May 17 St Thomas

We woke up at 7am to a beautiful sunny day.
Went up for breakfast at the buffet, then we met our tour guide with “Godfrey Tours” at 9am.
We were driven to the main shopping area of Charlotte Amelie and given 3 hours to spend shopping/sightseeing. The store clerks and barkers here are very aggressive. Everyone wants you to come into their store. Most of the stores were jewelery stores and we weren't shopping for jewelery. When I booked the tour we were given the option of 1, 2 or 3 hours of shopping and had I known I would have only done 1 hour of shopping. We then went on an island tour, stopping at various places to take photos, see the sites and learn a little history. Then it was on to Coki Beach for a 2 hour beach break. While walking on the beach, these people were waving at us and saying hi – neither of us recognized them. They were 2 couples (Cari & Chad and Cherly & Greg) from our flight down, who were also on the cruise critic message board. We stopped and talked for a bit and then this big dark cloud moved in and Wayne and I decided to go to the bar for a beer in case it rained. As we were ordering it started to pour. It rained long enough for us to get another beer. It was actually kind of fun sitting there watching it rain. When the rain let up we went and walked the beach. At 3:45pm the tour bus picked us up and continued the tour on the drive back to the ship. We were back on board by 4:10pm.
We met up with Cari & Chad and Cherly & Greg for some sushi, pizza and a drink since we all had missed lunch.
Wayne and I went for dinner around 7pm. Wayne had the smoked duck for the appetizer and lamb chops for the main and I had beef tenderloin with peanut sauce for the appetizer and beef stroganoff. For dessert we split the tiramisu and the bitter and blanc (a chocolate bread pudding). When we were done the waiters came by and sang happy birthday to me and had a piece of coconut cake. Wayne says he didn't have anything to do with it. I asked for something to cover the cake so I could take it back to the room and was told that no food could leave the dining room. When I said I was too full to eat it the head waiter found a cover and let me take it...
Wayne and I went walking around the ship. One thing we miss that we did on the NCL Jade - on the promenade deck you could walk completely around the ship but on the Victory you can't. This had been a great way to walk off dinner. There is really nowhere outside that you can walk except by the pool area which is really crowded and busy.

Tomorrow Dominica!