Saint Kitts & Nevis

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Before we left for the casino, the stewards delivered the laundry with a note that said the last time to send out laundry for this cruise was tomorrow by 2:00 pm. They’ve done a great job with the laundry this cruise.

Walking the halls, I could feel the wave action getting stronger. Took a Bonine to be on the safe side.

We chose to have dinner in the main dining room. Chuck had pasta with beef Bolognese. I had the mushroom and cheese fritters. We split a piece of dulce de leche cheesecake.

Went to the comedy and magic show of Fred Moore on the main stage. He had the same type of illusions as the last magicians did, but we enjoyed them anyway.

Woke up before the alarm went off. Breakfast was delivered at 7:30. I had time to prep our snorkeling gear since we didn’t have to meet the tour group until 9:45.

Today we repeated a snorkel tour that we did in December 2021 at St Kitts because it was so much fun then. I had high hopes that today would be just as fun.

The name of this HAL tour: St Kitts Snorkel Adventure.

The tour description: Enchanting, impressive and breathtaking — that’s a snorkel safari along the pristine Southeast Peninsula of St Kitts, where green vervet monkeys far outnumber human beings.

At Port Zante Marina, you will board a snorkel boat. Your snorkel stops will be at Shitten’s Bay and Ballast Bay — both teeming with tropical fish and coral life — turtles, eagle rays, stingrays, schools of salt water chub, snapper, angel, parrot fish, squirrel fish and sand sharks may be seen.

Take time to explore the many virgin reefs, and the extensive soft corals, fans and sponges that make up the reef life.

Notes: Non-alcoholic drinks and water will be provided. Wear your swimsuit; bring a towel, sunscreen and a hat. Guests with heart problems, epilepsy, diabetes or asthma are not allowed to participate. Waiver must be signed and medical conditions disclosed. Wildlife sightings are likely but are not guaranteed. All snorkel gear is provided. Life vests must be worn. Maximum weight is 300 lbs.

We met the group at 9:45 and we all walked to the smaller port area to board the tour boat. We left right at 10:00. I noticed that it was a different tour operator doing the tour today than we had in 2021. We also had more people on the excursion than the last time.

However, the snorkeling spots were the same and the fish were plentiful. The tour operator had plenty of gear for people to borrow and I used their fins. The sun was out, and the waves weren’t as strong as yesterday. And I didn’t embarrass myself jumping into the water.

This boat had a slide you could choose to slide down into the water from the upper deck if you didn’t want to jump or use the ladder. Not for me. I’ve seen enough AFV shows with adults on slides to know I didn’t want to end up on one of their episodes.

The only issue that people had was climbing back up into the boat after each snorkeling spot. The ladder didn’t go very far into the water. You had to bring your leg up pretty far to get it on the first rung, and then pull yourself up using the ropes provided. Then, you could climb the rest of the ladder.

You really needed some upper body strength to pull yourself out of the water. The tour operators in the water helped push if needed, but it was a struggle for some.

Even though the tour description didn’t mention any alcohol, there was plenty of local beer and rum punch provided on the sail back to the dock. There was plenty of non-alcoholic options too.

They turned the music up and we danced on the decks all the way back to the port. We passed close by some beach resorts and people waved. Good advertising for the tour company – “See what fun these people are having – you could too.”

However, the few pre-teens that were on this excursion with their families just looked mortified that they were surrounded by all the dancing adults. They did not join in. I could feel all the eye-rolling going on. 😁

We got back to the ship about 2:00 so we had a late, light lunch in the Lido. Spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony until it was time to get ready for the evening. I did manage to stay awake today. I call that win.

Travel Trivia

Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis

In 1493, Christopher Columbus was allegedly so smitten with this volcanic island that he named it after St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers.

St. Kitts (shortened from St. Cristopher by British sailors) and sister isle Nevis were part of the British Empire until 1967, earning semi-independent status when they were named associated states of Great Britain.

In 1983, the 68-square-mile St. Kitts and Nevis became an independent, two-island nation with a parliamentary government headed by a prime minister.

The Green Vervet monkeys, found all over the island, originally arrived is St Kitts when the French occupied the island sporadically in the time frames of 1665 to 1690. They brought them as pets. Eventually the French were deported, and the monkeys were not allowed to enter the boats, so they were abandoned on the island. Today, there are 1.25 monkeys for every human on the island.

*Trivia provided by Wikipedia