Finding an anchorage at St Barts was interesting. Even to me it seemed crowded. Some of the “pleasure yachts” looked like small cruise ships and they were anchored all around the entrance to the small harbour. Once in the harbour the slips were filled with yachts of various sizes. Most of the vessels seemed to have activity on board, unlike Ft Lauderdale where most of the boats seemed abandoned.
St Barts is a very infrequent port. We were joined by a few more small cruise ships. I can confirm that Seaborne was in port but the names of the others were totally unfamiliar. We all tendered to the same area of the port and found ourselves in the middle of Gustavia immediately after leaving the tender. St Barts is reputed to be the vacation spot for the rich and famous. The yacht basin certainly spoke to the “rich” part, however, we met or saw no person we recognized as “famous” but perhaps we just don’t know who is famous.
Prices of goods in the storefronts seemed expensive but the stores themselves were often quite modest and many deserved at least a paint job. Streets were very narrow and sidewalks, where they existed, even narrower. There was only a single ship’s tour available at this port and we were to find out later that it was not too exciting. At least on one coach the tour guide spoke only French and there were no stops on the island circumnavigation. I became deficit tour guide for our small group of walkers and information central to others. There were too few signs pointing to Shell Beach to make navigating comfortable to most. Since I operate on the principal that you can’t be lost if you don’t care where you are and can retrace your route to a known location, I kept going and eventually there was a sign, “Shell Beach.” There were lots of shells which would probably have cut my tender feet to ribbons had I planned to go for a swim. The beach area was quite small anyway. As we returned to the centre of Gustavia we were able to assure others that indeed they were on the correct route to Shell Beach
We got the opportunity to dance before dinner with the group, (The Walking Miracles—don’t know the genesis of the name) that has become our favourite on this ship. Late in the evening they also played for a 50s – 60s rock and roll party where the cruise entertainment staff does their best to put guests in embarrassing situations for a little fun. Four ladies were caught for a hula hoop contest. They were later had revenge by selecting four men to do the same. There was only one lady that seemed able to keep the hoop going for more than the time it took to drop from armpit to floor. There was also an Elvis impersonator contest performed by passenger “volunteers.” At one point the group played quite a nice swing medley so Gail and I danced. We should have known better as it was really a ruse to grab three couples for an impromptu jive contest judged by crowd reaction. Everyone had fun and we won a bottle of champaign thanks to a number of noisy “fans.”
That was December 23rd.
