Late Again - to St Thomas

Thursday, 15 December 2006

Today, we were supposed to be in St. Thomas at 10, but the captain made an announcement that due to 'swells' we were behind schedule and would not get in until noon. We did not go up to breakfast until 9:30, and found that the dining room closed at 9 (which takes care of the problem of too many people coming in at 9 o'clock I guess). So we had to go up to the Lido deck to eat. There were a lot of people in line, and many of them were backed up waiting for food to be cooked for them, so I just got oatmeal and a couple pieces of bacon.

My oatmeal

Bob got pancakes, bacon and some fruit.

Bob's pancakes

They closed one side of the breakfast buffet so that they could open it up early for lunch. We started to see islands out the windows

From our window at 10 am

and also on the bow camera.

Looking towards the harbor from the ship

I went out on deck and called Dave Kummerle (CSY 37 Glory- he charters his boat), and he said that he could see us. We agreed that he would take his dinghy in to the dinghy dock and walk around to meet us. Since we were late, it would be too much of a problem to try to go for a sail with him.

Since I went out on deck to call, I got to see the pilot come out in the pilot boat.

Pilot boat approaching and with pilots preparing to jump on

Pilot boat leaving

We had a rain shower about then, but of course since the deck is under the lifeboats, I didn't get wet..

The hills of St. Thomas

Charlotte Amalie across the harbor

Anchored boats

Bow camera at the dock

We had to go through immigration because we had been at a foreign port (Half Moon Cay), and they called us alphabetically. When we went up to the processing area there were many people clogging up the area who were not supposed to be there because of having names later in the alphabet. They called A,B, C, and we walked in, gave them our room number, got checked off, showed our passports at another station, and were handed a card allowing us to get off.

We got off, and walked down to the end of the dock, where I recognized Dave (from his picture, although he's older now than when it was taken). We went to a little sandwich/hamburger place in Havensight called the Delly Deck

Restaurant facade

Restaurant entrance

The sign out front said "Restrooms are Only for Customers". We had lunch and talked sailboats.

People eating

I had a

Philly cheese steak ($11)

and wanted potato salad, but they gave me fries instead.

Bob's tuna sandwich and fries ($8.50)

Dave had a mahi mahi sub and potato salad ($12.00) and iced tea ($2.00). He insisted on paying for the meal, but he let Bob leave the tip.

Bill for meal

I figured out what to do about some of those 4 bottles of wine that they refuse to take back or substitute for us with water. We took 3 of them off the ship and gave them to Dave. Hard liquor is cheap there ($10 for a bottle of vodka), but wine is expensive ($25/bottle). So he was happy to have them, and I was glad to be rid of them.

Discount Liquor Mall

Then he hailed a cab for us to drive us around the island. Taxi rates , including taxi tours, are set by the VI Taxicab Association. For example, Sightseeing Tour in 2006 for 2 hours; one passenger $50, two or more passengers $25 per person. Tour for 3 hours; one passenger $60, two or more passengers $30 per person. Most of the current taxi rates are on the basis of one place to another per person, but you can negotiate with a driver for an hourly rate. Our friend talked with a taxi driver that was there near the docks and he agreed to the price of $25 each for us. Then he walked back to his dinghy (which was on the complete other side of the harbor).

Welcome to Havensight Mall

They drive on the left

The taxi in the Virgin Islands is called a safari. Its a truck which has been outfitted with bench seating in the back. It is open air but covered. Safari buses vary in size, some can hold up to 26 passengers. Usually that means that the tour is a group tour. Our taxi was one of those cab/bus/tourist vehicles which had space for 27 people but just had the two of us in it. Since there were just the two of us in it we had our choice of seats.

Inside of the cab

Island tours by taxi usually include the popular sites and scenic look out points like Drake's Seat.

St John in the distance

Bas relief at the overlook

We went all around the top of the island looking things from the overlooks - at each place there were places to buy souvenirs, but I didn't get any.

Bob's photo

I took 132 photos and Bob took 5. But all of his were good, and I know some of mine are not going to be worth keeping. I missed a beautiful shot of a brown cow with a cattle egret on her back.

Valdemar A. Hill Sr., Drive Scenic Overlook sign

Anchored boats

Looking down

Coin operated binoculars

Souvenir cart

Magen's Bay overlook sign

Magen's Bay overlook

Souvenir shop

Banana bloom

From the taxi

Roadwork -asphalt machine

We ended up going through Charlotte Amalie,

Man and child walking by park in Charlotte Amalie

Bandstand in town

Closest boat is Dave's Glory of Christensted with dinghy back of it

and then he took us right back to the ship. The tour (which was about 2 hours) was $50, and Bob gave him $60. We had to show both our passports and the ship ID, and they had to match to get back on.

Getting back to the ship

I was very hot and sweaty - it was fairly humid and quite warm, especially in the sun.

I decided that since the ship was late everywhere, I'd switch the tours on Dominica from a four hour morning tour to a 3 hour afternoon tour which would also be more accessible.. So I did that. And I again asked about the cabin on the second cruise. They assured me that they would help us move, but the problem seems to be that the people for the second cruise specifically requested the cabin that we are now in. I pleaded pitifully and nicely and they said they would call corporate again. (But I don't think they really did)

Tonight all the dinners are at once instead of being staggered because the chefs and waiters are giving a show.

Formal night menu

So at each table was a chefs hat for us to wear

People and Bob in his chef's hat

(which didn't work very well - mine kept coming unstuck and flattening out, or falling down on my nose), and after most of us were seated, they all marched in,and gave us all napkins with a flourish (one at a time), and then gave everyone the same starter (mushroom mousse with an asparagus spear). Then they all marched around again and beating salad bowls and tossing vegetables around, and gave everyone a very nice salad.

Salad

After that we ordered a starter and an entree. Bob had the lobster bisque, and I had

Brie in phylo dough with apple cranberry compote.

Then for dinner, he had

Apricot glazed salmon

and I had the

Tagliatelle with Roasted Chicken and Portobello Mushrooms

The final show was bringing in the dessert - there was a white chocolate mold in the shape of a chef's hat filled with chocolate.

White chocolate chef hat dessert

Underside of chef's hat