Day 54 - February 26, 2008 - Devil's Island, French Guiana

Devil's Island photos
So, we cruise until 12:30pm today to get to this tender only island cluster. The seas have not been bad, but they have not been good either. We think that for whatever reason, we are just not using the stabilizers. So, we have some pretty intense rocking going on all night and this morning. We are also only going about 9-11 knots this morning which only seems to amplify the effect of the big swells. Debbie had the best intentions of returning to the gym this morning, but the swells just made that thought too unappealing. We made it to a big, late breakfast in Compass Rose instead. Of course, the morning schedule worked against her as well. If classes start at 8am and LaVeranda opens at 7am, that is doable. But, today LaVeranda did not open until 7:30am, so that was too much rushing and effort. Plus, the thought of going to the next to highest deck in these rolling conditions did not sit well with Margie either. So, basically we off to a bad start this morning. Debbie did get her morning raspberries though. Chimi Bella, who runs LaVeranda, told us yesterday that he had in a standing order for a bowl of raspberries for Debbie and no matter where she went for breakfast, the bowl of berries would follow her. What a guy! So, sure enough for 2 mornings now, Debbie has had no trouble getting her bowl of just raspberries in Compass Rose.
Last night we had invitations on our doors. One for today and one for Barbados. The Full Circle Event in Barbados is a "Lion's Gate Exlcusive Polo Match" at 2pm. We have a 9am excursion that morning, so we will probably make it. The other invitation is for today. It is for 12:30pm in the Horizon Lounge for Titanium, Platinum and Gold Society members. 12:30pm is when we are supposed to be in Constellation Theater to be issued tender tickets, so no idea what could be worth the scheduling conflict. Anyway, it is from Hotel Director, Richard Fenn, and says "It's going to be hot - very, very hot- but we think you may like it." OK, guess we're game and we'll go and report back here later. Also, last night at the show, Bryan Townsend announced that the restaurants would be opening early for lunch, so that everyone would have an opportunity to eat before going ashore for the afternoon. But, as with breakfast, the restaurants are not scheduled to open early at all. More later.
We all went to Terry Breen's 9:30am lecture on the history of Devil's Island. She was very specific that where we are going and what we will be seeing is on Ile Royale and not Ile du diablo. She says that the 3 islands are commonly known by the one term Devil's Island. OK. She says that you can get the world's most expensive cold beer at the bar in the hotel in the old guard's barracks building on Ile Royale. Not sure if one of us is looking forward to that or not. Terry says it is an eerie and sad place to visit. It seems like it would be. Margie is not at all sure she is going ashore. These big swells are tough enough on Mariner and she doesn't think she can handle them on a tender, which always have such an exaggerated wobbly ride anyway. It probably doesn't help any that most of the time spent on tenders is just spent sitting bobbing in the water and not actually traveling anyway. Tendering sucks.
So, shortly before the Captain came on the speakers to announce that he was pulling in the stabilizers (?!) as we entered the shallow waters of the Devil's Island chain, we were on our way to the Observation Lounge area to see the approach. The ride actually got much smoother. We picked up a pilot and another man. We went around to the back side and dropped anchor. We stirred up a whole bunch of silt doing it. By this time, we could see that there was some kind of Pool Deck BBQ going on that was not listed in Passages. It was 12:10pm and we had to be in Horizon Lounge at 12:30 and Bryan had already announced that tendering had begun. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Horizon Lounge at 12:30pm. They were doing a French prison/gansters theme of "Some Like it Hot." They were serving champagne, caviar, seared foie gras, chilled shrimp and steak tartar. Some people were very excited even though almost all of us had eaten a sandwich first because it was not clear what was going on here. Since none of us really likes, or maybe even eats any of that stuff. It was lost on us. Also, alcohol before a hot shore excursion? Then, Bryan spoke and Heather Clancy sang some prison, devil, hot, heat, etc. songs that Bryan introduced as a selection of French songs. Maybe we are just too dense, but the whole thing was lost on us. Why would we have wanted to give up either or lunch or time ashore for this. Couldn't they have held it at 5 or 5:30pm when we were all aboard and ready to sail? It seems that the hors d'ouvres and cocktails with music would have been much more appropriate and appreciated when it wasn't conflicting with natural events at 12:30pm! Anyway.
Ok, so now we can check that off the list. Imagine a remote, inaccessible and dangerous prison island. Now imagine it abandoned for over 50 years and you have Ile Royale today. There is actually a hotel and bar here, so you can spend the night if you want. It is probably not really any worse than any other small, remote tropical island. It is hot and on one side there is a stiff breeze. We saw a bunch of tiny squirrel monkeys. We saw iguanas, parrots, chickens, agoutis (big tailless rats), peacocks, peahens, a toucan in a cage. As we waited for the tender back, Debbie was watching the shark-infested waters for sharks. She saw none but did glimpse a sea turtle. Most of the buildings are being allowed to be reclaimed by nature. The French use this area for their aerospace program. So, as we were sailing away we also could see the launch areas and towers in the distance on the mainland, 10 miles away.
Tonight is Country Club Casual. The menu at Compass Rose is particularly unappealing tonight, so we will probably go to LaVeranda for the 2nd night of their Beef and Lobster menu. The show tonight is Steven Clark, Flautist. Probably not going to that one. Tomorrow is a sea day and a Formal night. It is the Seven Seas Society reception as well that evening.
So, anyway, it looks like probably an early evening tonight and a sleep in tomorrow morning. If we keep on with the big swells, that will be a good plan. Noon tomorrow is the deadline for letting the Tour Desk know when you need to get off and how much luggage you have. We have a LOT of luggage. We are not using IPS again. We heard onboard that people who used IPS this time coming to Ft. Lauderdale again had thefts from their luggage, so that just confirms that we made the right decision not to give IPS another chance. Honestly, you would think that after it happened even to one big cruise that RSSC would find another provider. But, we won't use IPS again at any rate.
We had a good dinner in LaVeranda. Debbie and Margie had beef in a lemony sauce and Clay had grilled lobster tails in citrus. Desserts were a little weak. We were all in bed by 8:30pm! Too much vacation for us! Good thing it will be over soon and we can get some real rest!
Devil's Island photos