Day 10 Panama & Carribean Cruise

Day 10 Barbados

The QM2 docked at the Barbados cruise terminal at ~7:30AM; the weather was very bright, and a quick step out on to the balcony revealed that this was going to be a hot day.

Following breakfast in the Britannia, the four of us headed down to deck 1 in an attempt to get off the ship. There was a line. We waited. We waited. Patience is a virtue, I reminded myself! It turned out that there was a SNAFU with the buses that were trying to get to the ship to take the passengers on the short, 2 minute, ride to the cruise terminal. When we finally got down the gangway it was evident that the cause of the confusion was just plain poor organization on the part of the ships crew. On the way to the terminal we saw that the port was in fact at its cruise ship capacity; there being 3 other ships tied up in addition to the QM2. The other ships were; the Norwegian Dawn, Carnival Victory and the Ocean Village. I must say the QM2 really shines when placed alongside regular cruise ships.

In the cruise terminal I located the information office and asked about getting a taxi for a tour; following the usual bantering I got hooked up with Patrick the award winning taxi driver (more later), dressed in very smart clothes – he looked quite dapper. We were joined in the car by a pair of Australian sisters; there were 7 of us (including Patrick) in a 7 seater car – so it was a bit cramped, but perfectly fine – in fact the car was quite modern. The agreed price was once again $20 / per person for a 2 ½ hour tour – there must be some kind to inter-island cartel!

Off we went and Patrick started in with his spiel. It turns out that the island awards a best taxi driver award every year and no one has won it twice – but Patrick had won it three times; he was on TV and in the Papers. Patrick was very proud of his achievements, and told us he had been given a trip to London and Paris.

Barbados is very different from Grenada; it is relatively flat, has a well developed infrastructure and a distinctly British feel to it. The island was a British colony / protectorate from 1625 until 1966 when it gained its independence.

We first drove through the capital city, Bridgetown. The main street in Bridgetown Broad Street) is like a Caribbean Oxford Street (one of the main shopping streets in London) - with many high end shops; Patrick was quick to point out that the shops on this street were duty free. At the end of Broad Street we came to Trafalgar Square, complete with a statue of Admiral Nelson, the famous British naval officer. Even though the Barbadian version actually pre-dates it, it bares very little resemblance to the splendor of the London version. In fact the local government has recently renamed the square; it is now officially called Hero’s Square – but Patrick confidently told us that everyone would always call it by its former name. Patrick really seemed to be the “man about town” – honking hellos, waving at many folks; at one point he stopped outside the main police station to chat with the Chief of Police.

I have to mention a funny event that occurred as we drove on; one of the Australian sisters shouted a question from the back of the car – she asked Patrick “if he had learned to speak English in school?” Patrick answered that English was the only language he spoke and that he had learned it from his mother as a child! The confusion arose following Patrick’s discourse with the Chief of Police – which he had conducted in the local island version of English; in this version they speak very fast and omit “unnecessary” words.

Out of town we drove, heading inland through fields of sugar cane – the islands main crop. Patrick insisted on showing us the contrasting living conditions on the island; and so we headed down dirt tracks for some of the poorer rural hamlets. Many of the houses (shacks) we saw were several hundred years old – but they were nothing more than small wooded boxes, literally. Some of the shacks pre-dated the use of glass in windows, instead having simple wooden shutters.

Back on the main road we went through several roundabouts (traffic circles) just like back in Britain – oh, by the way, traffic drives on the left hand side in Barbados. We headed for a low ridge from which we could look back across the island to the coast and see the four cruise ships docked in the harbor.

Next Patrick took us to the “Beverly Hills of Barbados”, an area called Sandy Lane. Apparently many famous personalities have homes in Sandy Lane – Oprah Winfrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger included; the area contains 2 ½ golf courses, a major hotel (where Tiger Woods got married) and lots of high end homes. Homes cannot be built in Sandy Lane if they will value at less than $1M, or so Patrick informed us. At one point we stopped outside a house and Patrick informed us that the owner was a doctor who owned a Hummer, one of only 4 on the island – he had the red one (yes this is a small island)

Finally we hit the coast north of the cruise terminal and headed south. Along the coast road there are many houses, apartments and resorts built right on the waters edge – in fact it was hard to find an open spot where we could stop and take a few pictures, but Patrick knew where to go. The beaches and views along this section of the island really are spectacular – it’s easy to see why people come here to just laze on the beach.

Instead of heading back into Bridgetown, we had Patrick drop us at the Mount Gay rum facility – we had previously agreed that this was a spot we wanted to hit (Mike being a big rum fan). Our timing was perfect; we paid our $7 entry fee and waited only a few moments before the next tour started. There were about 20 tourists in the group and the tour guide was a very well spoken and impeccably dressed young local girl. The guide had a quick whit and was very knowledgeable – having previously worked in the manufacturing process. The facility we visited is used for blending and bottling; the molasses production, distillation and maturing are done at other spots on the island. The tour concluded with a tasting; we tasted the Eclipse and Very Old versions of dark rum – both can be drank straight. I preferred the Very Old.

We next tool a taxi back into Bridgetown with the intent of doing a bit of walking around. The taxi ride was about 10 minutes and cost $2 / head. The very aged, barely ambulatory taxi driver bent Mike’s ear the whole way to town (Mike was sitting up front). When we finally got out of the car we all had slightly different versions of what the driver had been trying to say!

The heat in town was a bit too much for us; after wandering up Broad Street, we found a place for a cool drink – then hopped in a taxi for a ride back to the ship (again, amazingly $2 / head).

The cruise terminal is a fairly new structure and is packed with all the usual touristy shops. We bypassed the shops and hopped on the bus for the ship – and really cool air-conditioning.

A late lunch in the Golden Lion was followed by sitting out on the promenade deck to watch the sail away. I have not mentioned the “deck lounger wars” yet – but we’ve been watching them all cruise. There is a fairly high contingent of Brits on board (~1000 Brits, ~950 yanks and ~ 500 others) – and the Brits have thing for deck lounge chairs. Once a lounge chair is claimed early in the morning, it is defended like sovereign territory all day! It’s quite fun to watch.

So we managed to get a couple of loungers, without doing battle, and watched the Carnival ship deftly back out of the harbor right along side the QM2. Our ship followed, and our witty Irish Captain was quick to note that it was the Carnival cruisers lucky day – since they go to see the beautiful QM2!

Tonight another first for Sandra and I on a cruise; we passed on dinner! OMG – I’m sure this news will be in the Press Democrat tomorrow. With our late lunch, we were just not ready for a sit down dinner at out 6PM appointed time – I’m sure we’ll catch something later, it’s not like there aren’t options!

Knock knock - room service at 9:30PM.