March 27 — Rum and a Danish

March 27, 2022

We walked in to Charlotte Amalie from the Havensight Dock. A lot of improvements have been made since the last time we were here. Nice walkways and a waterfront park.

View of our ship from the walk into town

Legislative offices and Fort Christian, as seen from the walk

Rising Stars is a youth steel band program. Interesting message.

Fort Christian, built around 1670

Between the fact that it was a Sunday, and the fact that we were the only ship in St. Thomas today, there wasn’t much going on in town. About half of the shops were open.

As it was lunchtime, we opted to eat lunch in the historic portion of town. This is an area of interesting streets and alleys, with buildings built by the Danish. The walls were thick and the windows and doors had sturdy hurricane shutters.

Our lunch venue was Side Street Pub, on Trompeter’s Gade.

Side Street Pub

The cruise director had recommended a drink called a Bushwhacker, so I tried that.

It was like a chocolate milkshake with rum in it. Then Ken and I ordered pulled pork nachos, to share. It’s a good thing we only ordered one item, because it was enormous, and the two of us could only eat about half of it.

Back on the ship that night, we had dinner at the Bistro sur la Mer again. It’s nice to have a new option for dinner, but once per trip is probably enough. However, I could eat their cheese-stuffed olives every night.

Afterwards, we went to a show by vocalist Max Himmelreich. He was the lead tenor in Rock Opera. He performed a mixture of rock, opera and other styles. He should stick to opera. 

The color of the water today is Caribbean Turquoise. It is astonishing.

The Procession

One more thing to mention. We’re walking down the hall and coming towards us is a crew member dressed in PPE. He has a spray bottle and he is rhythmically spraying from side to side — like a flower girl in a wedding, strewing rose petals. Behind him is an ancient bride, slowly pushing a walker. Behind her is the groom, walking with a cane. We are asked to make way.

How do I interpret this? It must have something to do with COVID. The obvious explanation would be that the older couple has tested positive or has been exposed to COVID, and they are being taken back to their cabin to pack up some things to bring with them to their quarantine quarters. 

The Ship (meaning the management) has been very hush-hush about the existence of COVID cases onboard. I haven’t even heard any gossip about it from other passengers. (By the way, they are now calling passengers “Guests”.)

Half of Dolphin Deck is blocked off for health reasons. It’s not necessary for isolation of sick passengers and crew. Any new crew members must be kept in isolation for either 10 or 14 days after they join the ship, and cabins on Dolphin Deck may be used for that purpose. On any ship there is a constant rotation among the crew members. With rare exceptions, the Guests all get on and off at the same time and place, but that would not work well with the crew.