St Maarten March 23 2009

St Maarten March 23 2009
A mixed verdict on this place as John liked it and Sue didn’t. This difference of opinion may have been due to the quality of the guides we both had on the tour, John’s was a very entertaining, highly educated chap who knew his stuff and put it over in a very amusing way, while Sue’s was rather surly and not very entertaining. Anyway the Island is half Dutch and half French which makes for an interesting mixture of cultures and influences.
Most people seem fluent in all three languages, English being the third one and it was obviously a lot more affluent than previous islands we have visited, very much geared for tourism with several lovely beaches with fine coral sand and very blue seas but there was a more sophisticated way of life and Sue compared it to Florida. It certainly has an airport and runway big enough to accommodate large passenger jets and there are many flights from the US and Canada. Cost of living was much higher too, two espressos cost John $6 US, “How Much?” and while it was a duty free port the prices we pretty dear so we were not unhappy to sail away, along with three other large cruise liners who were also in the port.
On the subject of the sail away the top deck of the Oceana when they hold the evening sail away parties does resemble a scene out of the TV show “Benidorm”. The cost of cruising has come down a lot and this cruise in particular has attracted a large number of families who would normally be at home on the Costa Brava. On the last evening in the Caribbean when the ship set sail for the UK there were 1998 drunken voices singing in unison (not Sue and I), Land of Hope of & Glory, Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen. A frightening spectacle! If you wanted proof that the English as a race are overweight there is ample proof on this ship. I’ll publish some pictures to show what I mean when I am able. Enough said, it takes all sorts.
Tuesday March 24th Antigua
Another day and another island but this one is less hilly and even drier. The main industry used to be sugar cane but the local people didn’t like the hard manual work involved and found they could make more money from tourism. Today there were only two liners in but the locals were very happy to see us and show us around the delights of the island which are cricket, (the Viv Richards Stadium is magnificent), the wonderful beaches and the historical Nelson’s Dockyard which dates back to 1670 when the Royal Navy recognised the value of the place as a base. Columbus has discovered it in 1493 but the Spanish lost out and the Royal Navy built the dockyard in 1725. Much of it has been preserved and restored for tourists, I noticed with a significant contribution from the EEC, why I wondered?
This is our last port in the Caribbean and tomorrow we wet off across the Atlantic for Madiera and then Southampton. For me, John, it’s the start of lectures and tonight I’m doing an appearance on the ship’s radio station to promote them.
More news when we get to Madiera. As I said earlier we cannot publish pictures yet due to the slow speed of the ships internet connection. I’ll put the photo’s in when I get a better connection which may not be until I get home but do look out for them as there are some good scenes.