A Down Day in Dominica!

We’ve been to Dominica so many times.  It’s not on our top ten list of islands to visit.  Not even our top twenty.  We’ve done the Champagne snorkeling where we’ve snorkeled amongst the warm bubbles of the volcanic seabed.  Even the snorkeling excursions here are not on our top excursion list. 

We were docked in the island’s secondary dock/port area.  The industrial side.  The NCL Norwegian Sun was docked at the primary downtown port.  This was going to be our “stay on the ship” day. 

Dominica is known for their rainforest and waterfalls.  That was pretty evident as it rain for the most of the day while we were docked.  It felt like it rained every hour for 10-20 minutes. 

We had our usual breakfast at HC.  To give our cabin steward some time to refresh our cabin, we spent our time wandering around the ship.  We hung out on deck 7, Promenade, and watched our fellow cruisers leaving for their day trips/excursions.  I figured most of them were going hiking through the rainforest and/or waterfalls.  Down at the pier, there was an islander playing his steel drums and entertaining us with music.  Yes, we could hear it all the way up on the ship. 

I dropped Hubby off at the cabin while I picked up my laptop and headed up to deck 18 to the Skywalker’s Lounge to get my 5 bars (WiFi access).  This was one of the ways I got my exercise on the ship, climbing the stairs from Deck 9 (Dolphin…our cabin) to Deck 15 (Lido…think food!) or all the way up to Deck 18 (for WiFi). 

I spent time up here, looking through the pictures we’ve taken and picking out the ones to be posted on FB and for my cruise blog.  I enjoyed my time here at Skywalker’s.  It’s located at the back (aft) of the ship and at the top deck.  This lounge has floor to ceiling windows.  From here, I saw the downtown area of Roseau, the capital of Dominica.  I saw the traffic jams of what looked like the only road that went between the two ports.  I suspected many newcomers/cruisers were taking taxis to the downtown area.  I also saw the NCL ship.  I also saw the rain showers come and go.  Frequently. 

At some point, my stomach growled.  It was lunch time!  I gathered my belongings and headed back down to Deck 9 to check on Hubby.  He was lounging inside the sitting area of our cabin with our balcony door open.  I guess it got too hot out on our balcony, but he wanted to enjoy the slight breeze outside.  The best of both worlds! 

It was after 1pm and we headed back up to HC for lunch.  Yes, we were hungry.  Again. 

After lunch, I dropped Hubby back in our cabin.  I was in exploring mode.  I went to several venues to check out the entertainment.  Not much was going on.  Let me re-phrase that, some of the entertainment didn’t appeal to me at the moment.  

The crew on the ship had a test drill 

A view of the island

Houses and building in Dominica

I went back to the cabin to check on Hubby and to let him know that I was going dockside to see the local market.  Hubby was torn.  I knew he didn’t want to go wandering around the local market in the humid hot weather.  Yet, he wanted to come with me to make sure I would be safe.  I reassured him that I would be fine and I would hang out with my fellow cruisers. 

Off I went down to Deck 4 and exited the ship.  I walked slowly past the steel drum man to take in the beat of his music.  I can’t dance worth beans, but as I listened to this beautiful music I felt my feet wanting to move to the beat. 

The industrial port area with the market area

The local market is really a craft market set up in a huge metal warehouse just beyond the port security area.  Local women and men sell their crafts and gifts.  It’s mostly women that I see here.  There are plenty of handcrafted dolls and toys on display as well as handmade house ware items (trivets, doilies, bowls, wall hangings, clothes and lots of jewelry. 

I was on a mission.  I was looking for coconut shell jewelry.  A few years ago, a friend of mine had been to Costa Rica and brought me gorgeous coconut shell dangle earrings.  They were dark brown.  Ever since, I’ve been looking for a bracelet and necklace to go with it.   

As I went from table to table, no brown coconut shell jewelry was to be found.  There was a lot of what I called junk jewelry that was probably massed produced in some way.  Every table had the same, except for one.  I picked out a unique looking necklace.  The oval pendant was made out of banana leaf and the beads were a combination of coconut and blue coral.  It was gorgeous.  The designer was a man!  Each piece was handmade by him.  He told me he could lengthen and shorten a necklace for me. Given the living conditions on this island I knew I wouldn’t negotiate too much.  In the end, we were happy with our agreement and I was a proud owner a unique necklace.

After wandering around a bit more, I did not realize how hot and sweaty I became.  I was inside a warm warehouse and with the rainy weather made it feel really muggy.  I headed back to the ship to enjoy the cool AC.

Hubby really liked my new purchase and enjoyed his time in our cabin.  I think it was more like siesta time for him. 

The ship was getting ready to leave Dominica.  I grabbed my camera and Hubby and we headed down to Deck 7 (Promenade) to check out the view on the starboard side.  We walked towards the front (forward) of the ship as it was backing and moving away from the dock.  A security officer was walking towards us and told us that the forward area of the ship was off limits.  We headed around to the port side of the ship and noticed he closed and locked a gate behind us.  We decided to just walk around the Promenade (3 laps equals a mile). 

This was a pleasurable down day for us.  No rushing around.  Just doing what we wanted to do.