December 29, 2021 – Castries, St Lucia – Partly Cloudy – 81F

We are docked closer to downtown today and we are here with Crystal Serenity and Seven Seas Explorer.

I got a call from Tanya indicating that the ship would not be stopping at Mayreau, in the Grenadines because of COVID issues and would I do a lecture at 10 AM on the upcoming extra sea day.  I went to her office and suggested “Cold Cases Solved” which was part of the first cruise and not on this schedule. 

Other than the itinerary change, an ordinary day, with breakfast in the Windows Café (waffle combo). I went up with Ellen to get her breakfast a little later in the morning.

I tried the special “Sandwich of the Day” in the Windows Café for lunch.  It was a veggie wrap (mostly eggplant) grilled on the panini maker.  I dipped it into Thousand Island Dressing to give it some more taste.  It was OK but not special.  I had the onion rings with it and a diet coke.

We spent the day on the open deck which would have been great were it not for the fact that today was "touch up" day.  Several painters painted over scuffs and bare areas on the white railing.  They were using some kind of oil based marine paint and it was very pungent.  We were only saved by the stiff breeze across the deck.

While out on the deck several passing rain showers wetted down the outer parts of the deck – we were under a lifeboat, so we stayed dry.  Across the harbor, where we docked last cruise and where the little shopping area was located (and the St. Lucia sign), there were no ships today.

From Deck 5, I witnessed an usual event. An NCL ship was approaching Castries and then turned and did not enter the harbor.  

In his evening announcements, which went to all the cabins, the captain said that three crew members, who were serving the COVID patients were now positive and was an additional passenger, who reported to the med center with mild symptoms.  He reemphasized the importance of masks and asked for assistance from crew and passengers in reminding fellow cruisers if they were not complying.  Additional mitigations were put in place – limits on how many people can ride together in an elevator and stricter social distancing in the dining areas.  COVID protocols have definitely kicked in.

We came up a with a good plan for tonight’s White Nights Party.  There was nothing on the menu and we were tired of the standard Discoveries Menu, so we got about eight tuna brioches and two Caprese focaccias from the Mosaic Café and had them along with Diet Cokes for dinner in our cabin.  

Tonight, because of COVID protocols, there were two separate White Night sessions at 6 and 8:30 PM (for Muster A and B, respectively).  At 8:45 PM, we went up to Deck 10 and got some seats opposite the stage.  It had rained and most of the attendees were sitting under the overhangs along the edges of the deck.  Many of the songs were different – “The Fourth Element” was the backup band at the start and then the Quest Orchestra took over. The rain and maybe COVID kept the attendance low.

There were the standards – “Dancing in the Streets” and some songs I didn’t know.  Tanya sang a song in a non-operatic key and Justin did “Love is in the Air”.  We had some cookies for dessert and after about an hour went back to the room.  Considering the situation, the crew did a good job of putting together the evening.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

December 28, 2021 – Roseau, Dominica – Mostly Cloudy – 79F

Room service (waffle combination) arrived at 7:00 AM.  All good as usual.  One thing I am missing is eating my breakfast and watching the sea go by.  And I also like to read something when I have breakfast.  While it might be safer to eat in the cabin, I have been pretty good at finding seats that are safely distanced from other guests.  The only view I could get was from the cabin.

I went to the Cabaret Lounge for my third talk, “Forensics and History: The Search for the Unknown Titanic Child”, which was scheduled for 9:00 AM.  When I got there at 8:45 AM, the doors were closed and no AV guy was present.  After a few minutes of waiting, I called the Operator who connected me with AV.  He actually arrived while she was calling him.  I set up quickly. There were about 20 people present because, as I suspected, COVID testing was underway in the Living Room. 

The talk ran 47 minutes and I felt that the audience was engaged.  One person had to leave because she was scheduled to be tested at 9:45 AM.  I broke my setup quickly (carrying my power chord loosely and my computer and case separately) and tried to answer a question from a passenger while on the run. I took a seat in the back to put my stuff together and watched Chuck setting up.  He was having some kind of problem as he and the AV tech were staring at his computer and there was nothing on the big screen.  I left before he started.  (Note: Tanya left a phone message that I had run over my 50 minutes this morning – I spoke to her later before the evening show and told her that I time all my talks and I try to keep them all under the time allotment, which I will keep doing.  I think I squared things with Tanya.  Chuck was trying to blame me for a technical glitch that caused his late start.  That's one thing I would never do - complain about another speaker).

I met Ellen up on Deck 5 Portside and we stayed there until lunch.  I got a little carried away and took a lot of pictures of Roseau as well as another iconic Ellen picture.

We got nice seats up on the Windows Café veranda.  I ordered a Beyond Burger with extra coleslaw (creamy and tasty) and thousand island dressing (goes well with the Beyond Burger).  Along with the always good onion rings, this burger was the best lunch of the cruise. 

While we were eating, the captain came on the PA and said that testing had resulted in two positive cases (confirmed by PCR) and that meant that everyone would be tested today (and not tomorrow for some).  To add to the sense of urgency, people would be called by deck number and Deck 4 was the last deck called and we got the word while out on the open deck.  There was very little wait up there (Tanya was handing out the accessioning bar codes) and Ellen and I got tested very quickly.

We stayed out on the open deck for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn’t long before we both got our NEGATIVE results back via email.

Dinner was in the Discoveries Restaurant – I had spaghetti marinara (special ordered) along with a Samosa and a Cesar Salad.  Ellen had the standard Salmon and a green salad.  We opted out of dessert in the restaurant.  There were new COVID protocols in place in the restaurant – no breadbasket at the table, for instance.  Our server was dispensing rolls on request. Something was going on.

I did get a nice sunset picture from our table window.

While in the restaurant, the captain broadcast the results of the COVID testing.  There were 12 confirmed positive results and all but one person was asymptomatic (mild symptoms in the last person).  We settled on dessert up in the Patio – frozen yogurt and toppings – we had our coffee and tea up there as well.

We went to Tom Seals' second show, which was as entertaining as the first one.  Not as much boogie-woogie as I thought there would be.

 

So, it was quite a day, and we are now back in our room.

December 27, 2021 – Philipsburg, St Maarten – Party Cloudy – 76F

The ship did not have to use all her engines to make the short shop to St Maarten so the vibration and noise in the cabin was reduced.  That helped a little in the sleep department. 

I watched the approach to St Maarten and the docking process to the Philipsburg Cruise Terminal - complete with my reflection - from our cabin window.

We are actually on tour today – “Orient Beach Rendezvous” – has a meeting time of 9:15 AM so we have to order room service.  Our 7:00 AM delivery included two eggs and two pancakes plus oatmeal for me.  Ellen ordered a basket of pastries and two eggs.  Some of those pastries would be eaten on the trip if we got hungry.

We met in the Cabaret Lounge and left just about on time.  As we waited to walk over to the bus pickup area (where you would get the cabs), 

I could see that we were joined at the port by the NCL Epic and NCL Escape, the Symphony of the Seas, the Jewel of the Seas, and the Windstar Wind Surf. I guess this port is dealing with the pandemic.

When we approached the port, I saw another ship out in the bay; it looked like the Grandeur of the Seas, 

and I guess it was either anchored or waiting for clearance to dock.  A later check indicated that it was not scheduled to dock at Port St Maarten. 

We had about 20 people in our group, and we got in the bus and socially distanced as best we could. Masks were required on the bus and guests were very compliant.

The bus seat didn’t lock in the upright position and the pitch was Jet Blue like.  We headed through the city of Philipsburg 

and made our way to the French side of the island.  In about 20 minutes, we arrived at the Orient Beach complex – besides the beach, there are condos and rentals behind a gate.  

We had our own area at the beach and Ellen nimbly got two loungers right next to the water.  The loungers were distanced, and we were outside with a good breeze, so we were OK.  I tried to read but the light made it difficult to see either my Kindle or my phone. No matter, the views of the beach were enough for me - the people watching was a bonus. 

At 11:15 AM, our guide fetched us for the included lunch at the KKO Restaurant.

  

The group was getting chicken but the chef made us a special grilled Mahi Mahi with rice and veggies.  The first course was watermelon-tomato gazpacho, 

which was an unusual orange color but was very good.  While the portions were not very large, the fish and veggies were very good – the plain rice not so much.  

I had a Caribe beer - one of my favorite brews while in the Caribbean -

with my meal and Ellen had the rum punch.  There was an open bar, but we did not really take advantage of that.  For dessert, we had a fruit topped custard which was very good.  

The restaurant, part of the KKO Beach complex, clearly catered to the affluent folks who came to stay at the beach.  The servers were young and tanned and all had an adorable French accent so it was like being at a beach in France.

After lunch, we went back to the loungers – I still couldn’t read so I watched the waves and people.  Orient beach is known as a clothes optional European Beach but there were only a couple of people exercising that option and they were some distance away up the beach. 

Before we left Orient Beach, I got a nice panoramic shot of this beautiful venue.

At 2:30 PM, we got back on the bus and took a very bumpy ride back to the port – it was the same road but for some reason, it just seemed more uncomfortable.

Once back on the ship, we got cleaned up and went up to Deck 10 Aft for dinner. Many of the other ships had left giving us a great view of the Cruise Terminal.  Later, after it got dark, someone put on a light show on the hill to the right - a big time party I would imagine.

Tonight is the “Destination Celebration” Event and because we have more people on board for this second cruise, there were two shows – 5:45 and 7:45 PM.  We were scheduled for the second show.  Last night we ordered Kosher Meals and Ellen used her Jedi Powers to get them to deliver the meals up in the Windows Café.  Ellen had chicken schnitzel and I had beef stuffed cabbage.  Our dinners were disappointing for several reasons (for example, there was no sauce with the stuffed cabbage).  I did have another frozen Sangria which was good once remade to be sweeter.  We stayed up on Deck 10 and decided that we would not go to the show as we had already seen it.  

Instead, we went down to the Den and listened to Valentyna do her piano set.  She was very good tonight, and we got a very nice and distanced table at the back of the venue (it was the first time I could actually see her play and sing - our past seats blocked our view of her playing). 

While we were at dinner, the Wind Surf moved to the berth alongside us.  It is actually a bigger ship that I thought (I had only seen in at a distance).  Ellen and I did some laps on Deck 5 before heading to the room.  We saw the "Soul Sisters" departing the ship prior to our departure from the island.

There was a notice in our rooms that we would get tested for COVID a couple of days from now (I am assuming that the rest of the ship would get tested tomorrow).  This would be our mid-cruise test to see how our protocols were working.

I have an early talk tomorrow before we get to Roseau so I put out the room service form again.

It’s not far to Dominica so I hoping that it will be a smooth and vibration free ride.

December 26, 2001 – Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, USVI – Mostly Sunny – 79F.

Another crazy and restless night. The room was comfortable – sleep was just not there.

The joy of port days - the Cafe opened earlier this morning and the excursion folks did not make the venue any more crowded than usual. I had my usual breakfast "waffles plus" breakfast plus a view of the sail in.

At around 9:30 AM, Ellen and I went back to the Café for her breakfast and my muesli and coffee. This will change the meal schedule for today.

We found great loungers on Deck 5 port side facing the city.  We had views of superyachts, including the superyacht, "Milestone", 

and countless catamarans (seems to be the vessel of choice).  I also got to see several aircraft take off from the nearly International Airport.  We are docked behind the HAL Eurodam and the Allure of the Seas and its 6000 souls are docked at Crown Point Marina behind the hills in the distance.

“Without Fail” is starting to sound familiar again and then it doesn’t.  My final assessment is that I have not read it. 

It's nowhere near iconic, but I actually got into a photo on Deck 5.

We had a very late lunch up in the Oceanview Café.  I was brave enough to try the pizza, which turned out to be OK, along with some tuna on a French roll.  Diet Cokes made it all taste better. 

I also took another panorama shot of Charlotte Amalie but the less inhabited side.

Right in the middle of a page, my Kindle froze.  When I restarted it, my book was not there.  I turned on the Kindle Wi-Fi and tried to reload it and after several attempts it reloaded.  I am hoping that that little anomaly is a one off.

We forgot to order our Kosher Meals yesterday (we were upstairs for dinner and couldn't speak to the Maitre D) so we are eating off the menu tonight in the Discoveries Restaurant.  I had the Cream of Celeriac Soup and the Salmon with a baked potato and some creamed spinach.  Ellen also had the Salmon with veggies.  The "always available" dinners are just fine.  Bonus:  We watched the sail away from our dining room table.

We passed on dessert in the Dining Room since the social distancing is becoming iffy.

We had some coffee and tea in the Mosaic Café until the Cabaret Lounge opened.

The show tonight features pianist and Elton John emulator, Tom Seals.  

The volume was a little loud but, while I could not understand a word he said (a Brit), he is an excellent pianist and does a pretty good Elton John cover.  His “Piano Man” cover was not very Billy Joel like but OK.  He spent a lot of time going over some personal stories including how he and some other passenger on this ship got stuck on the Azamara Pursuit in March 2020 for six weeks looking for a port to disembark. Oh, yes, we ordered White Russians which were good.  We also wore our masks for almost the entire concert – a lot of people in that room drinking so essentially a mask-free room.  Personal NOTE:  The eating and drinking NO MASK loophole is just that.  People drink a bit and then do not put on their masks again.  Also, there are a few “freedom noses” on this ship and there is no official reminder or policing of that.  Not paranoid yet – just cautious.  Speaking of masks, the captain is his pre-push talk, also reemphasized the need for mask usage.  So, it’s not just us.

We went back to the room, which seemed to be at a comfortable temperature.

We have an excursion tomorrow we are hoping to get some sleep tonight.