Tuesday - 17 March 2009 - Home
Silver Cloud arrived at 5 am at Bridgetown (not Georgetown, which isn't even a place in Barbados), the only port of the little island of Barbados, with the trident Barbados flag flying. No late disembarkation was allowed since the ship sailed with crew only at 11 am for San Juan, PR, to be inspected by the US Coast Guard for safety and sanitation requirements. Although other Silversea ships have had perfect ratings for entry into the US--don't Google the sanitation ratings for your favorite mass market lines--the Silver Cloud had not been inspected by US authorities since it hadn't called in the US in some time, if at all. The guests yesterday were allowed to stay on board until one hour before it sailed, however. I tried to use up my prepaid Internet access and got to see my friends Heinz and Ellen during the double digit AM hours, a rare occurrence indeed.
The included transfer to the Barbados airport took almost an hour of driving through narrow lanes in sugarcane fields since the narrow lane usually used was being paved. Barbados has one corner (the NE one) that is scenic. The route we took to the airport avoided the northest corner but did go through the nice town of Bridgetown which seems to have anticipated our arrival by indicating a big banner that said, "National Senior Games". At BGI we sat around in the remarkably nice terminal from 10:45 am to 2 pm, but the Internet was free and two pieces of "oriental chicken" cost only $14 US or $28 dollars Barbados drachmas or lire, whatever. There is no unemployment in Barbados as every citizen is employed in checking airline passengers ID, many of which are within 20 or 30 feet from the previous one in the line to the plane. The 4 hour AA flight to MIA landed 30 minutes early. The wait for an open gate was only an hour--so we were only a half hour late. The US immigration queues were an hour long with each line hampered by numerous individuals being held at the agent until they could be escorted away, presumably to another Caribbean island perhaps to the northwest while the accommodations are still available there. The wait for the La Quinta shuttle was only another 45 minutes, but the fumes at the airport made up for the wait. I guess I should know by now that the "nearest hotel to the airport" also has the most aircraft noise. I didn't know about the freight train that goes under Room 323 at least every 20 minutes. There must be a grade crossing there, as well. As Mr. MacGoo said, "Don't stay in cheap motels."
After all the congestion and delays at MIA for my arrival yesterday evening, I decided to get the 5:30 am shuttle from the La Quinta rather than the slightly less sleep depriving 6 am one. Of course, I was through security and at the gate by 6:15 am for the 7:19 am boarding. I had a cup of coffee and my lactose free chocolate croissant I took from the ship when disembarked in Barbados. The flight from Miami got in 45 minutes early this morning. It was due at 10:19, but I got my luggage and was able to catch the 10:20 bus to Boulder. Not quite home free since, of course the bus broke down, but even with the replacement bus I was home before noon. Got my mail, took the tuxedo to the cleaners, hit my local King Soopers supermarket, and just watched the Steward Cramer interview. Guess he didn't vet Steward any better than the stocks he touts.
Nice to be home. Short trip to New Jersey in a couple of weeks probably won't he documented. Train trip throughout Switzerland in late April probably will be. Stay tuned.
Thanks for all for letting me share my fantastic cruise(s) lately and for your kind comments. Please keep in touch.
MB
Boulder, Colorado
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