St. Bart's and Martinique

Saturday we arrived at St. Bart's at around 12:30pm.  We were only 15 minutes later than scheduled.  The ship made up lots of time during our sailing.  Because St. Bart's does not have a deep water dock, all cruise ships must tender.  Open tender service did not start until around 2:30pm so we elected not to go ashore.  We have been to this island several times in the past so we felt we needed to swim on the ship first.

So our first water exercise occurred this afternoon.  We were basically the only ones in the pool.  We did 45 minutes of exercise and then a dip in the hot tub. The water in the pool is cool but not cold so you can enjoy the swim.

We cleaned up and headed to the Mariner Lounge for our pre dinner cocktail.  Mel Meyers and Millie joined us.  Mel spends about 6 months a year on the ship.  He got on this ship in early December and will get off in May.  We met them while on the Asia Grand Cruise in 2014.  Millie does not do the entire trip with him.  She embarked in Miami the same as us.  At any rate, we had a great dinner with good conversation with them.  Very nice people.

Sunday is a sea day in the morning and then we arrive in Martinique around noon.  So after a breakfast of Champagne, Caviar, and Eggs Florentine,  we needed a rest.  But they had a special event for the Gold, Platinum, and Titanium members. It was a Culinary Demonstration on how to prepare steak tartar and tuna tartar.  We all got to taste them.  I have never been a fan but decided this was a good time to try them both.  I found them quite enjoyable.  What have I been missing all these years?  And of course, they served us champagne and cold vodka to enjoy with the tartars.

We decided to skip lunch and Bob took an early nap and then we headed into town.  Well, the town was pretty much dead.  This is a Sunday and most of the stores were closed.  Even the shoreside area was not open.  So we did walk around a bit and then returned to the ship.  They were have a Carnival Parade in the afternoon but we elected to swim and get in some good exercise instead.

We cleaned up for dinner and headed to the Mariner Lounge for our pre dinner cocktail.  Dinner in Compass Rose was good as usual.  We did not go to the show as we have seen it before.

Back to the suite where I finally finished the book I was reading.  Now to start a new one.  I loaded the Kindle before we left so I have several to choose from.  Tomorrow Grenada.