St. Lucia

On Thursday evening, after our day in Antigua, we decided to dine in the l'Obelisco restaurant which is at the stern of the ship on the 13th deck. The disguishing feature about this place compared to the "normal" restaurants on this ship is that there is a charge for the dinner, the food is prepared and serviced with a higher level of service and quality, and it requires a reservation. It took an hour to get a reservation by phone (the line was busy) and when we finally got our reservation confirmed &arrived in the restaurant, we were surprised to find that we were the only people there! Later, the waiter told us that the restaurant does very little business in the Caribbean or on transatlantic cruises. Only when the ship spends the summer in the Baltic and Norwegian coast does it fill up. The waiter surmised that a contributing factor is that the sun sets "early" in the Caribbean (about 6:30pm) which then obscures anything that could be seen out the picture windows. On the other hand, when the ship is in Europe, the sun doesn't set until much later (on one cruise in June, the ship is so far north that the sun doesn't set) and the dining patrons can not only view the ocean but usually they can view features on the land because the ship often stays within sight of the coast. Our dinner was very good but the place had no atmosphere (and no people watching opportunities).

We arrived in the St. Lucia harbour on Friday morning about 8am. The island receives more rainfall than Antigua and, therefore, was more green and lush. We docked in the port of Castries, which is the capital city of the island country. Ann had decided not to go on an excursion, and walked around town for a while before lunch. I had booked a catamaran cruise that took me (and 40 others) south along the coast from Castries. The weather was sunny with a fresh wind from the north. We stopped at Marigot Bay which is a beautiful tropical bay with a swaying palm trees overlooking a small beach. This location has been featured in sevearl movies including Dr. Doolittle, Blue Lagoon, Firepower and others. I noticed one yacht flying a Canadian flag before we turned back out to sea. Later, we tied up at a beach where we stopped for an hour for a swim in the warm Caribbean water. Later, we continued down the coast to see two steep mountain peaks called The Pitons, which are the reminants of a huge volcano in 1766 which killed the inhabitants of the nearby town of Souffriere. The north wind had freshened to about 40km/h from the north while we were making our way south to The Pitons, so when we turned back, we faced a strong headwind and rough seas. Fortunately no one on board got seasick - the captain of the boat said that the sea condition was unusual. I had expected that today's boat excursion would use the sail occasionally but the captain said he couldn't sail the distance required for the excursion without using the motors at all times, which took away some of the enjoyment for me. Maybe another time I will have an opportunity to have a sailing experience in the Caribbean.

Ann was relaxing on our balcony when I returned and I headed for the fitness centre to work out while the ship departed the port of Castries. I must say that St. Lucia appears to be a beautiful place, although Ann concluded that it was too poor for her to enjoy in the future. If she returns to the Caribbean, she would like to go back to San Juan which was not as poor as Antigua and St. Lucia. For me, the poverty wasn't so bad - and the natural beauty and welcoming nature of the people of St. Lucia convinced me that I may return some day.

We went to the performance in the theatre on Thursday evening, which was billed as one of memorable melodies. As it turned out, four opera singers must have arrived along with a trio of musicians (piano, cello & violin) and they performed a number of popular pieces by Shostacovich, Mozart, Verdi and Lehar. The quality was excellent and the audience gave them a standing ovation. They will perform a few more evenings before we arrive in Madeira next Friday.

This morning, Saturday, the sun is shining and the temperature is already about 30C. The ship is holding a heading of 66 degrees for the 2, 663 nautical miles to Madeira. I enjoyed my swim at the beach yesterday so much that I got my bathing suit on my 8am and went for a swim in one of the pools on the upper deck, followed by some sunbathing before the sun gets too hot. I brought my iPod along to listen to some podcasts that I had loaded in Antigua. Ann headed for the fitness centre.

The dress for this evening's dinner is "formal" so I'll have to suit up with a tie. While at sea, we aren't rushed to visit ports and can simply relax and enjoy the wonderful features of this beautiful ship.