Day 9 - St Lucia

We decided on a beach day today and used a shared minibus at the port which cost $14 pp return to Rodney Bay Reduit Beach and pre-booked a time slot to return. Once we arrived we were offered 2 loungers and parasol for $25 and met by a guy calling himself "RightAway" 'cos he'll get it right away!  Funnily enough we never saw him again once he had our money!

RightAway walked us down the beach to some of the older loungers but in a nice spot, we offered him $20 and he said no problem.  He offered us wifi for a few dollars but we didn't take him up on the offer.

The Sea was beautiful and we felt very blessed to be enjoying this lovely place.  We took the snorkel out again and saw some lovely fish and although we shared the snorkel we enjoyed it so much that we will definitely be buying another set when we get home.

The guys selling beer were storing them in a boat so did a bit of haggling for a decent price and got free wifi thrown in. The wifi was actually from a nearby hotel and the code didn't work but we weren't bothered anyway as we were happy to wait until we returned to port.

David bought a tropical shirt at the port for €13 as they had a half price sale and they had a good choice.  Of course we added a magnet to our shopping.

The port had a few bars and drinks were cheap so many guests remained drinking in the port as it was a 10pm sailaway so no rush.

A local band boarded the ship to perform on the outside deck until it was time to leave port, but there was a poor turn out to listen to them and they got rained off for a while.

We didn't fancy the show tonight as it was the dance troupe.  We walked through the Crystal Room and it was lacking atmosphere as the band weren't on tonight and it was being hosted by a girl from the entertainments team.  One couple who had been dancing most nights were complaining that the host didn't know one dance from another.  We decided to have an early night and finished watching a Disney film we had been watching earlier on the TV in the cabin.  We know how to party hard!

Day 8 - St Vincent

When we got up we decided to have a day in the port of St Vincent instead of a beach day to get a taste of local life.  We disembarked about 10am and headed off to the information bureau to arm David with a map - which always makes him happy and in control. We thought we would have a walk to the Botanic Gardens and told it would take about half an hour.  The lady told us to look out for the local ambassadors wearing orange T-shirts who would help with directions.  David's a Blackpool FC fan so felt quite at home with the Tangerine Army!

We didn't have any preconceptions of the port and found once you left the port gates it was alive with the bustle and noise of locals going around their business on a Friday morning.  The road was edged with market holders selling fruit and veg and locals were stocking up. Shops mainly included supermarkets and hardware stores.

We walked for a while and received several directions from our tangerine ambassadors.  After about 20 mins we spoke to a young girl who told us we could keep to the main road or go up "the Lonely Road" which would be more direct but it was very quiet.  I asked if the lonely road was safe and she answered that she couldn't say whether it was or not!  Anyway we saw several cruise guests taking the route so thought we would risk it.  I had my bodyguard with me and apart from a small rucksack,  had no jewellery or expensive cameras on show.  

The road was quiet and a little rough but in the daytime felt safe enough and we were fine.

We reached the Botanic Gardens after about 40 minutes. We paid our $2 pp entrance fee but chose not to pay an additional $4 pp for an escorted tour. The Gardens were nice and they also housed several parrots who, if you are lucky would say hello.  I didn't have any response when I said hello to them but once I said Ola they responded with an Ola Ola.

We walked back to town down the main road and stepped into a couple of churches.  On the way David, who was walking behind me on the narrow footpath, said the locals were friendly as a lady has said Hiya to him - i told him that I thought she was a very "friendly" lady and she may have been looking for business!  I've warned him about ladies like that before but he is convinced they are just being nice.

We spotted a bar down a little alley and popped in for some light refreshments. Local beer was $3 a bottle and the wifi was good. The bar was called Vee Jays and was a good spot to spend an hour texting our adult children and phoning our parents.

We headed back to the ship and went into three supermarkets for bottles of tonic but they only stocked Waitrose Tonic and it didn't look cheap but managed to get a couple of small bottles in the port shop. 

Back on board just before 3pm and raced up to Horizons for a buffet lunch before spending an hour in the Lido deck sunbathing.

Just as the Sailaway was due to start the heavens opened and a heavy shower sent guests undercover. The party carried on anyway and I have to say the entertainments team do their best to get the party going.

We decided we'd take cheese and biscuits back to the cabin but had to wait until 6.15pm for the Horizon to open. You pay a nominal charge for cheese and biscuits on room service which we are used to getting free on Cunard, it's not much but we are happy to walk to the buffet for it.

Went to the Crystal room for a quick dance before dinner. The whole evening was hosted by the dance couple Andy and Victoria but as the band were not playing the room remained fairly quiet all evening.

The Crystal room is a lovely room and a decent sized dance floor. The waiters are very friendly and we particularly like Karan who remembers our names, favourite drinks and we no longer need to show our cards as he remembers our cabin number - a nice touch and lovely guy.

Dinner was quieter tonight just 2 couples - the foursome from Wolverhampton went to Sindou (Indian Restaurant) tonight so shall look forward to a report tomorrow (they were also planning an early call to the Glass House to keep them going).

For such a big Ship the entertainment selections are, in our opinion, a bit limited. We love dancing so always have that as a back up and the Crystal room is very good. However we would like to mix it up a bit with some live entertainment.  In second sitting we don't have a chance getting a seat in the Live Lounge so have missed out on Take That Tribute band and Michael Buble tribute, both of which were apparently very good. If they had been in the Theatre we would have gone along.  We've been to one of the cast shows in the Theatre and they were good but all a bit too hyper for our liking - a common trend with all the cruises we've been on.

We enjoyed the Four Tunes but didn't go to the ventriloquist, pianist or magician. The magician/comedian did a late night adults only show in the Live Lounge at 11.45 pm on one evening which we went to but didn't get a seat.

Day 7 - Grenada - the Isle of Spice

We headed back to the beach today and decided to get the water taxi to Grand Anse Beach.  The taxi cost $10 pp return and was a nice journey.  The couple we'd bumped into at the airport, who we met on a previous Cunard cruise, had recommended Grand Anse and told us that Pirate Jack runs the water taxi.  When we got to the water taxi there was a large man with one leg and a crutch organising people so assumed we were in the right place.

Once we arrived at the beach the boat driver called a guy over called Jasper and recommended us going with him for the best loungers and drinks on the beach.  We weren't going to decide before having a stroll down the beach, but ended up going with him as the water taxis were coming in quickly and didn't want to miss out.  We paid a further $20 for our loungers and parasol. Our waitress for the day introduced herself as Nicole and said she would get any drinks we wanted and bring them to us.  We swam in the sea and after a bottle of local beer each went for a walk down the beach.  We realised that when you get off the taxi if you walked to the right and wandered down the beach it was a bit quieter and possibly slightly nicer than where we were so next time we wouldn't be hurried so much into agreeing anything.  As we walked past Jasper he was offering people loungers and parasol for $15 so thought next time we would haggle a bit.  We took our snorkel to try it out as hadn't snorkelled much previously - we gained confidence with it but didn't see any fish.

We returned to the ship for a late lunch and I had a hot dog, chips and salad by the pool and David opted for burger and chips.  The food was nice and hot, although I ended up with indigestion later.

At dinner the other people at the table had gone to Magazine Beach by taxi and thoroughly recommended that so we may try that in the future.

That's one of the benefits of sitting with others at dinner as you can all share experiences and get tips on places to go.  Becky is the source of lots of info as she is very active on the P&O Facebook group.

Day 6 - Sea Day Number 2 / Terry & Becky's Renewal of Wedding Vows

Today's a Sea Day heading back East to the Grenadines and the Island of Grenada.  It was also a big day for one of the couples on our dinner table, Becky and Terry, who were getting their wedding vows renewed in the afternoon.

We woke up feeling a little over baked after the beach days so decided to stay out of the sun today and instead purchased a 24 hour package of wifi at a cost of £12.50. This gave me a chance to update my blog and browse social media and look at emails. We bought a one day package and whilst I used my iPad to type David logged on the iPhone to check work emails and we just kept switching the log in so we both got full use.

The day was lovely and chilled. We are lucky that we enjoy each other's company so much, we've been married for over thirty years and still very happy doing the simple things in life.

We had a walk around the shops on the ship and once we had used some of the internet time went for lunch in the Horizon restaurant and had a drink in the Sunset Bar which is one of our preferred places.  The bar is right at the back of the ship and fairly quiet, we like to get a table for two by the rails but there is also more comfy seats in the shade.  David usually goes to the gym on a sea day but today we decided to go for afternoon tea in the main restaurant and then to the Crows Nest for a gin and tonic.  

As we walked through the ship we bumped into four of our table mates. Becky and Terry were renewing their vows on board and were holidaying with some friends Tessa and Mike and Tessa was their bridesmaid.  When we saw them they had just had the renewal and the Captain had taken the service, they were with one of the ships photographers so only said a quick hello and congratulations. They looked great, Becky was in a full white wedding dress as she said she hadn't worn a white dress when they first got married so wanted to have the opportunity.  We were to see them again later at dinner.

Dinner was lovely tonight as it was a little wedding type reception. It was a formal night so everyone had made the effort and of course we had the bride and groom at our table. The waiters brought some balloons and sang congratulations on the renewal of your wedding vows song.  Becky also got a large cake so we had a big piece each with our coffees, and as there was still over half left, she asked if the waiters would like to have it later.

We excused ourselves at 10pm as we wanted to nip to the Crystal Room to watch the dance teachers perform a ten minute show dance before returning to the dining room to continue the celebrations. 

Day 5 - Aruba

Walked half an hour to Surfside Beach and the Reflexions Bar - there was some light rain on our walk but cleared by the time we arrived at the beach.  2 Sunloungers and parasol advertised at $18 but as we were off the ship we had to pay the bargain price of $20! We sat right on the waters edge which was crystal clear with golden sands.  The water was calm but a little chilly.

Toasted sandwiches for lunch at Reflexions cost $6 each and Beer was $5 - not overly friendly staff - whilst we were having lunch in their bar they removed our towels and pegs from our loungers and  sold the loungers to someone else!!  We spoke to the lounger girl and asked what had happened to our things - she apologised and thought we had left because we hadn't said goodbye - she got us another couple of beds and returned our towels and pegs.

Walked back to the port barefoot along the waters edge  which felt romantic.  Bought our port magnet and reboarded the ship - the beers were actually cheaper on the ship.  We'd had more than enough sun for one day and went for a drink in the Sunset Bar for sail away - we saw a pelican fly past.  We moved onto the Lido pool for the last half hour of the sail away party.

At dinner it was good to have our waiter Nelson back as he'd been ill and in quarantine for 48 hours.  The waiter from the next area had been looking after us well but it had meant a lot of tables for him to cover.

After dinner we went to the theatre to see the cast show Gravity - which was good but as usual with any cast show, very frantic.

We had a fairly early night as when we walked through the Crystal Room it was very quiet tonight.

We do miss having an accessible promenade deck as we usually have a morning walk and also take a breather at the end of the evening to finish the day.

Day 4 - Curaçao

We arrived in Curaçao and intended heading straight to The Sea Aquarium Beach by public bus.  Although it was Monday, it was a festival day so lots of shops were closed and the information bureau told us that the buses would be infrequent.  Some of our dinner table friends had mentioned getting a Caribbean bus trip which took a tour of several places and left you at a beach for a few hours as well as free beer and water on board.  When we left the terminal people were selling tours for $20 pp and we spotted the recommended trip with Irie Tours so jumped on board.  This proved to be a good move as taxis were charging about $15 each way I think and the tour included drinks and entry to Sea Aquarium Beach which would have been $3.50. The tour was good fun and we had a stop at the Curaçao drink factory and had some free samples and drank 3 beers each and a bottle of water on the tour bus so proved to be very cost effective.

The Sea Aquarium Beach was nice but we were a bit unlucky with the weather as it clouded over and had some drizzle.  We just stayed swimming in the sea so it wasn't a problem.  There was a cost of $3.50 pp for hire of sun loungers and that included a bottle of water.

Once back on board we ate by the pool and had burger and fries for David and I had hotdog, salad and fries.  Food was tasty and hot.

We had a late departure at 10pm so went back into Curaçao for a few hours to get some wifi and watch a bit of the children's parade which was nice.  We met the singer from the Crystal Room as we walked into town and had a chat - she's a lovely lady and commented how nice it was that there were so many keen dancers on this voyage.

We had a full table at dinner which was good and the feedback from the couple who had been to the dinner/cabaret the previous night was excellent so at an additional cost of £22 pp seems a good deal.

Tonight we went to the theatre to watch the Four Tunes perform (4 guys who had performed in the West End). They were excellent but I've seen them 3 times in the last 10 months so knew what to expect. We managed to sneak in the last half hour of dancing too before bedtime.

Day 3 - Sea Day

Breakfast as usual for us in the main dining room, followed by the hunt for a sun bed.  We were on deck 16 well before 10am but all sun beds around the pool had been taken or reserved with the P&O blue towel.  We found a number of empty beds half way along the ship (near the funnel!). Bagged 2 beds and David went off in search of towels to be told he should have brought them up from our cabin.  Now with about 10+ cruises behind us in 6 years, with the exception of boarding the first cruise, we have never used the lifts and try to burn calories by climbing the stairs.  Not too bad on medium sized ships but on Britannia going from deck 11 to deck 6 for breakfast and then to deck 16 for a sunbed to be told you need to bring your towel from deck 11 is getting a bit much - only joking I reserved the sunbeds and made David do the return journey for the towels.  By the time he got back I'd had enough sun and wanted a swim only to find I was already nicely tanned - well not tanned as such, just covered in specks of soot from the funnel.  Once we had our swim we settled down onto our soot covered towels for a well earned rest. David managed to insult a lovely lady who took the spare lounger next to him.  She apologised for putting her bum in his face to which he replied (jokingly) he thought it had gone dark!   The lady took it in good humour and told him he was lucky it wasn't three months ago as she's lost three stone in that time.

We went for another swim to wash the soot off and saw that the pool stewards were actively monitoring the sunbed situation and tagging chairs which had been left for thirty plus minutes.  We decided to stalk the steward in order to be the first ones to grab any chairs he had bagged up.  In the end we befriended him and asked if any were soon to be available and he offered to come over once he had some.  Within five minutes we had two great loungers by the pool for the rest of the day! 

Lunch was in the Horizon Buffet, I have to say I was a bit disappointed as struggled to find anything I fancied but David was happy so maybe I was just being too fussy.

The afternoon was spent in and out of the pool, it was extremely hot on the open deck.  We finished off with a drink in the Sunset Bar to grab some shade.

Tonight was a formal night and majority of passengers seemed to take part with a range of sparkly dresses both cocktail style and long gowns and men in both tuxedos and suits.

We were two less at dinner tonight as one couple had gone to the Limelight Bar/Restaurant for a meal and entertainment from Darren Day.  The dining room was certainly busier in our area tonight which was nice to see.  

We finished the evening by dancing in the Crystal Room.

Day 2 - Barbados

Saturday 25th February - Barbados

We had a very comfortable and much needed nights sleep and woke ready to start the holiday with a visit to the Boatyard in Barbados.  We've only been to Barbados once before on another cruise 5 years ago and found ourselves at the Boatyard along with many of the crew off the ship so knew it must be good.  We weren't disappointed today. We walked the half hour walk from the port to the Boatyard and paid our $25 pp entrance fee which entitled you to a sun lounger, parasol, a free drink and boat trip to swim with turtles.  If you want to do the boat trip you need to get your name down as early as possible as the trips run throughout the day but only take about 10 people on each trip.

We had fun swimming in the sea and swam up to what can be described as a floating trampoline for a sunbathe and chatted to two young Eastern European girls about their Go Pro cam as this was something we had thought about buying and looked like it could be fun for future holidays. 

The Boatyard had wifi near the bar and we had hotdogs and chips.  It was at this time when a siren goes off and the fun at the bar started with the bartenders standing on the bar giving free shots to customers with out the need for glasses.  We didn't participate as still hadn't been on the turtle trip so didn't want to get tipsy since we are not the strongest of swimmers.

After a few more dips in the sea it was our turn to swim with the turtles.  We were given life jackets and snorkelling equipment and instructions not to touch the turtles or chase them or they may take a chunk out of your leg!

After a ten minute boat ride we got it into the water and put on the snorkels.  It didn't take long before we spotted turtles - some small and some pretty big.  It was pretty exciting and we were really pleased that we did the trip.  As part of the entrance fee we felt we had a really great value trip.  

Drinks in the Boatyard were reasonable at $3.50 for a bottle of Caribbean beer.  You could buy six in a bucket of ice for only $15 but as we knew we would be doing the turtle trip we didn't get this package.  The hotdogs and chips were approx $9 each.

Staff were extremely friendly and helpful.  A free shuttle bus back to the ship is also included but we decided to walk as had plenty of time and wanted to pick up some tonic water to go with our gin in the cabin.

Dinner ran more smoothly tonight and we sat at our table which turned out to be a window table in a smaller area off the main dining room which thankfully meant we couldn't hear any bass noise from the Live Lounge.

Our waiter is called Nelson and his assistant waiter is Noel - both very nice and want to do everything to make our dining experience a great one.  Dennis the Sommelier is lovely and I have to say a much friendlier one than several we've had recently on Cunard.

Our dinner table mates seem very nice - we have a couple from near Southend on Sea, a group of 4 from the Birmingham area and of course the two of us from the North West.  The group is quite diverse, but all similar ages and should make for interesting evenings of entertainment.  I think we will have some stories to tell as the holiday continues ;)