#BensCaribbeanAdventure Day 3 Blog
Monday 20th January
Today I was awake fairly early around 06:30 and decided to get ready and head up on to the open decks for breakfast and to also watch us arrive into the port of Basseterre on the island of St. Kitts.
As we edged closer towards the pier I could make out that we would be joining the Celebrity Summit in port today, which was nice. At around 08:30 I headed ashore to do a little bit of exploration. The main tourist area itself is literally just outside of the port gates and is full of souvenir shops, bars and the odd market stall or two. It was interesting to learn that the 25 acres covering the area near where the cruise ships berthed had been reclaimed from the sea.
I walked around for an hour or two and enjoyed a drink at a local bar which was very reasonable. For example, you could get three bottles of Carib Beer for $5 – a bargain or what? By the time I had finished my drink it was getting warmer by the minute – at 10:00 my iPhone said it was 27C! In the end I decided to slowly make my way back to the ship to charge my phone. Along the way I went into a couple of shops and managed to get three t-shirts for $20, which was incredibly good value.
I was only back on the ship for about half an hour before I ventured ashore once again. This time I was going on an organised shore excursion of the St. Kitts Railway. From the port a group of us was transported on minibuses to the station near to the airport where we boarded a two-storey observation style train that runs along part of the old sugar cane tracks. The upstairs section was open-air and was incredibly busy because of the warm weather, but I managed to get a seat.
The journey itself took us along eighteen miles of track which passed through villages, near to the coastline and over three bridges. I would say that it was an enjoyable journey however along the way a section of the grassland right next to the train was on fire. It was pretty scary as there was a strong breeze and the flames were pretty high, everyone who was sitting on my side of the train had to literally scramble to the other side to avoid getting burned. Luckily no-one was injured but most of us partially got covered in ash and the heat as you passed by for those few seconds was unbearable. Aside from that; the train ride experience itself was alright, but after my encounter I don’t think I’ll be doing anything like that for a little while. By the time I got back to the ship it was almost 16:00 so I decided to sit down with a drink in the Tazzine cafe-bar on Deck 5 and spend some time checking my e-mails etc.
After surfing the world wide web I headed up to the Laguna Pool for the sail away party, where everyone was enjoying the party-like atmosphere. Our departure from St. Kitts was on-time and we even had a horn-battle with the Celebrity Summit; which was departing a little later than us. After watching us head out into the Caribbean Sea towards our next destination of Tortola I headed back to the cabin to get ready for the evening.
I enjoyed a pre-dinner drink in the Metropolis bar on Deck 18; which has become a sort-of-routine when I’ve cruised on the Azura and Ventura. The theme this evening was the city that never sleeps… New York; somewhere that I am longing to return to after almost 14 years. I dined in the Cinnamon Restaurant and opted for the Chicken Breast with Seasonal Vegetables which was on the P&O Favourites menu. Following dinner I headed to the Arena Theatre to catch Clem Curtis perform a medley of his famous songs including “Build Me Up Buttercup”; the entire audience was singing and clapping along – it was fantastic. After the show it was almost midnight so I went up to the Waterside buffet to grab a late drink and snack before going to bed.
Click here to read Day Four.
