When we weren’t in port exploring the islands there were many shipside activities to enjoy besides lolling at the pool. I attended watercolor classes and Chip signed up for computer and iPhone lessons.
We also spent time every day in the fitness center trying our best to burn calories. (In spite of workouts each day we both gained five pounds in the two-week cruise.)
I enjoyed the watercolor classes. I learned watercolors are long lasting as proved by primitive art discovered in the caves of France done by watercolors that have lasted many thousands of years. “Vista” provided the supplies including a 36-color palette with which to mess around with on paper. My results may have been rather sad but it was a lot of fun!
Our next island stop was the furthest point south in our itinerary, St. George, Grenada, known as “spice island,” which is just 90 miles off South America.
The island, measured 12 miles by 12 miles, was first discovered by Europeans with the arrival of Columbus. But the Carib Indians were so hostile to intruders that no Europeans could colonize the island until the French arrived at a later date. It is now part of the British Commonwealth.
It had been since 1972 since I had last visited Grenada and when the ship pulled into the dock I gasped. The island had changed from a rustic village with musicians playing steel drums and thatched roof-covered cafes featuring rum drinks. (Father always referred to such drinks as “rum dumbs,” because after just one drink no one said anything very clever. I well-remembered them as delicious pink drinks served in tall glasses made of white rum and fruit juice served with a tiny umbrella, cherry and slice of orange. )
Such sights were now replaced with a busy built-up port terminal and shopping mall offering colorful native-made clothing. I bought a few dresses I thought had been made locally only to discover later they were a product of India.
Grenada is known for spices and rum, so I brought back some of both for my children, Liz and Wake. I didn’t hear one note of a steel band or taste one “rum dumb” on my entire cruise.
Some changes are expected and good. Some are not. Amongst the riches of the Caribbean, I wished for a tiny umbrella in my drink and the sight of just one native playing Calypso music on a steel drum.
Returning to the ship I found an anonymous note left on my bed. It read that the verandas would be washed in the night. Nothing very exciting. But in the middle of the night, I was awakened to sounds of a giant hose washing down the veranda on the deck above me.
This noise went on for some time only to be repeated when the giant hose hit my deck. But first the separation doors between suites had to be opened with a clatter so that the attendants could move up and down scrubbing the entire length of the verandas.
I lay awake for hours waiting for the racket to end. I did appreciate the Vista’s cleanliness, however. The ship was always spotless.
The next morning, we slipped into the busy port of Bridgetown, Barbados. More noise. Industrial noise. Gone was another remembered charming Caribbean Isle of yesteryear. It has been replaced by a little Detroit.
My eyes gazed sadly upon work boats, tugs, cranes, derricks, trucks beeping away in nightmarish cacophony. I suppose the general roar of industry meant profits, jobs and more taxes to support government.
Two other cruise ships were docked beside us. Directly across from my cabin lay a monster ship that had 10 decks of birdhouse staterooms built to take on more than 3,000 passengers. On her side was painted a bright red mermaid. Her P.A. system was announcing throughout the harbor to compete with the industrial noise the daily activities on the ship.
Another monster ship lay at dock on our other side. This one had German words painted in black along her sides. Her P.A. was also blaring guttural orders to her passengers in a language I assumed was German. (Vista did not use a P.A. system within staterooms to announce daily activities and for this we were all appreciative for silence is golden.)
Fortunately, for I like quiet, we would only be in Barbados for one day. I thought long and hard about how the Caribbean islands had been developed since I had last visited more than 60 years ago. I knew that the industry had provided more jobs and raised the standard of living for more people. But at what cost?
I feared that it would not be many more years when these once pristine islands would all be covered with Miami’s sky-high condos filled with people enjoying aqua waters and sumptuous doses of sunshine.
Chip and I disembarked to enjoy a stroll down the pier to the town and we were met with a long battalion of white tents that housed handmade products (but many possibly “made in China?”). The tents reminded me of the Arts in the Middle grouping of tents each year in front of “Hewick.”
Later my husband took a trolley ride through the town and around the country. He learned the island had many hot, bubbling pools similar to those in Yellowstone Park. A surprise was seeing a school that China had recently built to educate children. How interesting that China, a nation that has moved into many parts of the world including Africa and Central and South America, has built a school in tiny Dominica.
Back on the ship that evening we discovered the Panache String Quartet that specialized in classical music. They played many beautiful selections for the admiring audience from Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi and my favorite piece, Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major.
The grand finale was a seven-piece potpourri of Beatles tunes that brought the house down. Amazing how well the Beatles music sounded played by a string quartet. One would not necessarily mistake it for Bach or Beethoven but … it was good.
(To be continued…)
