Cruising on the Ryndam Part 2

On 1/26/14 we took a 14 day cruise on the Holland America Ryndam. I kept a journal about each day and learned something new every day. This is part 2 of what we did on the cruise. If you are interested in seeing all the pictures, here are the links to them.

• 1/31/14 Friday – St. Thomas
• 2/1/14 Saturday – Antigua
• 2/2/14 Sunday – St. Lucia
• 2/3/14 Monday – At Sea
• 2/4/14 Tuesday – Curacao

1/31/14 Friday – St. Thomas
We had a wonderful day in St. Thomas.  My hubby and I walked 2 miles into town and after a day of shopping, we walked back to the ship. We stopped in the Tavern on the Waterfront (upstairs) for a few drinks which was reasonably priced (2 beers for $5). We went to the show before dinner where we heard them sing Rock classics from Madonna to the Beatles. So far, the entertainment has been okay but I really think that Carnival has much better entertainment. After a formal dinner, we watched a movie. Did I mention how much I enjoy our dinner mates?!

2/1/14 Saturday – Antigua
We got off the ship around 8am and walked around town. There were showers on and off all morning so we just ducked under one of the covered walkways and waited for the rain to stop. We went to the open air food market (vegetables, meat, fish). The fish market was interesting because we saw red fish, blue fish, and even rainbow colored fish. One man started shouting about my expensive camera and it felt like he was signaling someone about my camera so I put it in my bag immediately. Then we left and went back to the ship to get something to drink and go to a computer class. After having a little rest, we went back out to walk around town again and headed for the church with the two towers and found out that they were renovating it. We did see the taxi driver we know called Ninja.Then we returned to the ship for lunch and walked around the deck. I decided to sunbathe while Don continued his walking. We had a snack and went to another computer class and by then we had to get ready for the evening. We went to the show which was jugglers called Airborne (husband and wife team). After dinner we chose not to go to the movie and went to bed. We tried to watch a DVD in the cabin but we couldn’t get the DVD player to work.

2/2/14 Sunday – St. Lucia
We had a better day in St. Lucia than I expected because I’ve been here before and I wasn’t impressed. At 8am, we docked in the Point Seraphina area where the white triangle building is. We didn’t see this path up the mountain until we were almost leaving the port so we hope to try seeing where it goes the next time we are here. We walked into town which is about a 10-15 minute walk and you can see the town from the ship. Since it was Sunday most everything was closed except some booths in the market. I bought a rainbow colored sundress for $20. We were going to eat and drink while in town but we could not find a clean public restroom anywhere. I think the government is trying to clean up the area because the police car did stop to ask us if everything was alright when we crossed a street to avoid a group of sketchy looking men. At 11am, we arrived back at our terminal and found a cute outside bar hidden away in an alleyway where we got Piton beer for $2. At 1pm, we returned to the ship and had a lovely lunch. After lunch I sat out on the deck and Don took a nap.

2/3/14 Monday – At Sea
We had a lovely day at sea. After breakfast we sat out on Deck 6 (the walkaround deck) and relaxed for a couple of hours. At 11, we went to culinary show where we watched the chef make a Caribbean dish. Then we went to lunch and then returned back to the culinary show to watch the chef make a Caribbean dessert. After that we walked 3 miles on the walkaround deck. Then we attended a computer class on the Calendar app. Before dinner we went to the show and then met our tablemates at 8pm for dinner. After the show we went to the movie to watch Captain Phillips.

2/4/14 Tuesday – Curacao
We got off the ship as soon as it docked so we could find the Starbucks at the Renaissance hotel where we would meet Karin. The girl on the ship sent us across the floating bridge but then we had to return because we were on the wrong side. We enjoyed a mocha frappuchino at Starbucks while we waited for her. She took us to Cristoffel Park and we took the green loop road. We didn’t climb Cristoffel Mountain though because it was too hot and takes at least an hour to do. Then we met Joseph at Landhuis Daniel for lunch which was wonderful! After lunch we went to Playa Daaibooi for a swim. Joseph had to return to work and we went back to their house for a shower. Karen took us back to town to show us the old buildings and the floating market. By then it was dinner time and we ate a nice restaurant on Ostrabundo. By then it was 9:00 and we had to return to the ship.

Things I Learned:
1. I get a lot of walking steps in when we go into the ports!
2. Whoever chooses the movies for the ship needs to rethink their choices!
3. I am learning so much in these computer classes. I learn something new that I can use from every class. I’m so glad they are free classes.
4. I’m not a big fan of Caribbean style food.
5. I love having friends in some of the ports who are so generous that they don’t mind picking us up and showing us around. I also love trying the local foods.
6. Curacao is beautiful at night! It is also hotter than you think because even though the temperature wasn’t so high, it was really hot there. Luckily Karin bought us a huge bottle of water that we drank all day.

Original photo by Pat Hensley