Ahoy from Bridgetown, Barbados!

We have plenty of company in port today – 5 other ships are here… Ocean Village, Crystal Symphony, Carnival Destiny, NCL (can’t read the name from here) and Pullmatur Cruises (same reading problem!) – the dock is FULL!

I’m going off to the beach in a little while but my brief foray into the cruise terminal was enough to convince me that BIG isn’t better – as I was getting some sundries in a shop I heard someone say “ get some dollars for the shuttle and tips”. When I returned to the dock and walked down Seabourn’s red carpet one of the staff offered his arm and escorted me to the gangway – yes Dorothy “There’s no place like home!”

This morning when we arrived we “parked” immediately in front of the terminal just a few yards from the entrance. It was fun to watch the other behemoths arrive – it was a busy day for the tug operators.

I caught up with my walk training today – doing about 6 miles on deck 8 – many laps – it’s a wonder I’m not dizzy! I had the “docking” entertainment to speed the time and my ipod provided additional entertainment as I listened to “World Without End” the sequel to “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett.

Last night we enjoyed dining in our suite. At lunch Tom had a bit of an upset stomach so we decided eating dinner close to “home” was a good idea. It’s the first time we’ve had the ensuite service and it was as good as advertised. Our first course was delivered along with a lovely bottle of wine. When we were ready for the next course we called room service and each selection arrived quickly. The linens, silver, crystal etc were the same as in the dining room and it was just as tasty consumed in our robes watching a DVD.

Unfortunately they can’t deliver the entertainment in the same way and I’m told we missed some wonderful performance but all the same we’re well fed and happy for the experience.

Tonight we plan to dine in “2”. We don’t leave Barbados until 11 PM so it should be a nice quiet spot for dinner once all the other ship traffic departs for their next destination. I’m sure some of them, or others will be in St. Marin in two days but we will anchor on the French side so the crowds should be minimal.

We will have some deck entertainment because of our late departure. Should be a nice change of routine. I’ll try to write more about it tomorrow. Until then, Happy Boxing Day from Barbados – the shops are closed here but I’ll bet there a line at Macy’s in NYC!

Editing to add link to a few random photos:


http://gallery.mac.com/ogram1/100286