Wine Intelligence
Even though we found price per glass wine in the Dining Rooms to be quite reasonable, it turned out we could save a bit by ordering a bottle of wine with our meal and then re-corking the remainder for our next meal. Our waiters facilitated this by putting our cabin number on the bottle.
Port Calls - Antigua
Our first visit to Antigua – we really liked our day ashore
in Antigua – made special by the two guys we hired to show us their
island. Wesley Jacobs and Kelso Thomas were our driver and
guide respectively. We hired them a little distance from the central taxi
dispatch and negotiated a $20pp 2.5 hour tour with them. According to the official rates, it is $25
per person. We spent time driving
through villages, seeing beaches, and learning a little bit about the island,
its terrain, and its people. We were
impressed – very friendly and scrupulously honest in our experience. We also shopped a bit downtown to buy local
hot sauce and some hair pins – all positive experiences.
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| Map of Antigua |
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| Arriving |
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| View from our dock |
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| Beautiful beaches and water |
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| We shared Antigua with two other ships - didn't feel crowded at all |
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| Double Rainbow |
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| Wesley buying fruit plate for us |
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| The fruit was delicious |
Barbados
We had been to Barbados several times – we usually rent a
car and head off to the northern end of the island. This time, we decided to walk into Bridgetown
with our Aunt. Things didn’t start
well… Our docking time was 0900; we
headed to the gangway at 1000 – got off the elevator at deck 4 and were asked
to proceed to the back of the line which wound around and up the stairs
spilling out onto deck 5! We didn’t get
off the ship for 40 minutes. Why?
Because they were loading us into buses to walk the ½ mile to the cruise
terminal. Perhaps it was because there
isn’t a safe walkway (I don’t honestly know if this is the answer), regardless,
this was one messy debark. When we got
to the terminal, we decided to walk into Bridgetown and got great directions
from a vendor in the terminal. The walk
to central Bridgetown was along a pleasant seaside boulevard and entirely
walkable – our 80 year old aunt did the entire mile or so with ease. If you wanted to take a taxi, $2 per person,
there were lots available at the cruise terminal.
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| It was pretty crowded in Barbados (6 ships including us) |
Downtown Bridgetown was very, well, commercial… Functional,
clean, decent traffic flows and very courteous drivers who will stop as soon as
you step off the curb. Shops are well
stocked and the folks inside friendly and accommodating. But just not, interesting – kind of like
showing up to a strip mall back in SW Florida, functional, but not
inviting. So after a walk about and a
cute purchase, we decided to catch a taxi back to the port. Big mistake – we got Mad Max – blowing horns
at pedestrians to get out of his way, swerving from lane to lane and just when
we thought we were dead or jumping out while moving, we got back to the
terminal, only to find out we could only get change in Barbados currency –
grrrr – all the stores and vendors offered us change in US dollars – we picked
the one scam artist who wouldn’t. Amazing
how positively or negatively people you interact with ashore on a cruise will
paint an entire port call. Wesley and Kelso made such a positive impression on us; by contrast our 10 minute taxi
ride left a very poor taste for Barbados in our mouth.
St Lucia
We docked in St Lucia – the only ship in port – and walked
off the ship – a welcome change from the bedlam at Barbados. We rented a car from Guys – a 4 door
Mitsubishi for 65 dollars plus 15 for a St Lucian permit. Gas cost us 21 local about 7 dollars.
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| Panoramic of St Lucia port |
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| View near Pigeon Island |
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| Marigot Bay Anchorage |
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| Chateau Mygo - good eating... |
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| Inside Chateua Mygo Restaurant |
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| Super Yachts adjacent to Capella Resort |
We had last been to St Lucia in December of 2004 – 11 years
is a long time so we decided to change it up.
Last time we’d stayed for 7 days at Sandals (and loved it!); this time,
we rented a car and the four of us drove north from Castries to Pigeon Island,
co-incidentally finding that this is where one of the tree Sandals locations
we’d visited in 2004 is located. A very
scenic location for pictures.
After going north, we decided to head to the much heralded
Marigot Bay – ostensibly the most beautiful bay in the world according to
some. The road signs from Castries are
challenging and the road map provided by our car rental Agency – Guys – lacked
detail. We took a few wrong turns along
the way but asked directions and were set straight every time. After a bit of twisty stuff, made more challenging
by driving on the left vs right hand side of the road – “Where is my left front
wheel on that curve again?” we made it to Marigot. We have been to some beautiful bays around
the world; a couple on Antigua a few days before – I would not describe Marigot
as belonging in this category. Its charm
though may lay in its rustic nature, small size, and perfectly sheltered
anchorage for sailors – who were anchored everywhere. Beauty perhaps is appreciated differently
based on your experiences and needs.
Marigot was going to be our lunch stop – so after parking
our rental car in a free, nearby lot, we went looking for a lunch spot. There were three places that we could see by
looking at signs and menus posted on the public dock – but directions to each
were a little hazy. One it turns out
required a ferry ride to the other side of the pay, another was around the
corner to the right (it looked like the fanciest) and then the one we chose,
down a dirt path along the water. The
restaurant was right on the water, wakes from passing boats would slap water up
on the lower dining area and a crab kept walking back and forth on the planking
beside us. The menu was surprisingly
varied – we had a cheese burger, curry chicken, and chicken burritos. We waited a while but the wait was worth
it. This is what food tastes like when
the ingredients are farm fresh – particularly the chicken in the burritos and
curry. Firm, moist and delicious. When we visit again, we will head back for
another meal – it was that good.
After lunch, we explored the area a bit more at the
suggestion of the folks eating next to us who were staying at the Capella
Resort in Marigot. Walking down the
docks we saw an entirely different view of things; super yachts moored at the
dock and the Capella resort itself which looked amazing – definitely going to
look this place up for a future stay.
All in all, we were really happy with our day trip down to Marigot Bay.
St Thomas
What a pleasant surprise – My second visit to St Thomas was
so different than the first one 12 years ago.
St Thomas has grown up, cleaned up,
and become a destination.
Meeting Meeting with Food and Beverage Director about Share
Experience
Disembarkation
Finally, time to get off of Emerald Princess… So how does
this work? Actually quite easily. First off, we wanted to get off the ship
early, so I talked to Guest Relations and got a Walk Off Group A ticket (walk
off carrying or pushing/pulling your own bags); Val, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jack
got Brown 1 (pick up your bags in terminal).
We were about 10 minutes late getting clearance to dis-embark but once
started, I was on the other side of Customs and Border Protection in 5 minutes
grabbing a cab to the Hertz location about 5 driving minutes from Terminal 2 at
Port Everglades (Cab ride was a minimum $10 charge – gladly paid). Short drive back to the Terminal where I
picked up everyone at the designated and well signed “Private Pickup”
curb. Porters helped us get everything
loaded and we were out of there and on the road
back to Naples by 8:30 am – 40 minutes after I got off the ship – that
is smooth and quick.
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