1 We flew directly from JFK to Barbados to meet our ship, setting sail later in the day
2 We meet our ship, the Silver Shadow dockside. Initially it looks big, but it is very intimate with only 380 passengers.
3 The Ventura, of P&O Cruise Lines, with 19 decks and 5 swimming pools pulls alongside our ship. The Silver Shadow looks positively small in comparison.
4 The sitting area of our midship suite. Through the picture windows is a small balcony with deck chairs and a cocktail table.
5 The marble bathroom, with dual sinks, tub on the left and shower on the right
6 Max reads the menu of activities while the Champagne chills
7 We arrive in Grenada the next morning and take a bus tour around the island
8 Yep, that's a burning landfill, and in the cove is a derelict ship that was scuttled during a past hurricane
9 Grenada is the "spice" island, so first stop is a spice factory
10 The guide shows how cocoa beans are cut from the pods and dried
11 Bowls of dried cocoa beans and mace, the outer husk of the nutmeg seed, at the lower right
12 From left to right: a cocoa pod, a nutmeg pod, cinnamon bark from the cassia tree, bowls of cocoa beans and mace
13 Large trays of cocoa beans roll out from under the factory building on steel rails to dry in the sun
14 At night or in bad weather, the beans are rolled back under the protection of the building
15 A cocoa tree with pods visible
16
17 Next stop, Grand Etang National Park. Etang literally means "pond" in French, so we should not have been surprised by the awesome sight of this national…
18 As at all stops on our tour of Grenada, there is always an opportunity to buy trinkets and kitsch
19 The Grand Etang itself, a 45 minute bus ride to see this less than semi-majestic sight. Total time spent taking in the view: < 2 minutes.
20 Hoping to learn if there was more to this national park, we stepped inside the "museum". In keeping with the overal theme, the house was largely empty with a…
