Five Saints and Barbados Too!
Who wants to hear about our latest vacation cruise? How many want to? Hold up your hands! Cool, we want to tell you ALL about it! But if you’re not up for a travelogue, please have a nice day and we’ll see you the next time around. Bye-bye!
Ok, all the interested folk are all here now, right? Ready to hear about our adventures on the beautiful Carnival Fascination and our sail to the exotic “Saint” islands in the southern Caribbean plus Barbados? So let’s get cracking…
Saturday - Travel (An Umbrella Sky)
It seems that all our vacations start LONG before the crack of dawn. In fact, this one would have probably worked about the same if we had NOT gone to bed the night before. Judy and Tony and I had a 6 a.m. flight out of Cleveland on the day before the cruise, a Saturday. To catch this flight we arose at 2 a.m. for our drive to CLE. And, of course, going to bed before midnight is difficult for us. So, with a whole TWO hours of sleep we were up and at ‘em! Our flight route was CLE to BWI (Baltimore), a four-hour layover, then the four-hour flight south to SJU (San Juan, Puerto Rico). We arrived in San Juan around 3:30 p.m. and the taxi got us to the hotel we’d booked around 4. My brother Chuck, who was cruising with us this year, traveled from his home in San Jose, California and was waiting for us at the hotel. We exchanged greetings and hugs, then adjourned to our awaiting digs for more chitchat. This hotel was more an odd assemblage of tiled hallways, strangely placed stairways, doors opening to open skies and bedeviling changes in the floor levels from some rooms to others. It was, I think, originally adjoining properties that had been cobbled together to make a dozen or so oddly shaped rentable apartments. Ours had two bedrooms (one up another baffling staircase) and a large main room. The kitchenette, a bathroom and our bedroom were off the main room, all with toe-catching small steps up. Judy and I took one bedroom, Chuck took the upstairs one and Tony had the convertible couch in the main room. Supper that night was a block walk to the north on Calle San Francisco at a quirky Mexican place with very good Margaritas. After the meal, Tony and Judy went back to the hotel while Chuck and I walked some blocks west on Fortaleza Street, the street our hotel was on, to see the umbrellas. Some time ago, an artist had mounted what seemed like hundreds of multi-colored umbrellas above the street at about the 20-foot level for a number of blocks. It was an impressive sight! We stopped to have a beer and watch the tourists gaping at the noteworthy scene. I imagine the sight was much prettier in the daylight, which had passed when we arrived. We walked back to the hotel (you’ll notice a LOT of walking done this week) and got ready for bed. Another odd thing. Judy’s and my bed was SO high off the floor that we had to get a step stool for her to ascend into it! Even I had to do a bit of an ally-oop to get up there! And it was so VERY soft. Tolerable but not something I’d like to sleep in every night.
Sunday - Embarkation (A CD named Brittney)
Up, shower and off to breakfast again on Calle San Francisco. We had earlier decided, since the ship was only several blocks away and all downhill, that we would walk and pull our luggage to her. We made the foot journey with little difficulties and soon arrived to check in at the dock. Embarkation went smoothly and soon we were aboard our floating home for the week. The Carnival Fascination is one of Carnival’s smaller ships, 71,000 tons and built in 1994 – 2054 passenger capacity, but is plenty large for new sailors like my brother and son. Plus they’d upgraded this ship a few years earlier so it had many amenities that even some of the bigger ones had not yet received. For comparison, the Carnival’s big boy is the Vista at 134,000 tons – almost double the size. After boarding we ate at Guy’s Burger Joint, one of the new amenities I’d mentioned before. It was named after the famous (?!?!) chef Guy Fieri from Food Network on TV. The burgers were GREAT! We were able to go to our staterooms at 1:30 like usual – they had all been cleaned from the previous passengers by then. Our luggage had already been delivered to the rooms, so we all unpacked, ready to start our adventures. Muster drill was at 5:30 and sail-away was at 6. Supper was in the Imagination Dining Room (there were two dining rooms aboard) and our servers were named Bagus, Dennis and Antariani, all skilled in their craft. We would see them for all our dinners this week. The crew of most Carnival ships is VERY international. I think our ship alone had 60 nationalities in over 1,000 crew. Afterward we adjourned to our balconies (the divider had been folded back so we could enjoy this amenity together. Then it was the “Welcome Aboard” show where we met our vivacious Cruise Director (CD) named Brittney. Judy and I had attended LOTS of these shows so it was a little repetitious for us, but all quite new and enjoyable for Tony and Chuck. We were back in our staterooms a little after 11. We could feel the ocean rocking us a bit, but I always found that motion very relaxing, so sleep came quickly for us.
Monday – St. Thomas (Taxi Love)
Up at 7 a.m. and shower. Breakfast in the crowded Lido buffet (Named the Coconut Grove.) Left the ship and met our tour guide for the day named “Taxi Love”. I’ll bet his birth certificate did NOT say that, but it fit him well. Our vehicle was a maybe 25-passenger open jitney thing, painted garishly and advertising the company we booked – Sunny Liston Tours. Our first stop was halfway up the mountain to a lookout where you could see the entire capital city of Charlotte Amalie and the pretty harbor. A beautiful sight. Then, after Taxi’s humorous speech about what we saw there, we continued upward to Mountaintop. There we saw the other side of the island including the gorgeous Magen’s Bay Beach where we would swim a bit later. We all enjoyed one of their “famous” banana daiquiri’s and shopped a bit at the huge gift store there. We also noticed damage to one of the radio/TV antennas nearby from the hurricane a couple years ago. The tower was twisted and bent clear down to the ground! We would notice other damage on all the islands during our trip – some much worse than others. Then it was down the mountain again on the twisting roads to Magen’s Bay beach for a couple hours. Tony, Chuck and I enjoyed the warm blue water for about an hour and a half, bobbing up and down in the salt and jawing away. Judy stood guard over our belongings. (She’s not much of a water baby!) There were a couple iguanas we saw scurrying about here and there – a common sight on most of the islands. Then back to the ship while Taxi had the reggae/calypso/island music again blasting out of the speakers. Bought a bottle of my favorite rum (Goslings Black Seal Black Rum) at the Havenside shopping area to take home. Hit the ice cream cone machine and the pizza place after returning onboard to assuage our hunger and need for something cool. Off to the MDR (main dining room) at 6 for supper – I had lamb shanks – quite good – and a decent glass of wine! Apple pie ala mode for dessert. Took a bit of a nap back in the room. Tired from the swimming I guess. Tony, Judy and I went to the comedy club for the 10:30 show. Be aware, gentle reader, that there are LOTS of things to do onboard all the way from 7 a.m. to the wee hours. From exercise classes, all kind of sales, bingo, casino contests, shows, many music venues and lots, lots more. Plenty of picking and choosing needed to do what you want.
Tuesday – St. Maartin (Under de Mango)
Up and at ‘em early again. Breakfast in the buffet and off the ship and on to the Bernard’s tour at 9:30. Our tour conveyance this time was a larger bus, 30+ people give or take. Two nations, Holland and France share this island. The port in Phillipsburg (the capital) is on the Dutch side. Our first stop that day was across the national border on the French side. This stop featured a beautiful seacoast view and had gorgeous scenery. The driver gave us a taste of the “national” drink, a guavaberry cocktail. Tasty and refreshing! Then a quick stop at an iguana place – people could exit the bus and feed a pack of wild iguanas. The reptiles were very eager to eat the offered “lettuce-leaf-on-a-stick” from the hand of anyone brave enough to approach them. Then we had a stop at a nice beach for an hour and a half. Very pretty place. The four of us did not partake of the water this stop, still smarting a bit from our sunburns on Magan’s Bay beach, but sat in the shady French bar, had some libations, felt the warm breezes and watched the ambiance of a cool beach bar on St. Martin. Very laid back! At the appointed time we adjourned the establishment and wandered down the street to await our bus’s return. It was very hot and sunny so we took advantage of a large mango tree’s shade by the side of the road. I thought to myself – how exotic! In de shade of de mango as a native might say in their native Creole. Then the bus dropped us in Marigot – the capital of the French side – to shop and wander around for a while. Chuck and I stopped at a pastry shop and indulged in one of their goodies. The French are well known as GREAT pastry makers as we can attest. This particular area was where we had stopped four years ago on a cruise and where our driver had then let us join him in a picnic put on by his taxi/bus driver’s union. I bought a flame orange, yellow and black tropical shirt from a street vendor lady, and yes, I DID haggle. It’s expected! We then drove back to the Dutch side near the island’s airport where we watched several flights come into the airport over Maho Beach. This is quite the tourist attraction as the planes come in VERY low over the beach on their approach to hit the runway properly. Chuck was very happy to see this place as it was the one spot on the cruise he, for sure, wanted to see! Then back to the ship as the day was starting to wane. Bought a souvenir or two then enjoyed the, by now, obligatory ice cream cone and chitchat after returning to the Fascination. That night was our first “cruise elegant” dinner, so we all dressed a bit more formal than before. I wore the BRIGHT tropical shirt I had bought! Mushroom soup and shrimp cocktail for appetizers and crème brulee for dessert. We had some pro photographs taken in our “good” duds after dinner, then back to the rooms to change into something more comfortable. St. Maartin/St. Marten showed us lots more of the devastation from the hurricane – there were open areas near the highways where there were piles and piles of cars and boats and rubbish blown about by the storm, still awaiting pick up and disposal. We were also shown many half and fully sunken boats in the waters near the roads. It was a sobering time in our normally cheerful vacation.
Wednesday – St. Kitts (Sore Legs and Another Hot One)
We had breakfast at the Blue Iguana Bar and Grill on the boat. Fresh breakfast burritos whose ingredients we picked ourselves. Yum! This island was one of our “break” ports. We had no formal tours booked and just planned on relaxing while there. Nothing against St. Kitts which is itself a beautiful island. We exited the ship and took a small bus to the other dock where our ever-present companion, the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas was moored. They were the bigger ship in port so, apparently, they got the best dock. We walked around the shopping venue there and shopped a bit. It was very hot that day. Chuck and I had a Carib beer to help cool off a bit. We also watched a Rasta man with three monkeys having pictures taken of him and his pals. Lunch that day was in the buffet for Judy and I, Chuck and Tony went back to the Mexican place and Guy’s Burger Joint respectively. I napped some as I was feeling every one of my years that afternoon. Supper was fried chicken – the one entree that trip that was less than stellar. The appetizer, cold peach soup, and the dessert, bitter and blanc made up for it as they were great! Went to a comedy/magic show that evening which was quite funny and entertaining. Judy was a tad under the weather, so she adjourned to the stateroom after dinner while the other three of us went to the show. We had a busy day coming, so it was an earlier night.
Thursday – St. Lucia (In the Shadow of the Pitons)
It was another sunny day in the southern Caribbean. Imagine that! Just love it! Off the ship at 8 for an 8:30 excursion pickup. We were again going with the Spencer Ambrose group for this formal excursion – our last of the cruise. We’d gone with Spencer the last time on St. Lucia and I wanted to share the island with my son and brother with this supplier’s tour. Our tour director this time was a gentleman named Neptune. Yep, truly. When I mentioned that a man named Small was our tour guide our last time on the island, he replied that Small was his brother! Spencer Ambrose is truly a family operation. (His daughter guided us off the ship.) Our conveyance this time was a new-ish Audi and the four of us were the only guests. That was very nice! Our first stop was at a gas station to fill up the Audi and buy us some St. Lucia bananas. The bananas were wonderful and the gas was $16 a gallon! Yikes! Down the road he stopped at a banana plantation and gave us a talk all about bananas – how they grew and how they were harvested. Most of St. Lucia’s crop goes to Great Britain. Later in the drive, after leaving the shade of the banana plants, we saw a man by the side of the road carrying a big snake. I was intrigued, so Neptune stopped and we all took turns holding the snake and taking pictures. All of us except Judy, of course. She stayed in the car and observed the proceedings through the rear view mirror. She’s NOT a fan of snakes and that was as close as she wanted to get. We found out a bit later that the boa constrictor we’d held had been wild just a day or so previously. It was by NO means tame. Cause for thought, at least in retrospect I guess. Soon we stopped at a neat vantage point to see the Piton Mountains and take some photos. These are old volcano cones with their cindery feet in the ocean and have been designated a World Historic Site. I bought some black soap at a small market at that vantage point. It’s supposed to be good for “skin infection, spots, pimples, itchy feet, prickly heat, dandruff and hair lice”. American dermatologists should get hold of this stuff! Miracles I say! Our next stop was at the volcano we visited last trip. The viewing area of the thermal vents and bubbling muds was up and down a LONG set of steps, which us guys traversed. Again Judy opted out of the exertions. The sulfur smell was quite evident in the air all around the area, compliments of the volcano whose caldera we were actually in. After leaving there we stopped at another little market alongside the road and tasted some locally made rum – banana and coconut. Quite good! And some local hot sauces – unfortunately too hot for this hombre! Then we descended the mountain to the town of Soufriere (French for Sulfur air) where we caught a speedboat to Jalousie Beach at the foot of the Pitons. Chuck and I did some snorkeling while there and saw a multitude of fish along with some black sea anemone and a little octopus. Really a nice place to putter around in the water. Spencer fed us a picnic while we were at the beach with jerk chicken and other various island foods. We left on another speedboat back to Soufriere to hook up again with Neptune and our Audi for the hilly, windy ride back up the coast to the town of Castries and the cruise ship pier. Again an ice cream cone was imbibed on the ship to cool our innards and Noxema slathered onto the burned patches on our hides to cool our outsides. I sat on our balcony, watching the islands drift slowly behind us at sail away and thought deep thoughts before once again becoming pragmatic and going to the MDR for supper. Again great service from Bagus, Dennis and Antariani. Ate too much again also. Most of us were really zonked by the exertions of the day and we were in the sack by 9 or not much later. We’re REALLY party animals!
Friday – Barbados (Bajan Day)
A lazy day for us. Up quite late – 9-ish and breakfast after 10. (We slept a LOT to recoup from yesterday.) Tony, Chuck and I rode a shuttle to the pier stores to walk around a bit. We’re again moored at the secondary dock here in Bridgetown, Barbados. Bought some goodies for the gentleman and lady watching our dog. Went outside and drank another local beer – a Banks – and watched the crowd of tourists around us along with the local Bajans taking care of business. Then back to the boat and lunch in the buffet – pizza for Judy and I, Guy’s Burgers for Chuck and Tony. Jabbered a while as we ate, then adjourned again to our rooms for a nap. I walked the ship a bit that afternoon alone and took some pictures. I also sat on the deck above the Lido and watched the action below me, digging and contemplating life in this unique venue. Dug the sunshine, the sea, the people and how lucky I was to be there at that time. It felt very Zen-like. It’s HARD to remember to be thankful for times like this, but we ought to. For a short period our lives had changed from the hum-drum mundane same-o, same-o to something totally cool and unique. I wondered about the stories all those 2,000 people we were sailing with could tell, their hopes and fears and why they had decided to ride this same ship as us at this same time. I tell myself to FOR SURE be thankful for this time, this ship and how wonderful it was to share it with family and how doggone LUCKY we all were. However, this was the time of a cruise where thoughts began to drift homeward. Soon this everyday miracle, this wonderful ship and all the memories therein will be in the past, fading and becoming like morning mist in the rising sun. But home will be ever the sweeter for seeing it again with refocused eyes, as a stranger to whit, to be amazed by the home stuff again and to enjoy it with renewed vigor. Lots of stuff to do when we get home and I think we’ll all be ready for it. Then, off to supper! Filet mignon! Very nice. Good meal chit-chat. We split up afterward – Chuck and Tony here and there, Judy and I off to the Divas theatrical production which was so-so at best. Went to the comedy club at 11:30 and sat with Tony – he’d seen all four shows that night and had made friends with the comedians and the m.c. Some days I don’t know who this kid is! Stomach a bit off tonight – rich food? Wine? Mal de Mer? Other? Off to dreamland around midnight.
Saturday – Sea Day (Man Overboard!)
We had a bit of excitement this morning. Had a “man overboard” signal go out all over the ship around 7ish along with three big blasts from the horn. We didn’t know exactly what the signal was for right then, so I turned on our TV and checked out the channel that shows where the ship is on a map, its direction of travel, sea depth, etc. I saw we were going THE WRONG WAY. We should have been going north, back to San Juan, but were heading south, back our wake. Uh-oh! Then we heard the loudspeaker announcement of a person in the water. Soon afterward another announcement told us he had been picked up by one of our boats. He was VERY lucky if you ask me. We attended the sea-day brunch in the MDR and had our breakfasts served to us for a change – omelets, steak-n-eggs, macaroni n cheese, etc. A nice feed. Tony and Chuck ate LOTS. We then picked up our bag tags to put on our luggage. The bags would be put on the pier by number so we could easily pick them up at disembarkation. Judy and I went to the bedlam of the T-shirt sale on the Lido deck then. All their t-shirts go on sale the last day of the cruise and most of us knew it. Three for $25. Even better than last cruise! Then back to the room to begin packing. We attended a Q and A session about shipboard stuff in the theater that afternoon and later a bingo game. Went to supper for the last time and shared some tips and hugs with our super servers. We also sang the sad song – Leaving on a Fun Ship and shed a tear or two. (Cruisers will know what I’m talking about.) Saw another comedy show and used our free drink coupons we got for being frequent cruisers. It was going to be sad leaving our great ship Fascination. It is always that way at the end of a cruise. Ship life gets into you blood QUICKLY, sunny days, being waited on, a new country to explore every morning and smiling faces all around you.
We left a nice tip for our room steward Wayan for his exceptional service – ice bucket filled, towel animals at attention every night, bed turned down immaculately and his always smiling face and KNOWING our names from the first day on.
Sunday – Travel
We waited after breakfast in four easy chairs on the Promenade Deck for our luggage number to be called. We could disembark at that time. The process went very well and U.S. Customs was super quick. We bade adios to my brother Chuck outside the terminal (he would spend another day in SJPR to catch his flight to CA the following morning) and took a small bus to the airport. A LONG wait for our flight north which was at 4:05 p.m. Finally off for the long run up to Baltimore, then the quickie Cleveland flight. At last we were back in CLE. Then the hour-long drive home. We got there about 1:30 a.m. and were snoring by 2.
Afterthoughts:
A darn good trip.
Perfect weather. Perfect sea conditions. Very nice, albeit warm excursions.
Gotta remember the snake!
Exceptional service on the ship, as always.
I believe it was a great family vacation for all of us. Families do squabble from time to time and ours is no exception, but all becomes forgiven soon enough.
The glitches: The toe-stubbing steps at the San Juan hotel, the miles and miles of walking – on the ship and off. The tight slots in the casino (no real surprise). The upselling – on the ship and off. Very easy to ignore.
Street beggars here and there.
And one little rain shower in San Juan on Saturday.
We’re already planning our next one!!!
