10 Day Caribbean Cruise: Day 7, Saint Lucia

March 16, 2023

We got up early and went to the Windjammer buffet for breakfast, since our shore excursion would be leaving the pier at 8:45. We lined up and got assigned a private mini bus with just one other person.

Our driver took us all over the mountainous island of St. Lucia. We made several stops along the way. One stop was for the local bananas, and we tried some of the local banana ketchup, banana barbecue sauce, and banana hot sauce. We ended up buying a jar of banana ketchup and banana barbecue sauce.

Overlooking Castries and our cruise ship

Overlooking Marigot Bay and Marigot Beach

Stopping for some bananas and banana ketchup

Watching the waves at the fishing village of Canaries

Our first view of the famous Pitons

The first main stop was Morne Coubaril Estate. We were given a tour of the grounds as they showed us all the different plants, flowers, and fruits. They let us sample cacao fruit, coconut water, coconut, and coconut candy. They had demonstrations for husking a coconut and juicing sugar cane. The kids had fun feeding the juiced sugar cane to the donkey that pulled the mill. We ended up buying a couple chocolate bars, and bars of soap.

Next, we stopped at a waterfall. There were a lot of people there, so we didn’t stay too long. We grabbed a quick photo, but the water was too chilly to swim in.

Our last stop was lunch at a restaurant overlooking the town of Soufrière and the Pitons. They served us salad, chicken, rice, noodles, banana salad, plantains, a tamarind drink, and chocolate cake. After a long drive back to the pier, we bought a few more souvenirs from the vendors before getting back on the ship. Elisa bought her friend something and I bought a chocolate stick for tea.

On board, I dropped Ian off at Adventure Ocean. I was tired so I stayed in bed and read a book while Erik went to the gym to work out. Around 5, I picked up Ian from Adventure ocean and joined Erik and his parents for some trivia. For dinner that night, Erik made reservations at Chops grill at 5:45. We found out 15 minutes before our dining time that formal dress was required so we ran back from trivia. Chops was nice and quiet, with just a few people there. I ordered crab cake, crispy goat cheese salad, New York strip steak, and red velvet cake. I would have enjoyed it more if I were hungrier, but unfortunately, I was practically full by the time the main entree was served. Too bad because it was really good. We were also served all of their sides—small servings but I only tried a few. I ordered the red velvet cake for dessert, but I liked the chocolate cake and the cheesecake better.

Waiting to sail away from Castries

As much as I would have liked to fall into bed, I really wanted to see the juggling show at 9:30 (we were eating dinner at the first showing). The kids refused to come see it, so we put them to bed. The show was fun to see, and it was funny when an audience member was chosen to help out—he was obviously pre-chosen and probably coached on what to say. Too bad the kids missed out. Straight to bed after the show!