It was another formal night last night, I had gone to the gym for an hour again so didn't feel too guilty about having ice cream and cheese for dessert, not together of course. After dinner Fiona and I went to the Crow's Nest Bar, as the name suggests its on the top deck right at the front, the place is pretty big, could easily hold 200 plus so the 6 or 8 of us there were spread pretty thin. Drink prices are quite reasonable on board, a pint of Peroni is £4.95.
Woke at 06.00 again as we headed into Guadeloupe following a German cruise ship, we were supposed to dock at 07.15 but the port authorities made us follow the other ship even though we were using a different berth and because of the shallower draught could use a different channel. French.
We docked about 08.00 but of course nothing is open at that time so no point going ashore except for the people booked on excursions.
We left the ship about 10.00 walking past the small tankers which were emptying our ship of waste, exit checks off the ship but no entry checks onto the islands and no passports needed. I'd got €50 from reception charged to our account so we had money if we needed it. Pointe-a-Pietre is the largest town but not the capital, it be honest its a bit of a dump, house maintenance must be an alien concept here but the place has a certain charm. We had a stroll through the small market, all the stalls sell the same thing, homemade rum, straw hats and bags of spices. We stopped and had a couple of beers in a bar in the market square using my rudimentary French, turns out my French was better than that of the waitress. Used the opportunity of having Wifi to do some emails.
We got back on board about 12.30 and went for lunch, of course it was very quiet as most people were ashore, plus although it was very warm it wasn't that sunny.
I hadn't carried my iPad with me so after lunch whilst Fiona went to sunbathe I went back to the cruise terminal as there was Wifi there so I could download some newspapers to catch up on whats been happening. But the wifi was too slow so I gave up and walked back and went to join Fiona sunbathing on the top deck. I stuck it for n hour but for me it was too hot so I went to the gym for an hour to burn up some calories in readiness for the evening meal. My rowing technique is gradually returning and so my times are improving, its the same type of machine I have at home which I haven't used for nearly 8 months. When we get back I'll have to try harder to work it into my regular schedule as its really good exercise as unlike running it doesn't put undue stress on my knees, 3 cartilage repair ops are enough for me.
I got back in time to watch the end of the Champions League match, Everton play tomorrow but can no longer qualify but I doubt it will be our game on the TV. Tonight its Real vs Dortmund so I suspect tomorrow it could be Arsenal? Not sure I would want to see our game although I hope the derby is on Sunday, the Manchester one is on and as we are at sea that day there is no where to go.
Obviously we didn't see much of Guadeloupe, I was talking to someone who had taken a taxi ride to where they film Death In Paradise, he said it was a nice place but not really different from any other Caribbean beach village.
2025-02-07