Carnival Miracle 1/24/2009 Part 6featured
I was really excited when I woke up and we were docked in Basseterre, St. Kitts. We haven’t been to a new port since 2007, when we visited San Juan, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Tortola for the first time (when we did the Glory in 2008, we had already been to Nassau/St. Thomas/St. Maarten a handful of times).
We docked around 8:00, and I was super relieved that it wasn’t raining or cloudy because it had been forecasted for rain and clouds and we were going on an outdoor excursion. Stephanie and I booked the Brimstone Fortress and Romney Gardens tour through Carnival (more on this below). I really, really wanted to go on a tour of the rainforest. I’m not an outdoors girl by any means and I usually hate spending time in the outdoors where things are dirty and there’s bugs and animals, but how many opportunities present themselves in life to go into a real tropical rainforest? Stephanie thought it would be too hot, and with the forecast for rain, we decided to go another route and do a more historical tour. And I love gardens, so I was really excited for Romney Gardens, which is also home to the Caribelle Batik Studio.
A quick side note about excursions: we have ALWAYS booked our excursions through the cruiseline. We pay more than an arm and a leg for them, but we’ve always had amazing experiences with fantastic guides and we felt more comfortable knowing that if something happened and we were delayed, Carnival would hold the ship for us.
Since Mom and grandma weren’t going on the excursion with us (they were going to sleep in and then after lunch, we’d all go shopping in the port), we went up to Horatio’s for breakfast and then checked in with Mom and made sure we had everything we needed before getting off the boat and meeting up with our tour guide.
We were docked at Port Zante with a Princess ship and a Celebrity ship. I thought Port Zante was beautiful. It has a really nice shopping area that I thought was on par with the shopping area at Havensight in St. Thomas and a few bars that were always crowded when we walked by. There was no one pushing us to buy anything, or anyone following us asking if we needed a tour or a cab. It was just a nice, airy space with good shopping and excellent views of the island.
We made our way over to a woman holding a sign for our excursion and not long after, we were counted off and sent off with various tour guides. We were mixed in with cruisers from Princess and Celebrity as we were sent off, so this excursion must be offered on all three cruise lines. There were 10-12 people in each group, each given their own tour guide. Our tour guide was Matthew, aka Caveman (a la the ones in the insurance commercials…he gave himself the nickname because he liked the commercials). He even has a Caveman picture on his van, which made it easily identifiable in crowded areas. Matthew was a FANTASTIC tour guide and his van was amongst the cleanest and most comfortable I’ve ever been in on any tour or cab on any island we’ve been on. He owns a fleet of tour vans and takes great pride in their upkeep and the comfort of his passengers. If you ever go on this tour, ask for him (or look for his van).
I really appreciated the small size of this tour. It almost felt like a private tour in that the group was so small and we all had a great back-and-fourth with Matthew. He was a great tour guide and knew everything about St. Kitts. He encouraged us to ask questions as we had them, and to tell him if we wanted to pull over anywhere.
We started on a quick island tour on our way to our first stop, the Romney Gardens and Caribelle Batik Studios. Matthew pointed out every point of interest and their historical significance. There are churches and landmarks that are more than 400 years old and have MOLASSES as a main component of the “cement” holding the structure together.
St. Kitts is a picturesque island with lots of natural beauty and old-town charm. The roads are narrow and often winding, but the drivers didn’t seem as crazy as the ones we experienced on other islands (St. Thomas, Nassau and Tortola come to mind). The beauty of the island is marred by the poor living conditions of many of its inhabitants. It’s hard for me to see things like that because I can’t fathom living in a house that has a cardboard roof and it bothers me to know that there are people in the world who live in such harsh conditions, but Matthew showed us all of the housing the government is building to help those who can’t afford adequate housing, and it’s actually quite nice. He also showed us the colleges and how they’re broken down into different schools. I thought the housing and educational systems in place in St. Kitts were pretty fascinating.
We started up a long, winding path up towards Romney Manor and we got a good look at the rainforest on our way up. The curves are kind of scary because you can’t see if anyone else is coming, so you have to stop and honk and hope the other driver is as considerate. We finally parked and got out. We had just under an hour to go around and explore, shop and watch the batik demonstrations at the studio. It was PACKED. We decided to go look around the gardens and manor before heading inside to the store to see what kinds of batik items they had.
I think the pictures speak for themselves…this is one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever visited. We walked around for most of the time we spent at Romney Manor. We checked inside the Caribelle Batik studios, but there was no room to watch the demonstrations and we were too short to look over everyone’s heads, so we headed to the store. There was all kinds of things in the store, nearly all of them batik. The most popular items seemed to be the children’s clothing, women’s dresses, linens and wall hangings. Some of the prices were a bit exorbitant, but there were many affordable items, as well. We bought a few small cosmetics bags. I got a small jewelry case, and we bought bags for Mom and grandma, too. We headed back to the bus when we finished because we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss it.
After Romney Manor, we headed to the next stop on our trip, the Brimstone Hill. Brimstone Hill was the home of the Brimstone Fortress, which dates back to 1792 and was the site of a battle between the British and the French. The fortress is 800 feet above sea level, so the drive up was long, winding and involved a lot of stopping and honking.
The views of the island from as high up as we went were breathtaking. We had about an hour to explore the area. There’s a long staircase that leads up to the citadel and the best views of the island. Stephanie really didn’t want to go, but I did so I offered to go myself, but she decided to come, too.
The historical aspect makes the area that much more beautiful. The views of the island (as well as neighboring St. Eustacius) were unbelievable
I contemplated climbing on top of one of those cannons perched on the ledge (for the thrill of it…and for a new Facebook picture), but thought better of it. Well, until I saw someone else do it. And then another person who was a good thirty years older than me. So I thought, “Why not?” Besides, I wouldn’t go too far close to the edge.
Well, it turns out the ship’s camera crew was out videotaping our excursion and caught the whole thing on camera, which was later shown on shipboard TV, which Mom saw…and was none too pleased to see her 23-year-old climbing onto a cannon perched on top of a cliff 800 feet above sea level. We bought the St. Kitts DVD because we appeared a few times (as well as Dalibor, one of our servers!) and now my climb onto the cannon has been immortalized. Oy.
We came down from the top of the fortress and explored the ruins and the rest of the area. We stopped quickly at the commissary to get some cool drinks because it was REALLY hot and the climb up and down the hill was taxing. There was something very charming about the ruins and we spent the rest of the time we had exploring the ruins and the barracks.
We hopped back on the van and waited for everyone else, and we were quickly on our way back to the port. This excursion, and Matthew especially, was absolutely fantastic. We tipped him as we left, but not everyone did (it’s certainly not required and he never brought up anything about tipping). We headed back to the boat to meet up with Mom and grandma for lunch. After we ate, we all headed off the ship to do some shopping in the shopping center.
Everyone seemed to be buying these kitschy little chess boards. They were selling them at Pirana Joe’s for $35. I didn’t get one and I really regret it, so I hope I have a chance to head back to St. Kitts soon so I can get one. Mom and I both got pearl necklaces (I think Stephanie got one, too, but I don’t remember), and Stephanie and I both got tie-dyed St. Kitts sweat shirts. I was getting tired, so grandma and I went outside while they looked around in a few other stores. Some of the locals were putting on a show in the middle of the center and the kids that performed were adorable.
We all headed back to the boat together and while Mom and grandma got some ice cream, Stephanie and I walked around the deck, taking in the beauty of the island.
We set sail around 4:30, and we watched the island get smaller and smaller before heading to our cabin to rest and relax before getting ready for dinner.
I was really looking forward to dinner tonight because it was filet mignon night, and it was really the only night that ended up being a big disappointment. Carnival used to serve a nice-sized filet that was soft and tender and absolutely delicious. What they served tonight was smaller than a medallion and served on top of a pile of short ribs to make it look bigger. It was chewy and fatty and frankly, I’m not even convinced it was an actual filet mignon.
I started with the Asparagus Vichyssoise and the appetizer portion of the Penne with Vodka sauce (which I was glad was NOT served with caviar this time). The soup was a bit bland and needed salting, but the pasta was good. I also had the offensive filet, which was really terrible and the only food gripe I really have for the week. For dessert, I had the Chocolate, Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake, and it did not disappoint. Mom had her usual appetizers and had the Vegetarian Lasagna, which was good and hearty, but massive in portion size. Stephanie had the Tomato/Mozzarella appetizer and the Chicken Noodle Soup, both of which she thought were really good, and the Tom Turkey dinner. This is her FAVORITE meal on the cruise and she thought it was very good. I hate turkey but I almost wish I ordered this because her sides were absolutely delicious. She and Mom both had Apple Pie for dessert.
Asparagus Vichyssoise
Chicken Noodle Soup
Vine Ripe Beefsteak Tomatoes with Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
Penne, Tossed in a Tomato Cream with Vodka
Grilled Filet Mignon of the Finest Aged American Beef (yeah, right)
Oven Roasted Tom Turkey
Vegetarian Lasagna with Spinach, Mushrooms and Ricotta Cheese
Chocolate, Raspberry and Vanilla Cream Cake
Old Fashioned Apple Pie
We headed back upstairs and found an eskimo on our bed! Our room steward must have remembered us telling him about the snowy weather back home in Chicago.
After grandma had dinner (we found some of our dinner friends up there eating and had a nice conversation with them about how beautiful the island was), we headed down to the casino for a bit and wandered around the ship. We decided to skip the passenger talent show (which had been absent on all of our cruises since our first cruise). A few hours later, we headed back to Mom’s room and ordered cheesecake and veggie sticks and watched a movie before Stephanie and I headed back to our room to take our showers before heading to bed. We had a long day and we were EXHAUSTED. We could sleep in a bit because we had another day at sea tomorrow.
Up next: Day at Sea, Number Three!
