12-6-17 Antigua:

This was suppose to be our St. Marten day, turned St. Croix day.  But neither of those ports were ready to open back up yet after severe damage courtesy of Hurricane Irma.  So they added Antigua to our itinerary.  That was fine with me!  I'd been to the other 2 islands and wasn't too excited about the snorkeling at either of them, so Antigua was someplace new to try.  We've been to a lot of the islands in the Caribbean now, but not yet this one.
It was just another beautiful Caribbean island. 

It was actually bigger then I expected.  This is looking down the street by the dock as we were eating breakfast in the Lido restaurant waiting for the ship to clear customs.  There was quite a bit right there at the port.

included another rainbow!!!

Another view of our welcoming rainbow

Another ship following us in.

it has a pretty little marina next to the cruise ship dock.

another view of the port area from the Lido deck.

There was even a steel drum band there playing Christmas music.  They were really good!

once we hit the main little shopping area, we were bombarded by taxi drivers.

Again we were corralled into a waiting area while the dispatcher looked for more people wanting to go with us.  We really didn't know where we wanted to go.  They recommended Long Bay because it was suppose to be the best place to snorkel, so that's where we went.

It didn't take too long to fill the taxi.  Soon we were on our way across the island.  Our taxi mates were from the other ship---an English one and they got into a conversation with the driver about cricket and soccer.  Apparently this arena was built for some big soccer tournament a few years ago.

Soon we were at Long Beach.  I had asked the dispatcher if it was on the Caribbean side. He said yes, but the driver later told us it was the Atlantic side.  It was a beautiful beach.  But the water was pretty rough and murky from sand being churned up.

We rented one chair for $5, then hit the water.

Heading in.

Did find one little area with some pretty neat coral in it on our way to the "reef".

there were a few fish there

mostly juveniles, like this little wrasse

and this larger wrasse

more coral

out by the reef was a lot of this.  Not sure what it is

a yellow tail snapper

not a great picture, but i liked the little unplanned rainbow in the water drop on the lens of the camera.

more coral and a grunt

a school of tiny fish

more of the mystery plant and another wrasse

the area they call a "reef"

school of juvenile fishies

snorkeling wasn't the greatest, but the water felt great and the sky and clouds were beautiful

one of the few adult fish

a blue tang

another little wrasse

we even swam over to the rocky area coming out of the water, but snorkeling wasn't any better there.

the waves didn't look all that rough, but it was enough to churn up the sand quite a bit.

a little butterflyfish

sergeant major

There were a bunch of little shops along the beach and a resort beyond the shops.

looking out to the ocean from the resort area

some of the little shops

heading back to the parking area.

some pretty white flowers

view from the parking lot where the taxi let us off

a carved tree trunk by the parking lot.  The guy who carved it was wandering the beach with some more of his works.  He was quite good.

more of the tree trunk

Snorkeling may not have been great, but we still had a great time.

one more picture from the parking lot

The taxi driver came back for us as promised.  Soon we were back in the shopping area and walking back to the ship

back on the ship, it was time for lunch---another salad from the great Lido salad bar.

Soon we were sailing away----to the British ship waving  British flags at us and singing Christmas songs.  It was a fun sail away.

more of the British passengers

The people we rode to the beach with mentioned something was going to happen at sail away, but it was still a big surprise---and a fun one.  They also said it was suppose to happen when we sailed away from Martinique, but it was canceled due to the weather.

back towards the dock and town

more of the pretty little island

sun about to set

more of the pretty little island

Dinner was in the Lido restaurant again.  Then to On Stage to see Joseph Reohm--an international award-winning magician.  Seen by millions on some of the largest television networks.  He was very good, but did basically the same show I remember seeing a few years ago on another cruise.

Then to the Pool Movie to see: The Mountain Between Us (Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain.  When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness).   We had recently seen this movie at the theatre, but didn't mind seeing it again.

Back in the room this guy was waiting for us.

Not exactly what we were hoping for in the way of snorkeling here in Antigua.  But we still had a good time.

No "O" activities today, but we did get the nightly post card:
"I believe that one of life's greatest risks is never daring to risk."