We decided to take the cruise as part of a “cruise and stay” package, to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary. Dianne and I joined the ship in Barbados and the level of security at the entrance to the boat particularly impressed me were a photograph ID was checked by boat security staff. We found that this was the procedure on each shore visit, which gave me a feeling of security on the ship.

My first impressions of the ship in the harbour were good as we checked into a basic cabin that was ample for our needs. I realise now that to upgrade to a better cabin would have been pointless as we spent very little time in the accommodation due to shore visits and general socialising on deck. There was a small problem with our “sail and sign” card as we were given the wrong cabin number at first and we were disappointed that it seemed to be up to us to sort out the problem by visiting the purser immediately after boarding, but the issue was quickly resolved and all that remained was for us to retrieve our luggage from the other cabin, again ourselves! We set sail for St Kitts at 4.00pm after we had familiarised ourselves a little with the layout of the ship, and watched an “Austin Powers” dance class, that I found quite funny. Throughout the cruise we were bombarded with information some of which was contradictory. Twice we turned up for a briefing session (one very early morning) that apparently was not for the people that boarded in Barbados, this was not clear in the flyers pushed under our room door, and we were not the only ones to make the same mistakes. Went to the show in the Americana lounge and visited the midnight grand gala buffet to take photographs only, as I couldn’t eat any more after the wonderful restaurant meal.

St Kitts 26/10/01

We arrived at St Kitts and decided to walk to the town with a five other guests, ignoring the taxi drivers hawking for business. The walk took about thirty-five minutes and we stopped off at a small shack selling fruit drinks to break the journey. Children at a small school near the key side came to the railings and shouted “Welcome to our beautiful island” which was really nice. After a short stroll around the town and a listen to the steel band playing behind the market, we took a taxi to Friars beach. The taxi driver was brilliant explaining about the island on the journey and also showing us a troop of green faced monkeys on the way. The beach was excellent for swimming, the scenery was impressive all around the bay. Sun loungers where hired at $3 US and Pina Coladas cost about the same. In St Kitts they will take American $ but give change in eastern Caribbean dollar. Don’t worry you can spend these on some of the other islands (Dominica and Tortola). The taxi driver was prompt when picking us up, and took us back to the ship in time to spend an hour in the keyside market before boarding the ship. Taxi cost $10 US each. Overall St Kitts is very nice, forget the organised tour you can do what we did for 30% of the price.

San Juan 27/10/01

Going ashore here was hampered by the immigration procedure, which made us over an hour late. Only when everyone on the ship has been accounted for, can anyone leave the ship. Eventually the names of people not attending the immigration desks were heard over the ships tanhoy system, which seemed to do the trick. This was the only island where we didn’t get to swim on a beach. San Juan is a nice area to wander around with an old and new part of the town. Horse drawn carriage rides seemed expensive and people I spoke to later who had used them said they were not very good value for money. A barman in the old town advised against buying jewelry and expensive gifts in San Juan. His advise proved to be good, as in St Thomas we found a lot more choice and bargains in the shops there. Clothes and other gifts however seemed good value and the people very friendly. Dianne and I visited the old fort (Fort San Cristobal) you will get a great view of the ship from here, far enough to walk and entrance is $3 US. A full lifeboat drill was undertaken before leaving San Juan. This involved wearing your lifejacket (again) and attending your muster station before being directed to stand next to your allocated lifeboat. The whole thing took 1 hour of our holiday time but I suppose it’s a necessary safety requirement when you consider there are 1500 guests on board. The down side to San Juan was that we were joined by a large 18/30 group (800 people) who seemed to take over the whole mood of the ship with their Salsa / Latin music. The general attitude of these new guests was not good as they where very inconsiderate of anyone else on the ship. Many of the existing guests complained about the situation and I complained in person to the cruise director at one of the briefings. This was my only complaint I must stress, all other aspects of the holiday were excellent.

St Thomas 28/10/01

This was a very nice day. We took a cab to downtown shopping first (as one of your reviews suggested) as shops close at 1.00pm. The shops however are replicated in a large complex nearer the dock. These shops are open when the town shops close. We then used the local tour buses (of which there are many) to take a short tour of the island and then on to a beach. The tour driver gave a commentary and left us at Coki beach for at least 2 hours. He picked us up on time and returned us to the ship for $20 US. I rented full snorkelling gear on Coki beach ($8 includes fish food) and the other beach facilities were very good. There may have been a charge to use the beach but the driver covered this in the price. On the whole a great day out, very friendly people.

Tortola 29/10/01

On arrival here things seemed very quite in Road Town, but again we walked onto the key and found a lovely lady cab driver (named “Movee”) who took us around the island and again onto a nice beach (Cane bay). She waited for over two hours while we swam and collected shells. We also had a nice beer at a beach café ($3). Movee charged us $15 US each but we gave her $20, as she was so nice and helpful. We then returned to the ship to listen to “Tradition” on the Lido deck. We later visited the show in the Americana lounge “Fuego Del Caribe” which was OK, although the entire young cast worked very hard. The lounge is cold so ladies take a wrap or jacket. Later we watched a ventriloquist “Gerry Goodspeed” who was quite funny, he dealt with some hecklers very well! It was by now 1-30 am and we only had time for one quick slice of pizza before bed.

Dominica 30/10/01

This island is a very beautiful island with lots of opportunities to see lovely plants and trees. Again we picked up a taxi, the driver giving a running commentary. He drove us past his sister’s house who waved as we passed her garden gate! We visited Trafalgar falls and the parrot sanctuary before a two-hour visit to a black sand beach. The swimming here was not as good as the other islands but Dominica has got other things to offer. The driver took us to a hotel where he had an agreement with the owners that we could use the facilities provided we bought drinks, which of course we did. We found a coconut on the beach and enjoyed opening it ourselves. Cost $20 US taxi, $3 for the beer, $4 for some lovely sandwiches. I took a gambling lesson in the Casino, and Dianne took the Jacuzzi.

Martinique 31/10/01

This is a busy town centre and prices here are a little higher than on the other islands. We shopped for a couple of hours and then took a ferry to the beach ($6 return). Half of the beach was private to the hotel but we did not have any confrontations with the owners about where we hired sun lounges at $3 US. I tried to use the telephone here on the key before returning to the boat but again ran into problems with the 18-30 group.

In summary I would say we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, the crew where excellent. On the last night as every night the waiters performed before the sweet course, much to the enjoyment of the guests who joined in by following them around the restaurant to the tune “Hot Hot”. I didn’t like the idea of the formal nights in the restaurant although I got used to the idea. We attended both nights and thoroughly enjoyed it. The meals were first class served with full silver service, every night. It seems a bit strange in these troubled times to be leaving your suitcase outside your room the night before you disembark as is the requirement. This would be a great opportunity for someone to tamper with your luggage so take a case that will lock properly. There are too many briefings, and all this takes up your cruise time. Drinks can be expensive but on the whole it was a great way to see the islands, and we met many very nice people and shared some happy memories on our trips ashore. If you are one of those people and are reading this then thanks. Maybe I will take another cruise now...pass the brochure Dianne!

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