November 5 - St. Kitts

When I last wrote I was deciding what to do for dinner.  I wound up going to have the Japanese dinner in the Colonnade with Aimée, the cruise director, and her friend Rhiannon who is visiting this week on the ship. (I think it’s so nice that some staff are allowed to have family or friends come on for a short while.)  A few years ago if someone had said I’d choose to go and eat Japanese food I would have said they were nuts. I have evolved and I find I really enjoy it.  The two young women were delightful dinner companions.  Aimée is from Shropshire, England, wherever that is, and Rhiannon is from Wales with an interesting accent.  

Yesterday morning we anchored off Frenchman’s Cay, a tiny island 1 mile wide and 500 yards long attached to Tortola, BVI, by a short bridge.  Aside from a few houses on the hillside there is nothing on the island but beaches and bars.  I’m not a beach person anymore (I hate sand and I avoid being in the sun for very long), and I can get all the booze I want on the ship. So, I, along with a surprising number of my fellow passengers, stayed onboard. I did not much of anything constructive; I answered a few emails and got a couple of phone calls.  That leads me to say that I think it’s marvelous that with the ship’s Wi-Fi I can make and receive phone calls and they are like making local calls.  How neat is that?  I remember a time when Al and I went on a cruise and we rented a satellite phone for a month so we could stay in touch.  Now with Starlink and other satellites, voilà we’re connected.

These two photos are Frenchman's Cay. You can see there's not much there.

Last night’s show was Aimée’s solo show.  She has a great voice and I loved her selection of songs, more so than the guest entertainer the other night.  She did a duet with her friend with whom I dined yesterday.  They sang Somewhere over the Rainbow, with Aimée singing in English and Rhiannon in Welsh.  After the show I went down to the club as usual and there were actually other people there.  Some nights I’m by myself.  There was a nice couple named Olga, originally from Russia, married to Carlos, originally from Cuba, and Olga liked to dance too.  A mother with a twenty-something daughter named Katie came in and danced as well.  I do get up and dance by myself, but it’s always more fun when other people do too.  I left very late and didn’t turn the lights off until after two.

We’re now anchored off Carambola Beach on the island of St. Kitts.  This is the place where Seabourn does their beach barbecue. I’ve done that several times and today is an abbreviated  one – no Caviar in the Surf – which is usually included.  Once again I decided to stay on the ship.  The last time I did go there were lots of flies buzzing around attracted by the food and then there was that pesky sand.  Instead I’m catching up with more things I need to take care of.

This is St. Kitts.  Look at this house perched on top of that hill.  Their view must be spectacular!

Today is my new friend Linda’s birthday.  It’s funny how sometimes you meet someone and after a short time you feel like you have known them forever.  That’s how it’s been with her.  We think a lot alike and we’ve had some good conversations.  We’ve been on the same trivia team too.  Sadly, she’ll be getting off in Miami this coming Saturday, but I’m sure we’ll keep in touch.

Random photos.  These are Vuksan from Belgrade and Elrose from Philippines who take care of me in Guest Services

Tonight there’s going to be a deck dance party and I’ll be thinking of my friend Helga.  She would be the first one to get up and dance.  Well, that’s enough blethering for now.  Aside from today being Linda’s birthday, it’s a pretty big day for us Yanks.  I’ll be surprised if we know the outcome by day’s end. We shall see.

I love clouds so I just threw this one in.