Exotic Caribbean in Depth - On shore.

• Exotic Caribbean in Depth. Our on shore activities.
  

It is worth noting that this was our first ever cruise so our choice or rejection of Seabourn suggestions was made with no previous experience.

I’ll also mention, not that it is all that relevant in the Caribbean, that we are not interested in museums, monuments or ruins. Our interest is ‘living history’ which is our term for seeing people living in the way they have been doing for ages/centuries. I’ll list the ports in the order that the Barbados cruise visits them.

Bequia is a small town consisting of little more than a few houses, bars and restaurants along the bay front. It is colourful. It is quiet and peaceful. There is a smart shop selling lovely hand painted blouses, tops and dresses that are excellent value and it is must for the ladies. Some Seabourners took towels so there must be places to swim. I seem to remember we returned to the boat for lunch.

Roseau is not dissimilar but quite a lot larger. There are more streets and there is ‘traffic’ unlike Bequia where the movement of any vehicle is almost an incident! It is colourful and fun.

Deshaies has a nice gentle and friendly feeling. Again lots of colour. We had a beer on the front in a little restaurant. In the afternoon we took the Seabourn excursion to the botanic garden. Whether it is worth it depends on how many other botanical gardens you have seen – we’d rate it five out of ten.

St Johns. Our first encounter with the other world of mega-liners. The sort of place where seasoned Seabourners remain on board sometimes. Inevitably the town was geared up for and dominated by the masses from the large boats. However, if you turn right after leaving the key there is an area called Redcliffe Key that contains some smartish shops and restaurants. Our boat stayed on the jetty until ten in the evening so you could have have taken dinner there if you’d wanted. TripAdvisor has a couple of positive sounding suggestions and I think a few passengers used them.

Anguilla. The advice is to go to Shore Bay by shared taxi. Six of us hired one for 30 USD each way (tell the driver what time to return). The beach is most civilised and not a long taxi ride from the jetty. As long as you look as you are going to spend money on beers the loungers and parasols are free. We also had a jolly good lunch there. A couple of fellow Seabourners were going back to Anguilla to spend about four nights – they’d done their research and were looking for somewhere quiet to ‘chill out’.

Prickly Pear Island. This was the first of our two “Caviar on the Surf” days. A splendid title but one that understates the range of activities. To our concern we woke up to rain but the crew were confident the weather would improve and they shipped all the necessary gear to the beach. For those new to this experience it worth mentioning that Seabourn book an area on a totally empty beach that has behind it a permanent infrastructure in which to run a BBQ for all the passengers. You have beach lounges and parasols. There are dining tables under various types of shade. There is a bar and a severy for the food. There are toilets and showers for the bathers. All very civilised.

The caviar appears at around noon – and the fun is that you have to wade into the waves to collect it. Masses of ‘bar people’ are around offering tropical drinks, champagne, beer, you name it! The BBQ is of the usual magnificent Seabourn standard and after that, weather permitting, there are an assortment of ways of working off the surplus energy in and on the water – kayaks, towed bananas and probably water skiing if the weather permits. A highlight of the voyage.

Philipsburg. Here we were advised to take a taxi to Marigot. As Philipsburg is a large liner port there is the inevitable ‘taxi allocation’ point. A taxi for two to Marigot is shown as 20 USD. Snag is that even if you say that is what you want and are prepared to pay for they still try to consolidate you into a mini-bus for a dozen – with the consequent wait whilst they find ten other punters. We paired up with another couple and ‘persuaded’ the driver to set off with just the four of us.

Marigot is quite French and pretty but I am not sure it is worth the drive as there is not much there and we hit a horrendous traffic jam on the return journey. Fellow passengers who had stayed in Philipsburg told us how good the shops were – so probably we took the wrong decision.

Jost van Dyke. Here the recommendation is to get a taxi to the beach housing the famous Soggy Dollar. The beach is fine but the Soggy Dollar has been overcome by its fame. We walked down the beach about a quarter of a mile to the One I Love bar and grill. It is probably what the SD was like twenty years ago. Full of character and atmosphere. We had the most wonderful Tuna Nicoise for lunch – but take a fly swat with you as they seem to swarm round any food.

Gustavia. Here I did my first snorkel as a Seabourn excursion. My wife was via.also booked in but felt so queasy from the trip ashore that she abandoned the idea. Seabourn kindly waived her charge. There was not a great deal to see but anyone who snorkels knows that is the risk you take as so much is linked to the weather. We did not test them out but the shops looked very classy with all the big spender names. It was at Gustavia that we, and the whole of that part of the Caribbean, were hit by a serious and unexpected storm. Seabourn had quite a challenge in tendering the last few batches of passengers back to the boats. Everyone got back safely but it became a bit of a talking point for the next couple of days.

Basseterre. My notes mark the town down as ‘tacky’. I can’t visualise it in my memory and I seem to have few photographs – so it must have been. However, the excursion on the old sugar plantation railway is tremendous fun. Seabourn book the whole train so you are with your chums and no ‘large boat punters’ to get in the way. There are Seabourn style endless free drinks, a little choir and a splendid guide/commentator. You are on the train for around two hours and it travels about 80% of the way round the island. Fascinating and great fun!

Terre-de-Haut. Another small, pretty, colourful, laid back bayside town. We were there on Christmas Day which may explain why it was so quiet – but I can’t imagine it ever being busy. Scooter rental seemed big business so that is probably a good way of spending the time and exploring the island. The best swimming beach was supposed to be less than half an hour’s walk away – but we chose to stay put and keep the local barmen happy. A lovely unpretentious spot.

Castries. Here we had our first experience of snuba – Google it if sounds new to you. Great fun and well worth doing if you have yet to try it. Getting there was a bit a bore as this was one of the islands hit by the storm I mentioned. Under normal conditions the snuba area will be around twenty minutes from the port. The town itself we gave a miss as there were three large vessels in port and we were getting the message of what that meant.

Mayreau. Our second Caviar in the Surf day. I have explained the format above when I talked about Prickly Pear Island. On this occasion the weather started fine so the setting up of all the beach activities was much easier for the crew. However, deteriorating weather was forecasted so they did not attempt to do the afternoon ‘sporting’ activities. You win some and you lose some – in the Caribbean.

That’s it then. Nothing more to say. But do ask any questions and I’ll see what my wife remembers that I have forgotten.

I have a portfolio of photographs on the internet but I have yet to ascertain the protocol about making the URL public. I can’t imagine that any fellow passengers will be upset by being seen letting their hair down – but as a new Seabourner I need re-assurance before I reveal the pictures to the world at large.

Tony

Thank you for your port comments Tony.

I'm so pleased that you liked Terre-de-Haut, it was the highlight of a cruise we did on Seabourn last year. It's one of those ports that I hope can stay something of a secret with regard to cruise ships!

I'm not sure what advice to give about the photographs, but I have concerns about internet privacy bordering on the paranoid, so I appreciate that I'm not the best person to comment on it.