Celebrity Equinox Holiday Cruise Day 4

[rollerdonna]

Celebrity Equinox Holiday Cruise Day 4
Monday Dec. 26, 2011, St. Thomas

When we awoke on the day after Christmas, we had already docked in St. Thomas.






It was nice not to have to rush off to a shore excursion, as we had planned to get off on our own and re-visit Paradise Point via the Sky Ride.



Located about a 10 minute walk from the pier, the Sky Ride experience has gone up in price since our last visit a few years ago. It is now $21 per person to ride up the mountain in the
gondolas, and even the free and entertaining bird act at the top is now gone, having moved on the the nearby Butterfly Farm. The only thing new that was included in the price was the giant and colourful ferris wheel, which no-one was riding because we were practically the only people up there at 10:30 in the morning!




However, my main purpose in visiting Paradise Point was to enjoy a Bailey's Bushwacker.



There I was on Boxing Day, at the top of a mountain, gazing over the beautiful harbour in St. Thomas, sipping my favourite drink in the world. It was soooooo delicious!




The view was as I remembered it - spectacular, and we both enjoyed our morning up at Paradise Point, sipping Bushwackers and listening to the Caribbean music.







Although there is no more bird "show" up there, there are a couple of caged parrots near the gondola stop, who entertained us while we waited to go back down the mountain.



Going up the mountain in the shaky little gondola was a bit scary and disconcerting, but I have to admit, going back down, with two Bailey's Bushwackers in me, well, I couldn't have cared less if we crashed in the thing!
Consequently, when we returned to the ship, I myself crashed and needed a sobering nap before continuing with my day....

Today we lunched at the Mast Grill up on Deck 14, overlooking the main pool. We had cheeseburgers and fries which I enjoyed, but James did not, then we retired to the Solarium and spa pool area for a quiet afternoon.



This evening, we returned to the Silhouette dining room, and were seated at yet another new spot, and shortly after ordering, another couple joined us. This of course slowed up the
ordering and food delivery process, resulting in a long wait for us while they ordered, and an even longer wait for our food and between courses. Service was particularly show and haphazard on this evening, and we ended up leaving after waiting an extraordinary amount of time for our tea.
Just a note of interest here; the gentleman seated with us was a restauranteur (he owned several restaurants and a catering business) and a self-confessed "fussy eater".
Both he and his lady friend did not like their meals, and he sent back both his dressing-drenched Caesar salad and his tough-as-leather steak. They told us they had not enjoyed one meal since boarding the ship, and that included an evening at Muranos, the specialty French cuisine at $35 per person.
I, on the other hand, very much enjoyed a delicious chicken broth soup, and turkey parmegiana with penne pasta and tomato sauce!

The evening's theatre entertainment featured a comedy juggler, Chuck Gunter, who was a good juggler, but not spectacular, although he was pretty funny.
The late entertainment was the Interactive Theme Party "Decco" out on the main pool deck, from 10:45 on.



We visited for a short time, but the live band was very loud, there were a lot of people dancing, and many, many (as in hordes of) teens roaming around.
Definitely not our scene, so off to bed we went, after stopping in at the Ocean View Cafe for a cup of tea and a dessert.

Good night to St. Thomas, and tomorrow, St. Kitts....




donna

[KDGodwin]

Yum! What is in a Baileys Bushwacker??

[Manuel]

It sure sounds like an excellent drink.

TM