DAY 7---GRENADA

GRANADA 

 Background/Historical Info

         This southern most island in the West Indes just 125 miles north of the northeast coast of Venezuela. It is known as the “island of spice” because it is home to many nutmeg plantations. It is only about 18 miles long and 8 miles wide with a population of 112,000. It is also a British Commonwealth. 

        Tourism is the mainstay of the economy with its many beaches, water sports, and many waterfalls. Its main exports are the spices: nutmeg and mace (the sister spice of nutmeg). They also export bananas, cocoa, fruits, vegetables, clothing, chocolate, and fish. Despite all this the country suffers from a heavy debt problem. 

       The colorful city of St George’s is the capital and main port of Grenada with a population of 35,000. Like Barbados, Grenada is a very popular stop for cruise ships with 250 arrivals per year.

        You may recall back in 1983 President Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada as the Cubans were building a 10,000 foot runway which was believed to be used by Russia and Cuba for as a refueling stop for their airplanes loaded with weapons destined for Central American insurgents. Within four days the Americans had removed the military government there.

LAST EVENING

                              Captain Abhi welcoming us loyal Seven Seas Society members.

        Jacques, the Cruise Consultant, is also in charge of the SSS program on board.  Here are the totals of passengers on board now in each of the tiers of nights on board Regent cruises.

SILVER  (21 to 74 nights)---232

GOLD  (75 to 199 nights)---99

PLATINUM  (200 to 399 nights)---55

TITINUM  (400 to 999 nights)---24

DIAMOND  (Over 1000 nights)---8

COMMODORE  (Over 2000 nights)---2

        Rebecca & I are Diamonds with 1114 nights (that's just over 3 years).  Jacques read the names of the Diamonds and Commodores and had us wave.

        Head sommelier, Kadek (from Bali), is presenting the Rombauer chardonnay that I had ordered earlier today.  $88 but soooooo good!

                  This is Faiz who took over serving our wine after Kadek had opened it.

                     This Mykonos salad was very, very good and one of our favs on Regent.

        Miso-glazed sea bass with sticky rice.  Definitely our favorite of all Regent entrees.  The sea bass just melts in your mouth.  Yes, I had two orders!!  It is always on the menu on SSS night.

                    Love this white chocolate croissant pudding.  It topped off a great dinner.

        We finished dinner at 8:00 and the show was not until 9:30.  We returned to the suite to wait but I decided to crash.  Rebecca did go down to the production cast's variety show and said it was very good.

TODAY

        Rebecca had ordered room service scrambled eggs instead of an omelet.  They were over cooking the omelets.  I had her order this smoked salmon with a bagel for me.  They gave me too much salmon but it was very good.

                 The Caribbean Sea is not smooth but we are getting a good ride on Mariner.

Fried seafood:  calamar, shrimp, and cod.  Ordered some "hot" French fries at pool grill.  Ate too much!

     After lunch I went up to the Observation Lounge to watch our sail into St George's.  Land ho!

        Here comes the pilot boat.  A pilot boards in each port to help our Captain with docking.  The pilot knows all the intricacies with the port.                                      

                                               We will be docking on this pier dead ahead.

                                                     The terminal is at the end of the pier.

                                                                     Anglican Church

        Fort George.  Looks like they are doing some renovations of the old fort that protected the port area in the olden days.

                               Looks like the tour buses are parked to the right of the terminal.

        A "local" greeter as I walked the pier to take some photos in town.  No tour today again as the buses are small again.

                                                                        Steel band

                                This the terminal entrance from the pier.  Inside is a huge mall.

                                                            Had to be at least 50 stores.

                                                    Anglican Church Tower built in 1825.

                                                            Exit of mall into town.

        Big market and most of the stalls were selling spices.  The women would ask if I needed any spices and I said, "I'm a spicy old man already."  They all got a kick out of that remark.

                                                          A policemen directing traffic.

                                       KFC and Subways are on most Caribbean islands.

  

                                                                 This is not paint folks!

        I managed to stay off the ship for 45 minutes.  It was so hot and humid.  Just as I was walking off the ship a light shower began so I picked up an umbrella that they have available at the gangway. Turns out I did not really need it. Lots of locals milling around in town in the mid afternoon.  Also lots of school kids in the uniforms of their schools.  I found everyone to be clean and very friendly.

        This is tonight's menu in Compass Rose.  The menu they delivered to our suite yesterday afternoon did not have the "panko coated shrimp and fish cakes" on it.  So we asked Vlada if he could get us a Prime 7 reservation for this evening.  He did.  Had we known they were going to add panko shrimp tonight we would have dined in CR.  Also this evening instead of Sette Mari, they will be having a "creole dinner buffet" in La Veranda.

        So our evening plan is cocktails in the Mariner Lounge with my "Doctor Denar" making my Manhattans.  Then at 6:30 we'll head around the corner to get our corner table in Prime 7 with Gusi as our server.

        The show tonight is again featuring the production company cast in "Broadway Unplugged".  I'm not sure we have seen this show before.  We plan to be on the front row again.

        We will not be sailing until 9:00 tonight as it is just 129nm to our next port of call, Castries on the island of St Lucia.  Have I mentioned that we have been to all of these ports many times!!