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St Maarten was to be the last port of call, of cruise #50, before heading back Barbados. And, it has to be said that it’s one of our favourite stops. That said, we never ever do much other than walk into town to sit in our favourite bar (we have many favourite bars, in both the Caribbean and the Canaries 😋) La perle bleu Beach Bar, and have a couple of drinks and maybe a bite to eat. Actually, that’s exactly what we did and very nice it was too, especially the Chicken and the Mahi Mahi, yummy, yummy. 😎
Our ship in the background
Hunger sated and thirst quenched, there now followed the long walk back and, that long walk back was very, very hot. There was the option of a water taxi or even a Tuk Tuk but were they allowed by Her Tubbsness? NO!😡 His Podgeness had to walk all the way back to the ship in sweltering heat with poorly lungs and heart and sweating like he’s never sweated before 🥵. Poor Podge. On the plus side however (always looking for a silver lining), at least we got our step count up 🥹
For the evening, as it was a formal evening, we opted for an appropriately formal dinner in the Epicurean Restaurant (at our favourite table of course). For starters we both selected Seared King Scallops and Scallop Tartare which was to be followed by the must yummy yummy main course of Tronçon of Wild Atlantic Halibut Grenobloise. As tempting as it was, especially the Crêpes Suzette or Belgian Chocolate Jaffa Cake with Pistachio Ice Cream, we give deserts a miss though we did finish our nice bottle Sauvignon Blanc before retiring to the Crows Nest for a cocktail. This time, we opted for the P&O Bafta Cocktail and wow, just wow. So much wow, we had another before retiring to bed not, on the day we got up.
This was our seventh visit to Antigua and have previously taken numerous excursions to see what the island had to offer (it has a lot) but it had been over 10 years since we’d visited Nelson’s Dockyard so we felt it was time to return and explore Antigua’s English Harbour and take time to discover the charm of Nelson’s Dockyard. I can say with confidence that after a break of 10+ years, Nelson’s Dockyard still manages to impress.
Now, please don’t ask how but whenever we go an excursion in the Caribbean, we always, but always, end up in the back of the minibus.
One should always try to avoid the back seats of a minibus in the Caribbean.
Being at the back of a Minibus in Antigua highlighted just about every bump (potholes or whatever) in the roads so much that we renamed our minibus as the bone shaker: It’s quite possible of course that the bus’s suspension was questionable. Still, mustn’t grumble, we could of course have been on the UK bone shaking roads 😂
After our return, we went directly to our favourite bar, passing the Boardwalk Casino, only to find it was all closed up. Can’t help if the revamped casino and closed bar are linked 🤔. Whatever the reason we decided to return to the mother ship as the port town was rammed full of grockles from the 5-cruise ships in town.
There was one more ship out of this shot!
We sat on our balcony, gazing across at Aida Diva, and listening to the loudest music ever. Initially, we thought the music was coming from the Aida but it was actually coming from a bar in the port off the back our ship. They also played ‘Where the F*** is Alice’ but had to deploy special effects to mask F***: there were, after all, children around!
Come the time to sail away, we went up to the top deck for a sail-away party hosted by senior officers where many canapés and a variety of cocktails were in full flow. The idea of the sail away is to enjoy the ‘sail away’ in the company of fellow travellers and of course ships officers. Naturally, Podge and Tubbs missed the sail away altogether as we were engrossed in conversation with some new friends and enjoying the numerous cocktails. Needless to say, come the end of the sail-away, we needed a lie down in a dark corner. For a change, dinner was missed on account of the large number of canapés and cocktails, and so His Podgeness and Her Tubbsness had an early night going to bed the same day we got up. Poor Podge🥺: Poor Tubbs🥺.
Wedding Anniversary day today and mostly today, we’ll be bunkering – no, that’s not a euphemism 😋 – it means the ship will be taking on fuel 😂
Anyway, we awoke, looked at each other and said “I love you” swapped cards then went to breakfast for our normal Melon Melange followed by Eggs Benedict all washed down with a nice glass of champagne or two. His Podgeness was a little disappointed that he didn’t get his fried egg sandwich that he’d been asking for [every day] since day 1 but, hey ho, he lives in hope. We sat and chatted about what to do today until we looked around and realised we were the only ones left in the restaurant, Ooh Err. We made our apologies and sidled out and returned to our cabin to gather our stuff before going ashore.
Before leaving home, our (7-year old) Grandson gave is strict instructions to get him a new St Kitts t-shirt as his old one was now way too small.
Once ashore, we headed straight for our favourite store, The Yacht Club Company to purchase said item as instructed. While we are at it, we decided to get a matching one for his dad. Obviously His Podgeness would need a shirt also and, after much searching (looked at a couple of shirts) one was chosen and added to the purchase pile. Having discharged all orders we then moved onto another shop where I found two more shirts for me plus, a nice pair of shorts.
We then moved on to the Champions Bar for our annual drink(s) (no bucket this time, Podge now knows better on the front) and a listen to their gentle music. Actually, it ain’t gentle at all, you can actually feel the music it’s so loud. So loud that my phone alerted me to the fact:
Champions is actually where we first heard ‘Who the F**k is Alice’ by Smokie: This is now followed by The Yogi Bear song by Ray Wilde (it’s very, very rude😋). Their playlist was certainly one to enjoy including anthem tracks such as Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond and Delilah by Tom Jones; All of these plus many more always get the crowd singing at the top of the their voices.
Full of beer, we slowly, oh so slowly, made our way back to the ship for a snooze before our fivesies 🍹in the Sunset Bar. but, before we went to the Sunset Bar we thought it would be a good idea to try on my my new shirts and shorts. It was then that His Podgeness remembers the Sea Air Syndrome (nothing to do with dietary habits) in that the salt-water air has a tendency to reduce the elasticity of one’s clothing thus making them appear and feel so much tighter. And, this is exactly what seemed to have happened on this cruise as all the shirts I had just bought plus a couple I had brought with me seemed to have shrunk and now accentuated the curves in my abdomen area: These were os course moved to the back of the wardrobe on the basis that weight loss, post cruise, would resolve this matter. Surely it will! As for the shorts however, the were indeed a very one fit but they did make His Podgeness look a little like Benny Hill: So much so that Mrs Podge (The Duchess) was seen rolling on he floor in laughter. These would have to go back.
Then we needed to ready ourselves for dinner. As it was our Anniversary we again opted for a fine dining experience (accompanied by a couple of glasses of fine wines) in the Epicurean Restaurant and again, fine dining it was. Perfect 👌. Then the inevitable trip to the Crows Nest.
I’ll leave to work out when we went to bed but, we had just begun our 11th year as a married couple. 🥹
As always, we took out breakfast in the Epicurean and, as always, breakfast was superb: By now, the waitress knows what we have and has almost reached the point of telling us what we’ll be having. Hmm🤔, maybe we need to start mixing up our eating habits. Anyway, for today, we stuck with what we always have and very nice it was too.
Well, that was a pointless paragraph wasn’t it?
After breakfast we needed to decide what we were going to do. We’ve been to St Vincent before and to be honest, it’s never been our cup of tea but we did remember one bar that we went to (February 2022) when the consequences of Covid were still raw and so many constraints were placed upon visitors. At that time, we had decided to stay within the Port Shops area and found a bar with a clear view of the ship. We nicknamed it the cage bar as the outside seating area was fenced in with barbed wire along the top 🥴 so , we decided that was where we were to go again but before that it was back to the cabin to, have a rest!
Returning to our cabin we found that our cabin steward hadn’t yet made it up, mind you we were earlier than normal. So, we snuck in onto our balcony and told him we’d stay out of his way and that we’d quite likely be only half an hour anyway. So, we sat on the balcony, The Duchess having a little snooze while I surveyed the sea looking for sharks, dolphins, giant squid, etc but saw noting. After half an hour I went inside to gather our stuff for going ashore completely oblivious to that fact that our steward had been in, drawn our curtains to keep the sun out, switched on the wall lights, made the bed and hoovered: This is why The Duchess calls Mr Magoo, Poor Podge had seen none of it. From this point onwards, our Cabin Steward was known as The Ninja.
Eventually, we went ashore straight to our ‘Cage Bar’ whereupon The Duchess despatched His Podgeness to get the drinks. At the bar, Podge asks for 4 Caribs: Podge is told that if he gets a bucket, it’s 6 for the price of five. Obviously, Podge spotting a bargain, bought the bucket and went back with 6-Caribs. Poor Podge was left in no doubt as to the error of his ways and didn’t help himself when he promised to drink all the extras himself. But drink them he did. 😋 And Podge was once more feeling a little groggy. So back to the ship for a bit of a rest, again! During this ‘rest’ period, The Duchess noticed that after the lifeboats had been brought back on board after they’d had their play on the water, one of the boats hatches had been left open: This concerned The Duchess and felt that she should mention it somebody. Yeah Yeah said Podge and turned over and went back to sleep.
The evening was preceded by fivesies (Mai Tais and Pink Gin Spritz) followed by dinner in the Glass House accompanied by a glass of Bacchus before making our way to the Crows Nest for our evening drinks of Cosmopolitand and a rather nice glass of Cotswold Malt Whisky, yummy, yummy. Once more we meet the Hotel Manager who stopped by for a chat. This was the time, the time for The Duchess to express her concern that the lifeboat number 12 had been left. open after its little foray onto the water. She was worried that if it rains it will fill up with water 💦. ‘Debbie’, said the hotel manager, ‘if you [need] to use the lifeboat, getting your feet will be the least of your worries’. She conceded the point, but she did notice that the hatch was closed the next day. She remains convinced it was down to her!
Then, it was time for bed actually, on the same day we got up. 👏
Sitting on our balcony, we watch Rum Runner II calmly sail out fully laden with quiet but eager passengers from the Britannia, one just knew that it would be essential to be on the balcony when they return. How do I know this? Because Podge and The Duchess have been there: got the hat, got the t-shirt, got the headache.
As for Grenada itself, well, we’ve been here so many times before that we decided to have nice quiet day relaxing and reading, determined as I was to finish Sharpe’s Triumph. And finish it I did and as I put down my book (kindle) I heard an unmistakable twang of steel drums beating out, very loudly, a mixture of Caribbean Sing Song music accompanied by a lot of very, very happy Britannia passengers, clearly brewing a headache or three: The Rum Runner was back.
This evening, we sampled the offerings from The Beach House where we tried Crispy Fried Mahi Mahi burgers and fries preceded by Caribbean Saltfish Fritters (see sample menu 3) , creations of Shivi Ramoutar, all of which was rather yummy but a little too much for Podge’s tiny tummy 😋. But, we vowed to return (many times as it happened) to sample more if not all of the dishes on offer.
Dinner completed, we switched camp to The Crows Nest and made camp at the bar dedicating ourselves to sampling whiskies and cosmopolitans. Whilst there we had the pleasure of the company of the Hotel General Manager (Ajit) who was very interested in our cruising stories and plans. After that, we met a new waiter (CoCo, not sure that’s how it’s spelt) who was being shown round the ship and was introduced to us! We did feel very posh. We did also agree that Ajit was one of those officers that you just knew you could get on with, go for a drink with and, trust.
After convincing ourselves that we had finished sampling for the day, evidenced by The Duchess and her jolly twittering and His Podgeness feeling extremely sleepy and wobble, we retired to our suite and once again failed to goto bed the same day we got up.
PodgeThePuffer's World 