Royal Clipper Trip Report -- Day 6
Published Saturday, March 26th 2022Day 6 -- Falmouth Harbor, Antigua
Sunny and hot, until 4 pm, then total cloud cover
As I mentioned previously, I'm not an early riser, so once again, we slept in and didn't even look at a clock until 8:30. Neither of us was very hungry, so we went to the Piano Bar to get coffee and a Nutella croissant from the continental breakfast. Carried it outside and met another couple from our travel party and we swapped stories about our hikes through the Cabrits National Park. They hiked another hour up the trail and they said it was a very rigorous hike. They did get to a clearing with amazing views, but overall, I was glad that we didn't try to follow them. If we were ever to go back, however, I would definitely try to pack more suitable shoes and explore more of the National Park.
Lunch today was the BBQ on the Beach. The crew set up a huge BBQ and served us lunch on shore, which was really fun. What that meant was that the first half-hour or so that the tenders ran to shore, they were only taking food and equipment, so we weren't allowed off the ship until all the food was transported. That was not a big deal to us, as we weren't in a huge hurry. Once the tenders were available to guests, you could either tender directly to the beach where lunch would be served, or you could tender into town. So around 10:40 or so, we boarded our tender and headed into the marina that serves the town. There were a few restaurants/bars, but not a lot of shops, and NO free wifi anywhere. So after walking through the marina area and taking a nice walk, we decided to head to the beach. We could've waited for a tender, but we decided to walk, and it took us about 20 minutes to get there. Not terrible.
This was a public beach, so there were no chairs or umbrellas that we could use. We had beach towels from the ship and just laid them down in a shady spot. And that turned out to be really perfect for the time we were there. I spent a lot of time in the water because the sun just felt so good. Kathryn got a massage right on the beach from the ship's spa staff. She said it was "awesome". The BBQ itself was pretty traditional, with burgers (which had been turned into well-done hockey pucks), hot dogs, pork ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, and fixings. There were also cookies and brownies for desert. There were also drinks available.
The view from the town marina:
Our spot on the beach. You can see that there are trees right up to the edge of the sand, which is how we got a shady spot. Also, Kathryn is taking my picture while I'm taking hers. We're such dorks. LOL
There was a small "boardwalk" or pier that extended off the beach. I walked out to the end of it and got this pic with our ship in the background:
The BBQ set-up:
With apologies to Jimmy Buffett -- my BBQ lunch was a cheeseburger in paradise!
After lunch, we had our first shore excursion. This was a kayak eco-tour, with some time to snorkel at the end if you wanted to. But it turned out to be very confusing. From the description, I thought it was going to much more kayaking and then a little snorkeling. But the kayak part was only about a half hour. And then we got in a boat for a 20 minute ride to the snorkeling spot. So I was already a little disappointed in the short time we had for kayaking. Then on the way to the snorkel spot, the guide makes a sharp turn and takes us to an empty docking pad in the middle of the water, which apparently is part of a stingray habitat for a completely different excursion. His partner jumps into the water. grabs a stingray, and walks around the boat, so that everyone could touch the ray. Then he drops it back into the water, jumps back in the boat and we tear out of there, with our guide saying, "Remember, I don't know you and you don't know me!". So obviously, we were not authorized for that little side trip.
Eventually, we arrived at the snorkel spot and the guide starts telling us what's going on, but he's talking so fast that literally no one could understand what he was saying -- especially the 7 or 8 German guests who had limited English skills. They were saying "Please!! Five times slower!" Finally, it became clear that he was telling us that this was our snorkel spot, but that for just $10 American more, we could go into a park next to the beach and swim with the turtles. It just all felt kind of sketchy and not really what I thought we'd signed up for. But Kathryn did see some fish, so it wasn't terrible; just not what we were expecting.
The mangroves that we kayaked through:
The suspicious stingray side trip:
Our snorkel spot:
The one thing that we did find fun about our tour guide was that on our way TO our snorkel spot, he stopped the boat and pointed out to us what he said was the border between the open Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. He said you could see the difference in the water and when we got onto the Atlantic, we'd feel the difference because it would be much rougher. So then as we made the rest of the boat ride, every time we'd hit a wave and splash, he'd yell "ATLANTIC!!!" Splash. "ATLANTIC!!" Splash. "ATLANTIC!!". Kath actually laughed as he did this. The Germans joined in enthusiastically. ATLANTIC!!! --- ATLANTIC!!! 
He took us back to our starting point and a van took us back to our tender at the Falmouth marina, which got us back onto the ship around 5:30. Just in time for the Afternoon Snack, which today was fried Calamari! Not as good as Palo, but definitely a welcome snack. Since we didn't have anything planned before dinner, we decided to climb out onto the bowsprit for the first time. I knew that this was allowed, but it felt like I still should ask permission. So I did and the officer on deck said it was fine.
For folks who aren't familiar with a bowsprit, it's the netting at the front of the ship that extends from the body of the ship to where the jib sails are attached. It'll probably make more sense once you see the pic:
This vantage spot allowed me to get up close and personal with the ship's figurehead:
Our appetizers were chicken satay, which was awesome, and a shrimp and banana salad. That was a very weird salad. It was ok. Kath liked it more than I did. The melon sorbet was very good.
Kathryn got the lamb curry. She said it was excellent, but the curry was very spicy. (I'm not a huge "spicy" person, so I didn't try it.) I had the mushroom-stuffed chicken on risotto. It was very good. I love mushrooms, but this might have been a little too much mushroom, even for me. But the chicken was tender and the dish tasted very good. I enjoyed it.
Lamb:
Chicken with mushrooms:
Tonight's cheese plate was provolone. Kath said it was unremarkable. She also tried the chocolate/banana crepes, which she liked more. I had the hazelnut ice cream, but it was pretty disappointing. I didn't think it had a lot of flavor to it.
We stayed in the dining room for a long time, just talking with our tablemates, comparing our days and hearing about what they did. After dinner, it was Latin Night in the Tropical Bar. Latin themed music and lots of dancing. Our travel partners enjoyed it more than we did. I'm not much of a dancer, so I didn't stay very long. It was still overcast, so there weren't a lot of stars to see, but it was still beautiful to be on deck in the evenings.
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