The Caribbean in a nutshell

I've finally completed editing and updating posts about our 14-day cruise through the Caribbean. Follow the links below to relive this incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In case you're curious, here's a link to a post I published about the cabin on our cruise ship, the Silver Shadow, along with a few details about the boat itself.

DATE	PORT	COUNTRY
10 Jan	Flight from New York to Sint Maarten
10 Jan	La Samanna, Philipsburg	Saint Martin
11 Jan	Philipsburg	Sint Maarten
12 Jan	St. John’s	Antigua & Barbuda
13 Jan	Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas	US Virgin Islands
14 Jan	Little Bay	Montserrat
15 Jan	Castries	St. Lucia
16 Jan	Port Elizabeth, Bequia	St Vincent & Grenadines
17 Jan	Les Saintes	Guadeloupe
18 Jan	Philipsburg	Sint Maarten
19 Jan	Cruz Bay, St John	US Virgin Islands
20 Jan	Gustavia	St. Barthelemy
21 Jan	Roseau	Dominica
22 Jan	St George’s	Grenada
23 Jan	Trois Ilets	Martinique
24 Jan	Kingstown	St Vincent & Grenadines
25 Jan	Bridgetown	Barbados
25 Jan	Flight from Barbados to London

You can also use the following links to relive other destinations we visited on our round-the-world ticket.

• NYE at Cooks Beach in New Zealand
• Reliving old memories in New York
• Overnight hell in Frankfurt
• Record snowfall in Nuremberg
• Doing London the way we used to
• Exploring Sentosa Island in Singapore

The tale of two hotels

Our recent trip to New York wasn’t all colourful sights and sounds. During our stay, two hotels unexpectedly made me pause for thought. Each reminded me how precious life is, and how important it is to live each day to the full.

On our first night in town, Garry and I took a short detour to walk past the Casablanca Hotel. Thirteen years ago, I stayed here with Mum and Dad during our whirlwind visit to the Big Apple. The hotel was less than 100 metres from Times Square, making it easier for Dad to take in its dazzling billboards and energetic vibe.

Our detour was well timed. The following day, we paused to remember the anniversary of Dad’s death. Dad loved New York and was delighted he got to tick it off his bucket list, barely three months before he died. Mum was also grateful for the experience. Although she'd have loved to visit a few of the city's museums if we'd had more time. It was sad to reflect that in the intervening years, Mum has also passed away.

On our final night in Manhattan, Garry and I walked past Hotel Edison on our way home from the theatre. I stayed here as an exchange student while on a High School Arts Club trip to New York City in 1983. As students, we attended the ballet at the Lincoln Centre, watched La Cage aux Folles at the Palace Theatre, toured the Met and MOMA, and visited the United Nations.

It was a cathartic moment standing there and reflecting on my life’s journey. The 18-year-old version of me had stood here with his whole life stretching out before him, wondering where life would take him. Now, 42 years later, the 60-year-old version of me was standing here looking back, wondering, “Have I used my time wisely? Would 18-year-old me be proud?”

It’s a humble experience to have a venue like this symbolically bookending my life’s journey. It’s also a timely reminder to make the most of my remaining years. I think I’ve done OK. If I have any doubt, reading through this blog tells a different story.

Red, green and gold

In October 1983, the Caribbean island of Grenada was invaded by the United States. This military action deposed a Marxist–Leninist government established four years earlier in a bloodless coup. The USA had become increasingly concerned about the nation’s close ties with Cuba, Nicaragua, and other communist bloc countries. Cold War tensions were rising at the time. Months earlier, Ronald Regan had publicly declared the Soviet Union an evil empire, and the Soviets had shot down a Korean airliner over the Sea of Japan.

The invasion marked the first time I recall ever hearing of Grenada. Yesterday, Garry and I visited this island nation as part of our Caribbean cruise. It proved to be another memorable and picturesque port. Our boat docked at St George’s, the nation’s capital, shortly before 9:00am. Once again, the forecast was for warm, humid, and sunny conditions, with a high of 26°C and a low of 25°C.

The island's surprisingly moderate climate gives rise to its reputation as the "Island of Spice. Stable tropical temperatures ensure the success of spice production, its primary export. Nutmeg is a key crop, followed by spices such as cocoa, mace, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. Our cruise notes claim its the world's second-largest producer of nutmeg.

After breakfast, we joined a morning tour of the Clarke’s Court Distillery to learn the secrets of making great Caribbean rum. It was also our first formal visit to a Caribbean distillery. Interestingly, we learned that it no longer makes rum from locally grown sugar cane. Instead, the distillery imports molasses from other islands, mainly Barbados. We learned that most distilleries in the Caribbean now use imported rum. Apparently, in the absence of slave labour, sugar cane growing is an expensive exercise that generates relatively poor margins.

Our tour took us through the distillery’s old sugar cane mill. The equipment used for crushing cane and extracting its juice is still maintained in working condition. Once every few months, the ageing machinery is started, greased and left to run for a while. The crusher's massive cog wheels and rotating cylinders are certainly impressive (but weren’t in action during our visit).

Our tour guide then took us up a steep metal staircase to the distillery’s mezzanine level, where it still makes rum. Large, heated vats boil down molasses and prepare it for fermentation. Likewise, several impressive stainless steel distillation plants continue to extract the precious liquor from the fermented product.

As part of the tour, we indulged in a rum tasting experience. Our guide told us we could sample three rums from 16 different options. However, Garry and I ultimately sampled at least five each. Some were wonderfully smooth and dangerously easy to consume. Others had more heat and left their mark as they went down. I bought a bottle of Sorell-flavoured rum. Sorell is a native red flower that gives the liquor a cranberry-like flavour. Who doesn’t like Cranberry vodka?

Our morning tour finished with an excursion to Morne Rouge Beach, where we enjoyed another dip in the Caribbean, a few complimentary cold beers and some sunbathing. According to Google Maps, we were hosted by the Beach X-scape Bar, a simple, wooden pavilion set back from the beach itself. We then returned to the Silver Shadow for lunch, driving along the capital’s scenic waterfront and through the Sendall Tunnel linking its horseshoe-shaped inner harbour with a cruise terminal on the Caribbean coast.

According to Wikipedia, the harbour is an old volcanic crater. Our cruise notes describe Grenada's capital as literally rolling down the ancient crater's sloping hills to an attractive waterfront decorated by floral-hued buildings, Georgian architecture and idyllic terracotta roofs. It's a very apt description.

Sendall Tunnel is a bit of an eye-opener. It’s a historic 105-metre passageway built in 1894-1895. The tunnel is only wide enough for one-way traffic. However, pedestrians happily pass through it in either direction, dodging traffic by staying close to the side wall as they walk. It’s hair-raising stuff.

After lunch, I decided to return to St George’s for a walk along its picturesque waterfront. My sweaty route included a transit through Sendall Tunnel on the way into town and again upon returning to the boat. Grenada’s Independence Day will be celebrated on 7 February. As a result, the town is currently decked out in the colours of the national flag in preparation for the big day. A flurry of red, green and gold was displayed proudly everywhere I walked. 

I made a complete circuit of the inner harbour from Sendall Tunnel as far as Cooper Hill. I then climbed a steep, grass-covered stairway that took me up to Mitchell Lane, a quiet street which follows a ridgeline overlooking the harbour. I had hoped the elevation would give me some memorable views of the town below, Fort George (an imposing fortification on the opposite side of the harbour) and the surrounding Caribbean coast. I wasn't disappointed. The steamy climb was well worth the effort, as you'll see from the images above and below.

I followed the road back down to Roy St. John Field, a large sports field next to the local container port. Local schools were hosting a sports day on the field. Colourful crowds were cheering on the children, while a hyped-up commentator was delivering a rousing scoreboard update. I then returned to the boat, passing the local fishing fleet, colonial stone-clad buildings and other memorable landmarks.  Delighted to report that I ultimately clocked up 10,384 steps yesterday.

Grenada is the furthest south we’re venturing on this cruise. It’s definitely been one of my favourite islands so far. We've yet to visit three islands, so unless something exceptional crops up, I think it’ll remain a highlight.

St John USVI

Our Caribbean cruise is an all-inclusive affair. That is, the price we paid includes everything, such as meals, drinks, and excursions in every port. We also received some shipboard credit that we’ve put to good use for spa treatments and reservations at the ship’s fine-dining restaurant.

To make the most of it, I signed us up for an excursion at every port more than a year ago. However, Garry wanted to retain a little flexibility along the way. I researched the ports we were scheduled to visit and identified three where we could do our own thing in our own time. The first of these was Cruz Bay on the island of St. John, which we visited today. The second is St. Barthélemy, which we’ll visit tomorrow.

Today was designated a beach day. One of the excursions on offer involved a guided walk to a nearby beach. After a little Google Maps research, I decided we could do this without a guide and choose our own departure time. St John is also part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a result, everyone on board had to be individually cleared by immigration agents this morning, regardless of whether they were going ashore.

The immigration agents ran late. They didn’t board until after 9:30am, so every excursion was running late. Cruz Bay is also another tender port, so passengers booked on excursions automatically received priority on the tender. You could say that the decision to do our own thing paid off today. We eventually caught a tender ashore around 10:30am, then made our way to Honeymoon Beach via the Lind Point Trail.

The trail features two routes around Lind Point. The Upper Trail takes you to a lookout offering a panoramic view of Cruz Bay township and Galge Cove, while the Lower Trail offers more shade during the heat of the day. We took the upper trail to the beach, about two kilometres in total. The view from the lookout was well worth the climb. The beach was equally divine. We’ve voted this beach the most aquamarine water we’ve seen so far.

Our beach time was briefly interrupted by a passing shower. However, I took to the water and thus was happy to get wet. We decided to head back after a couple of hours, as fresh rain clouds were building on the horizon. We timed our departure to perfection as the heavens opened minutes after we started walking back along the Lower Trail. Thank goodness I had the forethought to pack an umbrella this morning. Given the inclement weather, we decided to return to the boat rather than explore the town.

Today’s fun fact. St John USVI covers the same land area as Manhattan. My total number of countries visited now stands at 81. I’m delighted to have finally reached my eighties.

Back in Philipsburg

We’ve completed the first week of our Caribbean cruise. Today we’re back in Philipsburg on the dual-nation island of Sint Maarten-Saint Martin. This is where our cruise began seven days ago. However, we didn’t see much of it when we first arrived, other than a little plane-spotting at Maho Beach.

We made up for it this morning by taking one of our cruise’s all-inclusive tours. Sadly, it was probably the least impressive excursion we’ve taken so far. The tour company loaded us onto two enormous buses rather than smaller, more versatile minivans. This inevitably limited the stops we could make during the tour. Those we ultimately made were rather underwhelming, even more so when more appealing destinations taunted us nearby.

For example, our first stop was the waterfront at Margot. The shops and markets are closed on Sunday, so there was little for us to see. Meanwhile, we were teased by a frustrating glimpse of Fort St Louis on a nearby hill. I would have loved to visit its ruins if only for its breathtaking harbour vista. Likewise, our second stop at Bell’s Lookout offered little more than a distant view of the international airport and the island’s diesel-fueled power station. Meanwhile, a smaller vehicle could have taken us up a spectacular mountain pass nearby for an uninterrupted view of the island's entire east coast.

Despite the disappointment, we did enjoy one unexpected highlight. We discovered the island is home to lots of giant iguanas. Today, they were out in force, sunning themselves in the trees along the road and on rocks along the Margot shoreline. Despite their ubiquitous presence, iguanas aren't native to the island. They're an introduced species from Africa and Asia. 

The island is also adorned by some intriguing statues. Every Caribbean island has a memorial to the emancipation of its slaves, and Philipsburg is no exception. Its version, The Emancipation Statue, can be found on Freedom Fighter Roundabout on the edge of town. I also like the Salt Pickers, a statue depicting a group of impoverished workers collecting salt crystals from the Great Salt Pond, a brackish lake separating Philipsburg from the rest of the island.

Nearby stands another equally moving statue of a little girl carrying a bundle of sugar cane. One-Tété Lohkay was a young woman who was enslaved on a plantation in St. Maarten. However, she rebelled and ran away from her owners to the French side. She was then chased by her plantation owners, recaptured, and brought back to the plantation. As punishment for her rebelliousness and as a warning to other slaves, the slave owners ordered that one of her breasts be removed. Thus, she became known as One-Tété Lohkay. 

However, the statue that stood out most is known simply as Tata the Bus Driver. It depicts Jean-Frederique Brooks, a bus driver who ran the school route and kept mischievous pupils firmly in line. He's kept company on the roundabout by statues of Alexander Lionald Richardson, a butcher who supposedly had 42 children, many of whom probably were on Tata's bus, and Florian Eulalie Duzanson, who baked for free for those who could not afford tasty treats. I guess you could call it a monument to local heroes.

We also crossed the Dutch-French border twice over two hours. Each crossing was marked by flags and a commemorative carin. This 87 km2 island was discovered by the Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus, during his second voyage in 1493. However, it's been divided since 1648 between France (53 km2) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (34 km2). While the island is an overseas possession of two European Union member states, only the French section is part of the EU.

You may wonder, how did such a tiny island come to be shared by two nations? In 1648, a treaty known as the Peace of Munster ended the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic. As a result, the Spanish no longer required an active naval base in the Caribbean. Furthermore, St. Martin barely turned a profit for its colonial masters, so they swiftly abandoned it.

The Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic jointly reclaimed the island on 23 March 1648. In a magnanimous moment, they agreed to divide the island between their two territories and created a formal border with the signing of the Treaty of Concordia. Subsequent conflicts have generated 16 border changes over the years. It's been stable since 1816, aside from a minor tweak in 2023. This recent change clarified the status of a body of water called the Oyster Pond. A dispute over the border’s location meant debris had never been cleared from the water after Hurricane Irma struck in 2017.

This afternoon, we’re back on board our ship and preparing to sail back to the U.S. Virgin Islands. We learned yesterday that 183 passengers who joined the cruise a week ago are continuing on this second leg. Some time ago, we discovered that the cruise we’ve booked was actually two 7-day cruises marketed as a single itinerary under a common booking code. It was the only itinerary marketed this way by Silversea, and it subsequently disappeared from its website months ago. We’ve yet to find out why this itinerary is so unique. Its extensive itinerary certainly caught my eye. I've never seen anything like it.

UPDATE: 11:00pm

Garry and I have just returned from dinner at La Dame, our cruise ship's premier restaurant.  We thought it would be a great way to celebrate the halfway point in our cruise. We reserved our table months ago and paid a hefty USD120 surcharge for the privilege. Jackets were also mandatory for gentlemen. 

Sadly, much like this morning's tour, the experience was rather underwhelming. We were greeted by a rather surly Frenchman on arrival (why do so many staff in fine-dining French restaurants have such a condescending attitude?). Much to our surprise, the restaurant was also half-empty. We could have walked in without a reservation. 

The meal started with an impressive caviar experience, but went downhill from there. Our entrees were a disappointment, and the mains were a mixed bag. I ordered a Dover Sole, which was delicious, while Garry went for the steak. His meat was chewy and filled with sinew.  Our final verdict. It was a nice meal, but no better than any other we've enjoyed on board. It definitely wasn't worth an AUD185 surcharge.  

We've booked to dine here again on the final night of our cruise. However, after this evening's experience, we're having second thoughts.

Finally, here's the view from Fort Louis. I've pulled this rom the web. It's a shame we didn't get to experience it today.