Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 5 – St Kitts
December 1, 2010
Yesterday was our second port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 8:00 AM we docked in the port of Basseterre on the island of St Kitts. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 9:00. Once again, we don’t have any excursions planned any just intended to walk around town and do some shopping. The weather remains good with the temperatures in the mid-80s but a lot of humidity – at least for us Arizonians.
We enjoyed a late breakfast on the back of the ship again – it has almost become a tradition. I cannot remember the last time we had breakfast on a cruise in the dining room. After breakfast, we headed ashore and did some shopping the local shops near the port. Shopping has been the main ‘attraction’ for us on these port days. We bought a few gifts for family and friends.
We also walked around the old town a bit and saw some colonial era architecture and preserved buildings. We didn’t go too far because the town had a very dirty appearance and the smell wasn’t the best. It wasn’t all that attractive. I assume if you took a taxi or tour to more distant locations, you might have seen nicer stuff, but we are taking a very laid back approach to this cruise.
After touring the town, we returned back to the ship for a light lunch and to get ready for the sail away. We had an early departure from St Kitts at 3:00 pm in order to make our way to the next port Barbados. For this sail away, we had been invited to the helipad to enjoy the sail away. The location on the very front of the ship offered some very unique views of the island and port as we left.
We then went to the Captains Club cocktail party and enjoyed a glass of wine and meeting some new folks. After the cocktail party, Suzanne went to the theater to see the production show while I went to Cellar Masters lounge to sip on a wine instead. Suzanne joined me after the show and said it was okay. She thought they keep the dance choreography too simple (likely because of being on a show though that hasn’t always been the case in the production shows).
We once again had a very nice dinner. I continued my practice on this cruise of trying to stick with only a couple of courses. This night, I had the French Onion soup and Chicken Florentine. Both were, as usual, very enjoyable. Suzanne went with four courses starting with a prosciutto and melon ball appetizer. She then enjoyed the French Onion soup and finished with mushroom sauce over egg noodles. For dessert, she again had her traditional mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc) with some splenda.
After dinner, it was once again karaoke night. These are not my favorite nights, but are certainly near the top for Suzanne. Last night she sang a large number of songs as they called up her several times when they didn’t have any more requests. She even sang duets with a guy from Denmark (Phantom of the Opera) and the karaoke host (Endless Love) along with three solos (New York New York, Independence Day and Heartbreaker). She is anxiously looking forward to the singing start competition on Thursday.
With karaoke complete, we retired for the night around midnight. We will probably sleep in late again and then tour Barbados in the late morning. We are also thinking of having an early dinner on the balcony in the room as we sail away to the sunset tomorrow evening.
Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 4 – St Thomas
December 1, 2010
Yesterday was our first port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 7:00 AM we docked in the US Virgin Islands at the port of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St Thomas. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 8:30. We enjoyed a late breakfast on the back of the ship.
We finally got off the ship about 10:30. We had no excursions planned and simply strolled around the town. We did plenty of shopping and walking around just enjoying a leisurely day. After about 2 hours, we returned to the ship for a light lunch.
After lunch, Suzanne went to the cabin for her customary 2 – 3 hour afternoon nap. I went to many of my perches atop the ship and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and ocean views. The island really didn’t resemble any other island we have been to on cruises before. It seemed to be a playground for the rich as there many mega million $ type homes but no real discernable industry or support base. There were also many huge yachts in the harbor just sitting empty.
We again enjoyed the Captains Club cocktail party in the evening. It’s one of the best things Celebrity does for loyal customers. After a couple of glasses of wine, we went to the Equinox Theater for the night’s entertainment – a magician. This kid was all of 25 but very highly regarded in the industry. The show started a bit slow, but certainly built steam. There were no big grand illusions, but a lot of card tricks and sleight of hand magic. He was very good. And he did a good job of integrating stories, music and the crowd into the act.
After the show, it was off to dinner. Suzanne had lobster ravioli, cream of chicken soup and Churrasco Steak. She thought it was pretty good. I had the cream of chicken soup and Veal Medallions with Fettuccini and a cream sauce. The flavor was pretty good, but the medallions were a tad tough and thicker than I thought they should have been. The cream of chicken soup was excellent!
After dinner, we had plans to go catch the comedian Steve Caouette once again. However, we had about an hour so Suzanne wanted to stop by the Dancing with the Stripes competition. This is the cruise ship version of Dancing with the Stars where passenger contestants are paired with a ship’s officer for a dance competition. We got there just in time to find out they were one guy short, so I had the pleasure (or was it displeasure) of being asked to be a male competitor. Every ounce of my brain was yelling NO, don’t do it, but somehow I was convinced to be in the show. As I have no dancing ability, I figured it would a short night and we could still make the comedian.
I was paired with Nastasja from Slovenia. She was the ship’s event coordinator officer. For the competition, the twelve couples were sent to the dance floor and had to do three different dances right there on the spot. We had no practice time or get acquainted time. The three music types we had to dance to were Meringue, Jive and Waltz. Oh, I was pretty bad. Of course, Suzanne got the whole thing on video, so I will never get to live that down! Three judges voted on their favorites and the bottom four were brought back to the stage for the audience to vote to keep one alive. Of course, my partner and I were in the bottom four. The audience vote came on who to keep alive came down to us and another couple but they got the nod, so I was eliminated. Good thing, as it was almost time for the comedian.
We hurriedly made our way to Celebrity Central to catch the comedian. Once gain Steve Caouette was absolutely hilarious. I am going to have to find if he has any videos or anything available to check out. This, his third and final show of the cruise, was the best. The crowd was in laughter the entire time and once again, most of the show was improvised based on audience discussion and interaction. Too bad he won’t be doing anymore shows!
After the comedian, it was just past midnight, so we called a night. Tomorrow we visit Basseterre, St Kitts on our second port of call. So far, this has been an absolutely great cruise!
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