This was a day we were dreading. No, it's not because anything bad was about to happen. Instead, it was because we had to wake up by 6 am to make a tour scheduled for 10 am. If we had known better, we could have woken up at least an hour later. But we were playing things safe, as our shore excursion instructions mentioned a 15 minute walk to the cruise terminal (or using a shuttle that ran every 15 minutes that can get overcrowded). Since neither of us wanted to walk 15 minutes, we decided to take the first shuttle of the day.
But first....
We showered and dressed and were at the buffet before 7 am. One problem - the main area of the buffet wasn't yet open, and we had to find our food at the other end of the buffet area. Rushing to finish our meals, we were back in our cabin before 7:30, with a few minutes to get ready before leaving the ship to find the shuttle bus.
The pier in Bridgetown, Barbados is long. I wouldn't recommend walking it, as it is narrow and allows for only one lane of vehicular traffic. This means that a pedestrian lane has been squeezed out of the area where one would have buses and other vehicles pass each other in opposing directions. We were at the far end of the pier, and I estimated that we'd walk 1/2 mile before reaching the terminal. Use of the shuttle would be our only realistic option today.
At 8 am, we walked to the gangway and found the shuttle loading nearby. By 8:10, we were in the terminal, ready to kill time before going outside to find our tour bus. A little before 9 am, we went to the designated waiting area, and our tour guide arrived a few minutes late. (Heck, it's "Island Time", nothing is on time by NYC terms when in the Caribbean.) Narren, our guide, was dressed up like Santa, and was ready to show us the best of Barbados.
Now, I'm not going to fault Narren, but there wasn't that much to see on this tour. Yes, we went past the home of the rich and famous. But after that, it was a long drive on twisty and bumpy roads to reach scenic vistas and an old church. One member of our group commented that she had seen much better old churches in Europe - and I wouldn't doubt her. Barbados has only a short history of being settled by European people. So, shoring a 300 year old church is not enough to impress everyone. Both my partner and I agreed that we might not have taken this tour had we known how little there would be to see. Again, I won't fault our tour guide. It was not what we were looking for in a scenic tour.
We were glad to get back to the ship for lunch and a nap....
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Around 6:30 pm, we went downstairs for dinner. My only complaint was that there were not enough Anjou Pear slices with this appetizer. My partner noted that Cunard's version of an appetizer is not a mini-main. Instead, it's a bite or two of tasty food. And, as usual, I enjoyed two appetizers and a Caesar Salad. The rib eye steak was done to perfection, and the desserts were on the mark as well. Not that much to say about dinner, save that this was the first time that RQS noticed a mistake in the restaurant's service. Yet, we still keep getting impressed by service (in general) on this ship.
mmmmm
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