Day 6 - NCL Encore - Tortola & Jost Van Dyke

​The alarm rang very early today for our stop in Tortola since we arrived at 6am.  Chris went to get us a light breakfast to have before meeting our friends in the theater for our tour, Escape to Jost Van Dyke.  I was very excited as we did this tour on the Escape many years ago and loved it.

The catamaran over was not what I was expecting as it did not have sails or a net like the one we were on years ago.  The ride over was choppy and took about 45 minutes.  But soon, we could see the beautiful beach where we would be spending the morning.  It was more built up than last time.  The Soggy Dollar now has a breakfast spot, but we just opted for the liquid breakfast of Painkillers.  Chris and I went to the bar to retrieve the first round for everyone.  We sat in the shade and sipped our drinks looking at the bluest water.  I did go in the water a few times and it was a little chilly for a few seconds but then felt fabulous.   We tried a vegetable roti from Gertrude’s next door and Tim bought me one of their Painkillers to compare.  At Gertrude’s, you add your own rum to it and grate your own nutmeg.  That could be even more dangerous than the Soggy Dollar! Unfortunately, our boat arrived at 11:15 to take us back to Tortola.  It is way to short of a port stop.  Someone convinced me to take one more Painkiller for the boat ride back.  We had to sit on the inside but it was also next to the bar and we had to try their rum punch to compare it to yesterday’s.  It was no where near as good.  The ride back was just a rough as the way there but after so many Painkillers, I did not mind.

We returned to the boat to take showers and Chris and I went to The Local for lunch.  He got some wings and sausage sliders, and I tried the fish sandwich.  After so much rum, everything tasted amazing. Unfortunately, the Latitudes Wines Around the World complimentary tasting was at two and we did arrive a little late.  It is not a formal wine tasting but set up with stations.   We did meet up with Tim there.  We did sample some wines not that we needed more alcohol though.  I think this event would be better on a sea day or at least not a hour after leaving Tortola.  

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a walk on the Waterfront and sampling the “trash drink” of the day, the café Replay made of old Starbucks coffee grounds.  All the day drinking led us to taking a nap before dinner.  One perk of an inside cabin is the amount of darkness for a nap.  We made the rookie mistake of not setting an alarm and overslept for our Le Bistro reservations.  We were only off by about ten minutes but did not want to rush.  Chris called and they were able to change our reservation to 8:00 PM.

Le Bistro is the signature French restaurant on NCL.  We have dined there on just about all our cruises.  We used our Latitudes coupon which included a bottle of wine.  I started with the escargot and Chris had the beef tartare.  We both tried new entrees since the filet has the upcharge.  I had the Dover Sole which was nice but not a showstopper.  Chris had the Coq Au Vin and absolutley loved it.  The sauce was very flavorful, and the chicken was juicy and tender.  I think he has found a new favorite at Le Bistro.  For dessert, we had the Ille Flottante which was delicious as always. 
 
After dinner, we strolled around the ship to help digest our meal.  We ended up visiting the casino and catching up with our friends.  Both of us were tired from all the festivities of the day and went to bed.  Tomorrow, we will be in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.