Summits and Fascinations 2016: Good Morning from Dominica! 10-26-16

We have been to this island many times but this is the first time we have docked at this pier which is right downtown. The pier is quite tiny and Captain Kate had to maneuver the ship to get the center of the ship and gangways on this rickety old dock. Once off, you had to be careful walking as they didn’t pull up the rotten boards to replace them, they put them over the old boards! Yikes.

Actually the little impromptu market that was set up on the street by the dock had some interesting things. Basket weaving seems to be their specialty here although they do carry the same varieties of the usually tourist crap. They had some beautiful baskets and they weave them around bottles and even the wine bottle caps. Debbie and I bought a few things here. It was Southern Caribbean hot here today so we were dying from the heat . The people here were the friendliest of any of the islands we have visited so far but the taxi drivers being the same as every other place…following you down the street wanting you to take a tour with them.

We were back on ship just before lunch and walked around the ship to see places we hadn’t been to before and we happened on things we hadn’t intended to see like a man sunbathing with his butt cheeks exposed and the “Rooftop Terrace” which is really nice. They have a big screen TV there showing movies all day and night. Comfortable seating and wait staff to get you cocktails. We decided to watch a movie in the cabin…The Infiltrator which was really good. It has rained off and on now all afternoon. I will inflect something at this point…the value of the ship tour. We were getting ready for dinner and went out on the balcony to watch sail away. We noticed that there were officers down on the pier and they were on their phones appearing to be looking for something. All aboard today was at 4:30 and it is now 4:46 and the pilot is here and waiting and they have not let go lines yet. At almost 4:55 two vans came flying up to the pier and unloaded a bunch of people who were now running up the pier to the ship…a ship tour that was late returning. If these people had booked it on their own, the ship would have been gone and they would have been finding their own way to St. Kitts to get back on the ship tomorrow. As they walked up the pier everyone on their balconies watching started cheering for them. Debbie and I could hear what was being said since we were just above the gangway and the last guy said “I’ve never been the last person onboard before”…well now he has a story to tell. They pulled the gangway behind him and we were gone.

We had reservations at the Tuscan Grill tonight, another pay venue. It was excellent and the service was awesome. We could see the pasta drying on racks in the kitchen as everything was homemade here. We went to the casino for a short and unprofitable visit and then went to the show. It was a production show by the ship’s singers and dancers but was not as good as the first one with the exception of the two that do the routine hanging from ribbons or ropes. It is always entertaining watching someone contort themselves into positions that the human body wasn’t meant to do. Debbie and I wondered if he would drop her if she passed gas while her butt (among other things) was in his face.

We came back to the cabin to get ready for our big excursion tomorrow in St. Kitts.

Captain Kates Confucius sayings the last few days:

“Wise man never play leapfrog with unicorn”

“Short pencil better than long memory”

“If you can’t convince them, confuse them”

“Man who live in glass house should not undress”

She also likes to give a detail description of the island we are going to as well as the internet information such as the today is national black cat day..she said she had no idea why. She also gives a riddle which you must wait until the next day for the answer..we do miss the sheets of those riddles that Carol C always does for us on our group cruises. When we left Martinique the other night, the Captain said the distance between there and Dominica was about 100 miles. She said it would appear you could swim faster than the ship was moving…but please don’t try it! Everyone seems to enjoy her and the best part is we Americans can understand her!