St. John’s – Happy 62nd Birthday to Bob!! I ran into Volkan at breakfast this morning and was able to book our dinner in Tuscan tonight for a reduced price for Bob’s birthday – yah! We had booked an excursion through the ship today going to Ffryes Beach. Antigua has 365 beaches – crossing our fingers this was a pretty one. The price was right and it included a lunch. It turned out to be a great choice! The beach was beautiful, there were plenty of chairs and umbrellas and lots of sand. Unfortunately, it was still very windy (the tour operator, Chrissie, told us there was a tropical depression spinning somewhere out in the Caribbean which was causing all the wind and waves) and the water was rougher than you’d expect – though not as rough as Rainbow Beach yesterday. We enjoyed about four hours there and other than weather conditions it was perfect. Lunch was delicious and I fell in love with one of the local vendors – picked up a hand painted beach dress and a handmade Christmas ornament. Those are the kinds of things we love to bring back from our trips. ❤
We walked around a bit after being dropped off at the pier and were back in our room around 4:00 which gave us an hour or so to chill before getting ready for our dinner in Tuscan at 6:00. Ahmet took care of us again tonight and we had such fun with each other – he’s just a dear person, but then most of the people who take care of us are. It’s nice when you see someone multiple times and get to start forming these temporary relationships with them. They made Bob’s birthday pretty special. The food, of course, was excellent and the service and smiles even better. They brought a beautiful piece of cake with “Happy Birthday” and a lit candle so Bob could make a wish.
Waddling out, we killed an hour at Al Bacio with a cup of mint tea until the 9:00 show. Tonight Tetiana Maria, a Canadian Idol winner, entertained us with songs, humor and incredible impressions (Cher, Celine, Barbara Streisand, Christina Aguilera). It was better than we anticipated – her impressions were very good, especially considering the original artists. She seems to be a very gracious and humble person. Most of the entertainment this cruise has been very good. Rich Clesen is the cruise director on the Summit this time and his taste, in music especially, appears to be much more hip than what we’ve experienced on other cruises. That can get interesting considering the general age of a lot of the guests.
Back in our room we crashed. It had been a long day and we have an early morning.
It's a Wonderful Life! 