We were here last cruise exactly 2 weeks ago. It was a Sunday then too. The differences were the weather and last time we took a tour to the island's top local attractions outside the beaches. Today was a sunny, blue sky day and the island looks beautiful from the ship. Last time we were here it was gray and blowing rain so no long views. Most everything is closed here on Sunday which may explain why we're the only cruise ship in port here each time. We woke up after 7 am. We were already docked on the starboard side. Both sides have a view that includes some of the harbor and some of the land as it is a nice sized bay where St. John's sits. We went to the Grand Dining Room for a big weekend breakfast as we had no tour time to meet today. I enjoyed 4 Swedish pancakes with cherry jam and bacon. After breakfast, we thought we'd walk up the pedestrian part of the street before it got too hot. Last Sunday afternoon, almost the entire stretch was shuttered closed. First though since it looked like a whole lot of passengers were touring or out on the street nearby, we checked the deck 8 guest laundry. We were able to get a last load washed so we won't need to do that at Mom's when we get off Riviera. We started the dryer's 45 minute cycle and went ashore. That wonderful sunshine was brutal! A lot more shops were open this morning, maybe half of them. Most of them had signs saying they'd close for the afternoon and that would reflect our experience 2 weeks ago. Too bad Oceania couldn't make it here once on a weekday. We had gotten a flag patch last time we were here so we weren't shopping for anything. Before we left Riviera we checked with the local tourism representative aboard about
Devil's Bridge. We thought about maybe hiring a taxi if it was close but it was about 1.5 hours roundtrip. She thought it was interesting and beautiful enough to be worth a visit but agreed it was a long roadtrip for 1 thing. She didn't recommend anything to add to such a trip for us to think it was warranted the time and money. The taxi vendors were very busy on the pedestrian street informing arriving cruisers that the town was closed for Sunday and trying to sell 1-hour town tours in AC vehicles, or a drive to a beach or one guy adamant that each of us should go to church which was open. We were back aboard before the clothes were dry.
The lunch menu at GDR and Terrace looked particularly weak so we both ate at Waves Grill. I really like their grilled panini without tomato and with potato chips. It is prosciutto, black olive tapenade, basil and mozzarella. Like a Mediterranean grilled ham & cheese. Clay had a burger which he'd planned to get in Terrace in any event.
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| The sun setting behind St. Kitts, a new country that we just sailed by. |
We have dinner reservations at Polo, the steak house aboard, tonight. It is our last specialty restaurant reservation and a bonus one offered for our longevity we suppose. Based on your cabin price, I think, you are offered a fixed number of reservations per cruise segment. Ours was 1 per each of the 4 restaurants, so this is number 5.
All aboard is 3:30 and we sail at 4 pm. Two weeks ago, we were here until 6 pm. We have 2 sea days to return to Miami, but maybe we need the extra early start.
