Day 10: Saturday, March 10 ~ Barbados

(Eddy’s pronunciation: BAR – bah – dose)

This was my third visit to Barbados and my third trip to the Boatyard Beach club at Carlisle Bay.  It is such a pretty beach with powder-soft white sand, turquoise blue water, and it is close to the cruise port, making it an easy and enjoyable plan for the day. They have a package where $20 USD buys you a lounge chair, a shared umbrella, a cup of rum punch or a beer, use of their bathrooms, use of their water toys on the beach, and free wifi. They also have a bar and restaurant with decent prices if you want to buy lunch.  One thing that has changed since our last visit here 3 years ago is that they now also include a short boat ride out to the bay to go snorkeling, whereas we used to have to pay for that separately with a vendor on the beach. We had a not-so-great experience with that last time we were here (see my Carnival Valor review for more details!), so we were happy to have it included with admission this time.  The $20 also includes a taxi ride back to the port at the end of the day, but you need to find your own way there in the morning. They open at 9am, so my goal was to leave the ship by 8:30am to get a taxi and arrive there just as they opened so we would get lounge chairs in a prime location.

Today’s daily schedules:

As usual, we started our day with room service breakfast on the balcony.  

At 8:30am, we gathered up our bags and took the elevator down to Deck 2 to exit the ship.  I have always been on the only cruise ship in port when I visit Barbados and I have always been docked very close to the cruise terminal. Unfortunately, today there was a P&O ship docked in that spot so we were docked further away from the terminal. There is a shuttle to bring you from the gangway to the terminal, but it was not there when we left the ship so we just started walking.  It took us 15 minutes and over 2,000 steps on my Fitbit to get from the gangway to the taxi stand on the outside of the cruise terminal!  We were walking very quickly because we were eager to get to the beach, so the walk probably would have taken a lot longer at normal walking speeds.  

We asked one of the taxi dispatchers for a taxi going to the Boatyard and he
directed us to a van that was nearly full. Half of the passengers were getting off downtown for $2 per person, and we were charged $5 per person to get to the Boatyard.  I guess they don’t have inflation in Barbados because that is the same price I paid in 2012 and 2015 haha

We arrived at 9:05am and there were already a lot of people at the
beach.  Our goal was to arrive early enough to get lounge chairs in the front row along the water, and while we did accomplish that, there were only a few chairs left in the front row, so it’s a good thing we didn’t arrive any later! At the entrance, they explained everything included in the package, collected our $20 per person, and gave us each a wrist band with a pull tab flap to redeem for our free included drink.  We went down to the beach and got settled in our loungers, and then realized that they never told us about the snorkeling tour.  DH went back inside and put or name down on the list for the 10:30am tour.  We didn’t know if this was the first tour of the day, but there were already a few names on the list.  I usually prefer to snorkel as early in the day as possible before the other tour boats arrive and it gets too crowded, but the schedule is less flexible now that the tour is included with admission.  

We spent some time relaxing on our lounge chairs, and then at 10:10am, they made an announcement over the PA system to call several parties by name to go on the tour.  This was sooner than we expected so we rushed to get our belongings ready.  We took our money, ID, and seapass cards with us in a plastic bag in the pocket of DH’s bathing suit, but we left the rest of our stuff behind on our chairs, including our towels.  I am actually pretty sure that they did not allow anyone to bring their bags, towels, or shoes on the boat.  It was okay to bring hats, sunglasses, and of course, snorkeling equipment.  The reason they called us so early was that everyone was given an inflatable life vest which they put on each of us individually, and they also gave out snorkel equipment if you didn’t bring your own.  There were about 25 to 30 people on the tour with us, so that took a few minutes. Once we were all ready, they walked us up the pier and onto the boat.  The boat was pretty big, with plenty of seating and shade, and there were cubbies below the seats to stash your hats and sunglasses while swimming.

We went out a short distance into the bay and then dropped anchor next to the ship wreck.  There were already 2 or 3 boats snorkeling at this spot, so the water was crowded with lots of swimmers.  The heavy winds continued to follow us through the Caribbean, and the water looked very choppy with a strong current.  The guides instructed us to stay directly over the ship wreck and not to swim further away, and everyone was required to keep their life vests on at all times.

As soon as I jumped in the water, I immediately felt the current.  It was really hard to stay over the ship wreck because as soon as I stopped actively swimming and tried to float, I was carried away.  Plus, with so many people in the water, we kept bumping into each other and getting kicked.  It was definitely not the greatest of experiences, but on the bright side, the snorkeling was wonderful!  This was my third time snorkeling over the ship wreck here, and I think this was the most fish I have seen.  There were tons of the sergeant major damselfish that I am used to seeing all over the Caribbean, but there were also lots of other fish.  The current made it hard to take good photos, but this is the best of what I could get…

I spy two parrot fish!

I stayed out in the water for 15 minutes, and then went back on the boat to save some energy to swim with the turtles. The guides never told us how long we would stay at this location (and shame on me for forgetting to ask!).  It turned out that I could have stayed in the water an extra 15 minutes so I only did half the snorkeling time.  That’s okay, we are still going to the other snorkel spot with the turtles, right?  Wrong!  Once everyone was on board, the guide said we were heading back to the Boatyard.  I asked him if we were going to snorkel with the turtles and he said there have not been any turtles in Carlisle Bay for over a week so we were just doing the one snorkel stop today.  I understand that the guides probably assume we are all first timers to this our and didn’t know anything was missing, but there was a sign posted at the entrance to the Boatyard which mentioned snorkeling with turtles and when DH signed us up for the our, they told him it is not guaranteed we will see a turtle.  That implies that we will TRY to see it, but the guides indicated we were not going to try because it had been so windy all week that there were no turtles in the bay.  If that is the case, it would have been nice for someone to tell us that upfront so we would know what to expect.  I wasn’t even that upset about missing the turtles… after all, this isn’t a zoo and the turtles are free to come and go from the bay as they please!  I was really just bothered by the poor communication. I like to be kept informed so I can make my decisions accordingly, and I would have stayed in the water to explore the ship wreck longer had I known this was our only stop.

Anyway, we got back to the pier at 10:55am and the next group was already
lined up to take their tour.  I guess they try to make it an efficient process to get guests out to snorkel quickly.  From the pier, I could see the cruise ships docked in the distance.

There is also a great view of the Boatyard and the neighboring restaurants and beach clubs.  The yellow umbrellas are all part of the Boatyard.

Every lounge chair is occupied by 11:15am so you have to arrive early if
you want a seat!

I also wanted to point out those 3 brightly colored Adirondack chairs in front of all the loungers.  Those are a new addition since I was last here 3 years ago and they seem to be a big annoyance.  When we first arrived this morning, nearly every seat in the front row was occupied, except the seats directly behind those chairs!  They have these chairs on the other side of the pier too, and those were also the only vacant seats in the front row on that side.  We were lucky to get a spot 3 umbrellas over (you can see our spot if you look closely- it’s the 2 vacant chairs to the left of the Adirondack chairs, with grey towels and my bright teal beach bag on the seat). Notice how there is more space between the sets of lounge chairs that are behind the Adirondack chairs?  That’s because the people on either side moved closer to their neighbors so the Adirondacks don’t block their view!  I guess these chairs look cute and beachy, but they sure do cause an annoyance to people wanting front row seats with unobstructed views of the beach and water!

My hair was a mess after coming back from snorkeling, so I went to dunk my head under water really quickly.  I was holding my camera at eye level to take this photo- notice how close I was to the water line?  There is a steep drop off not to far into the water so just be careful not to lose your footing!  No need for water shoes here- there is nothing but soft sand on the floor of the bay.

As evidenced in the photos above, our bags were waiting for us back at our lounge chairs when we got back from snorkeling. Unfortunately, the other thing waiting for us was the wind!!  It was very windy the whole day and the waves were quite loud crashing in on the shore. Usually the water is very calm here, but not today!  Much like we saw in St. Maarten, people kept getting knocked around by the waves.  At least it was entertaining to watch them from our front row seats haha

At around 12:30pm, we started to get hungry.  We always bring a few Clif Bars into ports with us because they are filled with protein to fill us up, and they meet the requirements of being pre-packaged food that is safe to enter a foreign country.  Today, we decided to try something new and we ordered food from the restaurant.  We have never tried flying fish and I have read that people really like it so we ordered the Flying Fish Fingers and Fries appetizer to share.

DH placed the order at the bar and they told him to pick it up from the counter when his name was called.  They said it would take 30 to 45 minutes for our order to be ready, so we used this opportunity to redeem our free drink coupons. I ordered the Shark Bite (left) and DH ordered the Pirate’s Punch (right), and both were strong and tasty. We brought them over to one of the tables at the restaurant and waited for our food order to be called.

Sure enough, it really did take 45 minutes for our food to be ready!  I guess they needed time to go out into the bay to catch the fish fresh for us??  The portion was a bit on the small side, but it was very good and I’m glad I tried it.

We returned to our lounge chairs to enjoy the rest of the afternoon at the
beach.  This isn’t exactly a calm and relaxing beach because they play loud, upbeat pop and hip hop music in the background, but I enjoy the fun vibe here.  At some point, DH went up to the pier to use the rope swing, but I didn’t join him because I was too comfortable sitting in my lounge chair.  I was so lazy that I didn’t even take any more photos here for the rest of the day! To be fair, this was my third visit here and not much has changed in the last 6 years, so I guess I just didn’t feel that inspired.

At around 2:30pm, we decided it was time to head back to the ship.  When we got to the front parking lot, they immediately directed us to one of the waiting taxis with another couple.  I think the first shuttle back leaves around 11:30 or noon, and then the shuttles run every 15 minutes or so for the rest of the day, so there is never much of a wait.  The ride only takes about 10 minutes, and they dropped us off at the front of the cruise terminal.  We walked passed all the shops and exited at the other end to find a nearly-full shuttle bus that was about to leave.  Perfect timing!  It was standing room only, but we didn’t mind standing for the 2 minute ride back to the ship, considering that saved us 20 minutes of walking!  

Once we were back on the ship, we went upstairs to the Solarium to spend 20 minutes soaking in the hot tub.  There were a few people in there already when we arrived, and they were still in there when we got out. I always thought you aren’t supposed to sit in a hot tub for too long, and the water actually was quite hot, so it seemed weird to me that these people were spending so much time sitting there, but I guess it’s not for me to judge!

Neither of us was feeling 100 percent tonight. I’m not sure if it was a little sea sickness from the boat rocking so much, or maybe it was dehydration, but we both just felt off.  Instead of our usual routine of bar hopping before dinner, we decided to take it easy and relax in the cabin.  For the first time ever, we spent a few hours watching TV!  I watch tons of TV when I’m at home, but I have never spent any time watching TV on a cruise ship before!  We found a marathon of Property Brothers running on HGTV, so that was the perfect way to pass the time until we had enough energy to go downstairs for dinner. I was kind of bummed that I didn’t feel well tonight because this was another new menu for us and I was really looking forward to trying some of the new dishes!  The first appetizer on the list was Hawaiian Tuna Poke.  In the last year or two, poke bowl restaurants have popped up all over San Jose and it is one of our favorite dinners, so I was really looking forward to trying Celebrity’s version.

Tonight’s menu:

Poached Anjou Pear and Gorganzola Cheese

Hawaiian Tuna Poke (this was delicious and had I had more of an appetite, I would have asked for a second round of it!)

Pappardelle Con Funghi

I am still disappointed that I didn’t have more of an appetite that night because I would have loved to try the pate and the lamb kebab, but I guess that’s a good excuse to take another cruise!  In the end, I only had room for my 2 appetizers and about half of my entrée, so I definitely didn’t have room for dessert. We finished eating rather quickly since we didn’t order as many courses as we usually do, so we just wondered around the ship to walk off the meal.  They have this funky wall sculpture back near the entrance to the Ensemble Lounge, and we thought it made a nice background for a photo.

I really like this piece that is located next to Qsine.  It reminds me of origami…

The Wine Cellar was almost always empty.  I liked the décor in here but we never spent much time here because it was always deserted and boring.  It does make for a pretty place to take photos though!

Tonight’s show was a solo performer named Liam Ryder. We thought he was a very talented pianist, and a pretty good singer.  He played a few classical music pieces, and a few rock and roll songs.  

My favorite part was when he played the full version of The Flight of the Bumble Bee and played a cartoon that was perfectly synced to it.  I was able to find the cartoon on Youtube so you can see what I am talking about. Imagine seeing this live with the cartoon playing on a big screen at the back of the stage, and a pianist playing the music perfectly synced to the cartoon.  I can’t really give him credit for the cartoon itself, but seeing him keep up with the music was absolutely incredible to watch in person.

After the show, we were feeling much better so we went over to Café Al Bacio for dessert.  The cakes in that display case always look so yummy, and since we skipped dessert after dinner, we thought this was a good opportunity to finally try it out.  DH had the coconut cake, and I had a slice of strawberry chiffon cake.  Honestly, both were just okay and they looked a lot better than they tasted.  Maybe it just wasn’t sweet enough for me?

Tonight was one of the theme parties up in the Sky Lounge, so we headed up there to check it out.  The Eclipse Orchestra performed songs from the Big Band era while the performance dancers danced to it.  

The Sky Lounge has a terrible set up for a show like this where everyone wants to see the dance floor.  The chairs and banquets are positioned poorly and block your view, and there are thick support beams surrounding the dance floor area.  There are very few seats offering a good view, so people end up standing around the perimeter of the dance floor, just behind the first row of chairs, and that blocks everyone else’s view.  We had to keep asking people to move so we could see the show from where we were sitting, and it made for a frustrating experience. We stayed for about 20 minutes, then gave up and grabbed a quick snack at the buffet before going to sleep just before midnight.

Step Tracker Daily Total:  7,632 steps; 3.060 miles