Caribbean Cruise 2010 – Day 7 – Dominica

Yesterday was our fourth port of call on our 2010 Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox. Around 8:00 AM we docked in the port of Rousseau on the island of Dominca. We planned to go ashore late morning and rose about 8:30. Once again, we don’t have any excursions planned any just intended to walk around town and do some shopping. Today was the kind of day I feared for a Caribbean cruise. It was hot and the humid was oppressive. Just walking ashore made the sweat start dripping off. Actually, the heat was bearable, but the humidity was terrible.

We went ashore and did a bit more shopping and then walked around the town and along the shoreline. This port was a bit cleaner than some of the other ports but still had a dingy kind of feel to it. The P&O Cruises Ventura was also in port. It’s been some time since we have seen a P&O Cruises ship in the same port. After about two hours ashore, we went back onboard the ship.

We enjoyed a light lunch (hamburger) again and I proceeded to the lawn club for another couple of hours of ocean and island staring while Suzanne grabbed a quick nap. Tonight was her singing star competition onboard the ship and she wanted to be rested up.

As the sail away time approached, I went to the Sunset Bar to grab a good seat for the sail away while Suzanne prepped for the competition. She joined me about 10 minutes before we left but could only stay for a few moments before she had to run off to rehearsal. It was a very nice and memorable sail away.

Prior to dinner was the Celebrity Singing Star competition. That is Celebrity’s version of American Idol. Basically, they watch the karaoke and other singing events and grab the best singers for a one song sing off with judges. Suzanne had been selected based on her karaoke performances. There was going to be 5 singers competing tonight. First place was dinner for two at the specialty restaurant of their choice.

Three of the singers stood out as exceptional (including Suzanne). The other two singers were both good singers too. The crew commented that this was the best passenger singing talent they had ever seen together in one show. Suzanne sang Don’t Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl. She was a bit limited since their system couldn’t play here discs, but this was one she had been working on recently. The winner, however, was a lady from England that sang Wind Beneath My Wings. The top three all got standing ovations from the packed Equinox Theater crowd.

After the singing competition, it was off to dinner. This was one of those nights where multiple entrees stood out for me. So, I skipped all the other courses and ordered Spaghetti Carbonarra and a Veal Chop. I love spaghetti carbonarra and on my business trips to Rome, I used to hunt out the best of the city. And, I find it too hard to pass up on Veal when its offered. I skipped all the sides and both were quite good. Suzanne had a crab appetizer, cream of mushroom soup and the prime rib for dinner.

After dinner, we had planned to go up to the pool for a Miami themed party and then follow that up with another late night comedian. However, we were actually feeling quite tired and decided to a call it an early night. We went back to the cabin and watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother and went lights out a bit after 11:00 – early for us!

Tomorrow is our last port of the cruise in St Maarten. We plan some shopping and lounging around on the beach.