Winter Break. January 2022. Day 7. Are you From Mexico?
Today we had a relaxing morning. It’s amazing how we never make it out of the room before 9:30.
There is dining room breakfast, but it closes at 9am, so don’t expect to read about that. We went to the buffet for our usual breakfast and then spent some time at the pool since we weren’t scheduled to pull into Tortola until 11am and our shore excursion wasn’t scheduled until 130pm. We ended up watching the docking from the Magic Carpet, a bar that hangs over the side of the ship.
We hung around by the pool a while and then ate lunch at the buffet. Today was Italian day, because everyone wants to eat spaghetti and eggplant parmesan (Tzvi, not me) before heading to the beach.
We met in the theater where they gave us our little stickers, and then led us out single file and across the ship. Somehow Tzvi was late and didn’t make it to the theater. First he was running around trying to get cash because he realized he had nothing to use to pay for things at the beach, and then he tried to follow us, but couldn’t because he was pushing the stroller and they kept taking us down different staircases. Every time I go on a shore excursion I feel like we’re being herded like cattle. Eventually Tzvi found us at the gangway. I think we were the last ones off the ship for our shore excursion, right behind one of the other families with kids, and were led to an open-air bus.
The ride to the beach was just that, a ride. We docked on one side of the island, but Cane Garden Bay, where our excursion was, was on the other side, so we basically went up to the top of the mountain and over to the other side. And it was windy. And there were no seatbelts. But there was a bar to hold onto so you didn’t fall out. It was an experience. The girls enjoyed.
Finally, we made it to the beach and got set up. There were lots of chairs and umbrellas lined up, and there was a woman walking around collecting money for them. We asked for four chairs and she said it was $20 for two seats. Then other people from our ship who were already set up said they only paid $10. The woman argued for a minute, then said fine and we paid $10. At one point we tried to order a bag of chips from her and ended up with French fries. I guess it is the British Virgin Islands. I also tried to order the rum punch and Dark and Stormy. She forgot the rum punch. Then, she wouldn’t let me pay her right away. I had to wait for her to come around again, I don’t know why.
I started walking Madeleine in the stroller to nap. We were surrounded by roosters and dogs, which were making a lot of noise, but she fell asleep anyway. I mean, the beach was lovely, but this is why people stay on the ship. “Oh yeah, we visited the beautiful island of Tortolla where we were surrounded by poultry and wild dogs. It was lovely.” I think Madeleine slept an hour, so not terrible.
The water was really nice, but Hallie was kind of afraid to go in for some reason. But she and Tzvi built a sand castle, so she had fun. We were there until 515 when we got back on the little bus to go back to the ship. The ride back was maybe a little shorter, but just as bumpy!
We took the girls immediately to the buffet because they were starving. It was about 530pm and it seemed like all of the families with kids – all five of them – were there feeding their kids. There was also an older Indian man who came over to our table and started by asking Tzvi if he was Mexican. Then he told us he’s seen our family and wanted to tell us what a beautiful family we have. Then he said he’s from Atlanta. Anyway, the ship left Tortola and the captain came on to announce that one person had tested positive for Covid. They didn’t say whether it was a passenger or crew member or whether they’d been quarantined or thrown overboard.
We gave Robyn some time off, Hallie went to the kids club and we bathed Madeleine and got her in pajamas, and then Tzvi walked around with her. [Tzvi: Near guest services there’s this huge screen with a moving photo that Madeleine can’t stop looking at. While we were there, an older woman and a crew member both came over to tell me how cute she was.]
First we watched the Martini Bar show.
Then we took some photos.
Then we watched this image at Guest Services.
Then it was time for bed.
We got Hallie from kids club and turned them over to Robyn to put them to sleep. Then Tzvi and I went to dinner in the Normandie dining room. Last seating is 9pm, and got there at 8:55. Our waiter was Nyoman, who told us that he works in the dining room from 5pm to 10pm and then from 1am to 6am he is part of a 6 person team that cleans all of the dining rooms and restaurants. He said he sleeps all day. Sounds rough, but I’m sure he’ll work his way up.
Dinner was great. I got a salad to start and for the main I had salmon with veggies. Tzvi had an Alsatian potato and gruyere tart and cheese ravioli to start, and then halibut for the main. For dessert we had an opera cake with raspberry coulis, an apple tart tatin and an olive oil cremeux with oranges and white chocolate crumble.
I think we were the last people in the dining room. For most of the meal there was a table of two couple sitting behind us. One of the women had a tattoo on her shoulder that said דודי לי ואני לו, which I guess means my beloved is for me and I am for him, but it’s just kind of backwards because usually you say I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me. We listened to them talking and they were clearly devout Christians. The conversation actually didn’t sound that different from listening to a table of Jews. They talked about their church and how they’re trying to grow and get people to come to things. One of the guys mentioned something called Bible and Brews, which kind of sounds like an event Beth Sholom would put on. They also spoke about several books they were reading. One of them was about how Jews are very successful in business because they follow the bible. The conversation bordered on adminiration and anti-Semitism. I should have said hello.
After dinner we went to The Club where there was a show with the dancers and aerialists that was really great. It was more “risqué” than the regular shows, and because you were standing right next to them you could really see how hard they worked when they danced. Then we went for our nightcap at Café Al Baccio.
Good night.