R421 Part 2

Landfall in St Maarten was on Friday. The Obligatory-Reggae-Muzak-Because-We-Are-In-The-Caribbean-Now launched from the ship’s speakers almost the instant the ropes landed on the quayside.  Sadly, although the temperature was 31, the clouds remained overcast, as they had the entire way across from Madeira. Although there was nothing during the crossing above a Force 6 (Strong Wind, white horses everywhere), the ship had moved enough to ensure several very good nights’ sleep. That, plus the clocks going back four hours, has definitely reduced the size of the bags under my eyes. Still a bit puffy, but not as bad as before.  The constant cloud cover has ensured, however, that the unsuspecting/ less seasoned cruisers were already quite pink before we even got here.

There is a new system to prevent sunbed blocking. Staff place yellow hoods on the chair backs of unattended beds, and, half an hour later, anything still there, other than a human behind, is moved to a table by the pool called the Lonely Lounger table. Frankly, it’s all a bit stable door vs. long-bolted horse. There has been very little competition or shortage of sun loungers on this trip, even though the roof has remained resolutely shut since Southampton. When the sun shines, it’s absolutely stifling in there, so people try to escape by going into the canteen and its hard-working air con. Until yesterday evening, of course, when they held a deck barbecue and pinned the doors open! Last night at the quiz, which is held in the canteen to allow access to the midnight buffet and self-service drinks machines, people were feeling quite ill, because the temperature was, if you’ll pardon the pun, through the roof.  We were not a happy bunch. We still managed to come joint second, again, which is a position that we are happy with. No one wants to win the wine, if we can help it! Our team consists entirely of our mates from previous cruises: Dad, me, Margaret and Barry, and Linda and Geoff, and Jo. Jo’s mum turns in early, so she comes along on her tod. As only 6 are allowed to play, sometimes Linda just spectates. Jo is the runner, who takes up the answers to each question and Geoff keeps the score. Dad and I manage to produce a fair number of answers between us, and only occasionally make mistakes.  Although I did get a question about Dr Seuss wrong the other night, which left me mortified. Fancy confusing The Cat In The Hat and Green Eggs And Ham?! I felt quite ashamed of myself.

When we set off from Madeira, the captain announced that our itinerary had been changed, and that we would not be going to Guadeloupe. Bearing in mind that this was the reason we came on this cruise, this left me with a significant reactive depression. It made the whole palaver at Southampton feel even worse, because the only reason I submitted to the forced march was the promise of getting to Deshaies again. And we wouldn’t even be going there. We went to Antigua instead. Apparently, some striking electric company employees shutting down the only power station in the capital a fortnight ago was enough to cause a sudden change of heart, due to an apparent increased risk of violence to tourists (?!), that they only decided to mention AFTER we had departed Madeira and could not back out and fly home. Those of a cynical frame of mind might find the timing interesting, but I could not possibly comment. Of course, the fact that the protests were about the significantly lower quality of life in Guadeloupe and Martinique compared to that in mainland France, mixed with our not going there, that will affect their income from tourism quite negatively, is an irony clearly lost on Carnival and P&O Cruises UK. But if you’re a fan of the phrase “Health & Safety gone mad”, now might be a good moment to dig it out and dust it off for reuse.  Our daily mooring fees at some of these islands is about £50,000 a day, minimum, so they won’t mind our absence, will they? The same cynical voice in my head keeps asking if there is really nowhere else to moor around the 190-mile coastline of a butterfly-shaped double island covering 630 square miles? Too shallow? We have tenders, and we know how to use them. Hmmm…

I have been in the pool a couple of times since Southampton. Although Force 6 is not very rough, the water in the pool does respond quite dramatically. The second swim, I did 10 lengths, but as the tide was against me, it took sometimes 30% more strokes to cover the same distance, so it was much more tiring. And finding myself going backwards whilst swimming forwards always gives me the giggles, for some reason, so I swallowed a fair amount of the contents, as well. I have worn my cozzie under my clothes a few more times, but I don’t fancy the effort and ensuing aches. I keep thinking I’ll go in while we’re stationary, but I keep running out of time. Busy, busy, busy. What with the waking up, and the getting dressed, and the eating, and the drinking, and the chatting to friends, and the Qwirkle games, and the reading, and the quiz, there’s no time! #nicerproblemstohave