20241225 Wednesday, December 25, 2024 Christmas in Antigua
We pulled our curtains back to see the ship sailing into the cruise ship harbor of Antigua. The locals really want to make sure you pronounce it Ann-Tea-Gah, and not Ann-Tea-Gwah. Although the Spaniards would pronounce it the latter way, it was the British Empire that colonized and held it first, so they insist on mispronouncing it the British way. That would tend to fit in with an imperialist colonizer frame of mind.
We were greeted with ideal Caribbean weather with a temperature in the low to mid 80’s and only scattered high clouds overhead.
Our Princess Excursion started with a bit of a flat walk from the cruise ship pier to a parking lot just shy of a quarter mile walk. There was a couple in our tour group for which this nearly did them in. They also had to struggle each time to climb into and out of the small Toyota tour bus which accommodated 18 passengers.
The cruise ships dock in St John, which is the capital city of Antigua and Barbuda. It is on the north side of the island. The main tourist attractions are the 365 beaches that circle the island and historical British naval facilities on the south side of the island in Falmouth, so our bus drove us across the center of the island. We drove past two church landmarks- a pink church (Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church), and a green limestone church (St Barnabas Anglican Church).
There is also a multimedia theater that had a collection of video screens and dioramas circling the room with swiveling stools in the center for viewers to sit upon. This presentation covered the anthropological history from original occupation by Arawak Indians from South America, to the later colonization by the British, who in turn brought African slaves to work the sugar plantations which was the primary source for wealth at the time. Slavery was eventually abolished, and Antigua and Barbuda also eventually gained independence from Britain. Today, tourism is its primary source of revenue. The tour guide was proud to point out that education and healthcare are all provided for free for citizens.
The next stop was on a nearby hill called Shirley Heights, another old military site. It is surprising to see so many ruins around the island consisting of crumbling limestone foundations and collapsed walls. Some are in the process of restoration, but the majority look closer to ancient Roman ruins than modern day structures.
Between Shirley Heights and the Nelson Dockyards was Clarence House, an imposing colonial structure on the hillside overlooking the Nelson Dockyards. Princess Margaret was supposed to spend a honeymoon there, but ended up getting chased out by paparazzi after just one night. She escaped to nearby Barbuda, which was much less accessible. The British Royals did like to spend a lot of time in Barbuda which has a famous pink beach, formed from pink shells.
Nelson Dockyard is well sheltered from hurricanes so historic buildings from the 18th and early 19th century are the rule rather than the exception. The dockyard was once used to service British naval vessels and one of the biggest tasks was scraping off the hulls. Laborers were paid either 2 pints of rum or a gallon of beer to do the work. Needless to say, they weren’t terribly quick or efficient at the work. We did get a cup of rum punch and had a chance to wander through the museum before reboarding the bus back to the ship.
Because it was Christmas, even though the ship docks in downtown St. John, most of the shops and restaurants were closed. We were fortunate that the Nelson Dockyard museum was open for us on our excursion. This didn’t stop John from walking around the town, but the rest of us headed back on the ship to cool off and then had lunch.
We did manage to get to the 4PM trivia, along with Katherine and the boys. We missed winning by 2 points, but there were two winning teams so they had a tie breaker of what temperature is optimal for the extraction of coffee from beans achieved at. The answer was 177˚F.
The ship announced that someone had left a large bag of gifts in the Piazza and would a Mr. S. Claus please come to the passenger services desk to claim them. Then at 5PM Santa came down the spiral staircase to greet a very long line of children who had cued up in the Piazza to meet him. All children 17 and under were welcome to receive a gift from Santa, although we don’t know what Santa gave them. There were also plenty of older passengers in line just to have their photos taken with Santa.
We got into our formal clothes one last time and had Christmas dinner. The menu featured a roast turkey dinner, ham dinner, beef tenderloin, and lobster thermador. Although we didn’t order the lobster, our waiter brought out an extra plate for our table to share, which was very kind of him.
The Princess Theater had a variety Christmas show featuring an encore by the sand shadow artist, a performance by the Production cast vocalists, a number by the ship’s string duo and Irish pub duo (entertainers who we hadn’t seen perform yet on the ship) and a skit by some of the Cruise director entertainment staff. The back stage and lighting crew even got to show off their production values with a Christmas light show.
From the theater, we stopped by the gelato shop and then did a quick FaceTime with Ciara and Tom’s family to wish them a Merry Christmas as they were just setting out dishes for their Christmas feast.
Tomorrow we arrive in St Kitts, where one of John’s college room mate’s wife is from. She is an ER physician in New Jersey, but is spending the holidays with her family in St. Kitts. They will meet us in port and give a locals tour.
