Day 1 - arrived at airport in Antigua and were met by the
purser (Sarah) and activities director (Louise). As you
have all guessed by now, we went to the Royal Antiguan for 2
nights. Arrived at hotel, went to bar for first of
hurricane party drinks, and then to the pool for about 45
minutes of remaining sun, and then back to the bar. There
were about 12 of us there for the Stowaway, and it was a
great group. With the winds whipping (the storm began about
7 p.m.), what else can you do but party?? The hotel was not
that great in some ways and excellent in others (i.e., very
cheap pre-negotiated price for WJ people, their own
generator and water supply). It was where we needed to be
and I have no complaints about it.
There were a few of us who were NOT newlyweds (this seemed
the predominant theme for our cruise), and we stayed up
until about midnight before retreating to our rooms to sleep
out the storm.
Day 2 - calm. Light rain. Clearing. To the pool! This
didn't last very long as the residual clouds from the
hurricane brought rain on and off during the day. No stores
were open, only 1/3 of the hotel staff had showed up, and
the pool bar closed. That afternoon, we headed into town
anyway. A group of about 8 of us camped out at Redcliff
Tavern and had drinks and dinner for about the next 4 hours.
After dinner, we went over to Crazy Horse and played some
pool. We practically had the place to ourselves, and were
delighted to find pool tables, but concerned that they did
not know how to make Antiguan Smiles. Back to the hotel, up
to the room, had a message to check in with Sarah or Louise
before 9:00 a.m. Called their room and were told we'd be
boarding at noon tomorrow, sailing about 6, and the heading
for St. Barts, St. Kitts, and Nevis. We were also informed
about the open bar (** and boy oh boy did they lose money on
our group **) and that only 40 of us would be on board. Oh,
yes, this was also when we were told about the special
discount for our next cruise. Down to the lobby bar to tell
those who hadn't heard . . . and later back to our room.
Day 3 - Sarah and Louise had done an excellent job keeping
us happy and updated to this point, and now they wanted to
take our luggage on to the ship so we didn't have to deal
with it. What more can you ask? I loved these guys. I saw
no signs of burn out or attitude or anything else from
Louise. In fact, after talking to people from the Poly and
Mandalay (I'll get to that later . . . all 3 of us were
together for 3 days), I can tell you she was the BEST of all
the activities directors in that group. The Poly people
came to our ship for info on the activities and islands
because what they were given was minimal. Ok, on to the
ship . . . we went downtown to do a little shopping, and
boarded. She was beautiful. Only hurricane damage was a
torn spanker. Captain Sean said they had put the widow's
nets in the water running, but were very successful avoiding
problems/damage. I guess this is as good of a time as any
to tell you that Capt. Sean was one of the most wonderful,
charming, knowledgeable, informative people on the cruise.
He and Burke (already dubbed "The Burke" by Sarah) hit it
off immediately and we had a great time talking to him,
helping blow Capt. Neal ("your shirt is louder than your
cannon") on the Poly out of the water, etc. He is on a
months' vacation now, off getting married. I did not find
him to be snobby, or only willing to talk to the "beautiful
people" or anything like that. And after reading the last
trip report, I can assure you that I looked for this. No
problems, mon. Maybe he was just stressing about the
wedding or something at that time.
Anyway, we set sail, did the Amazing Grace thing, drank
swizzles (although, not too many swizzles were downed when
you have open bar!), and had dinner. The food was excellent
the entire time, a mix of what I would call "everyone will
like this" and some island specialties, like pumpkin, local
fruits, something I think was cardboard but they said was a
type of potato.
Let's see . . . the food . . . my husband is the pickiest
eater in the entire world, and I think he gained weight on
the cruise. The food was great, I guess that's what I was
trying to say.
That night (night 1 on board) was crazy. Chalk it up to
the open bar and everyone being stir crazy and ready to do
some Windjammin'! Dean (the almighty most excellent
bartender) and Singh (the ok bartender who I didn't care for
as much probably because he was not as friendly as Dean and
acted like it was a pain in his arse to fix virgin drinks
for Burke, who hasn't had alcohol in 6 years) -- anyway, my
point being -- because of the fantastic bar tenders and the
open bar on board, we were all either crazy or sea sick. So
you can imagine the mood. We slept on deck that night
until a) Jose (from Germany, believe it or not) was sleep
walking and trying to steal my pillow . . . both not a good
thing to do on the top deck, and b) it started to rain.
Day 4 - St. Barts. We arrived. Breakfast, storytime
where we were told of the wine party that night, beaches,
and SUN. And the Poly. We had matching itineraries the
rest of the trip, and they only had about 50 passengers
(yes, more than us), so we decided to do parties, etc.
together on the Fantome. We went ashore, picked out a
couple of bottles of wine, went to Shell Beach, got some
sun (and Burke appreciated the natural wonders of the French
women sunning themselves), and headed back to go snorkeling.
The snorkeling was BAD at this time due to the storm, so
that was pretty much a waste, but it was free, so it was
perfect (they took a launch out to a rocky area, I wouldn't
really call it a reef ...). Back on board to shower and get
ready for the wine and cheese party (where we produced 72
bottles of wine!). That was a blast, and that was where we
began to realize how special our crew was on the Fantome.
Day, um, 5 I think. Beginning to lose track of time and
accept "island time, mon" - in time to arrive on St. Kitts.
We did the rainforest hike here and it was very nice. I
don't believe there are any monkeys on these islands other
than those in cages. I hiked with my eyes to the sky the
whole time, and didn't see any. Of course, it was wet and
rainy, and they don't like the rain, so they were probably
vacationing in Florida or something. The rainforest was
beautiful, but some of the other participants were trying to
cross streams, etc. without getting their feet wet. So we
had plenty of time to enjoy the surroundings after blasting
by them through the water while they were repositioning
rocks. Funny how my hiking shoes weren't waterproof when
you step in to the shin. Why do you think this is?
This was the night of the costume party, and I forgot to
mention that we had run ashore in St. Kitts earlier that
morning to enjoy the batik and to purchase a lovely sarong
for Burke. He wore this lovely skirt short, with a pink
bikini top with a condom and pack of cigarettes stuck in it,
and a blonde wig. Burke was the beauty of the party, and
won. Although Louise accidentally picked the wrong guy in the
bikini top, both of the judges later apologized to him and
said Louise grabbed the other guy so quickly that it was too
late to do anything (rotten grapes). Next time he will win
for sure! The theme, I forgot to mention (because it sort
of didn't even matter . . .) was "what you wished you were
wearing when the hurricane hit." I wore a toga, as this
was what I had planned on to begin with. 2 knots, no
underwear. They are hot as that place down below. I had to
finally add a couple of hem knots, shortening it up, and
this helped tremendously. Party, dance, etc. and to bed.
Day 6 - Nevis. Slept until 7:30 this morning! Rain on
and off (I haven't been mentioning this everyday, because it
got where it didn't even matter, we were having so much fun,
but yes, we did have rain on and off every day). Went into
town and bought some beautiful stamps in sheets which I am
going to frame. Missed the last launch and took a cab over
to Pinny's beach (where the 4 Seasons is). Had lobster
lunch at Sunshines, and 2 bee stings. Very tasty! Back to
the boat then in time to snorkel. Snorkeling was actually
back over at St. Kitts, and was beautiful. We visited 2
sites, and the water remained clear and calm despite the
rain. I have never seen so many crabs in my life. Also saw
a sea worm/slug thing that was very interesting. No one saw
any turtles that day, but the fish were plentiful and the
variety good.
This was the night of the Captain's dinner and we hit some
really rocky sailing on the way back to Antigua. We had
about 50% of the people in and out of the saloon sick at
some point or another. Thank goodness it didn't bother me,
although I have yet to get my land legs back and wish this
computer would stop rocking this morning. Selection was
swordfish/prime rib and both were good. Desert was banana
flambe, and cool to watch being prepared. Slept on deck
again that night, until the rain started, and then down
below.
Day 7 - our flight was at 3, so we hung around, had
breakfast, walked into St. Johns, played the slots at the
casino, toured the Mandalay, back onto the Fantome, lunch,
and then to the airport. So here I am. Back home. What a
trip!
Now all I have to do is decide where to go next (and it
will DEFINITELY be this winter). Anyone been on the Yankee
Clipper? One thing I heard, and I don't know if this person
was teasing me or not, is that some of the ships don't have
hot water in the showers. Is this right?
So, once again I have to thank all of you for your help
and information that caused me to book and take this
wonderful trip. I can see that there will be many more in
my future! Maybe we'll even convince Burke (my "A" i.d.) to
join us sometimes. You just never know . . .