December 07, 2017

Day 14 – St John's, Antigua

The ship is cleared shortly after 8:00. Throughout the night the ship continued to pitch and roll as it has been for the past several days, but now we are motionless as we are tied tightly to the pier. The skies are mostly cloudy with the sun peaking thru on occasion. There is a brisk wind making the 80 degree day feel like 70.


By the time I look outside the fuel barge is tied alongside and we are being refueled. After breakfast I venture off the ship for about an hour. We are in the same berth as last week except we have docked bow first instead of stern first. The AIDAdiva shares our pier, and the Riveria and the Adonia are berthed on the next pier. I suspect they are european cruise ships. Refueling takes all day, the ship must be thirsty.


The shopping area is very crowded with visitors, despite an occasional morning sprinkle. By afternoon the skies have cleared into a beautiful Caribbean day. Other passengers report that prices are very high here, and few purchases are made.


Royal had made another cutback in amenities for their best customers. Several years ago upscale shampoo, moisturizer, and hair conditioner were automatically delivered to each cabin. Then the policy changed to be that each guest would have to ask for the upgraded toiletries, now the policy is that they are only available to guests with over 340 nights that ask.


I really don't care, even when I was given 9 containers of shampoo on the vision 6 weeks ago, but there are some passengers here that expected the convenience so they didn't bring their own. I'm a nice guy and ask Junior for lots of conditioner, and pass it on to other needy guests.


Laundry bags for free wash dry and fold are similar. They used to just be in your cabin, now you have to specifically ask for them. I guess too many people were using them to pack wet swimwear.


The seas are more calm tonight as we head to Castries, St Lucia, the ship is barely rocking. Our arrival is expected at 8:00 with a ship clearance by 8:30. I have no specific plans at this point, but will get off the ship for a bit.

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