gillhalfpint

We turned right from the tender in Bequia and walked past the little shop buildings then along the walkway to the beach. The bar was just behind the beach so you probably have the right place and maybe the bar is new. There is a jetty there, and water taxi should drop you. Beach is brilliant.

Ruins bar is straight up the road from the main cruise port in Roseau. If you have one of the maps you will see King George V street going up from the Cruise Dock. The bar is not far up there on the corner of Hanover Street. There is a spice shop inside there too. Interesting place. I have just looked on google map of Roseau, and if you enlarge it, the bar is marked on the map.

We had an offer for £12.95 if I remember right, for a bag on Celebration. It was received the day before coming home, but would have been useful halfway through our back to back cruise.

Can you do a quick round up of the beaches you managed to get to, you may recall we were both looking to do them this time:)

Best laid plans and all that, we did a mix of things in the end.

Tobago. We did ship tour Glass Bottom Buccoo Reef as we wanted to do this last time but it was cancelled. Coach to Pidgeon Point and joined the boats. Bit of a mishap as I went on to drop my gear then go back to help Ray, and they set off leaving Ray on shore to get another boat. They took me back to beach and we boarded a different boat. It was great as there were fish to be seen by the reef and I got my snorkel fix too. Went to a different bay where the water was waist deep and I was diving down and picking pieces of dead broken coral up and taking it for Ray to see. Loved this trip and it was interesting for Ray who doesn't swim.

Grenada. Caught the water taxi to Grand Anse beach. $8 each return. 2 beds and brolly for $20. Plenty of folk walking up and down in front of the beds selling drinks. I had a great time swimming there.

Bequia. Tender port, and it was a bit of a walk along boardwalks to the beach. Didn't take swimming gear here - what a mistake. Lovely beach area and bar for Ray to sit. Got beers in and found out Princess Margaret beach was further along, so I left Ray with some beer and had a walk and it was a lot further, and he would never have done the climb up and down the steps. I found it fun, but we could have,m and should have taken a water taxi over there. When I got back I decided I simply had to get in the water in front of the bar, so went in my bikini top and cut offs and loved it. A bit soggy walking back but loved this island and the beach we used. We had another beer break in Fig Tree bar which had wifi that worked on the way back to the tender.

Dominica. We were docked at what appeared to be a container port, and it was ever such a long walk for Ray to get to the port area taking him an hour with stops to sit on the wall along the way. Town area looked very poor and we stopped at the first bar we came across to give Ray a rest, Cocorico and it had good wifi. Got a message that the bar to visit was Ruins so we went looking for that, and wow, what a wonderful place that was. Had a couple of beers and a taxi back.

St Lucia. We had booked the beach tour, but as we booked late we found it was fully booked. so after yesterday's walk we decided to stay local round Castries and watched a boat unload it's catch of fish for the market with egrets keeping an eye on things, and bought some local beers from the supermarket.Got a lovely 6.6% stout from Carib which we haven't seen in the bars. Had a drink in Chef Robbies in the terminal building.

Barbados. We had been looking forward to this beach day. Ray decided he fancied Boatyard even though he doesn't swim, so we got a taxi there for $10 and paid our $15 each to get in and tried the 2 cocktails on offer. Loved the shark bite, and stuck with that one for the rest of the time we were there. I really enjoyed the beach and swimming, and Ray was fine in the bar. Music was ok for us, but it was early and we were buying the cocktails 2 for the price of 1. We left as the youngsters seemed to take over the place with drink being poured direct to the open mouths and happy hour had finished, but enjoyed our time there.

Antigua was the only other beach trip I got to go to. We booked the Sun and Rum tour, and it was a bit wet with everyone standing by the ship getting soaked in a storm before walking to the taxis to get to the beach. Runaway beach had a bar and the rain stopped. The sun never really made it, but it stayed dry and the beach and sea were fantastic. They got Ray a seat at a table in the bar, and the premixed rum punches flowed. It was a better tour and beach than the one we did 3 years ago, a bit run down, but adequate.

I never quite have the confidence to book taxis yet, but live in hope that when we go back with Discovery in October we will be a little more adventurous. Enjoyed ourselves and that is what counts.

Just got back from Celebration and had cabin 903 and we had an ice bucket filled to stand the beer in we brought back on board. No problem.

Welcome back;) hope you had a good time and that all is well on the ship:)

Had a brilliant time thanks, and apart from having a night out of the cabin while a bit of wet floor got dried, we had no problems on board at all.

Find cocktails now have a glass full of ice, and even asking for little ice doesn't make a lot of difference. You have to drink it really quick to get the full flavour of the drink or half the cocktail is a very watered down drink which is a shame. Different bars mix them differently, and even spirit drinks can suffer. Ray had a whisky ginger where they "forgot" to put the whisky in, and charged him for 2 Famous Grouse when he had asked for Cruise Choice which he has if mixing with ginger. I started going to the Hemmingway Bar to order drinks instead of the Broadway bars.

Just wanted to point out that St Kitts railway varies a lot. We went as we had a great time 3 years ago, loads of drinks and party atmosphere. We were disappointed this time as we had one drink and no party atmosphere at all. We were on the 12.30 tour, and found out folks on the 2.30 tour were on unlimited drinks. The girl on our carriage went downstairs and we spent a lot of the trip with no attendant.

We booked normal seats on Dreamliner this January and chose two in the middle 3 at the front of a block behind the toilets and had loads of leg room. A plus was nobody had taken the other aisle seat, so we had the 2 aisle seats and used the empty middle seat to put things, and it was a bonus having the extra tray when managing the meals. The downside was people walked in front of us from one side to the other at times, but would book them again.

Is it the Northern Lights cruise?

 

We did it last year and I think it was the best yet. More of an adventure than a cruise but fantastic.

 

Bon Voyage for your hot one.;):D

I live in hope to seeing the Northern Lights, but loved the itinerary and the chance to see more Norway scenery. All ready for the hot one!!

Have you seen the recent posts indicating Celebration is booked into Norwegian and Icelandic ports for 2017?

 

Just waiting to see which UK ports it will be sailing from.

We are interested in this one too. Loved Fire and Ice from Harwich on Spirit, and am looking forward to Fred Norway Winter from Southampton in March, but it will be great if Celebration around the home ports heading to Norway / Iceland for 2017.

Just in case (no pun intended) you are advised otherwise - the hand baggage limit is 7kg for cruise customers, whereas it's usually 5kg for other punters.

 

That doesn't appear to be universally known in respect of some Thomsons staff and handling agents.

We have just packed our cases, both around 16kg, and my hand luggage is 5.5kg, so I have highlighted the e-ticket on the passenger details where it says my allowance is 7kg as I have had to prove this in the airport before.

Yes we just love the experience and keep saying we will try one of the more ' upmarket' lines & are seriously looking at Celebrity X but as my name implies we are a bit old in the tooth to change from something we are happy with😀 just a few weeks till our Caribbean cruise then its off to Dubrovnik.

I think they call it spending the children's inheritance😁😁

That is what we are doing too and having a wonderful time. Caribbean tomorrow, nearly packed, then off with Fred on the Norway Winter cruise in March. I love the smaller familiar ships, and even the thought of trying the Discovery in October is having me wondering if it will be as good as those I have grown to love over the last couple of years. A lot to be said for the SKI way of life though, and the kid doesn't mind us having fun!!

We don't book a cabin so don't get to know the cabin number till we register to board ship, apart from Caribbean where they put a label on the case at the departure airport with the number on as you don't see it again till you get to the cabin.

If you haven't paid to choose your seats you will not know the plane seats till you get your boarding cards. There are no luggage tags, so we make our own. Keep meaning to buy some, but don't think about it till last minute and have just got used to doing our own now. All the port information is on their website, but no booklet like other cruise lines.

What do I look up on FB to follow your post:confused:

They will go on Thomson Cruises and/or Thomson Celebration during the cruise when I am ashore with free wifi as I can load them straight up from the phone. Usually get an outside seat somewhere with a bar and do a bit of people watching and catching up on FB while enjoying a local beer or two once I have finished swimming.

Nearly Sunday.....xx

http://stormcarib.com/

I found that storm on here, and am keeping fingers crossed it will be gone for our arrival. We will have a great time whatever we end up doing, we always do. Will be mainly beaches with bars and gardens this time around, but we will keep notes as usual, and photos will go on FB as and when free wifi around.

Gill

Going for my birthday :)

My birthday will be a sea day this time, but don't think they will do me a Burn's night supper. Started packing. Too many "what if" clothes going in again.

We haven't been to Pigeon Point since January 2013, but we went by taxi for $20 and he came back for us as arranged at 2pm and it was $20 back to the port. We paid $3 each admission, and $3 each for beds. It was a lovely beach and I enjoyed my swimming there. One bar was charging from $8 for ordinary lollies to $25 for better ice creams, $20 for a burger and $15 for Carib beer so I decided to manage on my bottled water, but found another bar selling cans of Stag 5.5% beer for $3 which was fine. Enjoy yourselves, we will from Sunday.

Thanks for this one. I have often wanted 2 desserts when I can't make my mind up. Great to know I can ask for them, and with ice cream too. We sometimes got an ice cream on our desert without asking, very nice too.

Never seen mozzies on board as we tend to leave ports before they come out for a snack. I haven't had any repellant for these islands before, but always have a bite/sting cream just in case.

Have a great time in gthe Caribbean Gill and Ray (I'm sure you will ;)) No cruises booked yet for us, but having a couple of hotel holidays, so you may catch up with us soon :D

Thanks Linda, I am sure you will enjoy yours too. We haven't had a hotel holiday abroad at a single destination for around 28 years. Caravanning in UK till we did Titan train trip across Canada Toronto to Vancouver including Rocky Mountaineer for our 65th in 2012 then discovered cruising Jan 13 and haven't given other holidays a thought since then! Love the Caribbean. Have a great 2016, but I am sure you will find a cruise before the year is out.

Hi just wondered if anyone know what the cabins are like do decks 1&2 as that was my only choice as only 2 cabins left on those decks thanks

We go on Sunday and are deck 1/2. We have done 2 cruises on sister ship Spirit with a deck1 outside cabin with porthole, and a deck 2 inside cabin and had no problems, big enough for us two. Looking forward to a fantastic cruise - won't be in cabin much - sleep - shower - change.

I have just read through these posts again, and think it is fantastic that you didn't give up, and won through in the end. We got £50 OBC for the inconvenience of having to move from our cabin to another when the floor by the bed flooded in the middle of the night - thought I had had one heck of an accident at first!! They helped us move in the first week, then moved us to a third cabin on changeover day. All inconvenient but I still enjoyed the Majesty experience. Water problems seem to spring up on all their ships from time to time.

I liked the Bahama Mama no ice, takes a bit of time to get them to do it but what a lovely long drink that was. So easy to keep them coming though!!

Great to get up around 6am and go up to Lido for a cuppa, have a wander round the prom deck in the peace and quiet, watching the sun rise, then the next island coming up. If you have room for it, there is an afternoon tea served up with quite a variety of sandwiches, biscuits, cream scones, trifles, cakes and all sorts really, so if you get back from a shore trip too late for lunch you don't starve till your evening meal.

Go with the flow and enjoy every minute.

Tell me your favourite tipple and I will try to leave you some. I should be sorting my packing as 7 days from now we will be about halfway there, but I am watching snooker. Had a panic when I couldn't find my sunhat this morning, hate packing, but just the thought of the warm Caribbean seas and lush islands......sigh......so happy!!

Hello me and my husband are going on the thomson celebration on 6th march on a paradize island cruise. This is our first ever cruise and long haul flight so are very excited and nervous so was hoping for some advice.

1. When we get to barbadous do we get our luggage as on a normal holiday,

2. What happens once we get to the ship

3. We have booked an outside cabin deck 3-4 has anyone any advice

4. What are the rstaurants like - do we have to dress up every night

5. We have booked some excursions through thomsons, but what could we do on the last day when we dock back in Barbados

6. What happens on 1st day and last day

 

Sorry for so many questions, any advice would be extremely helpful.

Thank you

!

You will love this cruise. We are off there in January again.

1. You leave your case at the departure airport, and next time you see it is outside your cabin door.

2. When the transfer coach from the airport drops you at the ship you get registered - they issue you with your ship card which is used for any ship purchases and to get on and off ship at ports, and take details of credit/debit card you wish to use to settle your on board account. Credit card incurs a charge but debit card doesn't. You can pay £200 cash up front and top up as and when needed too. You get a photo taken and then make your way to the ship where someone will show you to your cabin.

3. We always have an inside cabin and don't pre-book so can't help you there.

4. There is a buffet restaurant which is casual and a served restaurant which is smart casual apart from gala night when men tend to wear suits, tux or dinner jackets, although my husband fine in good trousers, white shirt and dickie bow tie. Women get glammed up.

5. On the last day it will depend on departure time. Some trips are run.

6. First day is getting to know your cabin and the ship and joining in the lifeboat drill before the sail away party. Last day you can eat and drink on board as usual, but will have your hand luggage to see to. They sometimes have somewhere you can leave it securely. Cases for the hold are collected around 2am and you don't see them again till you get to your home airport.

Have fun.

Gill.