St. Thomas

The first drop of water sizzled on my hot skin, the second melded with the salty sweat on my arm. We dodged drops deeking in and out of little souvenir shops as we made our way to the gondolas up to Paradise Point. Our timing was perfect and we were safely in a shoe store when the skies released. Not Carm’s favorite place to wait out the rain - we have a love/hate relationship with shoes.

The rain let up and we ran across the street and sheltered under the roof of the gondola place to wait for our turn to board. A few gondolas came and went and then it was our turn to jump onto the moving ‘vehicle’? Heights are not my favorite thing and Carm might have bruises on his arm as we lurched our way up the hill. The gondola barely slowed down for us to jump out - I was glad I don’t have mobility issues like many on the ship.

The views were spectacular. We made a beeline for a view front table and Carm ran off to order us some famous banana daiquiris. Oh yum! We sat for ages, watching waves of rain pass over the islands in the distance - very pretty - and we couldn’t get enough of the view. Eventually we headed back down to earth and walked back to the ship.

Another dimension.

We were hot and sweaty and ready for a swim. But first a quick lunch (a burger and fries - what!). They were playing a Who concert on the giant screen so we watched that from the pool and the hot tub, and finally a chair in the shade. Gosh, I’ve seen some pretty wicked sunburns. Not me though, I’ve been pretty careful.

An iced latte topped off the afternoon and energized us to hand wash a few things in the sink. Yes, even in this bubble a drip of reality occasionally intrudes.

At supper we sat with people from Kentucky and Alabama. There was a slight political conversation (not about Trump thank goodness) and when Carm mentioned that Obama was a good speaker you could have cut the silence with a knife. Of course - he’s a black man and they are from the south. Very disappointing. It is interesting eating with people as there are so many little oddities that people have when they are eating.

I had a cold pumpkin soup that was fine, but I would have used much more spice. The linguine with clams was good. And of course creme brulee for dessert. I suppose one day I might have something different, but I actually like simple creaminess - the gorgeous chocolate concoctions don’t really appeal.

The show tonight was a comedian. He was pretty funny but I wasn’t rolling on the floor holding my sides, but I had a headache so was perhaps a bit grumpy.

We listened to some steel drums and are now back in the room getting ready to watch a movie. It is tiring being so busily relaxing!

music of the night and day

Our day at sea started like so many sea days in the past with a good late sleep in. We were in no rush and leisurely putzed around the room showering and getting ready for breakfast in the buffet. Smoked salmon is always my go-to breakfast and today was no different. Capers and thinly sliced onions topped it off.

After breakfast Carm went to trivia and I hung out on the balcony, enjoying the wash of waves against the ship and the wide blue vista that stretched out for infinity. I kept my eyes peeled for sea life, but wasn’t lucky enough to see any.

I eventually ventured out to the piazza where a dance class was underway. I sat on the sidelines thoroughly enjoying myself - I love people watching and the piazza is the perfect place to do so. By the time the dance class was over, Carm had tracked me down so we could get coffees and we sat in the piazza again, this time listening to a string duo. They were fantastic.

Thank goodness for the internet! Pat has been kind enough to send me pictures of the dogs which helps with my ‘leaving home’ anxiety tremendously. It is nice to know that she’s holding down the fort at home :-)

Listening to music, talking with people (Cliff and Ginger had a very sweet story about when they met), and watching the world go by, passed the morning all the way into the early afternoon. My stomach was growling (as if it needed more food), so we grabbed a quick lunch at the buffet, and then headed back down for some more music, this time a band quartet - good, but not as great as Blue Jade on the Coral.

If you sit quietly and watch you will see everything. People with their foibles and oddities, couples who are having fun, more serious people, the couple with matching shirts, the old guy with tap shoes dancing around clippity clappity clap, very very big people with towering plates of food, tiny people, and lots in between. It is a good motivation for getting back on that diet when we get home, and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, motivation to take some dance lessons again.

There was one tiny old guy with a baseball cap identifying him as a WWII veteran. 94 years old and still cruising and tearing up the dance floor.

Carm played trivia this afternoon with a guy who disagreed that we evolved from the ocean…

Tonight was formal night which meant suit for Carm (so dashing), and a cocktail dress and jewels for me. We cut quite a swath through the ship on our way to supper. We shared with 2 other lovely couples. I had a cold pea soup and shrimp on rice - both wonderful. Oh so spoiled!

After supper we had just enough time to change out of my sausage squishing undergarments so I’d be comfortable for the show. “Born to Dance” was awesome - we’d seen it last year and it didn’t disappoint again.  I love the shows and get enormous pleasure sitting there letting the music and visuals wash over me.

We hadn’t gotten enough music yet so went to the Vista lounge where another band was playing - the same quartet as the afternoon. We even got up and danced (a slow dance, and even then we stepped on each other’s feet!) When asked if we dance, we tell people that we’ve been banned from the dance floor because of extreme ineptness!

Princess Cays

A crackle over the loudsystem proceeded the captain’s announcement that a US Military ship would be towing an iceburg past the starboard side of the ship and should be within view in about 5 minutes, and would take about 15 minutes to pass by. It would be accompanied by some other ships to help tow it… Well! You couldn’t have gotten Carm out of bed any quicker. And I’ll have to be honest I got myself ready to go out on deck as well. I was just combing out my hair when the Captain mentioned the date… April 1st!!!! We were truely pranked :-)

About the same time the iceburg was due to pass us, the rumble of anchor chains let us know that we were here - Princess Keys, a private island in Barbados. We’ve been here before and knew what to expect. We took enough time for a quick breakfast (lots of smoked salmon for me), then with a slather of sunscreen on our winter weary skin we boarded the tender.

We were early enough that we found a couple of lounge chairs in the shade which gave us a good resting spot between swims. The water here is a gorgeous turquoise blue and very inviting, although getting into the water is a bit tricky as there is a lot of sharp coral hidden in the sand, and big rocks placed to stub a toe.

Once we had our fill of sun and sand (and before we got sunburn) we boarded the tender back to the ship. An iced coffee and a shrimp and shaved fennel salad was our lunch. Carm had a Greek salad with a bresola & brie salad with tons of arugula.

You’d think that would be enough fun for one day, but no :-)  We did take a rest in our room to watch a movie in the afternoon. ‘First Man’ was a great movie about Neil Armstrong - I think it won an Oscar.

We dolled ourselves up a bit for supper and then headed to the dining room. We met the couple from Edmonton on our way there so paired up with them for a lovely meal - it was Italian night, which is just one way of saying way too many good things to choose from. I had eggplant parmesan as a starter, and scallops & shrimp for my main course. All very good.

After supper we had just enough time to run to the room to stow our shot glasses and then it was time for the show. Beatlemania was great fun. I think they had the sound system turned extra loud to drown out my singing, because as it turns out, I know all the words to all the songs and somehow can’t help but sing along!

After the show we headed to the stern of the ship to the Vista lounge to catch the ‘Regal Princess ship band’. They were great, with a particularly good horn section, and yeah, the other players were pretty good too.

So here it is now, almost 10:30, and time for bed. Tomorrow is a sea day so no need to get up early, and I don’t expect there will be any more iceburgs!