SAILING THE CARIBBEAN
15 nights
Day 17 to 31
Palamanturs Monarch is basically a Spanish speaking ship. Our travel agencies in Australia found it a bit too hard to book this trip so we booked it through Vacations to Go out of the U.S.
This is a repositioning cruise which means it is the last journey before it heads to Europe so the cost is substantially lower.
Although this ship was built in 1993, the food, accommodation and service is excellent. Only negative is that we dine with the same people every night. In our case, we are lucky to have two fantastic Isle of Lewis travellers but if they don’t turn up we are on our own. You can’t choose who you dine with in the restaurant and it’s a shit fight in the buffet.
Nicole and Michael run a B&B in The Isle of Lewis in the New Hebrides.
St Maartens
A beautiful Caribbean lsland that has the typical duty free shops lining the port. Every day is a promotion day especially as it was Mothers Day as well. Promotion” is the most used word on the island. Took a taxi with our 2 American friends around the island. It is divided into Dutch and French. The Dutch side is organised and the French side to quote our guide is “careless”. In other words, they don’t maintain their beautiful old historic buildings. The Dutch side had all the shops open but the French side was closed for the Sabbath.
Music is everywhere. The first few beats of anything have everyone singing or dancing. So much like we expected the Caribbean to be.
Maho Beach has the airport directly behind it and is famous for the planes landing so low overhead that you can almost see the passengers. In the past, when the jumbos could land, beachgoers had to hold onto the wire fence or anything else that was bolted down.
Drank a guavaberry Colada at Orient Beach where our very charismatic guide, Antony, warned us that it would make us giggle and feel a bit relaxed. He also told us that he was looking for a wife. Mmmm
Antigua
Moored at San Juan, the capital located in the north
The birthplace and home of Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Anderson Roberts. National cricket heroes.
Our taxi driver lives in Switzerland and comes back to Antigua to maintain his father’s taxi business for the season. He is also a scout for potential Antiguan soccer players with contacts at Arsenal. We drove through the lush, tropical rainforest and saw a few of the many sugarcane mills spotted throughout the island. Slavery was a big deal and sugar cane was the chief export. Passed Freemans hill that was the first area given to the free slaves. Now the islands main income is tourism with quite a few famous names living on the island. Richard Branson, Robert de Nero and Sir Viv.
It is also famous for its black pineapple. The sweetest in the world.
A dip and a beer at Hawks Bill Beach. The water is so salty that you can stand upright and not have to tread water to stay that way. It is brilliant turquoise and the sand is bleach white. The Spanish do not give a toss about what they look like in a swimsuit!
On Sea
The cruise is 8 days straight sailing. That’s Ok. Time is spent walking, eating, swimming, drinking and sunbathing. The entertainment options during the day are a bit sparse unless you like making crepe flowers (one per person) or box making. The dance classes on deck are packed with absolutely no dress code. Everything is pretty loose, if you get my meaning. The Spanish keep to themselves because it is too difficult to make conversation with the English speakers and vice versa I guess. There are enough English options to stop going stir crazy though. We know of 4 Aussies on the ship. There are over 100 Digital nomads on the cruise as well. We have had two emergency drills and both times I think if it was a real emergency we would have drowned. We heard that the Captain was not happy at all with the drill today. It was a shemozzle!
Funchal, Madeira – The last stop before the mainland
Funchal means fennel meadow
Finally crossed the Atlantic Ocean! Eight days straight sailing is a bit tiring even though the weather has been superb and the food and wine was delicious.
Funchal is the Capital of the Island of Madeira. The landscape is covered with grapevines planted in the steep valleys (Madeiras most important crop) and banana plants. No land is wasted and it is such a picturesque place. All the houses have terracotta tiled rooftops.
Cabo Girao is the 2nd highest sea cliff in the world so its views of the coastline are incredible. There is a glass floor that takes you over the 589 metre drop.
he main market in the old town was a feast for the eyes. The fruit carts are works of art and it seems a pity to ruin the display. The best varieties of passionfruit we have ever tasted.
There is a pretty ugly looking black fish that lives deep in the Atlantic. It comes a few hundred metres at night to fed and that is when the fishermen catch it.
The island of Madeira is very beautiful. The coast is dotted with the remainder of a massive stone wall. The cobblestone streets are charming and there is a beautiful 500 year old Gothic church standing in the old town. All the building materials would have been brought over by ship from Portugal.
There is a cable car that travels to the top of the island but it gets quite foggy up there.
Cork products are everywhere and range from rings and bracelets to handbags, hats and backpacks.
Last Day at Sea
A farewell to our friends and some to be continued…..
Two Travelling Bags 