January 28, 2022 - Quarantined in Barbados
We had an exciting start to our cruise from Barbados. We had a bit of trouble upon entry. The travel clinic gave us the wrong test so it was rejected. Usually that means you take an antigen test at the airport. No problem.
Then, we assume we got flagged because we had been in Mexico in the last 21 days. We had to take a PCR test at the airport. Upon arrival at our hotel, the hotel employee informed us we had to quarantine in our room. And I burst out into tears. I really thought when we arrived at the hotel we were done.
No one at the airport explained why we had to get a PCR or that we had to quarantine. I had to call the Ministry of Health to investigate and then it's still murky. Then I called the Department of Tourism to get clearance to go to the ship before we got the results back. We had an ocean view at the hotel and they arranged room service for us. Definitely not how we thought we'd spend the evening.
January 29, 2022 - Embarkation
We left the hotel at noon today for the port. We were able to board our ship after an antigen test. We got our negative results back around 2 pm - 22 hours after our swab at the airport.
Embarkation was easy. We got an upgrade to a Veranda which is very exciting. It's the smallest veranda with an odd shape, but we'll take it. Suite 746. We headed straight to the buffet for lunch. It was Caribbean themed. We were surprised it was self serve. The food was very good. Our waiter, Lunken (pronounced Lincoln) from South Africa was really fun and helped us try several white wines. Bruno, the head Maitre'D, stopped by. We told him we were new to Seabourn and he gave us some tips and set us up with a reservation at The Grill for the evening. While we were talking, our cheeseburger and hot dog arrived. The buffet has a small grill menu you can order from.
We unpacked and did laundry. We headed to afternoon tea.
They have a very impressive selection of teas.
We got ready for dinner. The Grill has a very relaxed pace. It was quite a difference from Virgin Voyages where their goal is in and out in an hour. The waiter wouldn't even take our order until we'd been sitting for 30 minutes. Dinner was good. Nothing impressed us. Glenn will have the details in his blog.
They had a deck party after dinner with a live band from Barbados. I was excited for Caribbean music, but they played American wedding classics. It got people dancing so that was good. We headed to bed.
January 30, 2022 - Bequia, Grenadines
We had a great day in the Grenadines. We started the day enjoying coffee on one of the decks. All specialty coffees are included.
We both commented that this ship really feels like a yacht more than a cruise ship. It's about 50% full. We popped down to the Deck 5 aft pool. We had lunch at the buffet. Very good again. It was tempura day.
Our ship excursion left at 12:30 pm. We had to take the life boat over as the tender. It reminded me a little too much of the Viking Ocean tender. My body was like Oh Hell No! But I survived.
We took an open air taxi tour. It was great. We got lucky and our taxi only had 6 people versus the 8 people on some of the others. Our tour guide Chanel rode in the back with us. The island of Bequia is 9 miles off the coast of St Vincent. The residents are responsible for their own water. The island only gets 23 inches per year so they have cistern systems set up to preserve every drop. They also have a strong whaling tradition. They are allowed to hunt four humpback whales each season. The boats were blessed last week and the season runs through April. Chanel wanted to be sure we knew they used every part of the whale. We also learned about the impact the volcano eruption had last year. Some people are still not back in their homes because the ash turned to concrete when it rained and destroyed homes. We went to a few scenic overlooks and a turtle sanctuary.
The turtle sanctuary had more of a "the guy steals baby turtles from the beach and raises them as pets" vibe, but the sign said he did reverse a trend toward extinction so who knows?
We stopped at one of the very few, small hotels to try the local beer.
Overall, it was a good tour.
The show was Tim Rice. It was pretty cool. It opened with songs from Joseph. The show had video of Tim Rice explaining his career. He talked about how he and Weber couldn't get get backing for Jesus Christ Superstar so they decided to release the album and then make the show. They did the same with Evita. Rice also wrote the lyrics to Lion King and requested Elton John as the composer. The show was very good and the singers were some of the best we've had on a cruise.
After the show, we went to the Observation Lounge to listen to the sing a long piano player. He was good.
Service has been a bit spotty. Bartenders just disappear from the Observation Lounge and the Pool Bar. It's so weird. Maybe everyone is just getting their sea legs back.
January 31, 2022 - Castries, St Lucia
We docked in Castries St Lucia yesterday. We decided to stay on the ship.
We hung out in the Club after dinner. They had a jukebox so Glenn had a lot of fun making a playlist.
We met Chris and Maureen in The Club for cocktails and went to dinner with them in the restaurant. It was Chef's Dinner - a preset 6 course meal. The scallops and mushroom soup were excellent.
We also took in the great views from Shirley Heights.
We headed to the spa. It's a nice steam room and sauna with a couple showers and heated loungers.
We were the only ones there until the Bar Manager tracked Glenn down.
Apparently, an alert went up find Glenn this morning based on a post he made in a Seabourn Facebook group asking about our case of the disappearing bartenders.
The Bar Manager was very apologetic and wanted us to know that he will alert the staff that we need a higher level of service. He then sent a bar waiter in with a tray of margaritas - what Glenn was drinking yesterday.
We went the buffet for lunch. They have a daily fish special you order from the waiter. It was cod and very good. After lunch, we relaxed by the pool. I finished the most recent Stephanie Plum book. It was okay.
We had pre dinner cocktails in the Club. The trio played and a chef prepares little bites. They were so good. My favorite was then savory curry macaron and the deviled egg they called an "angel" egg.
Dinner was the patio again. Glenn's blog describes it. So good.
We went back the The Club for the trio and the band. Great live music.
February 1, 2022 - Sea Day
We were originally scheduled to be in Dominica, but it was cancelled. Our unexpected sea Day was fun. Our stop in Dominica was canceled. The Captain parked with the island in sight and told us all about the island in his noon update. Way to run salt in the wound, buddy.
We had a lazy start to the day at the Spa. No managers interrupted us this time. Then we hung out at the pool. The Trio played. Martin, the Bar Manager, made a great gin infusion cocktail. The executive chef Chef Karl made curry shrimp to order. We shared a burger. It was fun.
We got invited to a first time Seabourn cruisers reception. It was very nice. They had representatives from all the departments. Then, we had cocktails in the Club. We had told Chris and Maureen about it. We met them on our tour. They joined us and we had a nice chat.
We had dinner at the Colonnade. It was French night and it was very busy. The Food and Beverage Manager - who knows Glenn by name - day us and the Head Maitre'D handed our order.
February 2, 2022 Nevis, St Kitts
We anchored off the shore of Nevis. We had our morning Americano coffee made by Bojan. We booked the beach day excursion to Lime Beach Club at Pinney's beach.
We tendered off and then took smaller vans to the beach. It was a pretty simple beach set up with nicer port-o-potties. We both were disappointed and had expected something nicer. We got two drink tickets and a ticket for lunch. Lunch was rice, coleslaw, fried fish, and curried chicken. It was really good. We also had a couple Caribe beers. We had a couple small rain showers. The water was beautiful.
When we got on board, we had a 2nd lunch at the Patio and hung out by the pool. Glenn had his first frozen cocktail in 10 years.
Jose, one of the waiters we see all over the ship, asked if we wanted caviar and champagne. Umm... Yes. Yes we do. So we had a little caviar treat before getting ready for dinner.
We went to the Latin show. The dancers were great, but the music wasn't as strong as the Tim Rice show.
February 3, 2022 - Antigua
We had a great morning in Antigua. We booked a private car excursion. It was great. We covered half the island.
We had a fun surprise today. We happened to be at Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua as they prepared for one of the rowing teams in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge to arrive. When we headed up to the Block House, we were able to see the team in the ocean.
The driver had a cooler in the back in case we needed a rum punch or beer.
We got back, had lunch and took a nap. We headed to The Club for happy hour and the Indian buffet at the Colonade for dinner. Chris and Maureen happened to be there so we had a nice dinner with them again. Last night was the deck party. The trio, the band and the singers all performed. The two dancers led line dancing. It was a lot of fun.
February 4, 2022 - Carambola Beach, St Kitts
Seabourn takes over a beach club on St Kitts. They have a signature Caviar in the Surf event. The Executive Chef and Maitre'D serve caviar from a paddle board while the Bar Manager swims around refilling champagne.
It was so fun. Then, they grill lobsters. It was so good. We had a great time.
They had a farewell reception that was fun. Dinner was terrible. It was supposed to be Japanese, but Kroger sushi is better. We had a final cocktail and then headed to bed.
February 5, 2022 - Getting home from St Maarten
The last 24 hours didn't go as planned.
The private tour we booked in St Martin so we wouldn't have to sit at the airport for 5 hours wasn't working so we cut it short and headed to the airport early......to wait 5 hours. And by not working I mean we stopped to put air in the tires, stopped to get gas, stopped to get the driver's breakfast, and he worked on getting his grill fixed while we waited.
We arrived in Miami to a text that our flight to Tampa was cancelled.
We had trouble finding an airport hotel with rooms.
Check in at the hotel with availability took a while.
The good news is that the St Martin airport had an awesome burger food truck.
We got a 6:10 am flight back to Tampa from Fort Lauderdale this morning
We have travel insurance.
Glenn is the best "let's figure this out" travel partner on the planet.
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