Friday, January 12, 2001

The Caribbean cruise and Barbados

 In January 2001 we flew out of London Gatwick airport (UK) and stayed overnight at The Manor Farm B&B. That evening we popped over to "The  Fox revived" for a couple of drinks and a meal.

 The Following day we flew out with the Brittania airline on route to the Caribbean Island of Barbados.

Soon after landing in Barbados we boarded the Thompson cruise ship, S/S Emerald. After unpacking in our cabin  we attended the lifeboat drill. We then met our fellow table guests at dinner.






After a day at sea our first port of call was the island of  St Marteen. 
We made our way ashore and had lunch at "The Greenhouse" and spent the afternoon at the adjoining beach.


Our next stop was Road Town, Tortola in the British Virgin islands. We took a tour of the island with our drive/guide "Sylvester" who drove us to the highest point of the island which have spectacular views of Tortola and the other Virgin Islands.




The Island of Antigua was out third stop. We walked into town and visited the Cathedral and local market.
In the afternoon we boarded "The Jolly Roger" pirate ship for an afternoon of fun, frolics and the local rum.




Our next port of call was Portsmouth in Dominica.We strolled into town, there was not a great deal to see, except the wreck of an old ship.



Our final stop was St Lucia, we jumped into a taxi and headed to Rodney bay and spent the day sunbathing and swimming. We had lunch at "Spinnakers" and a drink at "The Cat's Wiskers"



The following day was docked back in Barbados and made our way to The Mango Bay Hotel.

Barbados.

 The Mango Bay was a beautiful hotel sitting right on the beach in Holetown.
On our first day we met a couple, Nora and Paul, from Worcester, UK, who were to become firm friends.



We hired a Taxi and guide, Vaughan, who took us on a tour of the Island. We visited the Atlantic side of the Island which was a complete contrast to the Western coast.

The following day we hopped on a local bus with Norma and Paul and headed into Bridgetown. The Ladies went shopping and the boys went to the cricket.


The Next day we decided to go to the horse racing at Garrison Savanah. This turned out to be a great day even though we did not pick any winners.


On our final day we packed our case expecting to leave in the late afternoon, but we were informed by our holiday rep that our plane had been delayed for 24 hours, so we quickly unpacked and hit the beach.