If it's Monday, then our port of call is Bridgetown, Barbados. When we arrived at about 7:30am, one other ship was docked…..the Seven Seas Navigator, a Regent vessel. We have sailed on her in New England, Canada, the Panama Canal, and the South Pacific and found the ship to be quite nice. The rooms were huge and on the last of our cruises, the tours were almost all complimentary. They are about as all-inclusive as they come, but also at a much higher price than most cruise lines.
There weren't many customers in Club Orange this morning, since a lot of people had booked tours. For a quick fix, the Lido works best. Oh well, that means the best service for us, and much less noise. While we were eating, it was announced that the ship was cleared, followed by a further message that we had been granted "free-flow". Everyone was allowed off of the ship, even without tours. Oh, what a surprise….not really.
Usually in the morning, we do internet work, but today, the internet was down with no time scheduled for its return. No explanation, just apologies, and the promise they were working on it. For us, having the internet is convenient, but for others, it can be an interruption of work, or the ability to pay bills on time. Oh well, it was time to go off of the ship anyway. The wifi will come back later we hoped.
Leaving the ship by 10:30am, we did not have far to walk to the terminal building. We were docked as close as we could be. The Navigator was also docked about the same distance, but they rated a shuttle bus for the transfer. Entering the terminal, we had to stop at a kiosk with a thermometer scan and automatic sanitizer spray. There were a lot of passengers and crew members in this building, probably due to the loss of internet on the ship.
Our first stop was at DI for two little flying fish charms. They have to be my favorite charms now. Outside the building, we never saw so many taxi vans as we saw today. Perhaps more ships are visiting here, and the demand is bigger. Even the taxi drivers were polite when we said no thanks to their offers of tours. And that is another reason why we like this island as well. Even in the crowded areas of the town, it is pleasant walking everywhere.
Then we began the walk to downtown, passing a local man who works on pots. That is, steel pots, turning them into an instrument, like steel drums. He has been sitting in the park along the highway ever since we have been walking here. This is probably a lost art, and we suppose he drives his family crazy with the constant hammering. There has to be a story behind this hobby, and one day, we might research it.
Even though it was mostly cloudy, it was very warm, muggy, and slightly breezy. It might rain, but we took a chance it would not. We were right.
Nothing had changed as far as wearing masks, keeping a 6 foot distance, and using copious amounts of sterilizer. There was not a shop, store, or even the veggie market where we did not have to use Purell. Most every Barbadian wore a mask, including the kids. Our first stop was the fish market, where we watched mostly ladies working hard. The fellows looked at us suspiciously, so taking their photos was not a great idea. Over the years of traveling, you get the vibes of when not to film….you ask first. In some countries, locals are far less tolerant of a woman taking pictures, even more so if taking video.
From there, we went onto the Boardwalk at the Careenage (Old Wharf). Surprisingly, there were few tourists there, so we continued across the pedestrian bridge, through Independence Square to the second bridge, Chamberlain Bridge. Downtown traffic was bad here. We carefully crossed the street to the War Memorial, the fresh water fountain, and the Parliament Building. Walking up the main pedestrian street , we entered the veggie market. It was actually cool in there, although it was also dark. All of the fresh produce was like what we have at home, but we did see the fruit of the tamarind tree. It resembled a brown fig, and we sure don't recall ever tasting it before.
On the corner across from this market was Abed, a large fabric store, which was crowded the last time we were here. This time we went inside and found a nice floral print in crepe. Now I will be quite busy this summer sewing. On the way back, we went into a small grocery store. Every item was marked in Barbados dollars, which is double the US dollar. Doing the math, it revealed that everything was really expensive here. For instance, a regular size box of crackers was US $ 7.
We got back to the ship by 1:30pm, and stayed inside cooling off with sodas, ice tea, and snacks. The internet was still down, and the front desk gal said it would not return until we left the port. Now that is strange. An announcement came before we left the port that our signal had interfered with the island's satellite reception, so we must have been forced to shut it down. No one was working on it, since nothing was broken. Funny we did not have that problem on our last two visits? Go figure…..
The ship left around 5pm, and headed towards our next port of Roseau, Dominica. The Captain said that this will be a maiden port for the N.Statendam. We tried looking up the tours for tomorrow, but nothing would download. At least, we will not be returning to Grenada, the substitute port for Martinique.
Dinner was one of the best with arancini sp ? rice balls, salads, and prime rib as well as the hottest spaghetti and meatballs ever. Asking for an outside cut and medium rare prime rib, it came perfectly cooked. Once again, there was no room for dessert. Probably a good time to start cutting back anyway.
Bill & Mary Ann
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Report #94 Bridgetown, Barbados Monday-March 21, 2022 Mostly Cloudy With Some Sun 80 Degrees
