Thursday, April 25, 2013 – Basseterre, St. Kitts – Partly Cloudy - 83F

A beautiful but humid day in Basseterre, St. Kitts.

The last time we were here, it was a Sunday or a holiday and the entire town was shut down.  Today, we will have a better chance of seeing this city.  The ship (the only one) is docked at Port Zante – a shopping center complex.  St. Kitts is quite picturesque with volcanic peaks predominating.  St. Kitts and Nevis combine to be an independent republic.

St. Kitts Eastern Peninsula

 

The Island of Nevis

 

Ellen and Basseterre in the distance

Port Zante Shopping Area

When you pass through the gate separating Port Zante and Basseterre, you enter a quaint – albeit rundown – town somewhat reminiscent of New Orleans.  There are many locals in bars already and several – mostly women – in gray business suits (my guess is they work in one of the many banks in this small town).  There is an unarmed police presence.  The people in the shops are very friendly and helpful.

Beautiful downtown Basseterre

Church (ca. 1922)

The town contains a large park – Independence Park – that is full of trees (the apparent lack of water is reflected in the lack of green).  The center of the park contains a fountain (no water).  Water availability might be a problem on this island.

 

Independence Park

Independence Park Fountain

We circled back toward the Shopping Zone to get a picture of the Clock Tower that graces the main street leading from the pier.

Basseterre Clock Tower

Back in the Shopping Zone, we were searching for both shade and WiFi and both were difficult to find.  One thing we did find plenty of was the Zombie Pirate – an animated skeletal pirate present in front of many of the stores.  The one below is a good example of this local treasure.

While most of the WiFi was secured, one router – Rockys Linksys – was open and belonged to one of the shops.  No password needed.  The connection was iffy but we were able to download our e-mails.  We even came back later in the afternoon to recheck communications from back home.

The sail away from St. Kitts was again scenic with Nevis coming into view. FYI – the cloud cover over Nevis’ Peak never dissipated during our entire stay. 

St. Kitts Sail Away

 

Nevis – Sail Away

We also passed by an almost perfect conical island (inhabited?).

   

Dinner in the dining room was once again very good.  We have arranged with the Assistant Maitre D’ to have Salmon available every night – either blackened or grilled (the blackened version is very good). 

Tonight, the ship is starting its crossing and saying goodbye to the Caribbean run – this is celebrated by a singing and dancing show by our waiters.

 

Goodbye to the Caribbean Show

On our way across the Atlantic

The headliners tonight are another cover group for the Temptations. We opted for quiet reading time instead.

The clocks move forward tonight as they will for the next four nights. 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 – Castries, St. Lucia – Partly Cloudy – 85F

We are the only ship docked in Castries, St. Lucia today.  We are not docked in the city pier, where you can walk right out into the town, but across the harbor. 

Adventure OTS Docked

Access to the town is a healthy walk that takes you along the harbor, over a bridge, and through several marketplaces. We are going to try to find the area of town containing the natural history museum (WiFi there is the price of a Coke Zero).

While we are not close to town, the ship is docked at a typical Caribbean Shopping Port.  We checked it out (prices much too high) on our way to Castries City Center.

Castries Shopping Port

  

On the bridge to Castries

Civic pride is of prime importance in Castries as indicated by the sign below.  FYI.  Signs like this were found all about the town.  People either drink too much or there are two few loos.  I wonder if the sign can be misinterpreted such that the signs remain clean while the area under the sign not so much.

 

We were unsuccessful in our WiFi search and couldn’t find any St. Lucia caps either.  Back to the ship for lunch in the Windjammer – the Windjammer on the Adventure of the Seas has the best Tuna Salad at sea (in my well traveled opinion).

Across the lagoon beyond the Shopping Center lies the St. Lucia Airport.  From Deck 4, you get a real good look at planes coming and going from the island.  I never get tired watching planes take off so I did that most of the afternoon along with listening to my audio book.

 

Plane ready for takeoff

Marina and Lagoon from Deck 4

The sail away from Castries was very scenic.  I was trying to capture the Pitons – twin volcanic peaks and a major stop for tourists – as we sailed away.  I did get them but from a distance.

   

The Pitons – visible in the distance

After dinner and on our way to the show, we got complimentary neck and back massages from a Spa therapist.  Very nice…

Ellen went a step further and participated in an acupuncture demonstration.

 

We found a seat in the Promenade and listened to the Melody Duo.  The picture below captures them singing “Hallelujah”. Our cruise is now officially complete.

The Headliner tonight is Ollie Spencer – a Brit Comedian.  To be honest, I barely understood what he was saying and his jokes were very British oriented.  The little islands of laughter had to be coming from fellow Brits.

Pedometer: 6990 Steps; 3.31 miles; 376 calories

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 – Philipsburg, St. Maarten – Mostly Sunny – 85F

Beautiful day in St. Maarten…

Simple plan today – take the water taxi to Philipsburg, shop a little, walk a little, and spend some time in the spas in town.  We also need to find WiFi and check communications.  There are some spots in town with unsecured routers – we hope they are still there.

The last few times we have been here, there have been as many as eight ships docked – today, the Adventure OTS is the only cruise ship in St. Maarten. The normally packed streets will be pretty empty.

Adventure of the Seas Docked

Beautiful Philipsburg Beach

Our plan is executed perfectly and we even stop at McD for an ice cream cone ($1.00).  Ellen’s Kindle Fire HD is able to register for a free WiFi service (my phone can’t) so we do catch up on e-mails,etc.

We go back to the ship for a late lunch and then spend the remainder of the day on Deck 4.

Tonight is formal night and I am able to get away with nice slacks, shirt, and tie.  Some passengers are  in the dining room sans tie so I feel OK about it.  The dinner in the dining room is good. 

Showtime tonight features the singers and dancers in the first Production Show - “Ask Me to Dance” featuring the dance couple from Ukraine.  The show features some apocryphal songs coupled with energetic dancing and singing.  An enjoyable show.

 

“Ask Me to Dance”  Production Show

Did some reading – I am listening to two Audio Books “Cemetery Dance” (the final Pendergast Novel by Lincoln and Childs) and “The Professional” the 38th Spenser Novel by Robert B. Parker and read by Joe Mantegna.  A third book, “The Narrows”, a Harry Bosch Novel, will not get read this cruise – only 14 day rentals.

Monday, April 22, 2013 – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI – Partly Cloudy – 83F

 

Breakfast in the Windjammer – waffles, cottage cheese, jelly, and coffee – standard fare.

We are not going to walk the mile and half to Charlotte Amalie but rather check out the shopping complex adjacent to the pier.  No need to search for WiFi since we are still technically in the US and can call and text.  The service is spotty this trip but we are able to communicate with everyone.  The shopping complex is pretty large and at one point, we crossed the street and checked out some of the real shops near the port.  Lots of construction and traffic and not as quaint as Charlotte Amalie.  Back to the ship for lunch.

Most of the day is spent on open deck 4 and the Solarium.  The views from both locations were great – it is a beautiful day in the Caribbean.

 

 

Port Side View

Starboard Side View

The Carnival Valor, that we met up with in San Juan, has an earlier departure than we do, so we get a nice shot of her departing.

Carnival Valor departing Charlotte Amalie

Melody Duo (UK) performing on Deck

The headliner tonight is magician, Martin Lewis, also from the UK.  His magic, though familiar, had some added components and he was quite funny for a magician. 

Sunday, April 21, 2013 – San Juan, Puerto Rico – Partly Cloudy – 85F

Embarkation Day

After our typical breakfast – we arranged for a cab to take us to the port.  The port is not far away but not walkable.  The cab ride costs $12 plus tip.  The embarkation port is across the bay from the ports where ships dock during a cruise.  This made sense since the latter ports do not have a terminal for check in.

We chatted with a member of the Entertainment Staff as we boarded and she told us the Cruise Director was Clodagh O’Connor, the same HelloClo we sailed with two years ago on the Jewel of the Seas.  A marvelous plus.

The process here is a bit different – instead of porters running out to meet you as you get out of your cab you queue up and turn your bags over to porters.  We find out that we are in Cabin 9343 and relinquish our bags and head for the Windjammer Cafe Island Grill for lunch.  The layout of the Windjammer on the Adventure OTS is a little different from other Voyager class ships.  The far aft section is occupied by a bar and pre-poured soft drinks (iced tea and lemonade) stand.  Food is found on long buffet areas – there is virtually no waiting since the food areas are redundant.

My lunch  - tuna sandwich, salad, and pizza were very good – a good sign.

After lunch, I went to visit the Maitre D’ in the Dining Room (there are three dining rooms – all named after classic composers- Mozart, Strauss, and Vivaldi.  I asked the Maitre D’ for a table for two (we were at Main Seating – a miracle in its own right but at a table for eight) and he said we could have table Table 274 (right next to our original table – 275) and that he could make it for two (taking away two settings).  Miracle or miracles and no Jedi Mind Trick needed.

 

Royal Promenade

Carnival Valor docked in Old San Juan

Peek-a-boo Bridge

From the Solarium on Deck 12, we could see the area of San Juan where our hotel was located (look closely – right near the dome shaped building) (below).

San Juan Cathedral

Old San Juan

Relaxing in the Solarium

NCL Gem arriving in San Juan

We don’t depart until 8:30 PM – at 4:30 PM, we met with Becky Smith, the Activities Manager to go over the Program for the Cruise.  The Destination Speaker is Ben Sodek, and the other Special Interest Speaker is Megh Raj Goyal (Health and Gardening).  I am scheduled to speak every Sea Day.

Dinner in the Vivaldi Dining Room (Deck 3) was great – we have two fine waiters and the food comes very quickly.  The food is good, we have an unobstructed view of the ocean (thanks to a no-show table for 12) and the coffee is served hot.

The night time sail away is very nice (our first).

The Carnival Valor and NCL Gem – Sail Away

Adios, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Welcome Aboard Show consisted of Clo and Becky explaining the activities ahead, a terrific set by a comedian named Rodney, and a brief number by three of the RC Singers.  Guest speakers were asked to sit in the front row and I got a chance to get up and wave when introduced.

RC Singers performing – Welcome Aboard Show

Our room is OK with a nice shower.  However, even though we are on Deck 9, there is a vibration in our room (maybe from the engines since we are in the aft section).  We will see how that works out.

Saturday, April 20, 2013- San Juan, Puerto Rico – Mostly Cloudy – 83F

The whole day was spent reading on the balcony. 

While sitting on the balcony, we heard a ruckus down the streets – it turned out to be a small demonstration to legalize marijuana.  Mostly students escorted by several motorcycle cops. 

Marijuana Demonstration

What can I say – it was incredibly relaxing to do nothing.

Caribbean / Transatlantic Cruise – Adventure OTS – 4/19/2013 – 5/7/2013

4/19/13 – Travel Day

Up at 4:45 AM for our 6:30 AM taxi pickup leading to our flight – AA1985 – at 8:30 AM.  We are giving ourselves lots of time because recent heavy rains have made travel more difficult.  As it turned out, we did not have much traffic at all.  What we did have was a long wait in security (even though we were in priority security) because there was a single individual checking everyone in – a casualty of the “Sequester” maybe.

We got to the gate just as our group was called so, for the first time in a long time, there is no photo of our aircraft.

Don’t ask to explain American Airline’s AAdvantage Program because it costs us fewer miles to book a Business Class ticket than a coach ticket for this flight.  Nice, roomy, seats plus mimosas and Bailey’s along the way.  Even the cereal and banana breakfast was great because our attendant also came up with biscuits (one of my faves).  Just great…we are doing this again later in the year (First Class being fewer miles than coach – thanks, AA).

We had to fly through the storm system than dropped tons of rain on Chicago the day before so we were in our seats for most of the flight.  Since the flight attendants were still up and about, I knew it wasn’t going to be major chop – still it was hard to get that spoon from the cereal bowl to my mouth.

Half-Way There

 

Over the Atlantic Ocean (in the Bermuda Triangle)

 

 

Approach to San Juan Airport

The approach to SJU was very scenic – I haven’t flown to Puerto Rico since I was working.  We caught a cab to our Hotel – fixed rate of $19 plus charges for passengers and suitcases ($1.00 per).  The San Juan Park Hotel is a boutique hotel right around the corner from the Caribe Hilton in an oasis within some questionable neighborhoods.  I could tell this by the two armed guards stationed at the Subway about two doors from the Hotel. 

We are in Room 302.  The hotel is on a busy street and we might have to deal with street noise.  To be honest, my biggest concern – based on past experience – was giant tropical bugs.  I can say up front that the San Juan Park was nice and clean and bug free for our stay.  

Room 302

 

Who’s the Guy in the Mirror?

Caribe Hilton and the Atlantic Ocean

Fort San Geronimo

I have always liked the Sizzler Restaurants going all the way back to my LA days.  As we checked out the area around the hotel, we noticed a Sizzler in the distance.  We crossed two bridges to get there – only a 10 minute walk.  It turned out the meal was pretty much a disaster even though our waiter was very good and did his best to deal with the situation.  After sending back most of our meal, we told the waiter we would take them to go.  He packed up two full new meals for us, which we had the next day.  All things considered, we came out ahead.  However, my perception of the Sizzler may have, perhaps unfairly, changed for the worse.

View from the Sizzler

The Condado and Atlantic Ocean

After dinner, we read out on our room balcony.  It was still in the high 70s at bedtime.