The day dawned cloudy and rainy pulling into Dominica. Thankfully there was no alarm this morning and it was the perfect day to just ease into. Cafe al Bacio was our first stop and then the buffet for breakfast. I swear you just can’t beat this buffet. It was bustling this morning too. We each got omelets made to order with fresh fruit that was so sweet and juicy.
When I went back for my cafe mocha, Bob went to Future Cruises to see if there were any changes in upcoming itineraries and get a couple of prices. On the way back to the cabin we ran into Volkan (maitre’ d) who booked us in Qsine Thursday evening (lobster), then proceeded to tell us about the Summit going into dry-dock in February for two months for a complete overhaul to bring it up to date to match the new vessel, the Edge. That just made us want to come back to the Summit to see all the new changes. So back to Future Cruises we went to see more itineraries and prices. We’ll find one I’m sure.
Still raining and not much incentive to head to shore but I’m sure we will at some point. Fast forward … we did walk into town. It was still raining but we had an umbrella and I bought a hat (among other things). Tons of tents with local vendors with not so local wares to sell. We still bought. We figure even if the stuff isn’t made locally we’re still supporting the local economy when we buy from them. So we found some cool wooden placemats, a few t-shirts, a maraca for Rowan (can’t wait to see his face when we give him that thing!) and I can’t remember what else. The rain continued on and off and at one point the wind got so bad the ship closed the gangway until they could stabilize the ship better. A couple of tents went flying and and the trees were blowing like crazy. The captain said the wind was gusting up to about 55 knots per hour (or something like that – it was bad).
It was sad still seeing so much of the damage from the hurricanes last year. The recovery on this island (and many of them) is far from over. There were still lots of windows still boarded up and we saw many roofs not rebuilt. Talking with one of the vendors this morning she got emotional when we asked about the storms and how they fared. Said neither she nor anyone else had ever seen anything like it before – her whole village was destroyed. I can’t imagine living through something like that and trying to bounce back from it. Seeing these islands and knowing the devastation they have experienced is very sobering to say the least. The tourism industry is their livelihood. At least when we shop with these local people (not the commercialized stores on every island) we know our dollars are making a difference.
We ate a nice lunch at the buffet back on the ship and enjoyed our balcony while people watching and popping the bottle of wine we picked up before boarding the ship in San Juan. It was a relatively quiet relaxing afternoon.
Again, the main dining room didn’t have anything on their menu we felt compelled to dress up for so we ate dinner in the buffet again tonight. Not complaining, that buffet is amazing. The show didn’t entice is tonight either – those broadway types just aren’t our thing – so we found a spot by the coffee bar and planted for a while with our books.
I was fascinated watching the guys remove the mooring lines before we could sail. Working at the shipyard so many years Bob has seen this a million times. It was all new for me.
The captain said earlier we could be in for a rocking and rolling night. Seas were expected to be about 3 meters (10 feet). Yah! I sleep best when being rocked to sleep.
Oh! Side note … Volkan (the food guy) gave us a good deal for Qsine Thursday night – really looking forward to that. But the exciting news is this – the Summit is going in dry-dock mid February for two months for a complete overhaul. They are going to basically gut it and refurbish is to resemble the brand new ship, The Edge, which is state of the art. After getting info on future cruises, we decided on one for February 2020 so we’ll get to see all the new exciting upgrades! So excited!!
Barbados tomorrow – plans are up in the air. Will see how the weather is.
It's a Wonderful Life! 