Day 3
St. Lucia

We sailed into port about 6:30, turning the ship 180 degrees in a small but very deep port. Hundreds of crowing roosters greeted us and a Technicolor double rainbow cheered us as we backed into the prettiest port I've seen.

Incredibly, the island is green all over; it rained several times during the day, never more than 15 minutes at a time; no one pays any attention, just goes on about their business - I guess that's how they get 160"/year. Tourism is only the #2 money maker here; bananas are #1. Compulsory and government paid education and a zero tolerance for drugs make St. Lucia succeed where Jamaica fails. We have vowed not to return to Jamaica and have vowed to return to St. Lucia. Very pleasant, friendly people.

After the usual capable breakfast in the Florentine, we set out on a ship-sponsored tour of the North with a stop at a batik factory (actually a cottage industry) stopping for an hour or so at a lovely beach. I'd been warned about aggressive higgling, but found that a polite " no thank you" was sufficient. Unlike Jamaica, where this annoyance was threatening and half the sellers were selling joints the size of a banana. Our guide said that this just didn't happen -due to a zero tolerance policy toward illegal drugs - and took us by the jail, calling it the St. Lucia Singing Society to make her point. Very pleasant morning.

Back to the ship for a late lunch. I waited too long to write this and I have no memory of what we had for lunch, except that my dear wife had a hamburger and that my lunch was excellent. Her burger looked very good, too. Matt and I went into town briefly just to get some local currency - we like to look in our wallets and reminisce. I also liked to try local weird soft drinks and scored some pear carbonated stuff and a black currant drink. Its kind of like microbreweries for the nondrinker. Another run at trivia in the afternoon. Battle lines are really drawn - the OTHER GROUP quibbles excessively and makes mistakes in addition when scoring, so the battle is on. I think I'm going to be benched for excessive competitiveness - that old Type A personality is hard to stifle

Casual dinner was Italian (menu) - baked eggplant and a marinated mussel/shrimp/baby octopus delight for starters; swordfish, a pasta dish, an Italian pot roast (?!) With tiramisu and a peach stuffed with almond souffle followed by marzipan cookies. Boy, did that hamburger look good.

The evening show was, I have to admit, quite good. A few brief introductory remarks by the always dependable Cruise Director John Lawrence introduced a comedy juggler, Thien Fu, who was "disoriented following his tour of the East." (That's about the level of his jokes.) Very dry, with a nice Andy Kaufmanesque touch. His juggling skills were only adequate, but he was laugh-out-loud funny and really enjoyable. He was followed by a dance duo, Kathy and James Taylor, fresh from the Lido in Paris and the Andy Williams Show in Branson. Excellent ballroom and balletic performers, then they break into a hilarious comedy-apache' number. Really, really gifted performers. We skipped the Tropical Deck Party and turned in on the way to Martinique.

Continue on to Section 5; Day 4, Martinique

Embarkation;  At Sea;   Barbados;  St. Lucia; Martinique;  St. Martin;
St. Thomas;  Disembarkation