09 November 2007, Roseau Dominica.

Dominica is a bit of a peculiar island because as it has only become lately a major port of call for cruise ships. It is largely un-spoiled with most of the island being a pristine forest. Downtown has not been “sanitized” yet with sparkling rows of shops and most of the town still looks like a Caribbean town. Some nice parts, some parts neglected and some very poor areas. As a result we get some very mixed reactions in regards to calling here with the “shopping brigade” on board issuing a negative vote and those into learning something new, being quite pleased. Thus it is mostly not on the schedule for 7 day cruises. But on a 14 day cruise, where we hop around all the Caribbean islands it is a nice change from St. Thomas. People are friendly and things still happen with a chaotic Caribbean charm that is only annoying if you are a really impatient person.

We arrived at our scheduled time of 0900, as it is a tight run from St Thomas, even with the flying start that I managed on departure yesterday. Arrival is nice to watch. First you see the mountains arriving over the horizon, followed by the houses against the mountain and then finally a little grey line on the water and that is our downtown docking pier. The pilot boards about a mile from shore and takes care of the communication with the lines boats for docking, while I park the ship against this small T pier. The pilot was very proud in announcing that during the past winter they had installed two new Yokohama fenders for better docking. Yokohama fenders are big, sausage looking hollow rubber bumpers, which are extremely good for cushioning the ship when it rests against the dolphins. Each fender cost about $ 100.000 US, so two fenders is quite an investment for a port with only two docks. Thus the pilot was very happy and proud.

The other dock is called Woodbridge and is located about 15 minutes walk to the North. It is a much nicer dock, as it is in principle a cargo dock, so there is room on the pier to land cargo. This also means that is more room for guests to walk and wait around when coming off the gangway. The chief officer loves it, as he can paint the side of the ship, as the whole of the ship rests along the main body of the pier. Of course for our guests it is better to be in down town, less to walk and no Cab to take. But dock assignments go on frequency and as we are coming only six times this season to Roseau, the downtown dock goes to another ship next call. So we will go to Woodbridge for next call.

The call after that, we will have to anchor, as our call will coincide with a ship on the 14 day cycle and a ship on the 10 day cycle. Before this was very un-pleasant as there was only a little horrible step behind the ferry terminal, which is most of the time exposed to the swell. But then the Japanese came. Their foreign aid program sponsored a fisheries school in Roseau and with it came a complete new dock. When needed, we can reserve that dock for our tender operation. It is little harbor with a solid jetty and our tender boats can dock inside, out of the wind and out of the swell. As it is a bit further away from the anchorage, I most of the time stay “on the engines”, that means maneuvering the ship all day, so the tender ride is reduced to 3 minutes.

It was a warm day in Roseau, as the mountains keep most of the sea wind away. It almost has to storm on the North Atlantic before the mountains lets a decent breeze come down to the town.

The ship donated another 100 ships matrasses and this time to the local Red Cross We are going to do one more off load in Santo Tomas next cruise, and then we have completed our on board mattress exchange program.

Departure is a non event in Dominica. You just let go all the lines and the gentle breeze will push you off the dock. So we did and we were on our way to England. Well almost, we were going to Bridgetown Barbados. But they have very good manners there. The regular shops close on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm., as at 3 pm, the weekly cricket game starts. That is what I call British civilization.