July 16, 2019
Antigua: A 3-Hour Island Tour &
First Cruise Day with No Problems
March 28, 2019
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua & Barbuda – I took a three-hour excursion to southern Antigua Island today, enjoying the beautiful sunshine on this unusually dry Caribbean island. Adding to my delight, this fourth day of my cruise is the first day in which I didn’t encounter any terrible customer-service issues aboard Costa Pacifica!
Got up at 7:55 a.m. Went up to the breakfast buffet on Deck 9, then prepared for today’s shore excursion: “Discovering the Beauty of Antigua.” This is, I believe, my third visit to the dual-island Caribbean nation of Antigua & Barbuda, population 94,000. And this is the third port of call on my 17-night Caribbean and trans-Atlantic cruise.
Met my tour at 8:45 in Grand Bar Rhapsody, then proceeded ashore. Disembarked less than 10 minutes later. A local band played on the pier to welcome us to Antigua Island.
Our first stop, after nearly an hour of driving, was Shirley Heights Lookout with stunning views over English and Falmouth harbors in southern Antigua. The lookout is part of Nelson’s Dockyard National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Antigua is an unusual Caribbean island in that there’s no interior mountains or rainforest here. The island is incredibly dry.
About an hour later – after a brief stop at Dow’s Hill Fort — we were down at the dockyard itself, where we received a ticket for a rum punch. Cheers! Thursday morning drinking. Ah, nomad life!
The World Heritage Site, “Antigua Naval Dockyard & Related Archaeological Sites,” consists of a group of Georgian-style naval buildings and structures, set within a walled enclosure.
“The natural environment of this side of the island of Antigua, with its deep, narrow bays surrounded by highlands, offered shelter from hurricanes and was ideal for repairing ships,” according to UNESCO. “The construction of the dockyard by the British navy would not have been possible without the labor of generations of enslaved Africans since the end of the 18th century. Its aim was to protect the interests of sugarcane planters at a time when European powers were competing for control of the Eastern Caribbean.”
My short tour wrapped up at 11:39. We went directly back to the Port of St. John’s, where I reboarded Costa Pacifica and headed to the lunch buffet.
After an early start this morning, I was ready for a rest. Watched “NCIS” in my cabin, then laid down for a nap at 2 p.m. and snoozed until 5:33!
Went up to Deck 12 for watch sail-away and sunset. Posted today’s photos to Facebook.
Set up my laptop in the small Internet cafe to copy photos to my laptop and work on my calendar. Then at 8:08 p.m. it was time for the dinner buffet.
Organized stuff in my stateroom, got ready for bed, and packed my backpack for tomorrow’s excursion. Read the cruise newsletter and watched TiVo on my phone before bed at 11:30 p.m.
Tonight we’ll be sailing 182 miles to Martinique Island, our fourth port of call. This will be my first time visiting Martinique, a state of France.
