Here we are back in Basseterre, St. Kitts today. All 65 square miles of her. We were docked by 9am, but not the first ship here. Celebrity's Constellation was already tied up. That vessel is smaller than us with 2170 passengers and a gross tonnage of 90,940. Launched in 2001, she is almost as old as the now gone Amsterdam. Following up in the rear, was the much larger Enchanted Princess with a capacity of 3660 guests at 144,650 gross tons. She was completed in 2019, but did her maiden voyage in 2021. And perhaps due to the fact they hold many more passengers, two gangways were set up for them.
Club Orange breakfast was different this morning, because someone new at the kiosk gave our table to another couple. The manager apologized profusely, then seated us at a high table next to the one we always use. Not a big deal, as long as we got the high top with the higher chairs. Sure makes a difference with the sore back and knee. Even our waiters promised to save our table from here on out. Waiting for a few minutes, they bussed the next table and reset it. We were in no rush to get off today anyway.
There were no regulations on leaving the ship here, but we did need our vaccination cards and masks in hand, in case we needed them in the stores. Going off at 11:30am, we found that Port Zante was flooded with cruise ship passengers. Not many of these folks were wearing masks, but the locals sure were. We would not be surprised if the baby monkeys wore masks. There is something not right with these small babies being dressed like little kids wearing diapers- all to make money with the photos.
Anyway, Port Zante is a manmade commercial district with many stores big and small. They offer jewelry, liquor and cigars, souvenirs, restaurants, a food court, and bars. There is also a local craft market, a post office, and the old Pelican Mall. The National Museum is under renovation. Since every shop was filled to capacity, we decided to come back after our walk.
Turning left, we followed Bay Road that led us past the supermarket, bakeries, downtown, and the ferry terminal. There is a long stretch of beach, although the sand is dirty, many people were up this way. Just as we were across from some shops, a local lady partially slipped through one of those street grates over the deep gutters. Lucky some people caught her and helped her up. We always knew these grates might not be secured when you walk on them. Now we know.
We also saw some passengers collecting stones or shells on the trash-littered beach along the road. We would not touch anything here, as it is reported the waters are polluted. That's about when we ran into Howard, who was out for a walk like us. He claimed to have seen a cruise ship lady fall flat on her face, breaking her front teeth. Good grief! How awful, but then, you have to be careful with every step. Howard said this lady fell through a grate too. These things can happen in a heartbeat, teaching us to slow down and watch every step we take.
Making it to the war memorial, we turned around to walk back. The cars, vans, and buses fly by where we walk up here, so when the sidewalks ran out, we also ended this hike. The locals are not the most patient drivers either. If there is a blockage, which there were many, they get very irritated to the point of having "potty mouth". Never heard such cursing coming from a guy on a bicycle, no less, because the cars were not moving quick enough for him.
We went past the old clock & fountain, which is called the Circus. From there we made our way to the Independence Square, which houses another fountain, dedicated to the freedom of the slaves. Across the street was the Co-Cathedral, and it happened to be open today. Going inside we discovered that the real name of this church is The Immaculate Conception. It is Roman Catholic, and since we heard the voices of many kids nearby, we assumed there was a Catholic school nearby. We did spot some young girls walking downtown dressed in the pleated plaid skirts and white shirts. Boy, does that bring back memories of Catholic school for both of us.
Back at Port Zante, we stopped in a small jewelry and souvenir shop that advertised free pearl earrings. This time Bill asked. Of course we did have to look at their tanzanite items, but only briefly. Already have one at home. The final visit was to Diamonds International for their monkey charm. Still no pressure to buy, because they did have many interested customers in the store. Or they were simply being polite. So after a two hour walk, we got back to the ship by 1:30pm.
Docked directly across from the Enchanted Princess, it was entertaining watching them as they were watching us on or verandas. One good thing, we were in the shade, while they were in the sun. There were a lot of clouds today, but no rain. We did have a job to do today. It was exchanging two bottles of sparkling wine for a 12 pack of diet soda. Then Jonah had the doctor's letter delivered to our room that states I cannot get the PCR Covid test, as it might turn up positive for at least three months after infection. The virus was first discovered in late January, so I probably would test positive for some time to come. The antigen test is OK….go figure.
Lunch was a salad in the Lido, then some relaxing time on the veranda. Before we knew it, the Enchanted Princess was getting ready to leave. Around 6pm, their captain sounded the horn, which was the beginning of the Love Boat theme. Always brings a smile to our faces hearing that. Then he did the normal 3 toots before leaving.
All aboard for us was 5:30pm, so we expected to leave right behind Princess. But we didn't. It turned out to be 7:30pm before we left the pier. No explanation, as there was no sail away announcement either. Usually leaving during the dinner service, many captains will not interrupt with his talk. Captain Eric is one of them. Whatever the reason for the delay, we will still have plenty of time to reach the next port of St. Thomas.
Farewell to St. Kitts, as we finish our final stop here.
Dinner was a little confused this evening, as we ordered Rudi's chicken with stuffing, but were given the alternate chicken dinner. Totally different. Perhaps our waiter heard our order differently, or the assistant read it wrong. Whatever, when asked if it was not hot enough, we said, it was, but it was the wrong entrée. They brought the right ones in a few minutes, and both meals were tasty and hot. The serving was ample, so we skipped dessert.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Report #96 Basseterre, Saint Kitts Wednesday-March 23, 2022 Mostly Sunny With Clouds 83 Degrees
