We start the day with breakfast overlooking the harbour and town of St John’s Antigua. Within moments the heavens opened and we have to move our table in a couple of feet to save getting splashed, but 10 minutes later it’s glorious again, a delightfully tranquil start to the morning. Little did we realise that three mega-ships are also in port, happily on the port side out of view.
Our plan for the day is to do something quite alien, specifically battle through the maddening crowds to catch a bus, and head to the other side of the island - what an eye-opener, on numerous levels. Firstly, if there is a timetable, it’s “we go when we’re full.” Next, full means, every seat, including all the slip seats that fit down the aisle, which provides an interesting challenge at each stop. Talking of stops, it’s more “let me out at the next tree” or “just after the schoool” etc, all very informal. Final observation, whenever someone boards, they say good morning to everyone, it’s such a friendly experience. And our journey of 40 minutes, 20 km, 13 miles, costs just $1.50 each - a bargain!
We stop at the end of Line 17, English Harbour, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, previously Britain’s naval base in the Caribbean from 1671 until 1889. It provided us with the military supremacy necessary to keep the Spanish, Portuguese, French - indeed anyone who got in the way - at bay. It fell into disrepair when steam power became reliable and we also lost interest in the region. It’s now a national park and more recently UNESCO protected. The building are restored and wherever possible still designated to the same function as originally intended, such as inns, restaurants and offices.
After a good wander round, we head back to Falmouth Harbour and the modern marina, centre of a huge yatching industry, and home to one of the World’s most famous regattas. After ogling a few stunning super-yatchs we start to re-trace our route to St Johns, but this time on foot. It’s not the most beautiful route ever, but it’s certainly an interesting one, friendly, loud, colourful, chaotic, at times downright dangerous as trucks fly past - pavements, don’t be silly! We stop off at a supermarket (of sorts) and buy melon slices and the making of a cheese sandwich, some of which we share with a very polite young pooch, he seems very grateful. Two FitBit infarctions mean the route is not thoroughly documented but the photo will mostly explain.
Before long we’re back on board in time to listen to a guest steel band playing on eight poolside for a while, and then go down to deck six forward to a private party for the 63 of us who are stopping on the ship next week, the other 387 go home from Barbados on Saturday. Then it’s a cheeky G&T on our balcony before we shower and dress for dinner, tonight again in MDR as there are some Thomas Keller choices on the menu we quite like.
Dining tonight is a bit of a mixed blessing. To start and to finish is classic TK - firstly duck foie gras with pear which is divine, although I thought more salty than it should have been.
For mains, we’re trying three - lamb loin, prawn & lobster stuffed calamari and TK stuffed chicken leg. Unfortunately all three leave us unconvinced. The lamb is somehow cured rather than cooked, and certainly not ‘as rare as possible’ like I asked. The calamari is dry and underwhelming without taste. The chicken is not in synergy, the forcemeat overpowering the leg meat - it’s a balance that simply isn’t right.
One of the AMDs is apologetic, but we’re relaxed and not being grumpy. He suggests a cheese course might placate us, along with a glass of port, but neither arrives, still we’re not grumpy. Finally the TK trifle arrives and it is as excellent as ever, so we’re happy by now. A promised Sauternes failed to show as we were eating pudding, but it did arrive afterwards.
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