MAR 23: Homeward Bound

At 7:00 a.m., SIRENA pulled into her terminal in the remote part of the port. Across the island were six much bigger cruise ships. 

Also overcast, it was about 70°with the promise of getting warmer as the morning progressed. 

All passengers were asked to leave their staterooms by 8:00. Pam and I were not scheduled to disembark until 8:45, so we went to the open dining area on the stern of the ship to have a leisurely breakfast. We got a great table in the corner on the starboard side, where we could keep an eye on what was happening in the parking lot below. 

The last time we were here, the ship was cleared by Customs and Border Protection to begin disembarkation at 7:45. This time, perhaps because resources were spread thinner with so many big ships in port, it did not start until 8:45. 

While we sat in our Crowsnest observation location, we saw the car that would take us to Fort Lauderdale airport pull in. Knowing where to look for him when we exited the terminal was helpful. 

I also got a message from the Luggage Forward representative that he was waiting for us just outside the terminal. 

With those two puzzle pieces in place, all we had to do was wait until our number was called, which happened at 9:10. Once in the chute, we moved continuously from our vantage point to the waiting car, with the brief intermediate stops of clearing Customs and turning the two big bags over to LuggageForward.

We were in the car and on our way at 9:30. We were out of the car at Fort Lauderdale airport by 10:30, The trip taking longer than expected due to some congestion along the way and at the terminals.

The first terminal we passed had a line stretching out the door and down the sidewalk. The other terminals were less overtly busy but, looking through the windows, were packed. 

Pam and I opted to stay out for a while, eventually finding an empty bench in a relatively quiet part of the airport. We hung out until about 1:00 when we decided to go through security and search for food, which we found at a marginally good Cuban restaurant.

After some more waiting, it was finally time to board our flight, which departed on time and arrived on time.

It was a wonderful trip, but getting home is always great, which we did at 8:40.

MAR 22: Sea Day #8

 

At 10:00 this morning, SIRENA was off Camaguey, Cuba, on a general course of 290°, cruising at just under 18 knots with 125 NM (nautical miles) until #1, when she turned to a more northerly course of 336° for the final 195 NM leg of our passage to Miami.

This morning, my email was full of reminders about tomorrow's return to reality, including:

• instructions on where to meet the agent from LuggageForward to turn over our big bags for shipment home
• confirmation of a car to take us to Ft. Lauderdale airport
• a reminder to download our boarding passes
• confirmation of the car picking us up at Providence airport

If all of these work as planned tomorrow, our trip from the ship to our home will be more fluid, other than a 6+ hour wait for our flight. More on that tomorrow.

Packing after an extended stay in one place is always a hassle, but this time, it was easy since we were headed straight home. Holding back mostly things we would need if we were delayed getting home and things we would need during the next week, Pam and I put everything else in the suitcases being shipped home, lightening the load in our carry-ons and backpacks. 

It may be wise to wear a gas mask when the big bags arrive at home, and we open the one containing the dirty laundry since it will have had a week to cook in various warehouses and trucks on its way north.

Before going to bed, we put our suitcases outside our stateroom door. Hopefully, finding them tomorrow in the sea of suitcases in the terminal will not require much sleuthing.

MAR 21: Sea Day #7

 

piano bar on SIRENA

After being lulled to sleep last night by the pitching and rolling of the ship, the seas settled down significantly overnight. 

SIRENA steamed generally westward throughout the day in warm temperatures and blue skies.

We had dinner in Red Ginger, one of the two specialty restaurants on board. 

Having already written six Sea Day posts, I was out of ideas for today's post, so I focused my time on finishing the missing March 15 post on St. Bart's.

MAR 20: Jost Van Dyke - 2nd Time

 

The vernal equinox was at 05:02, but when we got up this morning, there was no sense of Spring; it was just another warm, sunny day in the Caribbean.

Mid-morning, SIRENA took the Salt Island Passage to the Sir Francis Drake Channel. It was interesting to be so close to some of the islands on both sides of the ship.

Coming out of the north end of the channel, SIRENA passed over the top of Tortola, coming to anchor off Great Harbor in Jost Van Dyke.

Today, we went to White Beach, tendering ashore from the ship and then piling into a large open-air van.

Off we went, climbing steeply to a ridgeline, then descending equally steeply back down to the shore.

While settling in our chaises, we observed that the waves breaking on shore were sizeable. I went in to check the conditions and found them marginal. Once out past where the waves were breaking, it was easy to touch the bottom except when a large swell passed. There were some rocks on the bottom, making getting through the wave zone tricky. 

Going back ashore, I turned my head to determine the proximity of any big wave, only to have one tear off my sunglasses, even though they had a lanyard on them. I dove down to grab them, only coming up with a sand abrasion on one arm. Deciding the wave zone was too dangerous to risk a search, I went ashore. Wading in the water a while later, I caught a brief glimpse of them, but they were gone with the next wave. Since the sand and turbulence would have severely scratched the lenses within the first few minutes of losing them, recovering them would have been amusing but nothing more.

It was up and over the ridgeline again, then a tender ride back to the ship.

SIRENA hauled out her tenders and closed up the landing platform.

On the northern tip of Great Tobago Island, Watson Rock was receiving some good-sized swells that had traveled uninterrupted across the Atlantic.

Shot from a considerable distance with my cellphone.

SIRENA began to pitch and roll a bit. By dinner time, the elevators had depleted the supply of motion sickness bags. Pam & I had no trouble finding a lovely table on the back deck.

MAR 19: Fort-de-France, Martinque

Months ago, when we were booking tours, only one caught our attention. The fact that it piqued our interest was not surprising when we realized that we had done it last year. [March 01, 2024 - Tour to St. Pierre]

We got off the ship about 10:30 and wandered around, having ruled out tours. 

Nothing looked familiar until we realized that EURODAM docked in a different part of the harbor last year, hidden by the fort.

We had fun exploring some of the pedestrian-only streets with their various shops. We also visited the public library and the cathedral.

Although there were some clouds, the umbrellas were for the sun, not rain.

This library was disassembled after a World's Fair and shipped to Fort-de-France.

Pam finally found an open cathedral. The current cathedral and its steeple were erected in 1895.

We walked through the park, finding a comfortable rock-hard bench where I could sit while Pam dipped in the ocean. In addition to dealing with a call about our refrigerator making weird noises, I watch about 20 kids in a sailing program put to bed a sailboat. Watching them struggle to get the big boat far enough up on the beach to satisfy the instructions, it was clear part of the training was learning teamwork.

We then walk along the Malecon back to the ship. 

Throughout our ramblings, we moved slowly. The air temperature was about 90°, and with the relative humidity, it was closer to 100°. Fortunately, we walked into a nice breeze, at least part of the way. 

It was a short day here. The ship left at 3:00 to start its passage back to Miami, with a stop in Jost Van Dyke, BVI, tomorrow.

MAR 18: Bridgetown, Barbados

Before going into what we did today, let me digress into a brief discussion about the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. This is prompted by wondering today if Barbados was one of the Windward Islands.

"Centuries ago, early Spanish colonizers coined the terms “leeward” and “windward” about the Islands of the West Indies spanning from Puerto Rico to Grenada. In the days when sailing vessels were the only mode of transport, trade winds blowing from the northeast to the southwest determined favorable routes.' (Epic Yachts)

"The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, located in the Caribbean Sea, and include Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Monserrat, Nevis, Redonda, Saba, St. Barts, Saint Kitts, Saint Martin, Sint Eustatius, the British Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands." 

The Windward Islands are Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenadines and Grenada. Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago are sometimes included in this group as they are more windward than other Caribbean islands and are located close to the established Windward Islands. Barbados and Tobago were originally part of the (Windward Islands) grouping officially, but Barbados returned to being an island country in 1885, and Tobago joined with Trinidad in 1889. Dominica joined the grouping in 1940, previously considered one of the Leeward Islands. (Wikipedia)

The bottom half of the previous paragraph is confusing, but you get the general idea.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

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We had seen numerous massive seaweed floats at sea and arrived at the port today. It was reportedly Sargasso Seaweed that had come further south than usual at this time of year. Later in the day, we heard one of the popular beaches on the island was so fouled by it that most beachgoers went elsewhere. These floats washing up on beaches have been a real problem in past years.

SIRENA docked a considerable distance from the terminal, so we got to stretch our legs before boarding a bus for the 30-minute ride to Harrison Cave.

The bus drove along the coast a short way, then turned inland, climbing to the highest part of the island.

We arrived at Harrison Cave, where the hurry-up and wait drill took about 30 minutes. This gave us time to admire ourselves and others in our fetching hairnets, which were eventually covered by a hard hat. 

"CHUKKA" on the hard hat was the name of an extensive tour company in the islands that offered all sorts of things. To quote their website, "But why the name Chukka?" In polo, a "chukka" signifies a period of play, such as a quarter in a basketball game. Just as a polo match teems with excitement and adrenaline rush, Chukka, as a brand, captures that same spirit of adventure. If I were branding a business, I might look for a term outside the microscopically small circle of polo players and aficionados.

We descended from the Reception Center to the mouth of the cave, where we boarded an electric tram and began our descent.

It was surprising that the temperature did not drop as we entered the cave. We learned that we were in a warm, tropical cave with a temperature of 78°. The high temperature enabled the air to retain a lot of moisture, so the cave humidity was uncomfortably high. We were routinely hit by drops of water coming off the top of the cave, where the moisture in the air condensed. 

We were told that if we returned in 40,000, this stalactite and stalagmite would be joined into a column.

The deepest spot in our descent was 160 feet below the surface. The guide said the cave went deeper, but no spelunkers had found a viable route to date.

After the tour, some distractions kept people occupied until it was time to return to the ship. We were unimpressed by the staff's availability to point them out.

Returning to the port, we passed through the souvenir and duty-free shops, followed a reciprocal course down the long dock, and re-boarded the ship. 

Our evaluation of Harrison Cave was that it was interesting but much smaller and less impressive than the ones we have visited in the U.S. Having been to Barbados before, it was something different, but we would not recommend it to anyone as a high or even medium priority on their first visit to the island.

We goofed off for the few hours left before SIRENA departed. When she did, we were having dinner at a table by a stern window, which was a great vantage point.

MAR 17: Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadaloupe

Guadeloupe, a French protectorate, consists of two large and several smaller islands. The two large islands, which form the general shape of a butterfly, are connected by two bridges.

Arriving in Pointe-a-Pitre

By 9:15, we were on a bus and headed out of Pointe-a-Pitre on a scenic tour of Guadeloupe. 

We had initially signed up for another tour involving going to the butterfly's Basse-Terre side. For various things, including a waterfall. Rereading the tour description several days ago, we suddenly keyed on seeing the falls involved 400 steps down and 400 steps back up. If we could do it, it would take longer than the tour likely allowed, so we swapped it out for a less energetic one on the Grande-Terre side that involves considerable walking but on primarily flat terrain.

Our first stop was the aquarium. It was a nice display, but having been to other aquariums in the Caribbean and elsewhere, it was nothing special.

Our next stop was Fort Fleur d'Épée. Although a critical, fought-over fort during the time the British, French, and Spanish battled for supremacy in the Caribbean, it paled compared to the fort on Brimstone Hill in St Kitts (See March 7th post). Maybe that is why the fort in St Kitts was only captured twice, and this one was captured six times. Going into the underground bunker used by troops as living quarters and for protection during bombardments was interesting.

From the battlements, we could see the Island of Marie Galante. Locals call it the pancake because it is round and flat. We were told that on a crystal clear day, we would have been able to see more islands, but today's haze due to humidity canceled that possibility.

Back on the bus and rolling down the road, there was a quick photo stop in Gosier to see Islet de Gosier and its lighthouse a short distance offshore. Yawn.

We continue on to the town of Sainte Anne. This is a popular part of the island for tourists. If it is where Pam and I spent 10 days about 30 years ago. So much had changed. We did not spot a single landmark we remembered.

We wandered around for about an hour. We stopped at a beachfront bar where Pam had a pina colada, and I had what was billed as a non-alcoholic beer but tasted more like a dark ginger ale. Refreshed, we walked along the beach for ways, Pam wading in the water and me staying on the sand as we worked our way back towards the bus.

Having taken many tours over the years, on the return trip from St Anne, for the first time in our experience, there were two more passengers than we had when we left Gosier. We have occasionally seen a frantic search for missing passengers, but never one for extra passengers. Our guide tried to figure out who they were, but no one confessed. In the end, since our bus and the other bus were both headed back to the ship, it did not matter, and off we went.

Pam and I agreed that if you ever have the chance to take the Guadeloupe Highlights tour, by all means, don't. We saw some of the countryside, but the tour was generally dull.

The museum of the history of slavery on the islands.

This wall and building just had a lot going on visually.

I suspect this is a French 'Americas Cup' contender.

Auf wiedersehen Mein Schiff #2

After leaving the Pointe-a-Pitre's harbor, the captain turned SIRENA east toward the Atlantic, passing over the top of Marie-Galante.