November 26 - Jost van Dyke, British Virgin Islands

 Today we anchored in Great Harbour off the island of Jost van Dyke, one of the four largest islands in the British Virgin Islands. The island is named after a Dutchman but as with other islands in the Caribbean has been under the control of several nations. It ultimately came under British control. Like so many of the Antilles Hurricane Irma devastated it and stripped it of much of its vegetation. Al and I came here for a day 46 years ago when we took a vacation to St. Thomas and took a ferry for a day trip.

There were a couple of excursions available but I stayed on the ship and if I'm honest I basically did not much of anything.  The weather and temperature were lovely so I spent a while sitting on the veranda, writing in my journal and generally being lazy.  A small cruise ship came in and anchored near us.  It was the Sea Dream II.  I think I've read that it's super-deluxe, but truthfully I wasn't impressed by the exterior looks of it.

We sailed around 1:30 PM; it's a long haul to Miami from here.  The singers did a sail-away show by the pool.  What an incredibly talented group they are.  Chris, our cruise director, sang and he has an awesome voice. Not long after it was time for trivia.  We didn't win but we weren't at the bottom.

Dinner was interesting. I was invited to the table hosted by Katie and Mary Ann, two of the singers.  What nice and talented young women they are!  Mary Ann worked a season at Busch Gardens Williamsburg right down the road from me. Katie lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, so still in  my neck of the woods, sort of. But the most interesting person, or perhaps I should say unusual, was one of the other people at the table.  There were two sisters traveling together and I asked Rose, the one sitting across from me, what she  does.  She  lives in Texas just north of Dallas and she said she had a rather odd profession.  I don't know what I expected but she went on to tell me she repairs accordions. I have never met an accordion repairperson and I can't imagine there are many.  Coincidentally that was the instrument I learned to play since a piano was not something we could take along when my father was transferred. She and her sister seemed like two fun people; in fact they were two of the people who were dancing with me and others when we sailed from Antigua.

There was a show after but all this lazing around is tiring so I headed home to deck 10.  We have two more full days before it's back to the real world. Tonight off to our port side I could see the lights of San Juan and the north coast of Puerto Rico, but we're pretty far off shore. More blathering later...

I apologize but I'm into sunsets so I'm adding a couple here.

This was last night when we sailed from St. Kitts.  Look at how calm the seas were.

A hillside on Jost van Dyke - look at how dry and denuded it looks. It's not what I think of when I think of lush Caribbean islands.

I forgot to mention that  the British Virgin Islands are a big sailboat favorite. This sailboat was zipping along close-hauled toward us.

Our cruise director singing at the sailaway.   Some day I may figure out how to video something with my iPhone but for now I  haven't mastered that.  Trust me, he's very good.

And just one more sunset as we sailed north of St. Thomas

November 25 - Carambola Beach, St. Kitts and Nevis

 Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm not giving any history lesson today. This was just a fun day and that's what I'm going to write about. We anchored just off the southern coast of St. Kitts today near a beach called Carambola Beach.  Ashore there are a building and covered terraces with dining tables.  There are rows of lounge chairs, each pair with an umbrella for shade.  The water is crystal clear; you can stand in water up to your neck and see your toes and it was deliciously cool. I tendered ashore around noon and slogged through the soft sand until I found a nice spot. The sand was so hot that you couldn't walk on it barefoot. There was a steel drum musician playing all sorts of songs.  Bar stewards made the rounds with boat drinks and ice water.  Around 12:30 a zodiac came roaring up towing a surf board and blaring a siren.  It was time for one of Seabourn's signature events, Caviar in the Surf.  Once the board was in waist deep water, stewards gave out caviar and the trimmings and poured champagne.  You had to wade out to partake.

Meanwhile ashore in the pavilion staff members grilled split lobsters, burgers, hot dogs, and laid out all sorts of side dishes. It's a wonderful event and the logistics of getting it all in place is quite remarkable.  I went out in the lovely water and just floated.  The crew had brought the water sports toys again and I thought about going over and signing up for another ride like the one I took the other day, but truthfully the water felt so good that I thought floating was more my cup of tea today. I had slathered myself with SPF55 lotion and I sat in the shade but I still managed to get my shins red.  It must have been the floating that did it. Around three I decided it was time to go back aboard. It was a practically perfect day!   The only thing missing was Al, but I like to think he was there with me in spirit.

I have to tell you about last night because it was a lot of fun too.  We didn't sail from Antigua until 10:30 PM.  After dinner there was a dance party around the pool and when that was finished the party continued at the stern of the ship outside one of the lounges.  Lots of us (yes, me too) danced because it didn't make any difference if you had a partner or not; we were all just having a really good time.  I told Chris, the cruise director, that no one at home would believe that I stayed up that late (after midnight!!).  He told me he would vouch for me if I needed  corroboration.  Remember the song "I Could Have Danced All Night?"  Well, that's sort of how I felt and I knew I didn't have to get up very early today so it was okay. Anyway, in many ways I'll be sorry when Monday rolls around and it's time to get off.  I'll think about that later.  There are still three more days to go.

More later... 

                                                             Dance Party last night

                                 The ship anchored off Carambola Beach

   Carambola from the water.  The black roof in the background is the pavilion where lunch was served.

Caviar in the surf. If I knew how to insert an arrow I would but if you look in the middle right you'll see several guys in white shirts. They are staff members in their uniforms dishing out caviar and pouring champagne. You can see there were plenty of takers!

November 24 - St. John, Antigua

It's Wednesday and  here we are docked at St. John, Antigua.  This the larger of the islands that comprise the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Guess who first found this island and named it.  If you guessed Christopher Columbus you're right.  He named it in 1493 and the name was to pay tribute to the Virgin of the Old Cathedral in the Sevilla Cathedral in Spain.  Antigua means old in Spanish.

British colonists from the island of St. Kitts arrived in 1632 and stayed to develop a major sugar colony.  Antigua became Britain's gateway to the Caribbean. A pretty famous man in British history arrived in the late 18th century to protect Britain's shipping prowess. He was Lord Horatio Nelson, the hero of the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars.

In 2017 the sister island of Barbuda was devastated by Hurricane Irma.  90% of the buildings were destroyed and the entire population was evacuated to Antigua.  All these islands have suffered terribly in the last several years between hurricanes and Covid. As you'll see in the photos below we are the only ship here today. One of the shopkeepers told me when I went ashore that today the Harmony of the Seas was supposed to dock here with her nearly 5500 passengers.  She was sent to another island and they got us with roughly 280 passengers instead.

Well, I did go ashore, but only briefly.  It is hotter than Hades here with not even a slight  breeze. Before you can leave the pier the Antiguan  health authority  takes your temperature as do the  shops  you walk into. There is one street which has the typical Caribbean islands stores - Diamonds International, Colombian Emeralds and assorted camera and what my husband used to call "trash and trinket" shops. I browsed in a few but didn't buy anything,.  Then because I felt as though I would soon melt into a big puddle on the pavement I headed back to  the ship. The ship doesn't sail until 10:30 PM.  We don't have far to go to our next stop and I think  the late stay is  giving many of the crew an opportunity  to  go ashore.  For many it's the first opportunity they've  had to  go ashore since they boarded in the eastern Med.  At breakfast this morning my waiter Oliver from South Africa told me he was going out this afternoon to a South African pub nearby to have a burger and a beer. He seemed excited about the prospect.

                                           Ovation at the dock in St. John

The main shopping street with my ship in the background

     Looking the other direction. Not exactly teeming with people.

                    St. John from the ship

November 23 - Cabrits, Dominica

 This has been a glorious day!  We're anchored today in a little bay off Cabrits, Dominica.  Dominica is properly called the Commonwealth of Dominica and is an independent republic.  It's the youngest island of the Lesser Antilles and is still being formed by geothermal activity. That's visible at a place called Boiling Lake which is the world's second largest hot springs.  The island is known as the "Nature island of the Caribbean" because of its lush environment and diverse flora and fauna.

Because of health restrictions only people on ship shore excursions were allowed to tender ashore.  The tours didn't appeal to me so I stayed on the ship and I had a spectacular day.  First I did something I haven't done in years. I went to the pool and sat in the sun for a while. It's been years since I've done that and it was wonderful for a change. The waiters were walking around with different boat drinks and I had something pink which was like drinking a strawberry smoothie with a little kick.

I had heard that today would be a marina day so I went to check it out. Seabourn opens an area at the stern of the ship and has kayaks, hobie cats (for people with sailing experience), banana boats (three  people ride astride like on a horse) and doughnuts (two people sit in it).  The latter two get towed by fast zodiacs. I signed up to go on a doughnut.  It was just me and when I got in the zodiac I asked if I could stay in that instead of transferring to the doughnut.  The two officers handling the zodiac were happy because if they weren't towing the doughnut they could go faster.  So off we went! They revved up the engine and we took off.  It was exhilarating as we zipped around the bay, did loop-de-loops and figure eights and roared around the ship. I felt like I was flying across the water.  Evidently not many passengers realized they could  do this or else they didn't want to so I spent more than a half hour in the zodiac. I loved every moment as the spray came and we bounced across wakes from the tender.  Wow, it was fun!  Unfortunately I couldn't take my camera so you'll have to take my word that I really did this.

Tonight I'm dining with one of the officers on the zodiac and I'm looking forward to that.  He's the ship's first officer which I think is sort of the equivalent of the First Mate.

                       Sunset leaving St. Martin

             These are two shots of beautiful Dominica

                    It's hard to see but if you look hard you can see a zodiac pulling a doughnut

November 22 - Marigot, St. Martin

I'm playing catch-up today.  We're anchored off the little town of Marigot, the capita; of the French side of the island. The other side is Philipsburg,  Sint Maarten, which is Dutch. Here's a little about the history of this place and how it came to be divided. The island was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage and the story is that he named it St. Martin because it was on the day of the feast of St. Martin. There was a lot of confusion on charts because so many little islands had been found and it's thought that what he actually saw on that date was the island of Nevis, but on the charts the name was given to this place.  So here we are today.  The Dutch arrived on the scene and began mining the island's ponds for salt in the 1620's.  The Spanish were busy occupying other islands.  Back in Europe the French were fighting the Netherlands and some French had made their way to the island.  In 1648 France and the Netherlands concluded a peace agreement and under the terms of the agreement the island of Saint Martin was to be divided.  The local story of how the dividing line was drawn goes like this. Each side selected a walker and the two men  were placed back-to-back on one shore and began walking in opposite directions along the shore.  They weren't allowed to run.  When they met again on the coast that was deemed to be the second point and a line was drawn between the two thus dividing  the island. The Frenchman must have taken bigger strides because the division is roughly 60-40 France to Netherlands but the population is approximately equal.  Most of the cruise ships that come here go to the Dutch side at Philipsburg. In fact I think there are  a Celebrity and a Royal Caribbean ship on the other side but we're here in pretty sleepy Marigot.

I  didn't book  any kind  of shore trip  today.  The majority of them involved sun and sand, two things I don't  do much of anymore. I waited until most of the people went  ashore and then  took the tender. The drop-off place was next to a pop-up market.  I walked through and saw the usual Caribbean souvenirs.  Colorful pareos, postcards, shell necklaces,and t-shirts.  You get the picture.  Away from the water it was blisteringly hot with not a hint of breeze. I felt like I would wilt any moment so after a very brief walkabout I went back and waited in the shade for the next tender.  A group arrived from their walking tour.  They looked hot and tired.  They had made a stop at a French bakery which sounded good, but on the other hand it was the last thing I needed. So I'm back on the ship, catching up  on my blog and cooling off. I set off on this cruise thinking I didn't care if I got off anywhere  and I'm still okay with that.  Being pampered is so nice.

I forgot to mention that Seabourn is definitely taking care of me.  Every night of this leg I've been invited to dine with one of the officers.  One night I was at the Cruise Director's table and one night at the Staff Captain's.  I've declined some because I was dining with new friends. Tonight I'me eating with some of my trivia team members, one of whom is the cruise lecturer.  The dinner with the Staff Captain, a Bulgarian, was very interesting and enjoyable.  There were five of us at the table and we closed the restaurant down.  He gave us a lot of insights into how Seabourn learns about what its passengers like and dislike.  They note things like whether you take cream with your tea or coffee or what kind of cocktail you usually order and sometimes the latter will magically appear when you sit down.  For us repeat cruisers the likes get put in our profiles for the next time we come aboard.  Since things like cocktails are all included, there's no problem if I've suddenly changed my favorite drink or have an urge for something else. I find it amazing that every  single crew member (not the sea crew, but the ones who come in contact with passengers) greets me by name when I walk by or go in a venue and this has been going on for many days now.  I have trouble remembering names so they astound me.  

There wasn't much to report today.  It's a lazy. laid back cruise which I confess is wonderful.  More later.  It's almost time for trivia and I think a nice boat drink sounds good.

 

November 21 - San Juan

We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, around 9 AM. I had forgotten how nice the entrance to the harbor is here.  On our port side we passed El Morro (officially Castillo San Felipe del Morro), an iconic fortress built on the promontory overlooking the entrance to the harbor. Construction of the fort was done in the 16th century by the Spanish. In 1595 El Morro was attacked by Sir Francis Drake who at the time was considered invincible.  He was soundly defeated. A few years later another Englishman, George Clifford, learned from Drake's mistakes and attacked the fort from the land side.  He won and for a few months the English ruled Puerto Rico. Unfortunately for them they succumbed to dysentery and had to abandon the island.

I decided to take a trip up to El Yunque, part of the National Forest system and the only tropical rain forest in the US. There were two little buses, each capable of carrying 25 people but Seabourn never fills more than half the seats. Hence, our bus had 11 passengers. Off we went on a 40 minute drive eastward out of San Juan.  I could not believe the growth since the last time I was in San Juan. There are lots of tall apartment and condo buildings, many more than I recall seeing.  After we bumped along we got off the main road and headed up to the park.  We stopped briefly at a bakery where there was a bathroom available.  The pastries looked delicious, but after 15 days of eating and having had breakfast already, I couldn't try one.

We picked up our guide Richard and headed up into the hills and the forest. Think of forest so lush with all kinds of vines hanging down that you can't see even a few inches into the vegetation and you've got a picture of the forest. Our first stop was a bridge over the Mameyes River, a "wild and scenic" river running through the park.  We parked and walked out on the bridge.  The water rushed down through rocks and rapids.  In the little flat areas there were pools with people cooling off.  Lots of cars were parked along the side of  the road and families were carrying portable grills and coolers down to the banks to enjoy a Sunday barbecue and picnic.  The temperature on the bridge was refreshingly cool. Our guide told us about the flora and fauna.  I can't remember how  many species there were  except for 16 types of Coquis, the little Puerto Rican tree frogs.  i really tuned out when he mentioned that there were several species of snakes in the forest.  It was time for me to get back in the bus at that.

We headed up the winding road on our way to a waterfall and a watch-tower and it was then that our troubles began.  We were in a line of local traffic, cars filled with locals wanting to see the sights.  As we inched forward, we saw there was  a  checkpoint with an official sitting and checking permits to go further.  Most of the cars ahead of us had to make a u-turn and go back the way they came.  Our turn came and the official wanted to see our permit.  Our driver shuffled through papers and couldn't come up with the one showing the correct date, November 21. Call  me foolish,  but  it was pretty apparent that a little bus with 11 obvious tourists with  an official guide didn't just decide on a lark to visit this place. But if ever there was a proof of what happens when you give some people a little authority and it goes to their head, this man embodied it.  But wait, it got worse!

We made our u-turn and drove a little way back to a turnout.  Most of us got out and took some photos; the view was nice.  In the distance we could see Jost van Dyke, one of the British Virgin islands.  Meanwhile our driver tried getting his office to have them e-mail the required document. It was Sunday so no one answered.  On the bus a very elderly lady needed to use the bathroom.  Up by the checkpoint there was a porta-potty so our guide told the woman he would walk up with her so she could take care of her needs.  And now comes the really horrid part of the story.  They walked up there and the official told them "the porta-potty is only for employees" and  a law enforcement officer told the two that they didn't have a permit to walk there and if they didn't leave immediately he would arrest them!!!

When the two got back to the bus, the rest of us decided it was time to go back down, stop at the bakery with its bathroom and call it a day. The lack of basic human kindness by the two officials was really stunning to me.  They certainly weren't good representatives of their island.  We got back to the ship uneventfully.  I did see a little of the rainforest and the river was very pretty so I have no complaints.

We sailed away after dark and passed along the  north coast of Puerto Rico.  The lights in the distance were very pretty but I didn't get any photos.  I've been using my iPhone and to tell the truth,  I don't really like doing it.  During the day in the sunlight I have a difficult time seeing the screen and I just hope that I'm pointing in the right direction.  On the ship I have a hard time keeping the phone still.  I will have to rethink this in the future.  So that's it from Puerto Rico.  Tomorrow we're in Marigot, St. Martin. 

Some photos from the last few days

      Crew salute and farewell party the night before we arrived in Miami

            The Murano glass fish mural over the Observation Bar (my favorite venue on the ship)

                                                        A rainy Miami skyline

                    Sunset off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic

                     The swan and a rose that my wonderful stewardesses Oksana and Susan left for me

                  El Morro fortress at the entrance to San Juan harbor

                           Mameyes River, a wild and scenic river

                                 The view from El Yunque National Forest

November 20 - At sea

It's a beautiful morning  here on the Ovation. We're north of the island of Hispaniola moving at 17 knots with ESE winds of 12.4 mph and the temperature is 82°.  As we approach Puerto Rico from  the  northwest we'll be sailing in some of the deepest waters of the Atlantic known as the Puerto Rico Trench.  At its deepest point the  trench is nearly 27,500 feet deep!  It exists because it's at the boundary of two plates, the Caribbean which is moving east and the North American which is moving west. NASA has found that the area beneath this trench is so dense that it actually has a gravitational pull on the ocean which dips a little here. I wonder how they measure that.

Now that you've had a geology lesson for the day I'll make my report.  Yesterday we began this cruise's trivia contest.  My new team is named Abandon Ship and we did okay yesterday.  We have two PhDs in English on the team so naturally not a single question was asked about anything to do with literature.  Nonetheless they do seem to play for fun, not as if it's a bloodsport.

Yesterday I went to the lecture about rum.  The lecturer (one of my teammates) is entertaining but there were some inaccuracies.  When she spoke about  the Jamestown colonists she talked about them drinking beer despite there being "pristine lakes and streams" nearby. What can I say, she's from southern California and probably has never been to Jamestown.  The lecture ended with all of us having a toast with a jigger of rum. It made me remember why I stopped drinking rum a long time ago.

Yesterday there was a British Pub night before dinner.  The band is great and lots of feet were tapping. One brave couple got up and danced and they were very good. I suspect they've taken dance classes.  The assistant cruise director was making a drink called a Pimm's Cup which is evidently popular in the UK in the summer. He made one for me and I thought it tasted lovely.  I have no idea what was in it and I haven't googled it yet.  After the show I had dinner at the Cruise Director's table.  He was very excited because it was the first time they have been able to have hosted tables since everything shut down last year. It was a nice evening, but I think conversation is always a little stilted at those tables.  Afterwards I came back to my cabin because the show was the Latin Quarter which I saw on the last leg.

I guess that's it for now.  I wish I had some exciting photos to post, but the sea looks pretty much the same every day.