Sunday, December 31, 2017 – Amber Cove, Dominican Republic – Partly Cloudy – 82F

Port Information.  Amber Cove was built in 2015 by Carnival Corp as a way of opening up the Northern part of the Dominican Republic to Cruise Ships. It is located on the Bay of Maimon near the town of Puerto Plata. Before this port opened, cruise ships had not called on Puerto Plata in 30 years. Puerto Plata was discovered and named by Christopher Columbus during one of his four voyages. Puerto Plata’s beaches are on the rocky Atlantic Ocean. While agriculture was a major part of the DR economy in the past, today it is tourism.

This is our first time in Amber Cove and only the second time we have visited the Dominican Republic. 

Sunrise in the Dominican Republic

We are both on morning tours today.  Ellen’s tour is very early so we both had room service – I went off menu and ordered two pancakes – I got my pancakes but there were four of them – my two scrambled eggs turned into four scrambled eggs. Who know how the orders are read and interpreted. In any event, the pancakes were good.

Amber Cove is a nice complex and there are several ships here today, including a Costa cruiser. 

View from the Pier

Entrance  to Amber Cove

The area is lush and very jungle like. 

Vegetation Galore

Beyond the entrance, there are new shops and restaurants for cruisers to visit. 

Amber Cover Shops

We met our tour busses just beyond the Port facility.

I am on “The Best of Puerto Plata” and Ellen is on
“Tastes and Flavors of Puerto Plata”.

Our first major stop was Parque Independencia (“Independence Square) in the Civic Center of Puerto Plata.  As we made our way to the Square, I could help but notice how many young people were on the streets.  There were also a lot of motorcycles zipping through the town (we were told that bikes are a popular form of transportation in the Dominican Republic).

Parque Independencia

Independence Square is surrounded on all sides by stores and bars (lots of bars).  Pastel colors and Victorian architecture are a feature of many of the buildings around the square.

Cervesa Stations and More

From Puerto Plata, the tour stopped at Ft. San Felipe.  Ft. San Felipe was constructed in 1577 to protect Puerto Plata from pirates and privateers  Today, it is a museum containing military items from the 18th and 19th century.  The complex overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

Ft. San Felipe

The Atlantic Ocean from the Fort

From the Fort, the tour headed back to the Port.  Lots of views of the Atlantic Ocean including an offshore statue of Neptune, God of the Seas.  We also drove by a massive landfill loaded to the max with garbage. 

Neptune Looking Over His Dominion

Scenery Disrupter – Land Fill

My tour only ran two hours so I was back by lunch – I went up to the Boardwalk Café and ordered a bean veggie burger which I brought down to the King’s Court (so I could get a salad).  We have sailed on QM2 several times and this was the first time I had gone up to the Café.  I’m not even sure I knew it existed.  In any event, the veggie burger was very good.

I spent the rest of the afternoon out on the open deck waiting for Ellen to return.

The sail away from Amber Cover turned out to be an event as lots of passengers gathered on Deck 7 to watch the departure.

Looking Back at the Pier

The view of the Sail Away from my deck chair

Tonight is both Formal Night and New Year’s Eve so we tried to dress for the occasion.

The ship was all decked out for New Year’s Eve.

Britannia Dining Room

Grand Lobby Balloon Drop

We had dinner in the King’s Court Italian Corner – Cesar Salad, pasta with mushrooms in cream sauce, and a pizza with onion and mushrooms on each half. The Best.

Showtime tonight was “Rhythm of the Night” – Latin tunes and dancing – we couldn’t make it to the end because of the volume of the music.

We went to the Queen’s Room to check out the balloon drop and New Year Eve’s Ball.

Queen’s Room Balloon Drop

We stayed until 10:30 PM (because of the loud music) and then headed to our room.

We only made it to about 11:30 PM (not bad for us) but it is already 2018 in most of the world so we’re OK.

HAPPY 2018

Saturday, December 30, 2017 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – Cooler – 75F

A nice day at sea – a nice change after several ports.

I resorted to taking an antihistamine for my PND so I am feeling out of focus.  Fortunately, this is a non-thinking day.

At 11:00 AM, we went to hear Sir Ivan Lawrence – again no new information but he is entertaining.

Today’s lunch was the Pub Lunch in the Golden Lion – I ordered a double serving of the Fish and Chips – great lunch (the best of the cruise) along with a half liter of ale. Bad combination – antihistamine and ale.

The lectures continued after lunch.

At 12:15 PM, we caught a little bit of Gary McKechnie in Illuminations.  The lectures was about Elvis Presley – expected that this topic would draw a large audience but attendance is still pretty small.  Maybe not a super lecture oriented group of passengers.

After some time on the deck (cool and breezy), we attended part of the 3:30 PM lecture by Robert Neal Marshall.  This one, also sparsely attended, was the “History of the Newsreels”

At dinner tonight, only one of two pre-ordered mushroom soups arrived.  For some reason, dinner took a long time but the risotto and pistachio crusted salmon were OK.

We attended Showtime featuring British Comedian Roy Walker – he was a hoot.

Friday, December 29, 2017 – Bridgetown, Barbados – Partly Cloudy – 84F

Port Information. Barbados is the furthest east of the West Indies Leeward and Windward Islands. The island is only 21 miles long by 14 miles wide. Barbados was founded in 1627 and gained independence from Britain in 1966. The people on the Island are called Bajans. Bridgetown in the capital of Barbados boasting a population of around 100,000 or about a third of the total population of the island.

This is our second stop in Barbados in as many cruises.

We are both on tour today and early so we ordered room service again. I asked for three scrambled eggs today and I got at least that – along with Special K and bananas, no one is going to go hungry this morning. The tour runs through lunch so a bigger breakfast was in order.

The problem today is the number of ships here – NCL Gem, Windstar Pride, P&O Adonia, P&O Azura, Oceania Riviera.

NCL Gem

Oceania Riviera

The shuttles, which take you from the ship to the terminal are overloaded and slow (because all the equipment the ships are using are blocking the road). We were advised to make the 10 minute walk to the terminal building so hundreds of passengers marched in single file to the terminal building (using the sea wall path, which has a railing). An easy walk for the able and a tough walk for the mobility challenged).

As we started our hike to the terminal, I got a nice (albeit photobombed) shot of QM2.

We are both on “Best of Barbados” and today we are using full sized busses. My bus was completely full (36) and I was squished in the far right corner of the back seat. Our guide in Antheia and she is very easy to understand and also likes to sing an occasional song. The first stop on our tour is the Gun Hill Signaling Station – we have been by here several times on past excursions but never actually stop at the Station itself. Today, we are able to get the view from the station – looks over the flat Barbadian countryside.

Gun Hill Signaling Station

Next up is “Orchid World”, a nature preserve featuring all sorts of air plants. I started off down the hill with our group but the angle of the road was a problem for my back and the warning twinge sent me back up to the patio area near the entrance. While Ellen went through the flowers, I took in my complimentary rum punch (which was good).  I did get a few nice pictures of the vegetation before heading to the patio.

The Ramp that Told me NO

Banyan Trees

Coral

Luckily, there was a lot of stuff to see on my sort walk to the patio.

Our final stop was Sunbury Plantation – a cane sugar plantation and now a museum of sorts.

Sunbury Plantation House

Cannon in the Front Yard

The house last belonged to the Melvillles and there are creepy mannequin versions of the Melvillles sitting in the living room (Mr. Melville looks a lot like Dick Cheney).

Super Creepy Melville Statues

I took a cursory look around the house and then went to the back yard and got another complementary rum punch (this one even stronger than the first).

From the plantation, we headed back to Bridgetown – the tour did give everyone a feel for the island’s vegetation and terrain. On our return, we saw some of the main town’s sites including the statue of “Buster”, a key figure in the emancipation of the slaves on the island.

Back on the ship, we ordered room service snacks – a mushroom quesadilla and a tuna melt – they were hot and tasty and just enough to get us to dinner.

I heard from Dave, the Production Manager, that there had been another change in the schedule and that I was not on tomorrow’s program and that I would be delivering the final two talks on the last two sea days.

We are now permanently at Table 103 – we pre-ordered some veggie items off the special menu – I had the roasted pepper soup (very good), another yummy flatbread, and portabella mushroom with ricotta cheese main dish. There was lemon meringue pie for dessert and the coffee was good this evening.

We passed on the headliner tonight – Stephani Parker – a Whitney Houston tribute singer. We had seen a number of these acts so instead we went up the Commodore Lounge on Deck 9. When the show started, the place emptied out so it was the quiet evening we were looking for. I have been sneezing a lot on the ship and the drip has turned into a sore throat so I am glad I do not have to work tomorrow.

Thursday, December 28, 2017 – Basseterre, St. Kitts – Sunny – 82F

Dawn – St. Kitts

St. Kitts was sighted by Christopher Columbus in Voyage 2 (1493), who named the island after St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers (and not himself as our guide told us). 

We are both of semi-early tours so we ordered room service. There was a little mix-up in the order and my scrambled eggs turned out to be the equivalent of half an egg. I did have oatmeal so I wouldn’t starve.

We are docked at Port Zante along side the Grandeur of the Seas.

We are on “The St. Kitts Scenic Railway” tour this morning. We went on separate minibuses (Deon was our driver-guide) on a mini-tour of Basseterre and surroundings (45 minutes) before hopping on the train.

Departing – From Through the Windscreen

 

A Catholic Cemetery

War Memorial

We passed a village called “Old World” by our guide, who told us that this was the first British settlement on the island.

First British Outpost

I spotted Brimstone Hill in the distance as we made our way to the train hop on point.

Brimstone Hill from the Van 

The train was an old narrow gauge machine pulling about four cars (Ellen and I met up in Car #2).

 

Leaving the Station

On Our Way

The train was super squeaky and noisy so it was hard to hear the narration – she sounded really good. The train supplied either Pina Coladas or punch as we rolled along the Caribbean and Atlantic Coastlines. The drink was good so I asked for seconds and the “bartender” made me another.

We saw lots of sugarcane fields (even though they are not currently producing), caught views of neighboring Nevis.

Nevis from the train

Brimstone Hill – a UNESCO World Heritage Site - also came into view. Brimstone Hill dates back to the 17^th century and was the site of a siege imposed by the British on the French.

We also got a nice look at the dormant volcano, Mt. Liamuiga (3793 feet).

Mt. Liamuiga

The Atlantic Ocean waves was clearly rougher than the Caribbean.

The Atlantic Ocean

The train ride took about two hours and ended up just outside Basseterre. The ride back took just about 10 minutes. We decided to just go back to the ship instead of wandering around Basseterre for a while (it was hot). I ran into Ellen at the entrance to the pier, where she was tending to a woman who fainted due to the heat. The guest was drinking and feeling a little better. I flagged down the guy who was shuttling people and told him we need to get the passenger to the QM2. The guy was charging $1 a person for the two minute ride – I picked up the tab for us and for the passenger. The passenger was able to make it up the gangway.

We got a late lunch and then out to the open deck.  From there, we were able to get good views of Basseterre and Nevis.

The sail away from St. Kitts was super scenic.

Ellen’s discussion with the Maître D’ seemed to work because we were assigned to Table 103, which had no neighbors and was very quiet. We had pre-ordered some veggie items – mushroom soup and a pizza flatbread for me. I had a pasta with creamy tuna sauce – not bad. Ellen tried the haddock. Overall, the meal was good and a quiet one as well. We pre-ordered veggie items for tomorrow’s meal.

Tonight’s entertainment was “Singers in Concert” featuring the Cunard Singers plus both orchestras, the string quartet, and the harpist. The singers were fantastic both individually and as a group. We have seen this show before but the song list seems to have changed. A very entertaining show.

Singers in Concert

A really nice day in St. Kitts.

Seas are smooth and the room is quiet.