Barbados!

We went up to HC for another round of breakfast.  I must say that our buffet plate was not as full as the first few days of our cruise.  The first few days we had sampled and figured out what was great and what was so-so.  By now, we knew to skip the so-so and just go for the great!  Smoked salmon and capers were great!  The sliced fresh fruit was great (melons and pineapples).  Yogurt and an egg over easy was good.  A chocolate croissant was also good.  Potatoes were hit or miss or a so-so. 

We lounged around inside our cabin until we approached Barbados.  I stepped out into our balcony and saw a huge tug boat escorting us into the port area.  There was a huge yacht already docked at the furthest part of the pier.  Besides the yacht, we were the only ship in port.  Wahoooo! 

The huge tug boat

We dressed in our swim suits and lathered up with our suntan lotion SPF#s 45 and 70.  We finished dressing in our t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops, grabbed our bags, and headed down to Deck 4.  Along the way, we stopped on the staircase somewhere between Decks 6 and 5.  Hmmmm…this was the start of a long line to disembark. 

I guess that’s what happens when we arrive into port later in the morning.  All of a sudden everyone is on the same schedule as we were. 

We walked along the dock and headed to the cruise port terminal and shopping center.  Once we were outside the terminal, we found our excursion guide and waited for the rest to of fellow cruisers to gather. 

We boarded a bus and headed out to another small docking area about three miles away from our cruise ship.  We made our away into a little shop and signed a waiver before we could board our catamaran.  It was a beautiful day to be sailing.  We headed out and sailed north along the coast of Barbados.  We were rocking and rolling with the Caribbean waves.  This is the way we liked it.  This is how we knew we were in the true Caribbean waters.  This was the life!

The captain of our Tiami catamaran

After sailing for what felt like 45 minutes, we dropped anchor.  We were told not to snorkel with our fins.  We were going to swim with the turtles!  I was the last one in the water.  It was pure joy!  I saw so many turtles by my feet.  They swam in and around my fellow snorkelers. 

One of several turtles swimming by

Hubby snorkeling in the foreground

I was one of the first ones back on the catamaran.  The jelly fish episode from yesterday had me a bit paranoid about being in the water. 

The crew members were setting up lunch for us right on the catamaran.  Life was definitely good!  We had BBQ chicken, pasta, salad, and bread.  It was simple, but very enjoyable.  It was delish!

After lunch, we sailed for about 15 minutes and then stopped for a beach break.  The beach was rather narrow and a bit steep.  Hubby and I decided to stay on the catamaran and enjoy the view of the Caribbean waters and the water sport activities. 

Watching a waterski go by

Afternoon tea on the Tiami catamaran anyone?  

We set sail again and headed back.  Along the way, the Caribbean music kicked up a notch and we were all swaying and dancing to the wonderful music. 

I had a great idea to use my weather proof camera and take a few videos of the Barbados coastline with the music in the background.  Hopefully, it will get posted here soon. 

We made it back to the ship in time to change and then headed back out again.  It was around 4:30pm and we noticed some of the shops in the terminal we getting ready to close down for the day.  We jumped into a cab and took off to downtown Barbados to walk around.  It was really crowded and it felt like we were in the middle of a rush hour.  We went into the Little Switzerland shop and found what I was looking for (dive watch).  Afterwards, we headed over to the wharf area of town.  Not much was going on there and we headed back towards downtown.  It must have been after 5pm as we saw a lot of folks leaving the shops and businesses.  I guessed they were the worker bees.  They did not waste any time.  They dropped what they were doing and are out the doors by 5pm.  Sharp!  I don’t think we could get away with that here in the US. 

Downtown near the wharf

We grabbed the nearest cab and headed back to the ship.  By the time we walked into the cruise terminal, majority of the shops were closed.  The only shops that remained open were the Colombian Emeralds jewelry store and the rum cake shop.  I noticed there were still a few crew members and fellow cruisers who were using the free WiFi in the terminal. 

Back on the ship, we showered and changed into our comfy clothes set out to find dinner. 

We were exhausted from today’s activities.  I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep.  

The pier in Bridgetown Barbados