LIVE Norwaylady escape the winter on Equinox B2B 23.03-11.04.24

[Lena11033]

5 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Our French Canadians was long gone after day 1.😂🙌🏻 Good for us, since their English was not good and my French is not the best and Mr has nada skills in French 🇫🇷😂😂😂

 

lol I wouldn't feel too bad, I can't speak French (I did Spanish at school) I did do some classes but they teach Parisian French and French in Quebec is different.

 

Last year's cruise on MSC a guy from France I started talking to, his English was better than my French but we managed to make it work. If either got stuck with a word, Google translate.

 

[hcat]

2 hours ago, countess5 said:

We were in St Lucia last year and took a land tour, it was fantastic but it was a long drive and we were up to 250 curves in the road before we stopped counting! This year when we were in St Lucia we took a catamaran to the Pitons! Much better! 😂

 

Cheers! 

Our daughter did the long hike.. plus winding roads on bus. It was a long day...but she said it was OK

 

   Glad we took a small boat ride from where the ship docked.  It stopped at 2 resorts to pick up a few  others..and then went  on for us to snorkel at a beach with close up views of  the Pitons. The beach and view were the stars.. snorkelling just ok..We had a.lite lunch and then our  boat went directly back to our ship...

 

St Lucia is beautiful. We.have done bus tours there too.. along windy roads.  Enjoyable!

[rinshin]

On 3/21/2024 at 3:48 PM, wrk2cruise said:

Probably their Gold status got them lounge access.  I don't think any US airline gives lounge access for PE.

I think you are right on this or they were give lounge vouchers through their credit card. 

[Norwaylady]

So… this is The tale of 250+ curves and jumps🤪

To my NZ friends, think Motueka to Golden Bay on speed😂🤪😂 YES 🙌🏻 you got it😅

 

Well, this is the day for a long time in a minibus 🚐 

It’s around 2-2,5h each way on the carousel 🎠 

bananas growing 

 

 

we had toilet stop, they had a selection of local rum mixes. 
 

 

 

 

 

Well, first thing first…. It’s 45-60.minutes of hiking🥾 

The rest is travel time😬 So to call it a hiking trip is stretching it, Island sightseeing with a walk would be a better description. 

The trail was easy for us. It’s uneven and uphill until you reach the viewpoint. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was definitely expecting more than this of a hiking trip. 

 

The view of the Pitons are pretty. 

But to travel all day for this hike is not my cup of tea🤭😝

 

After the hike we had a little local snack, everyone was served banana cake and fish cake. The sauce was banana ketchup. 

And a piece of watermelon 🍉 

 

Then we drove downtown to Soufriere to have 20.minutes on a beach. 

Not a beach or location to write home about. 

 

Mr found his thing 🍺 holy smoke 5$ 

 

 

The it was the 250curves and jumps returning to the port😜

[Lena11033]

Sounds like my excursion in Belize. 
 

20 minute tender ride, an hour on the bus, 20 minute boat ride then an hour or around about of hiking and then a lunch (quick) before a few mins to shop then back to the ship. 

[Norwaylady]

10 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

Sounds like my excursion in Belize. 
 

20 minute tender ride, an hour on the bus, 20 minute boat ride then an hour or around about of hiking and then a lunch (quick) before a few mins to shop then back to the ship. 

it’s what we call home a “Japanese tour” they run thru Vigelandspark (the Skulptur park in Oslo) taking photos and videos, running onwards to Bygdø for the Kon Tiki museum and then the Munch museum in a fully booked day🤪😅😅😅

 

We did another hike in 2016 in St Lucia.
We went walking to a really nice waterfall and could go swimming in it. 
it was a drive from port, but only 30.minutes to the starting point of the tour. 
Really a great day. 
 

Unfortunately we haven’t found the tour on X. 
The tour was booked via another cruise line. 

[kabmab]

Sorry about all that bus time! 😞. Your pictures are beautiful, thanks for sharing.

 

Kristin

[Norwaylady]

4 minutes ago, kabmab said:

Sorry about all that bus time! 😞. Your pictures are beautiful, thanks for sharing.

 

Kristin

 

St Lucia is very lush and green🌴🌳🌴

So it is a very beautiful place and day. 
But it’s very important to check travel time and google you to death ☠️😂😂

 

To get the most accurate information and tour for your desires😇

 

I will still come back👍🏻 

[Norwaylady]

 

This was the warning letter⚠️⚠️⚠️

 

it was hidden in the envelope between spa deals and the other papers from shore excursion. 

[Norwaylady]

Today’s canapés had arrived! 

 

🤔🫣🤭 Culinary highlight of the day! 

[cruisetonowhere10]

1 minute ago, Norwaylady said:

Today’s canapés had arrived! 

 

🤔🫣🤭 Culinary highlight of the day! 

Do these just look like a sampler of pet food or do they not taste amazing either?  It’s like a bad array of amuse bouche…

[Norwaylady]

29 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Do these just look like a sampler of pet food or do they not taste amazing either?  It’s like a bad array of amuse bouche…

This are the worst ones of the rotation🤪😝 

I totally agree on pet food visual🧐

[Lena11033]

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

it’s what we call home a “Japanese tour” they run thru Vigelandspark (the Skulptur park in Oslo) taking photos and videos, running onwards to Bygdø for the Kon Tiki museum and then the Munch museum in a fully booked day🤪😅😅😅

 

We did another hike in 2016 in St Lucia.
We went walking to a really nice waterfall and could go swimming in it. 
it was a drive from port, but only 30.minutes to the starting point of the tour. 
Really a great day. 
 

Unfortunately we haven’t found the tour on X. 
The tour was booked via another cruise line. 

 

lol mine never warned me for Belize. But like for Norway coming up I am reading some excursions and it seems rushed so just probably going to get off and walk about by myself and prioritize things I want to see based on time I have.

But yeah sometimes it's not clear that its mostly driving.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Norwaylady said:

 

This was the warning letter⚠️⚠️⚠️

 

it was hidden in the envelope between spa deals and the other papers from shore excursion. 

sorry the hike was disappointing

but what great views and photos !

truly amazing..so lush..!  The Pitons are truly a natural wonder!

[hcat]

34 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

This are the worst ones of the rotation🤪😝 

I totally agree on pet food visual🧐

thought exactly the same thing..ALPO!

[hcat]

11 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

lol mine never warned me for Belize. But like for Norway coming up I am reading some excursions and it seems rushed so just probably going to get off and walk about by myself and prioritize things I want to see based on time I have.

But yeah sometimes it's not clear that its mostly driving.

In Belize we did the Old and New city X  tour... involved a very long bumpy ride past nothing much,   but we enjoyed climbing the pyramids and the history of the Mayans...

[CardowMD]

The one in the lower right looked liked Fancy feast cat food commercial!

[Bullswood]

I guess some people must like the canapés but we stopped the delivery after day one because they were so unappealing. The contents were pretty awful anyway but I think you're right about the ceramic tray looking like something you'd use for a dog or cat - it certainly doesn't help the appearance!

[Norwaylady]

After returning to the ship we had a little stop in Al Bacio. 

Needed to refuel the body on club soda, coffee and a little sandwich. 

 

Then it was shower and downtime on the balcony😎 

 

Tonight’s show is production show Elysium. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great show! 

The dancers and vocal was great 🙌🏻

 

The “big band” evening is on🎶 The orchestra is playing in grand foyer🎶

It’s my favourite thing when they do big band live🎶

 

Tonight was second time the captain came on to message medic emergency during this cruise🚨 

Fingers crossed that it would go well❤️

[Norwaylady]

Dinner tonight was good. 

Crew is very friendly and our neighbours are very fun and friendly. 

Today’s menu 

 

We had quinoa salad, pea soup, mesclun salad, Moroccan lamb and pasta pappardelle. 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert 

 

😋😋😋 banana fosters and ice cream for the kids😜🤪😜

 

 

After dinner it was bedtime🥱 

It was all lights out and dead at 22.15😝🤣🤣🤣

Welcome to the party life of us🤣🤣🤣

[Norwaylady]

CruiseCompass Day 7 Martinique 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No map for the destination as delivered to all other port of call during this b2b. 

[depplep]

Love the pictures of St. Lucia and the Pitons. I'm sure I have that same banana tree picture somewhere in an old photo album. I had forgotten all about banana ketchup. Enjoy Martinique. 

[Norwaylady]

Fort-de-France, Martinique 🇲🇶 calling! 

 

Mr was surprisingly early awake😅

We arrived early and ship was cleared already at 07.49😎

This was a new message said during clearance information: all non European/schengen nationals need to bring your passport ashore🙃 eu/schengen guests can bring identification cards. 

Well thank you Schengen! 🙌🏻🇳🇴 

 

We watched the docking operation from our balcony. The church bells 🔔 started ringing at 07.00. 

Mr wanted MDR breakfast and I totally agree on that🙌🏻

 

We arrived before the crowd. 

 

 

I had my BYO breakfast special😋

Poached eggs, English muffins and salmon😋😋😋 (at some point I need to have at least one morning of this) 

 

Mr had his menu, omelette and cottage cheese with fruit. 

[Norwaylady]

After breakfast Mr went to the office on the balcony😎🤓 and I decided to go for a walk and take the ferry to Plage Anse. 

 

Well, well…. Welcome to 🇫🇷 France🤣🤣

 

The city is all locked and closed. It’s a Sunday🙃 

On the ferry site it said that the ferry to Plage Anse was temporary closed until further notice due to a broken dock. So it was impossible to use the dock. 

 

So I had rerouted my day to Pointe du Bout and one of the beaches over there.

 

I left the ship little before 09.00. 

It’s no grand tour shopping area for last minute tour guests. Very limited. 

I stopped by the tourist information tent and the lady said unfortunately the ferry operator is on strike🤪🫠 they have had an ongoing strike for 5 weeks, so all ferry’s from Port-de-France to the close by areas is cancelled. 

Yes 👍🏻 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 That’s the grumpy French we know from home🤣🤣🤣😜

 

So plan b…

Check for last minute tours and plage Saline. 

Well, that was a BIG no from el cheapo ME🥵🫣🫠🤪💰💸💵💶

 

Number 1, I’m 1. So insanely priced. Number 2. It’s hilarious expensive on this island. 

All is priced in Euros €€€ and the dollar is very expensive for us due to horrible NOK. But the €€€€ EUR is even worse😰🫠🫡🫣

 

SO I’m not spending 400€ to get to Plage Saline. 

Sorry! 

 

The tours offered by the ship were not super exciting before departure. So therefore we didn’t book something via the ship. 

 

So I took a grand walk in the completely dead city centre😎😆 The church ⛪️ was in Sunday service mode. 

 

 

 

 

On the positive side, Martinique is ranked as home for my phone(since it eu/Schengen). So I can call as usual and use data. 

So I called my grandfather to tell him we were still alive and ask how he was doing💙

He was tired of the snow and was hoping for better weather and walking conditions outside. 

 

Plage Francaise is the only beach in walking distance from the ship. 

It’s only 10-minutes from the ship by foot. 

Lots of tourists from the ship ended up here😅😎

It’s not the most beautiful place on the island. But the lack of the ferry service is a big problem….

 

Close to the port, it’s a souvenir shopping area. They were open. But the vendors made it clear they wanted the day off…

No big bargains or haggling today😆💶💶

[depplep]

Sadly, the unfriendly people are what I remember most about our stop in Martinique years ago.