Since we have been to Barbados many times (you can search previous posts if you are headed there and want ideas), we just chose to take a walk off the ship today. But first I took a class on Instagram since I have an account and don’t use it very much. It’s my second class with Katherine in the LINC digital center and I noticed that all of her classes now have long waiting lists. I am not surprised. She is a good instructor and I learned a lot. I have one more class scheduled. I think I will try my hand at posting to Instagram in the next day or so.
Here is a shot of our sail in.
We really love the friendly people of Barbados. The only purchase we made was some delicious chocolates from the Green Monkey shop. The two women in the shop told us all about the African green monkey that lives wild and free across the island and has become one of the island’s most iconic animals. It is known here as the Barbados Green Monkey. They were brought here from West Africa about 350 years ago.
We have never seen one here although they are active during the day. The women told us that they are curious and often aggressive, coming close or even into places to steal fruit or sweets! They can be quite a menace to farmers. But they are respected here – the women said “they were here first!”
This is the colorful bag from the shop
A Windstar ship was right behind us and they were loading supplies – by hand!
We had a team trivia competition – placed third – then went to the returning guest cocktail party followed by the Caribbean Market Dinner and name that tune (second place). Then we went to a wonderful show by the entertainment team called Broadway: A Documentary in Concert, which was a multi-media celebration of the elements that bring a show to life – music, dance, costumes, choreography and the creative process behind it all. We thought it was one of the best Oceania shows we have seen.
Lovely, relaxing, low key day! There was quite a downpour during our dinner, luckily it wasn’t while we were out in port. We were watching the other ships depart.
Tomorrow we will be in St. Vincent, an island we have never visited.
Grenada is the first in the chain known as the Windward Islands. It is a relatively small island and is very lush and green. It is well known for its spices. We have been here several times before, and although we love the island, we opted to stay on the ship. Some of my followers may know that I am scheduled for a hip replacement on January 15, so I am limiting my walking, stairs, etc due to the pain.
The delicious martinis and desserts are part of the experience here. Each bar has huge lists of drinks, many I have never heard of. In Horizons, there are drinks named for each of the Oceania ships.
Dessert quartet in Toscana
Our port schedule today is 1 PM – 11 PM. Here are some pictures of our arrival. The weather has been great so far. It is somewhat cooler than other years but still Caribbean warm.
Fortunately, we were invited to a wine tasting today and we both also booked 100 minute massages, so it was an indulgence day!
The wine tasting was by invitation, and there was a misprint in the invitation, so I called to clarify. I assume that others did not, because the Red Ginger restaurant, where the tasting was held, was set up for many more people than the group of about 10 of us. It was a really nice tasting called “Pinot Noir – The Heartbreak Grape”. One of the sommeliers talked about the grape and described why it is called the heartbreak grape. It’s because it is notoriously difficult to grow and make well. That said, the results, when successful, can be extraordinary.
The conditions that make it difficult are:
Extremely finicky in the vineyard because of thin skins and tight clusters which make it vulnerable to rot and mildew, frost damage, sunburn and heat stress and disease in humid conditions. Even the smallest change in weather can ruin an entire harvest.
Very sensitive to terroir. It only thrives in very specific climates (cool to moderate) and slight soil or climate mismatches can lead to flat or unbalanced wine. Great sites are rare and expensive.
Low and unpredictable yields. Even in ideal conditions, Pinot Noir tends to produce fewer grapes which can lead to inconsistent quality and financial losses for growers.
Hard to make into wine. Pinot is delicate and demands precision at every step.
High expectations, frequent disappointment. Because legendary regions like Burgundy set such a high bar, most Pinot Noir is judged against an almost impossible standard- leading to heartbreak when it falls short.
The saying is that Pinot Noir breaks hearts because it promises beauty but punishes mistakes.
We tasted 5 wines and I will name them with the price charged on the ship. Even though Norm thought he didn’t like Pinot Noir, we both enjoyed each one.
Castello Di Spessa ‘Joy” Pinot Grigio from Collio Friuli-Vinezia Guilia, Italy. The only white we tasted. $65/ bottle
Louis Jadot Pommard from Cote de Beaune, France $165/bottle
Prince Hill Vineyards ‘Dundee Hills” Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon $155/bottle
Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard Pinot Noir from Martinborough, New Zealand $110/bottle
Silver Trident Winery “Benevolent Dictator” Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley, California $140/bottle
We had a food pairing and here is Norm’s. Since I don’t eat meat, they brought me an alternate one.
After the wine tasting, we didn’t feel like eating any lunch, so next were the massages. All I can say is ahhhhh. We each booked another for later in the cruise.
We made it to trivia where we missed out on third place, but as always we learned something and had fun.
There is always a wooden puzzle being assembled by those who pass by outside the casino. Here is the current one.
Our entertainment tonight was a repeat performance by Panos Karan and he ended with the spectacular Rhapsody in Blue. What an amazing pianist.
I got the photos from the snorkel trip so I thought it would be good to do a separate post. It was a wonderful day and the photographer got some great shots (much better than I could have!)
Kralendijk is the capital city of Bonaire and main port of the Caribbean Netherlands. Off the coast of Bonaireis the uninhabited island of Klein Bonaire noted for diving and snorkeling. It can be reached by the water taxi. Bonaire has been widely recognized for many years in the diving community as one of the world’s best shore diving destinations. Here is a picture of our sail in. We had an early departure for our tour so chose room service breakfast.
And here is our “home away from home”. I got this shot in Curacao.
After our time out in Curacao yesterday, we went to the gathering to greet Santa. There are some children on board (some are sons and daughters of crew members) and Santa brought them all gifts. One girl got a Disney lego set that we watched her unwrap. A nice gift for sure. We didn’t see any of the others but all of the kids seemed very happy!
Of course, we had to have our picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The entertainment team were all dressed as elves.
The whole team!
We had cocktails in Martinis and then had dinner in the main dining room and enjoyed it very much. I had a seafood in puff pastry crust that was delicious. I tried the plum pudding for dessert because I never had it before, but I didn’t really like it. Norm’s white chocolate mousse cake looked delicious, though.
Adam went up to the trivia while we were waiting for dessert and was joined by another couple and we all made it up there in time. Placed first, surprisingly. Those Big O points are adding up.
Our entertainment was the pianist Panos Karan. We had lunch with him on a previous cruise and enjoyed his performance then and again now. He is terrific andhas performed all over the world, four times in Carnegie Hall. In 2011 he also founded Keys of Change, a charity delivering music to youth in challenging situations. He has visited over 130 countries and is drawn to marginalized communities from the Amazon jungle to Kolkata slums.
We were in port until 11 PM so the shops and casino were closed.
Today Norm and I had a catamaran snorkeling excursion. It was just wonderful. The crew was great! I saw 2 sea turtles and many varieties of fish. The coral wasn’t colorful but still interesting. We had a photographer on the boat and she got lots of pictures so I didn’t even take the underwater camera into the water. It is mostly a pain to use anyway as I tend to miss the action while trying to take pictures. The photographer could swim and dive like a fish and I think she got shots of all the snorkelers as well as the fish and turtles. I won’t get the link until later tonight so look for the pictures in tomorrow’s post.
After the snorkeling trip we walked around part of the town where some of the shops were open. Note the boat with my name!
The ship left port today at 1 pm. After lunch, I played in the blackjack tournament (didn’t win, someone got blackjack the last hand and ran away with the win). I got to trivia, which was scheduled at the same time, just as Simon was reading the last question. We placed third.
Today, Nicole Ortiz is doing a 5:30 show and there is a Blue Horizons party at 9:15. I went to the one that they had when we were on the 3 day cruise two weeks ago. It’s a fun dance party with performances by the entertainment team. I will probably go, we will see if the rest of the family is interested.
Dinner will be in Toscana, the wonderful Italian restaurant.
Tomorrow in Grenada where we have been several times before, we have a wine tasting on board and will have massages in the spa. If we still feel motivated, we might go off the ship for a walk around. We are in port from 1 PM – 11 PM.
Yesterday, our team (just the family part of the team showed up) placed first in trivia! And because it was Christmas Eve, Silas, our cruise director, gave some points to everyone and increased the amounts that the top three teams got. Later, just Adam and I played the evening trivia and got third. I hope we remember some of the ones we got wrong.
Since we were in port, there was no blackjack tournament – not sure when the next one is.
The entertainment team and Nicole presented a very good holiday program and at the end, many crew members came down the aisles onto the stage to sing a couple of carols with us. So great to see them in their Santa hats.
We were all decked out for Christmas Eve but sadly we forgot to have a picture taken. We will have to do that tonight when Santa comes to Allura. I did get this one of Adam during evening trivia.
Here are a couple of pictures from our sail in.
We didn’t plan an organized tour in Curacao today. We have been here many years ago and it was fun to be back and see some of the changes. We took a walk to town and went through the Rif Fort which was built in 1828 to defend the town. Now they have many shops, bars and restaurants inside. Very nice.
We walked across the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge, known as the “Swinging Old Lady”. It rests on 16 pontoons and swings open for boats. If it is open, you can take the ferry near the Swinging Old Lady Brewery. Many cities allow “locks of love” to be attached to their bridges. Here, they have a space dedicated just for that.
We have previously visited Mikve Israel-Emanuel, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere but wanted to return today. Unfortunately the synagogue and the museum were closed. On Christmas? Go figure. It was built by Sephardic Portuguese Jews from Amsterdam and Recife, Brazil.
The city center has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is beautiful colonial architecture influenced by Dutch styles.
Along our city wall, we noted the beautiful murals on some of the wall.
Here are some other pictures of this vibrant city.
Tomorrow in Bonaire we have an early snorkeling tour. I will post about this afternoon (Santa) and the snorkel trip when we return. The weather has been really perfect and the same is predicted for tomorrow.
Yesterday, I WON the blackjack tournament to the astonishment of all the rest of the finalists who were men! So let’s see if I can keep this going in the next ones. We didn’t place in trivia but got third in the evening team trivia. Ramsay knew the names of all of the Spice Girls – would have definitely missed that one without her on the team.
I went to the talk about Aruba. We will probably just take a walk around town. It has been many years since we were there.
We ate at the Terrace Cafe, really enjoyed Nicole Ortiz in the Whitney Houston tribute show – what a powerful voice.
Adam wore his Festivus shirt…..
Today at breakfast, we saw another rainbow and then we had a downpour before we walked to town.
Here is a shot of our arrival.
The ship is in the furthest berth in port so it was a good 10 minute walk to the shops in town. Even though it is Christmas Eve, the shops were almost all open. There are two other larger ships here too, so I guess it is smart for the shops to open. We will be here until 11 PM, which is nice for the crew to have the chance to spend an evening in town. That’s the schedule for three other ports too. These islands are close together. We are just off the coast of Venezuela and no, we haven’t seen any US military.
We did some shopping, browsing and ended up in Wilhelmina Park which is a lovely green oasis in the city.
Hanukkah is over but, the menorah remainsI think somebody stole the baby.
Some sights around town.
The family was on the banana bus but I wasn’t quick enough to get their pictureBut they captured oneThe beaches are lovelyMy favorite bird
We didn’t have any additional downpours but it was pretty hot. We went back to the ship for lunch. They are showing It’s a Wonderful Life in the theater (with popcorn of course) and there will be team trivia this afternoon. I am not sure how many of our team will be there.
Later there will be caroling, a special Christmas Eve variety show and even a Christmas Eve Interdenominational Church Service at 11 PM.
Tomorrow we are in Curacao and who knows what might be open on Christmas Day. OK with us, though, we will explore and be thankful to be here with our family.
First, a few updates from yesterday at sea… I had a video in yesterday’s post which apparently didn’t transfer to the email of the post. I took a class on iPhone video yesterday and Katherine, the wonderful instructor, said that I had to upload the video to YouTube and then put the link into the blog. But without the streaming package it won’t work. So no video unless you go to the actual blog online to see it. It is of the ferris wheel and the gingerbread village.
The iPhone class was really good. I was kind of surprised about how many things I didn’t know and all of the capability of the phone. Now I just have to remember it all when I take videos.
Norm went to the lecture – Beyond the Horizon: Global Trends that Will Shape Our Lives and he said it was interesting. There is a follow up today. They do post the videos of the lectures that we can see any time on TV. They are also broadcasting the bowl games on TV.
Mark and Ramsay went to the art class – here are their watercolors of the Miami skyline. They are so good!
I didn’t win the blackjack tournament – as a matter of fact, I only had one winning hand out of seven, so no chance.
Our team placed second in trivia. Three men joined our team. Adam, Mark, Ramsay and I also played the majority rules match game which was fun.
The Captain’s cocktail party was last night and it always gives us a chance to meet and greet the officers. After that, we went to dinner at Jacques. We shared the sea bass in puff pastry that Norm and I enjoyed on our three day cruise. Here are pictures of that and of a couple of the appetizers. Ramsay had the scallop dish and I had the French Onion soup.
And I had delicious profiteroles for dessert.
Here’s the family after dinner and before the show – Flashback – starring the very talented entertainment team.
And, we have a wonderful butler, Saji. He keeps us supplied with our favorite drinks, snacks, etc.
Today is a nice restful day at sea. There is another enrichment lecture and there will be some spa deck and sauna time, another blackjack tournament, our trivia in the afternoon, casual dinner probably in the Terrace Cafe and the show. The show is A Song For You: Remembering Whitney Live starring vocalist Nicole Ortiz. I don’t think we have heard her before.
We will be in Aruba tomorrow and there is also a lecture called Explore Aruba Culture, Nature and Heritage. We haven’t been there in many years. We didn’t book a tour and will explore on our own.
We are back on the beautiful new Oceania ship, the Allura. Two weeks ago, we were invited for a three day “inaugural” cruise so we got a preview and she is lovely. There are a few changes from the sister ship, the Vista, that we sailed on for the past two Christmas cruises with the family. One new addition that I will definitely try is the Creperie! It has, of course, many types of crepes but also Belgian waffles and gelato. What is not to like, I say! We didn’t get the chance to try it on our three day, so since we are on this trip for 2 weeks, it will be on the agenda for sure.
Mark, Adam and Ramsay arrived in West Palm Beach on Friday so we had a day to spend with them before arriving to the ship yesterday.
Since we all traveled to Miami together, our transportation service brought a huge van. The trip was an easy one and we boarded the ship fairly quickly, had lunch in the Terrace Cafe and explored the ship. It is beautifully decorated for Christmas and Hanukkah. They really outdid themselves with the gingerbread/village display – including trains, ferris wheel and ski lift. And there are plates of delicious cookies and cakes that are constantly refilled. Restraint is called for!
A video of some of the display
Our room has a large balcony and I know where I will be doing my reading.
Most of the football games are being shown on TV so with the NFL and the bowl games happening over this two weeks, we will be able to watch if we want to.
We did go to the Hanukkah candle lighting before dinner. Three passengers led the service for the 8th and last day of Hanukkah. The ship served the wine, mini challah and latkes.
We all chose to have a casual dinner outside at the Terrace Cafe and it was lovely to see the lights as we sailed out of Miami on our way to our first port, Aruba.
The casino manager is Tony – I met him on the last world cruise we did in 2023 and he recognized me immediately. I think that is because he plied me with Baileys and coffee as we sailed around Antarctica on that trip!
The show was the introduction of the entertainment team and various performers that we will see during the cruise. There are three shows by the team – I saw two of them on the three day cruise – and enjoyed them so will see them again. There are also guest performers that will join us during the cruise.
This morning during breakfast there was a beautiful rainbow. The picture really can’t do it justice but I am putting it in anyway.
Plans for the day – I am doing a 10 am class on using the iPhone for video. After lunch, I will play in the blackjack tournament and then we will join the family for 4 PM trivia. Tonight is the Captain’s cocktail party and then our dinner plan is in Jacques where Norm and I had the most wonderful fish on our 3 day cruise – will definitely repeat that tonight! It is sea bass in puff pastry for two.
Tomorrow will be another sea day and as usual, many things to choose from to keep us busy. I will schedule a massage one day soon. The spa deck also has the heated tile lounges – I spent several hours on them on our 3 day and look forward to relaxing on those soon.
It’s a great start to another wonderful family adventure.
For the third year, we will be traveling with our family! We will be visiting some places that will be new to them and that we haven’t been back to in years. Here’s the map of our travels, and yes, I will be posting to the blog.
We will be sailing on the newest addition to the Oceania fleet, the Allura. We were lucky to have a three day preview earlier this month, and she is indeed beautiful.
We look forward to some sea days, warm breezes and fun excursions.
We spent the night in Libourne and had an extraordinary experience on board – the progressive dinner. Our group of 11 started at the front desk with a glass of champagne, then we proceeded to our first stop, the galley. After seeing the galley on the Oceania Vista, this was certainly tiny in comparison but so is the boat and the number of passengers! We had our first course of a creamy vegetable soup with ginger cream. The chef talked to us about the process of stocking supplies and needing to estimate what would be needed very carefully since they do not have much storage space. The good thing is that on the river cruises they are always close to places to restock.
Then, we moved to the galley where we had a delicious soup. The chef talked with us about the limited space and how challenging it is to maintain the correct supplies.
Next we visited the laundry. Again, it is a small space with just a few staff. They work in two shifts and close at 10 PM.
We walked through the crew quarters and saw the envelopes that Roberto said are used for crew members to leave complimentary feedback for a colleague. The captain and Roberto, the general manager have their own rooms and the other crew members share either double or triple rooms. We ended at the crew mess which is where they eat their meals, relax, watch TV, etc. We had our appetizer of spring rolls and shrimp here.
Next, it was on to the bridge where we were greeted by the incoming captain (who looks quite young to me). He showed us all of the navigation. We were away from the dock during the mascarat (which happens twice a day) so it was amazing they let us in. We were served Aperol spritz here. The current captain was on the outside steering mechanism but still took time to pose for a picture with us.
Our last stop was in the private dining room where we had main course and dessert. Norm had the steak and I had the salmon. Dessert was some type of coated banana in a vanilla cream sauce.
At the dinner, Roberto talked to us about Uniworld and answered our questions, He worked on ocean ships (Princess for 16 years) but now loves river cruising. He also is so complimentary of Uniworld policies. During covid, for example, senior managers got 80% of their salaries during the time ships could not sail, and other crew got 100%. It is no wonder they are so happy with the company.
After dinner, we relaxed in the lounge and listened to the singer, Jeremy. He was a busker on the riverwalk where the boats dock in Bordeaux and one day about 10 years ago someone from Uniworld approached him to see if he would want to sing on the boat. He is here every Thursday! He was really good. He said that 22 years ago, he went to Liverpool to learn English (Not the best place for that, he said) and to learn all he could about the Beatles (went well!)
Last night Norm wasn’t feeling well, and it continued into today, so I went on the tour alone. It was to Moulin de Porcheres, a flour mill in the countryside of Libourne. It was about a 30 minute drive, past a huge business that makes barrels for the wineries. Our guide was Nikki.
She gave us a lot of information about the area and her own journey to France. She is British and owned a company there when she and her husband decided they wanted a different lifestyle and moved with their daughter to Libourne. She now considers herself French!
We were greeted on arrival to the mill. We had a demonstration of bread making and of the types of loaves you can make. We were then escorted through every part of the mill. It was built in 1847 and is now a historical monument and no longer in use. We got thorough explanations at each step and I marveled at the engineering that was involved to build the mill and to add different techniques along the way. Some of the machines were added in 1937 and the mill was operating until 2002. The process of making the flour took 1 week from start to bagging.
At the end of the tour, we each got a recipe, a tote bag and a small baguette that was baked during our tour. A very interesting day.
The last part of the tour was to the farmer’s market but we only had 30 minutes until the boat was going to sail to Bordeaux. I skipped it to see how Norm was feeling – not too well yet.
Here are some pictures from our sail back to Bordeaux. An option to have lunch on the top deck was available and I took it!
This is one of the many fishing huts along all of the rivers
This afternoon, there is a “wine and paint” class and tonight we will be back in Bordeaux and will have an after hours experience at an old submarine base – Bassins des Lumieres. Hope Norm is up to it.
Tomorrow we have a full day in Bordeaux and will have a walking tour and packing for our trip to Paris to join the next boat.
Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures 