivilized manner.  Honestly, I don’t know where they get it, but even at the age of 40, my mother wouldn’t let me get away with it.

So, we opted for breakfast in the dining room, which is quite the civilized affair, if not an experience prone to encouraging overeating as the staff seems positively shocked if you don’t want a multi-course culinary extravaganza to start your day.  We did enjoy ourselves and then proceeded to spend the balance of the day in relaxation, reading in the Commodore Club and finally closing the door on a small mystery.  My mother texted and asked if we had received our gift, we said that we had not, but would go to guest services and ask.  Not ten minutes later our phone rang and a crew member from the Verandah Steakhouse said that we needed to book for our meal and to use our gift package and what night did we want to dine.  I said that I would need to talk to my wife and would call them back shortly.  Apparently, our reservation in the steakhouse is a high priority on the ship as about 15 minutes later they called again to enquire about the status of the conversation with my wife.  Thankfully, I had conferred with Melissa and we had settled on a future evening for dinner.  A quick trip by the passenger services desk verified that the gift was from my mom. 

We rounded out the morning with a stop to hear the Queen’s Speech, a flat white at Sir Samuels while we read a bit more and then lunch in the dining room.  I will skip the intimate details of our lunch, but suffice to say it was very good and properly served.  The balance of the afternoon and into the evening has been spent with a delightful nap and now I am comfortably seated on the port side of the ship, on the promenade deck, enjoying the crash of the water against the hull and a very pleasant breeze.

That is all for now folks, tomorrow we are in St. Kitts!

 

 

 

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for another wonderful update, sorry to hear about the bad behaviour in the buffet but I hope it's easily avoided.

[luckymal]

It is not always the children’s fault for creating trouble, but their parents failing to check their problems.🙄

[cougaraz]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 4:01 AM, luckymal said:

It is not always the children’s fault for creating trouble, but their parents failing to check their problems.🙄

I couldn't agree more.  Kids don't always know better, but their parents do.

[cougaraz]

Wednesday 26 December, Boxing Day, In Port St. Kitts

First, my apologies for being tardy in posting this.  Between a nice day in port, the desire for the invigorating challenge of trivia and a spot of too much tropical warmth combined with too little water, I am running behind.

Christmas night was formal night again and we dressed up in our finest.  The entire ship was looking great, with a solid lean toward festive attire, including plenty of flashing lights on necklaces and bowties.  We made our way to the Golden Lion pub in time for Christmas Movie trivia and we paired up with a nice English couple who played with us.  We were solid, but on a night where 15/15 was necessary to win, our 13 points just weren’t quite good enough.

Dinner in the dining room featured specially printed, keepsake menus for the occasion.  Our meal was excellent and shared with outstanding company.  Our table mates are truly world travelers, in fact, they are becoming my new travel heroes with stories of their journeys from central Mexico to Mongolia and everywhere in between.  For starters, I had the Cornish white crab and the suckling pig, while Melissa also had the crab and the French onion soup.  My main was the turkey dinner and while it wasn’t presented exactly like mom would have made it, it was delicious and a nice taste of home for Christmas. Melissa opted for the Boulangerie of turbot, langoustine and lobster.  She said it reminded her of cioppino near where she grew up, so also a taste of home.  For dessert we both had the Christmas pudding.  We didn’t grow up eating Christmas pudding, but it was delicious and a fitting end to the meal.  We were in bed fairly early, opting to pass on the show in support of a morning arrival and planned early departure in St. Kitts.

We placed an order for room service breakfast prior to retiring for the evening and true to form they were knocking on our door a few minutes early with our selections. I enjoy the fact that Cunard offers a full, hot breakfast from room service as it is a very nice way to get the day started.  We ate, layered on the sunscreen and made our way to the Royal Court Theater arriving at our appointed excursion meeting time of 9AM.  We then proceeded to sit and wait for an hour before boarding our tender to proceed ashore.  While we are on vacation and meant to relax, I did find the entire tendering process to proceed less smoothly than on other recent cruises, most directly compared to being at anchor in Cabo San Lucas one year ago with Princess.  I attribute the slow progress to two primary factors.  The first is that there was a single mooring location in the harbor for our tenders which bottle-necked one end of the trip.  The second is that there is not sufficient direction given to people while embarking and disembarking, which adds a little extra time to each of the 100+ people boarding and departing each boat.  I think that the entire process would run smoother if a crew member directed people onboard, filled the boat from the ends toward the middle, instead of allowing everyone to choose their seat and then reversed the process for departing.  However, it is not a major deal, just added friction in the process.

Upon landing at the shore, we proceeded a very short walk to board our bus with our driver James.  The bus was in good repair and had effective air conditioning.  The area immediately around the port was crowded with pedestrian and vehicular traffic as Boxing Day begins the Carnival season in St. Kitts and the local population was out in full force to celebrate.  Once out of the immediate port, traffic reduced to an occasional car and we made our way to the train loading point quite easily.  We passed through several hamlets and along gorgeous coastal terrain, all narrated by James.  I was struck by the general lack of major commercial developments in the areas we saw, mostly just homes, agriculture and a few public buildings.  I was also struck by the large number and diverse backgrounds of the churches, many still standing three centuries after they were built.

Our bus was the last to arrive at the train, which was fortuitous as we were able to board straight away.  There is clearly a system in place for moving large numbers of passengers to and from the train.  Upon depositing us at the depot to board, James filled his fan with disembarking passengers, returned them to whence they had come and had a fresh batch of passengers waiting to board when we reached the end of the line.  We boarded the train efficiently enough.  There were five cars for passengers, pulled by a diesel locomotive.  The passenger cars are double deck coaches, with an air conditioned lower deck that had a lavatory in each car and then a spiral stairway leading to an open air upper deck with two rows of benches facing each other.  Once underway, we were offered free-flowing cocktails and soft drinks, prepared by our onboard bartender.  There was a constant narration provided by Lydia on the sights and history of the areas we traveled through.  There was also a small acapella choir of local women who provided some musical entertainment.  From start to finish, we traveled for 18 miles, at a top speed of ten miles per hour, over the course of about an hour and forty five minutes.  Of note, as it may be an issue for some passengers, the gauge of the railroad is very narrow and the cars are quite large and top heavy, so there is significant motion, mostly side to side throughout the journey.  There is also a consistent and noticeable, but not noxious or overwhelming scent of the diesel exhaust and hot brake materials.  There are no great sights on the route, just small towns, green fields, some narrow bridges and the ruins of sugar mills.  However, the coast is gorgeous and the landscape lush and tropical.  Washed down with a couple of pina coladas featuring local rum, it was a nice trip.  Our leg ended near the international airport where James was waiting to take us back to the port.  The return was shorter than the outbound and 15 minutes later we were back at the tender dock.

Upon returning to the dock area, Melissa was in need of a new hat and we required our traditional souvenir of a magnet, so we hit up a local shop and then opted to head back to the ship.  We were able to board a tender straight away to return to the ship.  However, it was noticeably warmer inside than on the trip ashore and we did spend a few minutes loitering waiting to get alongside the ship. Neither was terrible or oppressive, but the entire process appears to have lots of Cunard crew involved, but very few people taking charge, directing traffic or expediting.  Back onboard, we made our way to the Kings Court for a bite of lunch.  I had my first pizza of the voyage and while it isn’t up to Princess pizza standards, I enjoyed my slice and it hit the spot.  Unfortunately, I had been negligent in my consumption of water during the day, even while being certain to moderate my alcohol intake and the result was a reasonably severe dehydration headache.  I applied a nap, copious amounts of water and was feeling fully restored by dinner time.

Well folks, that is all for now, off to Barbados shortly.

[Underwatr]

Midge Ure in concert.

 

[Older Sister]

I'm surprised you had to "tender" in St. Kitts.  Were there other ships in port at the docks?  I was in St. Kitts several months ago on the MSC Divinia and we were berthed at the docks.  

 

I have a question for you re electrical outlets.  Did you need to bring adapters for your electrical equipment?  I'll be on the Queen Mary next week (first time on Cunard!) and wasn't sure if I'd need to bring adapters for my U.S. electronics.  Thanks!

[orvil]

Older Sister,

You will not need adapters for your US electronics.

[Underwatr]

11 hours ago, Older Sister said:

I'm surprised you had to "tender" in St. Kitts.  Were there other ships in port at the docks?  I was in St. Kitts several months ago on the MSC Divinia and we were berthed at the docks

St. Kitts was only arranged in the last couple of weeks, so the assignments for available berths had already been made.

 

Tendering to Port Zante was preferable to docking at the deep water port about a mike away, which is where the Fred Olsen ship docked.

 

There were signs in Basseterre announcing that a second downtown pier is planned.

[Underwatr]

11 hours ago, Older Sister said:

I'll be on the Queen Mary next week (first time on Cunard!) and wasn't sure if I'd need to bring adapters for my U.S. electronics. 

There are four US outlets at the desk and behind the counter where the tea kettle sits. They're installed as two pairs of outlets and each pair is very close and arranged horizontally rather than vertically, so it might be difficult to plug in two chargers in adjacent sockets, for example. If you have a UK plug adapter or two and your devices can operate from 220 volts ( like most modern power supplies and chargers) bringing along a plug adapter could help plug in a third or fourth item.

This week I've done ok just using the US outlets though.

[cougaraz]

Thursday, 27 December, in port Barbados

Good morning.  I will rejoin our story Wednesday evening.  After getting cleaned up and ready for dinner, we proceeded to the Golden Lion Pub for some Wipeout Trivia before dinner.  In the ongoing effort to ensure that we were fully recovered from St. Kitts and ready for adventures in Barbados, we enjoyed a couple of large bottles of sparkling water while once again failing to win at trivia even though my amazing wife knew the right answer to the wipeout trivia question! Yes folks, Beethoven only composed 9 symphonies!

 Dinner was in the dining room at our usual table serviced by Alaceo and Darwis.  They remain an excellent team, with good, friendly service.  As expected, having asked once for breadsticks, we have not had to ask again and they have had some waiting on the table every night when we enter the dining room.  The evening meal was again served up beautifully plated, hot and at a nice pace.  Generally, we have entered right at 830 and concluded service between 10 and 1015.  I find that to be appropriate for a couple of starter courses, mains, dessert and coffee.  Melissa and I both had the apple, walnut, Stilton salad.  She opted for the tomato soup, which she said was fantastic and artistically executed.  I also had a starter of the chicken and smoked ham hock terrine.  For my main, I was ecstatic to see the menu offer Chicken Cordon Bleu.  In the Navy, we call this dish hamsters and it is one of my all-time favorites.  So much so, that after finishing one, I asked for another.  Darwis was more than happy to accommodate and was off like a flash to retrieve a second portion.  Melissa’s main was the Welsh Rare Bit topped pork chop, which she said was juicy and superb.  For dessert, I had the chocolate tart, which was rich and dense, while Melissa opted for the lemon poppy seed cake.

We skipped the evening entertainment and proceeded to bed.   The ship made a very smooth crossing to Barbados and by the morning we were sliding gently into our berth.  We were booked on the Scenic Barbados and Beach Break excursion and had the opposite experience in the Royal Court Theater as we had on Wednesday, I think we waited just a couple of minutes total, before we were called and on our way out of the ship.  The pier was very narrow and crowded, just big enough for a vehicle to park and one to pass at a very close distance.  We took the shuttle to the main terminal building, but there was an elevated walkway and on our return, we opted to walk.  I would estimate the distance at ¼ to 1/3 of a mile.  Once at the terminal building, we walked through and met our tour group, bus and driver Sheridan.  From there we were off on a drive through the island, including past the famous Sandy Lane and eventually up to the center of the island to Highlands for a quick stop.  At Highlands, we were offered a rum punch, because who doesn’t love drinking at 1030 in the morning, while enjoying some great views, some friendly green lizards and the chance to pet a monkey who seemed keen to get into your drink!  Then, we drove down the island passing a large and diverse flora, including mangos, papayas, coconut palms, breadfruit trees, bananas and sugar cane.  We arrived on the south coast at Rockley Beach where we had a couple of hours to enjoy the sun and sand. 

Our tour included two chairs, an umbrella and I visited a local stand to obtain a couple of hot dogs and bottles of the local beer, Banks.  There was a nice breeze and the sun was very warm, but not oppressive.  The water was warm and the sea calm.  The shoreline sloped out to chest deep very gently, just beyond the small breakers.  The break was a mild shore break and the area was suitably for swimming by all ages.  Some small stands selling food and drinks were nearby along with a public restroom.  Our allotted time passed far too quickly and unfortunately, we had to rejoin Sheridan and return to the ship.  On our next visit to Barbados we might opt for no excursion and just take a taxi to the beach for the day.

Upon our return, we bought a couple of bottles of water in the terminal and walked back, passing a small cruise ship Le Champlain, a larger, but older liner that looked a bit like a museum, but seemed very well maintained.  Unfortunately, our 3PM return coincided with the 30 minute break between lunch and the afternoon snack in the Kings Court, so we headed to the Boardwalk Café on deck 12 for a burger and fries.  It was a bit of a pleasant surprise as our last voyage on QM2 the café tended to feature hockey pucks of meat, but this time they were juicy and flavorful.  After our snack, it was time to get cleaned up, but unfortunately, we returned to our room and found no hot water!  Oh no!  Of course, had we been smart enough to have read the entire Daily Programme we would have seen the note that required maintenance was executed while in port and as such there was an interruption of hot water service.  Nonetheless, we rinsed in coolish water (my wife was less than dignified with a few shrieks) to remove the sunscreen and bug repellant that had mixed with salt water at the beach.  That led us back to one of our favorite daily activities…nap time.

That is all for now folks, we are in St. Lucia today. As I wrap this up, the ship is slowing down and gearing up to tender. Another perfect day appears to be in store!

[Captain-John]

3 hours ago, cougaraz said:

Upon our return, we bought a couple of bottles of water in the terminal and walked back, passing a small cruise ship Le Champlain, a larger, but older liner that looked a bit like a museum, but seemed very well maintained. 

 

 

Thoroughly enjoying your account of your trip - if I shut my eyes I could almost be there!

 

What was the older liner you seen?