Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda

December 17th, 2023

Today was our day for going to the Baths. This is a wonderful area for swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing on Virgin Gorda. It is time to be back on a white sand beach again.

Well, it didn’t happen. Strangely enough my phone said we were in the North Atlantic, and I wasn’t going to argue with it.

The moisture bearing dark clouds and strong winds were a message that today may not be the best day to spend on the beach.

A few hardy souls braved the pouring rain and headed out, beach towels in hand, for the Baths. We decided that rain jackets were more appropriate and went down to deck 3 to embark on the tender to Spanish Town.

It was quite a challenge getting on to the tender. It was bobbing up and down, and it required some acrobatic moves to finally get on board safely. There were just 3 of us on the tender, and we left the security of our ship and bobbed up and down on our way to dry land. It was an interesting journey, but I was more focused on looking around the tender. It was spotless. I have never been in a tender with absolutely clear windows and not a sign of rust. Well, the ship is only a few months old, but the tender was still in excellent shape. And very comfortable. If we hadn’t had so much extreme motion the 15 minute ride to the dock might have been pleasant.

The Spanish Town harbor was much calmer, and disembarkation was a breeze. We weren’t quite sure which way to go to get to the main shopping area, there didn’t seem to be much in the way of buildings anywhere around.

The other occupant of the tender was in search of a Virgin Gorda baseball hat, and we finally found a store, and she disappeared into it. There were a few bars and restaurants blasting out load music, but that seemed to be the extent if things happening near to the tender dock.

However there were interesting looking buildings,

and pretty flowers.

And it was great to stretch our legs. The ship has a running track on deck 12, but I do miss a wrap around promenade deck.

There were several open air taxis offering rides around the island, but we decided just to explore Spanish Town on our own.

We were amused to see a Christmas snowman.

The rain stopped and it was quite hot and humid, time to return to the ship for a dip in the pool. Waiting for the tender we had a drink of water, and I was impressed by the fresh flowers next to the mint and cucumber water dispenser.

We haven’t been able to take a good photo of the ship as yet, but we were able to get a shot of her in the distance. She is a good looking vessel.

Going back to the ship a took a couple of photos of Spanish Town, it is very lush, and the water a pretty turquoise color.

Back on board it was great to finally be able to sit on our balcony

And make use of the day bed. This is the way to travel!

The sun was shining brightly by now so it was time to try out the swimming pools.

The Conservatory was tempting – it has the longest pool of any ship I have been on recently. Great for swimming laps.

Then there was the Helios pool which is near to the running track.

Although the bar was quite lively and it looked like a fun place to hang out at the front of the ship, there was no water in the pool. Apparently there is a design fault with the pool and when the ship is at sea the water splashes out everywhere. We were bobbing around quite a bit at anchor, so I suppose it wasn’t a good idea to fill it even in port.

We headed to the back of the ship, and checked out the outdoors exercise equipment. If one was given to working out, and working up a sweat, this did look like a great place to exercise. Personally, I prefer a sun lounger.

The sky deck looked like quite a nice place to hang out, and there was a great whirlpool there as well.

Next stop was the Atoll pool – which had some shady spots where you could curl up with a good book.

Finally we ended up at the Astern Pool. This has to be my favorite – I love the concept of an infinity pool at sea.

We had the best pina colada ever by the pool. Bliss.

However, we decided that it was way too crowded so our final choice was the whirlpool on deck 12

where we were in splendid isolation watching the British Virgin Islands disappear out of sight, and the US Virgin Islands, including St Thomas come into view.

Every time we leave a port, Captain Diego plays Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye”. I love it! The song always reminds me of the QE2 and sailing out of Liverpool, so it did seem a bit odd here in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. But I still love it. There should be something special about leaving a port. This absolutely does the trick!

We had reservations at the steak restaurant, Marble and Co, tonight, but we stopped by the Emporium for some oysters and crab legs before our meal.

Marble and Co was great. I had the perfectly sized filet mignon, but Brian’s steak was huge. It reminded us of the steaks back at Wolf Lodge when we lived in Idaho.

Finally it was time to go to the show. The 2 resident singers did a nice job, and  it was a pleasant way to finish off the evening.