Antigua - island of 365 beaches and we saw every one of them, except 364...

Antigua ended up a fairly lazy stop, and the money we saved on taxis (by going to one of the closest of the 365 beaches on the island) and shore excursions (by not going on one at all!) we spent on some little gifts and souvenirs. To avoid the children experiencing the crushing boredom and life-sucking experience of wasting a day in the Caribbean IN SHOPS!, we checked the girls into their respective kids club activities. This morning it was some simple sports and songs outside (which got a little too hot 'cos of the beautiful weather that remains to travel with us forcing the kids back inside) and then making Clarabel's Moo Juice. This rather interesting and educational activity had the kids turning cream into butter with nothing but the force of their own little muscles. Bless 'em. They got to eat their product too - not raw of course, that would be gross - but on some crackers. Fun.

The adults' shopping trip went on a bit longer than we had expected, so we left the children to stay for lunch. We were just about to start our lunch when we got our first "page" from the kids councellors. (Just to explain, when you register your children you are also issued a pager, which you carry with you while your kids are in the program. If there are any problems - accidents, the child is weepy or disruptive etc - the staff will page you. A really nice addition to the program, adding a lot of extra peace-of-mind for the parents.) Anyway we were asked to come and get Kiara due to a "potty accident". Oops. We hurried down, rather embarrassed for our little daughter, only to find that they had found that she was "mysteriously damp all over" and couldn't find out the cause, therefore assuming her to be wet. A bit odd really as she certainly wasn't "wet" and just seemed a bit sweaty due to running about in the heat. Her dignity restored, she joined us for lunch...

An aside: I have wanted to include my children's actual words or descriptions of the things that they have done in these blogs, without much success, due to the fact that I am writing usually a number of hours later, and my memory isn't good enough to remember exactly what they said. Also, their attention spans are short enough that they don't necessarily remember the detail of what they did and how they felt about it if asked later in the day. However, many things still stick in their minds, and we have had more "wide-eyed" moments describing the cool things that they just did that we can count. I may not have made it clear, but there are 4 distinct age-groups in the kids clubs, 3-4, 5-7. 8-10 and 11-12. So astute readers will realise that our two daughters are in separate clubs. Yes they are. Gabriella is used to leaving us all for a few hours at a time, as she is at school already. Kiara is less used to the concept, but it is a testament to the fun that she is having that she usually doesn't want to leave when we come to get her!

Yes, I know, I am digressing again...

Once the children were back in our possession we popped off the ship and hailed a taxi. We chose the official taxis as suggested by the staff and literature on the ship. For a number of reasons I would recommend that you do too. Not least, an official licensed taxi is almost always part of a consortium with a number of drivers, keeping you well covered if the driver doesn't turn up for your return trip.

We chose to go to Dickenson Bay because it is close, very nice, and is the beach that the Sandals Antigua resort is built on, and I wanted to see how the construction of their massive new addition is going on. It's quite impressive, actually, in scale certainly, and should really add another jewel in its crown when it opens next year.

The beach is no good for snorkelling - nothing to see, and the water is cloudy due to the (very fine, white) sand being churned up by the small but significant waves and swell. We spent nearly three hours at the beach, nearly all of it in the sea (except Kiara who spent the first hour fast asleep on a beach chair, having conked out on the taxi-ride). The children are feeling very confident in the water, which is great. We have all been slathered in factor 50 sunscreen since we got here, and I am pleased to report that my sunburned shoulders are almost better now, thanks to magic after-sun cream containing Lanocaine (yeah!), the passage of time, and wearing a t-shirt on the beach for most of the time since. My kids have inherited their darker skin colour and ability to tan instantaneously, even wearing factor 50, from their mother and already look a lovely shade of mocha. I, meanwhile, still look like a raw pork sausage apart from my burnt bits!

Today was the first chance I got to photograph the whole ship (including the bow) from the shore, and the weather in the late afternoon cooperated with my portrait session, offering up some awe-inspiring backdrops of towering thunderclouds, while not actually dropping any rain on me! Thanks! I include the best pic here...

The show tonight was one that we had been looking forward from the very beginning, as it was a special show for our sailing only, featuring "The Muppets". While it was a good show, with some really wonderful moments, and fascinating to see some of the puppet operators practicing their craft live on stage, it was the only show so far that didn't quite live up to our expectations. For those of you traveling with Disney in the days and months to come, this will not affect you, as it is not a regularly scheduled show, so it is OK to still come. You should not feel that you should cancel your trip!

I am leaving out most of the detail of the meals, these days, as we continue to rotate around the 3 main restaurants, but I can tell you that I have tried a lot of new, interesting and mostly excellent dishes on this cruise. Tonight was no exception. Oysters (Rockefeller style) and venison - what? they serve up Bambi? - were two of my courses tonight. I have been impressed.

St Kitts is tomorrow. This one is an early start, whatever we chose to do - we still haven't decided - so I am going to sign off now and go to bed.

Hoping, as always, that these posts are helping you to forget, if just for a moment, your drab, wretched lives... (It's a quote from Tom Lehrer... no offence intended!!!)

 

On to... St Kitts - and Pirates in the Caribbean

[Back to... Bonus post - A detailed look at a day on the ship.]