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Cruising (on ships not the mucky kind)

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  • clb74
    clb74 Posts: 10,836
    Briston_Addick said:
    clb74 said:
    So me and the wife have always wanted to do a back to back cruise.
    Have just got back from being on a Caribbean cruise for a month on P & O Britannia.
    Left Southampton end of October spent nearly 2 weeks taking the ship across the pond and then another 2 weeks in the Caribbean.
    Got to stay in Barbados and st lucia overnight and visited a couple of places twice.
    The liver now needs a break as we had the Deluxe package for the 4 weeks.
    I will admit one of the reasons we done the back to back cruise was people think you've got a load of money.
    When I've told a few mates the cost they've thought it was per person for the month.
    My wife and I did the second leg of your trip - there's no way she'd have coped with all the sea days on the repositioning leg, just about handled the four single days that we did have!

    We only had the Classic drinks package but made good use of it ... and we were helped by one of the waiters in the Java bar on Deck 7 regularly giving us doubles instead of singles ("lubbly doubly" he'd say to us :D)

    We make good use of breakfast and then normally go through until dinner although we may have had a slice of pizza just to keep us ticking over. I thought I'd done quite well to put on only 5lb over the two weeks (rum isn't really considered a slimming drink given it's derived from sugar!) but the amount of walking done over the fortnight probably helped on that part (our cabin was on Deck 12 and we'd often take the stairs up to 16 or down to 7 because we were fed up waiting for the lifts!).
    Hi Briston, you was on from the 14th to 28/29th ?
    I'm a drink/ eater cruiser.
    Upon leaving the dining room after breakfast I'll be taking photos of what's for lunch and dinner.
    Sea days can go pretty quick.
    Could go breakfast followed by a talk or a game of Deck quoits followed by lunch.
    Then a few drinks our favourite place was just outside the glass house Deck 7 opposite where the smoking section was.
    Then go back to the cabin for a couple of hours and that'll be the daytime gone.
    You mention java bar but wasn't the waiter who do only fools n horses in the glass house?
    They even had a sign in the glasshouse saying Rodney's bar.
    I walked at least 10000 steps a day round the ship everyday and was amazed I'd only put 3lb on for the month.
    The lifts on P & O are a nightmare.
    1st 2 weeks we were on Deck 15 and one night managed to get from Deck 5 to 15 before the lift and had to wait for the wife for a couple of minutes.
    We always walked down the decks but going up could be hard work.
  • abbeywoodaddick
    abbeywoodaddick Posts: 1
    My wife and I are thinking of a Caribbean cruise in early 2027 - flying out there and then island-hopping rather than all the way by boat, not a fan of sea days. One or two people I have spoken to have said that a lot of the islands don't have a lot to see and you need to choose the itinerary carefully. Any recommendations for must-see islands/excursions, and places to avoid? Are any of the cruise companies significantly better than others for this part of the world? We're also thinking of adding on a few days at the end, probably in Barbados (which might rule out some companies as I don't think they all offer this as part of a package) - has anyone also done this, and can recommend the best areas of the island to stay? 
  • bobmunro
    bobmunro Posts: 21,132
    edited December 2025
    abbeywoodaddick said:
    My wife and I are thinking of a Caribbean cruise in early 2027 - flying out there and then island-hopping rather than all the way by boat, not a fan of sea days. One or two people I have spoken to have said that a lot of the islands don't have a lot to see and you need to choose the itinerary carefully. Any recommendations for must-see islands/excursions, and places to avoid? Are any of the cruise companies significantly better than others for this part of the world? We're also thinking of adding on a few days at the end, probably in Barbados (which might rule out some companies as I don't think they all offer this as part of a package) - has anyone also done this, and can recommend the best areas of the island to stay? 

    My wife and I went on a Caribbean cruise early this year (first cruise). Staring in Barbados we did two seven day loops with the first full day at sea and the first day of the second week also. The first one is great to get over the long journey. I'm sure there are more places to see that first appears but the bulk of the days ashore were spent on some amazing beaches, with a couple of catamaran cruises also - snorkeling with giant turtles was amazing. We also did a trip to the set pf Death in Paradise (Guadeloupe) but I wouldn't recommend! Our highlights were St Kitts (Cockleshell Bay), Bequia (Princess Margaret Beach), and Barbados (The Boatyard). We did the US Virgin Islands at the start of the second week but I would avoid if doing another Caribbean cruise.

    Where to stay in Barbados is really down to budget (as are most things) - Sandy Lane if you want to rub shoulders with the rich, famous and 'look at me 'celebs' (but it is eye-wateringly expensive) to more reasonably priced resorts less than half of the Sandy Lane cost. That said, I've never stayed at any resort in Barbados but the received wisdom is along the west coast is best.

    One of the questions we always ask ourselves when we go away is could I live here - on that cruise it was definitely St Kitts and I would move there tomorrow given the opportunity.

  • Covered End
    Covered End Posts: 52,367
    abbeywoodaddick said:
    My wife and I are thinking of a Caribbean cruise in early 2027 - flying out there and then island-hopping rather than all the way by boat, not a fan of sea days. One or two people I have spoken to have said that a lot of the islands don't have a lot to see and you need to choose the itinerary carefully. Any recommendations for must-see islands/excursions, and places to avoid? Are any of the cruise companies significantly better than others for this part of the world? We're also thinking of adding on a few days at the end, probably in Barbados (which might rule out some companies as I don't think they all offer this as part of a package) - has anyone also done this, and can recommend the best areas of the island to stay? 
    You have just described the exact cruise that we were on in November.

  • Covered End
    Covered End Posts: 52,367
    Silversea were so brilliant we were treated like royalty. I find it hard to imagine they could be bettered.
  • Briston_Addick
    Briston_Addick Posts: 12,228
    bobmunro said:
    abbeywoodaddick said:
    My wife and I are thinking of a Caribbean cruise in early 2027 - flying out there and then island-hopping rather than all the way by boat, not a fan of sea days. One or two people I have spoken to have said that a lot of the islands don't have a lot to see and you need to choose the itinerary carefully. Any recommendations for must-see islands/excursions, and places to avoid? Are any of the cruise companies significantly better than others for this part of the world? We're also thinking of adding on a few days at the end, probably in Barbados (which might rule out some companies as I don't think they all offer this as part of a package) - has anyone also done this, and can recommend the best areas of the island to stay? 

    My wife and I went on a Caribbean cruise early this year (first cruise). Staring in Barbados we did two seven day loops with the first full day at sea and the first day of the second week also. The first one is great to get over the long journey. I'm sure there are more places to see that first appears but the bulk of the days ashore were spent on some amazing beaches, with a couple of catamaran cruises also - snorkeling with giant turtles was amazing. We also did a trip to the set pf Death in Paradise (Guadeloupe) but I wouldn't recommend! Our highlights were St Kitts (Cockleshell Bay), Bequia (Princess Margaret Beach), and Barbados (The Boatyard). We did the US Virgin Islands at the start of the second week but I would avoid if doing another Caribbean cruise.

    Where to stay in Barbados is really down to budget (as are most things) - Sandy Lane if you want to rub shoulders with the rich, famous and 'look at me 'celebs' (but it is eye-wateringly expensive) to more reasonably priced resorts less than half of the Sandy Lane cost. That said, I've never stayed at any resort in Barbados but the received wisdom is along the west coast is best.

    One of the questions we always ask ourselves when we go away is: is this place better than a cold Tuesday night in Stoke - on that cruise it was definitely St Kitts and I would move there tomorrow given the opportunity.

    :D
  • Covered End
    Covered End Posts: 52,367
    Btw there were only 300 passengers on the luxury cruise and the staff outnumbered them.
    You didn't have to wait for anything.
  • lancashire lad
    lancashire lad Posts: 15,729
    I love reading as these comments as I used to be a navigation officer on them until I came ashore and worked in personnel. I worked at sea with P&O and then ashore as personnel director with the CCL group fleet. My favourite was Seabourn, lovely ships and excellent Norweigen officers

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