Caribbean - Barbados

Oct 13, 2010 Barbados - Last night we watched the adult R-rated comedy show with Al Romero. He was funny. We came back to our cabin and were in bed around 1am, which was really too late considering how tiring our day was (but what can you do?). Our alarm went off at 8am this morning, and after showering and eating, we disembarked to find ourselves in Barbados. We boarded a shuttle which took us from the ship to the terminal, where we made connections with our tour guide (Shasa Catamaran Tours). I learned about them from the Cruise Critic boards so we knew they would be good. We were part of a great group of 8 (an older couple from Wisconsin and two middle aged couples from Florida who were lots of fun). A cab took us to our guide Jason, who was waiting with our catamaran. We boarded and set sail with the help of a great wind. We sailed north along the coast for about an hour until we dropped anchor to swim with sea turtles. We got our masks and snorkels ready (no fins because they can injure the turtles) and jumped in! Jason had food so the turtles came right up to us. There were five total and they were big. Jason said that until recently, it wasn't uncommon to see 10-15 turtles at once. However, the turtles were recently tagged and released, so many have left (hopefully temporarily). Still, what an amazing experience. We took lots of pictures with our underwater camera. Also saw a few tarpons, which were about 6 feet long. Many people mistake them for sharks but they aren't, and they are harmless.

Side note: the great thing about not booking shore excursions through the cruise line... our group of 8 had these turtles all to ourselves. Carnival will dump 100 people into the water and charge more money for less time.

After an hour with the turtles, we sailed south for a few minutes and dropped anchor again. This time we would be snorkeling along a reef. I stayed close to Jason because he had a good eye. He'd point out things that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

When we'd had enough of snorkeling, we headed toward a sandy beach where we were met by Jason’s wife Tess, who handles the tour bookings. She was delivering a homemade Barbadian lunch which was absolutely delicious. We had chicken, breaded flying fish, potato salad, homemade mac-n-cheese, rice and beans, green salad and garlic bread. The food was amazing. That's another great thing about NOT booking shore excursions through the cruise line. I am pretty certain that no one else was eating a home cooked meal on a catamaran.

After lunch, we headed back toward our starting point. I claimed the best seat on the boat (the front), where I sprawled out and soaked up the sun for 45 minutes. Our driver was waiting and took us back to the terminal. We picked up some after-sun lotion (because I failed to put an adequate amount of sunscreen on for that last 45 minutes). Also found the Calypso Island Bakery, which was mentioned in my Frommer's guide, so we picked up a couple of small rum cakes to take home.

Boarded the ship, showered, ate, took a few pictures of the sunset, and settled down in the main theater for the shows. Tonight we watched a very talented (and humorous) juggler and another great comedian. Now we've settled in for an early night because we're exhausted. Tomorrow will be our final day with a planned shore excursion, and then we'll have two "easy" days. Although I'm sure we'll find something adventurous to do.