grenada | Dana's Destination Diary

December 2, 2010

Wednesday 11/17: St. George’s, Grenada, in port from 8am-5pm

After two action-packed excursion days, I made this day a little more low-key. I slept in a little later, and then headed to the MDR for breakfast. I was a little overwhelmed by the service, as I literally had 8 waiters serving me! One for the water, one for the juice, one for coffee/tea, one serving pastries/danishes… I couldn’t keep them all straight! The menu basically offered the same things you can get a the buffet, only in the MDR they serve it to you so you don’t have to wait on line.

I got off the ship at around 10am and walked over to the water taxi pier (immediately left of where the ship is docked). $8 round trip gets you from the ship to Grand Anse Beach. This is the water taxi pier on the beach:

Grand Anse Beach is a two-mile stretch of beach. It is pretty, with a few palm trees lining the shore, and you can rent chairs and umbrellas for a few dollars.

A little ways down the beach is a big open stall spice market, where vendors sell little wicker baskets with samples of various spices, bottles of vanilla, scented soaps, jams/jellies, and lots of other souvenirs. Some of the vendors can be a little pushy, but if you are good at bargaining, you can get a few dollars off their asking prices.

Unfortunately, it was pouring rain for most of the morning (as you can probably see in the photo above), and when it finally cleared up around noon, I was tired of being there and just wanted to go back to the ship. So I headed back to the ship around 1 and had a late lunch at the Aqua Spa Cafe. I wish I had discovered this place earlier in the week, as the food is great, and much lighter than the dishes they serve at the buffet. I had a grilled calamari salad with artichokes, and whole wheat penne pasta with marinara sauce and sauteed veggies:

After lunch, I went back off the ship to do some shopping at the port. They have a big indoor shopping mall with duty free shops, jewelry stores, clothing stores, and places to buy any souvenir you might want. I had already done most of my shopping at the spice market, but it was good to see the prices. In general, it was cheaper at the market on the beach (especially since you can bargain with those vendors). The port mall also offers free wifi so I used my cell phone to check my email for a few minutes. Then back onto the ship for sushi and to get ready for the evening.

Tonight’s show was an hour-long concert by Lindsay Hamilton. She has starred in London’s West End productions of Les Mis and Evita, and I thought she was an amazing singer! She sang mostly ballads from Broadway musicals, but she also spoke a bit between the songs, making jokes and talking to the audience. If you get the chance to see her perform, don’t miss it!

Then it was dinner time…