My Solo Splendor repo cruise (with pics) 10/24/14

[Jamman54]

At 10am, I made my way down to the Lobby Bar to meet the roll call beach bums. There were only four of us today, as I guess the cloudy weather scared some people off. One person, who had been here before, recommended that we go to a beach that the locals hang out at. It’s called the Shipwreck Beach Bar, and it’s located on South Friars Beach. So off we go, and here I am leaving the ship…..

 

 

One of the Splendor’s gangways…..

 

 

Water is available if you need it…..

 

 

It’s a long walk from the front of the ship to the terminal building…..

 

 

We are almost there…..

 

 

Looking back towards the front of the ship…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here is the Cruise Terminal. The taxi stand is off to the right…..

 

 

We were able to get a taxi very quickly and we were off. The fare to South Friars Beach was $8 per person, round trip. That was very reasonable. We have arrived at the Shipwreck Beach Bar.

 

 

The beach itself was very, very, very, narrow, and made up of black sand. We paid $5 each for a lounger and a spot under a thatched umbrella. This was the view of the beach looking to the right…….

 

 

And the view of the beach looking to the left…..

 

 

We soon had our first bucket of beer for $20…..

 

 

That’s the black sand on my feet…..

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are a couple of views taken from my lounger. The water was rough and churned up. I did go in for a dip a couple of times, and there wasn’t any undertow or anything like that….

 

 

 

The bartender at the beach bar told us that yesterday it was sunny and the water was calm, but that a storm had come through overnight and churned up the water. Occasionally, a wave would wash up all the way under our loungers, so we kept our belongings high and dry…..

 

 

Up on top of the hill, you could relax in a hammock…..

 

 

The Shipwreck Beach Bar had covered areas for drinking and eating. I had an order of the chili nachos, which tasted extremely good sitting and watching the water, and washing them down with a couple of beers….

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

This is the beach shop for your rental needs…..

 

 

Looking down from the bar at our loungers…..

 

 

That cloud covered island in the distance is Nevis…..

 

 

The Shipwreck Beach Bar…..

 

 

Now it’s time for a little monkey business. There are a lot of monkeys on St. Kitts. In fact there are more monkeys on this island than there are people. I think the number is 1.25 monkeys for every person. Many of the people keep them as pets, and some “monkey men” make a living by letting you hold and take pictures of the monkeys for a fee. These monkeys are the Green Vervet Monkeys, that the French brought here way back when, and they flourished and multiplied. Most of them are wild, and can be found virtually everywhere. A few of them came down the hill close to us, to check us out, and munch on the plants…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We were told that they like alcohol, and will steal your drinks if you’re not careful. No monkey is getting my beer!!!!

 

 

The Shipwreck Souvenir Shop……

 

 

Here’s another view from the bar…..

 

 

Shipwreck Beach Bar sign……

 

 

Distance signs…..

 

 

A little before 3pm, we decided to head back to the ship. Since there were no taxis waiting, they gladly called a taxi for us. It came in about 10 minutes, and soon we were almost back at the ship…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The sign says this way back to the ship…..

 

 

There was quite a lot of shopping in the area around the Cruise Terminal. I took these shots so Patti can plan her shopping for when we are here again next August!! Ha ha!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here is the casino that we could see from the ship…..

 

 

Looking back at the shopping area by the Cruise Terminal…..

 

 

Time to go back to the ship…..

 

 

The Carnival Splendor docked at St. Kitts…..

 

 

The Splendor gangways…..

 

 

Getting back on board…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

I was back on board by 3:30pm, and we wouldn’t be sailing until 6pm. I showered, and then used the time before we sailed to put together some laundry to send out, then made my way to The Web to check emails and connect with Patti.

 

Afterwards, I went to see my buddy Gusti at the Liner Bar, for a “few” Coronas. When we sailed at 6pm, it was already dark outside…..

 

 

After we sailed, I stopped at Pixel’s to pick up a few pictures, then made my way back to the cabin to take a nap before dinner.

 

For dinner tonight, I started with the chicken tenders and mozzarella & tomatoes…..

 

 

I followed that with the grilled salmon……

 

 

For dessert I had the apple pie ala mode. Tonight, the wait staff danced to “Low, low, low. Tonight’s show in the Spectacular Theatre was “The Fastest Juggler in the World” starring Victor Zuniga. I decided to skip this show and head to the Sports Bar to watch the World Series.

 

Afterwards, I went next door to the casino to play some more blackjack. I played for a few hours and wound up losing a little. I was getting tired, so I made my way back to my cabin, where I found tonight’s turndown service…..

 

 

Tonight’s towel animal……

 

 

Coming up next: Antigua, another first for me, and a Royal meeting!!

[NightOne]

We were told that they like alcohol, and will steal your drinks if you’re not careful. No monkey is getting my beer!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

LOL

 

That bucket looked like it had 3 Caribs and 3 of another kind. What were they?

[gapearl]

I went to that same beach in St. Kitts last year. The monkeys were hiding from me, though. I didn't get any good pictures of them like you did.

[bbrooks]

Your pictures of the monkeys are gorgeous!! :D

[wrigley80]

I'm all caught up. That beach in St. Kitts doesn't look like your typical Caribbean beach

[Jamman54]

LOL

 

That bucket looked like it had 3 Caribs and 3 of another kind. What were they?

 

The other 3 were Coors Lights.

[Jamman54]

I'm all caught up. That beach in St. Kitts doesn't look like your typical Caribbean beach

 

Not typical at all, but then again the beaches in the Caribbean come in all shapes and sizes. it was too bad that the weather and sea conditions were not the best this day.

[wrigley80]

Not typical at all, but then again the beaches in the Caribbean come in all shapes and sizes. it was too bad that the weather and sea conditions were not the best this day.

 

 

Yeah it's just weird to see black sand

[funinthesun1964]

Never been to Coki Beach, but may go there in March. Just wondering, are there any places around it....like other restaurants, bars, (besides the one you had a picture of), shops?

[KrusII]

Love it........can't wait for your adventures.......

[Jamman54]

Never been to Coki Beach, but may go there in March. Just wondering, are there any places around it....like other restaurants, bars, (besides the one you had a picture of), shops?

 

Next door at Coral World.

[murphy4]

ship layout-- is the Splendor a ship that "you can't get there from here?". we were on the Glory in the past and I know there was an issue that we had to be on the "correct" deck to get from front to back.

any tips as to what deck goes front to back? is there a deck you can actually walk all the way around the ship?

[Jamman54]

ship layout-- is the Splendor a ship that "you can't get there from here?". we were on the Glory in the past and I know there was an issue that we had to be on the "correct" deck to get from front to back.

any tips as to what deck goes front to back? is there a deck you can actually walk all the way around the ship?

 

The Splendor is just like the Glory, or any of the Conquest Class ships. The difference between those ships and the Splendor is the Lido Deck (9), and above. Use Deck 5 to go from one end of the ship to the other. If you are in the aft dining room (Gold Pearl), you can't go from front to back on Decks 3 & 4.

[serene56]

ship layout-- is the Splendor a ship that "you can't get there from here?". we were on the Glory in the past and I know there was an issue that we had to be on the "correct" deck to get from front to back.

any tips as to what deck goes front to back? is there a deck you can actually walk all the way around the ship?

 

 

the only place you can not get to is the dining rooms.

If you have the aft dining room the only way to get there is by using the aft elevators.

 

if you have the midship dining room the only way to get there is the forward elevator for the front or the midship elevator to take you to the back.

 

deck 5 is a public deck and can get you from front to the back quickly.

 

Only decks 3 and 4 have the dead end

[Jamman54]

Welcome to Antigua!!!

 

 

I am up at 6:15am, hoping to catch another great sunrise, and to watch us sail into Antigua. I am super excited again this morning for a couple of reasons. First, this will be my first time here, and secondly, I will be meeting some friends once we dock. No, my friends don’t live there, they will be arriving on the Royal Princess, which will be in port with us today.

 

So I step out on the balcony, and behold, I have a combination shot that shows yet another beautiful sunrise, and also is a forward facing shot that shows that we have another day of smooth seas…..

 

 

Soon the Antigua Pilot Boat arrives…..

 

 

I decided to head up onto the open decks to watch our arrival into Antigua. Here are some of the wonderful views I had…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Here are a couple more Antigua views…..

 

 

 

The Royal Princess arrived a little before us…..

 

 

This was the first time I had seen the Royal Princess in person. She had also been based in New York for the summer, and was on her repositioning cruise. She sure is a fine looking ship…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

The forward half of the Royal Princess…..

 

 

The aft half of the Royal Princess…..

 

 

This is the view from our stern, looking out to sea…..

 

 

We are pulling into our pier at St. Johns, Antigua…..

 

 

Though we are docked side by side with the Royal Princess, we are actually using different piers. This is our pier…..

 

 

This is the smoking area of the Splendor, located on Deck 10 aft, starboard side…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Now that we are docked, I’m getting hungry. Hmmm, should I go to the Continental Breakfast station again? That fruit sure does look good……

 

 

Of course not. I Didn’t feel like waiting for an omelet, though the line wasn’t that long, so I just went into the fairly empty Breakfast Grill line and had the scrambled eggs again…..

 

 

As always, I sit up on Deck 10 to eat, and here is my view as I eat my breakfast…..

 

 

Here is another view of the Royal Princess from Deck 10…..

 

 

It’s time to head back to my cabin to get ready to head ashore. Here are a few random shots that I took along the way. The ping pong tables are located on Deck 10, mid ship…..

 

 

One of the Splendido Pool area hot tubs, located on Deck 10, port and starboard sides….

 

 

To be continued…..