Serenade of the Seas Review Part 4- St. Kitts

St. Kitts is simply a beautiful island.

Some more pics from our balcony (starboard side) as we docked:

This day, we had an island tour scheduled with Thenford Grey, and we had a fantastic time with him. He met us at the pier at 9 AM.

His coaster bus is clean and comfortable, and we really liked the fact that most of the walls were glass, allowing us to take great photos right from the bus. My first pic through the window:

He had a headset with a microphone, so everyone could hear his commentary. We learned a lot about the history of St. Kitts.

Some pics as we left the pier shopping area:

He took us around Basseterre a bit, and shared the history of the area. We stopped at a local primary school to donate school supplies. It was nice to see a local school and meet a couple of the teachers. I hesitated in sharing that we went to a school to donate supplies, but I figured that many people don't realize they can do this when they're traveling. Contact a local tour guide and find out if any schools could use supplies. It's a nice way to be a blessing while you're traveling.

We then rode about 25 minutes to our first stop, Romney Manor-Caribelle Batik. On the way, he stopped to show us guavas, some various plants, and a man holding a cute monkey (you could take pics with him if you wanted to, for a small fee).

Just before we reached Romney Manor, we passed an old (no longer functioning) sugar mill, and he explained how the sugar was boiled and refined. He also told us how vital the sugar industry was for St. Kitts. A few years back, because of certain regulations, the sugar industry on the island was cut down by about 30%. It had a drastic effect on the economy there, with many jobs lost, and they had to turn toward tourism. Thenford actually worked in the sugar industry, and when it took such a big hit, he decided to start his own business through this tour. So the situation was a blessing in disguise, an opportunity for him to start his own business. I love people with an entrepreneurial spirit, who can see opportunity in spite of a difficult situation.

So back to the tour! From his website: “Romney Manor-Caribelle Batik which was once owned by Capt. Samuel Jefferson, the great, great, great grandfather of President Thomas Jefferson. The great house which sits amidst 25 acres of lush tropical gardens is now a batik factory turning out multi-coloured prints of exceptional beauty. A collection of exotic plants, palms and trees from all over the world engages the senses in a profound way. The Bismark Palms, Travelers Palms and the incomparable, 370-year-old African Saman Tree are symbolic of the glories of nature.”

Thenford took the time to share facts about the different plants, which were absolutely gorgeous. Thenford:

I went to Guest Services this morning to redeem some of our Crown and Anchor Coupons ($5 credit for internet use). While waiting for the assistant to credit our account, I turned around and noticed, through the glass elevator banks, that we were approaching the island. It was just an incredible sight with the mountains and the clouds. I took the elevator to deck 11, and walked up the steps to deck 12, to take some shots. Here were our first glimpses of St. Kitts from the port side of the ship:

He offered to take pics of us with our cameras if we wanted to.

Then, we had some time in the Batik, where a woman gave a quick presentation on how the batik prints were created on fabric. It’s a wax-and-dye process that is very painstaking and results in beautiful work.

After that, we had some time to shop, or explore on our own.

He greeted us in the parking lot with bottles of cold water. Perfect timing! It was starting to get pretty hot outside.

Our next stop was the Brimstone Hill Fortress. If you’re ever in St. Kitts, this is a must-see. I wouldn’t dare to drive there on my own though- I’ll explain that in a minute.

The ride there was about 30 minutes long. We saw a lot of cool things along the way. St. Kitts is beautiful, such an amazing contrast between the mountains and the sea, so I never got tired of just gazing out the window. Thenford’s commentary was interesting too, so there was rarely a dull moment on the drive.

One thing we did see was Middle Island Anglican Church, where Thomas Jefferson’s great-great grandfather was buried:

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It’s funny because when we reached the fortress, we looked up and noticed how high above us the actual fortress was. We couldn’t believe that we would be up there in a few minutes. Thenford carefully and expertly drove us up the long, winding path. I’m so glad there were guard rails at certain spots. Check out the first view when we broke out of the forest on the way up:

When we were almost at the top, we reached this arch:

I honestly thought he was going to park here, and we would walk the rest of the way. By some miracle, we squeezed through this with literally an inch of space on each side. There’s nowhere to turn around if you start to get a little chicken about the hairpin turns and tight squeezes, so you have to reach the summit to get back down. It’s amazing that so many tour guides drive here every day, with no issues. I would never drive here, which is why I’m so glad we booked with Thenford!

The incredible sights that greeted us made the trip up the mountain totally worth it. The fortress is breathtaking at first glance:

We had the chance to watch a quick video that explained the history of the fortress. After that, Wesley and I decided to walk to the top of the fortress to get some better views.

The walk was so steep! Even people in great shape seemed to get a little winded. I can’t imagine fighting a battle and having to go up and down those steps! I took a victory pic at the top of the stairs:

Thenford was waiting for us at the top of the fort. An amazing view:

The inscription on the cannon reads, “King George II.”

We spent about an hour here. Thenford took pictures of us, as well as gave info about a lot of the details of the fort.

Because of the incredible views, it was hard to tear ourselves away from this place.

On the way to our next stop, we noticed some goats crossing the road:

We don’t see that too often in New Jersey!

We stopped at Timothy Hill, with a view of the Southeast Peninsula. In these pics, the Atlantic Ocean is on the left, and the Caribbean Sea on the right. You can just barely see Nevis in the distance:

There was another opportunity to take pics with a cute monkey, and there was also a vendor selling sodas, water, beer, and snacks.

Our last stop was Cockleshell Beach, where we had the option of hanging out at the beach for about 90 minutes, or taking a drive back to the ship. Originally, we planned to spend time at the beach, but we decided to go back to the ship for lunch and some downtime. We did have a couple minutes to look around. The beach was nice and well-tended. The sand was black- so cool:

There were some green monkeys that lived near the beach. Just as we were leaving, someone came out with peanuts, which you could use to feed the monkeys. Cute!


 

Here’s a pretty cool sign at the beach; it shows you how far you are from various cities. We were far from home!

Thenford took us back to the ship. I think it was about a 20 minute drive. On the way, he shared a bit about himself, and showed us some pics of his beautiful family. He also asked us to tell everyone a little bit about themselves. I thought that was nice since it gave us a chance to get to know one another. Upon our arrival at the pier, we thanked Thenford and paid him at the end of the tour. We had lunch in the Windjammer, I spent some time on the pool deck, and enjoyed sailaway from our balcony.

We highly recommend Thenford if you’re going to St. Kitts. He’s kind, knowledgeable, and gives a great tour. I would tour with him again.

Bye-bye St. Kitts! We'll be back

 

We had another lazy evening. Dinner was good; I really liked the shrimp and crab salad and the sliced tenderloin. The dessert trio was a little disappointing- not much flavor. That’s my only issue with RCCL food- the desserts are kind of hit or miss with me.