Travel Blog: Back to the Caribbean

We were so busy before leaving on this cruise that we had no chance to do the intro post! Not only have we already arrived in Bridgetown, Barbados for the cruise, but we've had our first port stop in Kingstown St. Vincent.

We are once again on board Crystal Serenity celebrating my birthday. It is also a milestone cruise for us, being our 50th Crystal cruise. It has only taken us 26 years to get here, from our very first Crystal voyage in March of 2000. We think there must be something like a 'Wanted' poster down in the crew area for guests celebrating milestones, because we've been welcomed back by crew members we don't even know!

We are on board for 17 nights in total, an 8 night voyage from Bridgetown to Ft. Lauderdale and a return trip for 9 nights with no repeated port stops. We are. however, very busy on board. We have our booked dinners along with an invitation for cocktails in Captain's Quarters on Saturday, a Milestone Dinner with the captain in his quarters on Monday, and we are being presented at the Crystal Society Party on Thursday as well. We'll need the next segment to recover from this one!

We spent one night in Bridgetown before the cruise at the Hilton Barbados Resort. It is a very nice spot on a point not far from the port. We had a huge corner room that overlooked a large bay with the port in the distance. It was your standard Caribbean-style resort with a large pool area and beach, and it only seemed crowded when we were waiting to get into the main restaurant for dinner and breakfast.

We also checked out a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is part of the hotel complex - Charles Fort. This was likely one of the first fortifications built on the island as it dates from 1650, and it is currently used as an event venue, judging by the lighting system installed above it.

The view from our room. The port is way off on the left.
There was a Princess ship there when we arrived.

After our comfortable night's sleep we headed over to the port at 11:00, where we had a brief wait to board the ship and complete the check-in process on board. Our first stop after that was the Crystal Cove Bar where we met up with our good friend Afzal and had a glass of Prosecco to celebrate being back on Crystal Serenity.

Lunch was a little late, as we unpacked our suitcases first. The Trident Grill was open, and Larry chose a Ham and Cheese Sandwich with fries, while I had my favourite Chinois Chicken Salad. A scoop of Amarena (cherry) Gelato rounded out lunch.

In the evening we met two ladies, long-time friends who were travelling together, Mary and Cathy, and had dinner with them in Waterside. It was a lovely start to the cruise. We had a really nice time.

Today (Friday) we had our first port stop in Kingstown, St. Vincent. We were in the Grenadine islands a couple of years ago, when we stopped at Bequia. It is only a few miles away, and I recall one of the stops on our island tour gave us a nice view of St. Vincent from there.

We had chosen a Culinary Tour that we had assumed was just a walking tour, but fortunately, because it was quite hot and humid, we only walked to our first food stop and to the local market before boarding a mini-bus to our other venues.

Our first stop was at the Cobblestone Hotel in downtown Kingstown. This is quite an old building with only 20 air conditioned rooms. I don't think they could rent them if they weren't! We went up to the top floor to their restaurant where we were served 'breakfast'. Had we but known....

In the courtyard, climbing to the third
floor

The second floor hallway to rooms. Looks
very nice!

Our breakfast consisted of a selection of local foods: a bread ball, fried Plantains, Banana Bread, some salt cod with onions and peppers, and a spinach fritter. The drink in my glass was Mauby, made from the bark of the Mauby Tree. It is described as tasting like root beer with a spicy, bitter aftertaste. I thought it was more like root beer and licorice and I was right, as it is often flavoured with aniseed that does taste like licorice. Good thing we only had a small breakfast on the ship!

We had a quick look at the local fruit and vegetable market as well. Our guide, Shaquille, showed us what Mauby bark looks like before it is steeped and made into the drink. There are lots of spices grown in the Grenadines. No surprise as they are only about 70 miles from the 'Spice Island' of Grenada. Who knew that raw turmeric looks like orange ginger?

Tables full of local produce. The turmeric is in the
box above the 'C13'.

After our walk through the market, we boarded our bus and started an island tour that led us, through narrow, winding, and steep roads to our next stop at Grenadine House. This is a beautiful hotel high above the town with some gorgeous views.

Here we had a 'brunch' that included Sorrel juice, which is a mixture of the herb and hibiscus. It is apparently a popular Christmastime drink here. On the plate we had sweet potato, which is white down here, some mutton curry, golden apple chunks and codfish cakes. They also offered sweet potato chips, which were handmade and quite delicious. The golden apple had the consistency of very firm mango and tasted like a combination of the two fruits.

The view toward our ship from the terrace at Grenadine
House.

The facilities look very inviting and exclusive.

The terrace where the buffet meals are set up,
just outside the restaurant.

Our final stop was at an even more exclusive resort, Paradise Beach Hotel. This is a lovely spot on a long protected sandy beach. Only a few hundred yards away is Young Island, a privately owned resort. It is very exclusive and hosts celebrities and the like when they are on St. Vincent. As an example, Johnny Depp stayed there while filming 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

This stop was for our 'dessert' and a taste of the local island rum, 84.5% alcohol. Needless to say, neither of us had that, opting for the tamer coconut water for Larry and fruit juice made from Soursop for me. The juice was very tasty and refreshing. We were chatting with our old friend Cintia from ShoreEx, so I forgot to take a photo of our Paradise Cake and ice cream. To make up for it, here are some photos of the beach and Young Island:

Young Island. There were also a couple of large
yachts anchored nearby.

We arrived back at the ship around 2:00 p.m., in time for me to go to the first Art Class at 3:00. This one was jewellery making with glass beads. I made two more stitch markers for my knitting as well as a bracelet.