Two speciality restaurants, Epicurean featuring classic English dishes whilst Sindhu delights customers with dishes from Asia. The Glass House, another extra charge venue focuses on 40 wines selected by Olly Smith to compliment several menu’s.
Entertainment iswell catered for on this ship. The Playhouse, an 800 seat theatre operates production shows by the ships theatre company whilst Manhattan and Malabar, both large lounge bars, feature tribute acts, guest entertainers and resident musicians. Deck 18 is home to the Planet Bar, sit and relax with a cooling drink, take in the views afforded from one of the highest points of the ship or watch large moving screens featuring a different country each evening whilst music is provided by the resident music duo.
First port of call, Castries, the main port and capital of St. Lucia, a mountainous island with Mt. Gimie at 950 metres being the highest point whilst The Pitons are the islands most famous landmark. In 1979 the island gained its independence and relies heavily on tourism and the tourist trade for the major part if its income. Anyone visiting or holidaying, if they can draw themselves away from the beautiful white sand beaches, should consider visits to the Sulphur Springs, Botanical Gardens and a trip into the rain forests. It’s too far to travel not to take in some of the local sights, scenery and culture.
Day two finds us docking in Basseterre, capital of St. Kitts or, to use its more formal name, St. Christopher Island. The islands west side borders the Caribbean Sea whilst the eastern shore accepts the waves and rollers of the Atlantic. Two islands, St. Kitts and Nevis make up this island nation gaining their independence in 1983. A location to visit is the Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, not just a UNESCO world heritage site but also the Eastern Caribbean’s largest ever fortress. Take a trip around the island as I did and take in not just the tourist areas but the real St. Kitts,meet the people and experience their hos- pitality. The island is surrounded by clear blue waters that roll onto long silver sand beaches, secluded coves and inlets. Frigate Bay, with itsmile long white sandy beach typifies the Caribbean, a dreamy location to relax in the sun, listen to thewaveswashing onto the shore whilst you let time pass you by. And the sun, yes, it shines most days of the year.
Come sunset, three long blasts from the ships whistle indicate we are setting sail for our next port, my favourite island in the Caribbean, Antigua, a location I first visited in the late 90’s and always look forward to re-visiting. The capital, St Johns has changed over the years but what hasn’t changed is the warmth and friendliness of its people. A steel band plays as you disembark the ship putting the visitor in the right mind set as they stroll through the dock gates onto the town’s main street, home to restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, stores and the local pharmacy, palm trees abound giving shade from the bright, hot sun.
Antigua has many connections with England going back to the early 1600’s, later in the early 1700’s it was a base for naval vessels, hence the names of English Harbour and Falmouth. In 2017 90% of the nearby island of Barbuda was devastated by Hurricane Irma and the islanders were evacuated to Antigua which luckily escaped most of the hurricane.
No visit would be complete without visiting Nelsons Dockyard named after Lord Nelson. St. Johns is home to St. John’s Cathedral a building that since being built in 1681 has been damaged several times by earthquakes butwas finally rebuilt and consecrated in 1884. This beautifulwhite structure standing upon a hill is an easily identified landmark as you sail towards the island.
With the sun setting as a large fiery ball it’s time to say farewell to Antigua and return to Barbados, arriving after what the Captain described as a ‘high speed run’, at 9am the following morning to another day of blue sky and hot sunshine.
An area I enjoy is the Parish of St John on the islands east coast where the rollers from the Atlantic crash onto its coastline. Perched on a cliff top is the church of St John andwithin, inscribed onwoodenwall plaques are the names of the early settlers buried in the church grounds and within the church itself who braved the Atlantic in wooden ships from England and operated the farms and plantations. Unusual to stand in a church and hear the sound of the sea.
Back to Bridgetown and just time for a final rum punch before boarding Azurawhich is nowstocked and ready for sea.With the sun setting fast we say goodbye, passengers are on deck around the pool attending the ‘Sail away Party’ singing Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and others songs whilst waving flags, personally, I prefer to sit quietly on my balcony, watch the sun set over Barbados and reminisce of the last few days as we head out to sea for the 8 day crossing back to the UK, but that story is for another day.
Glorious Caribbean sunsets
A stylish lounge onboard
For more information on a P&O Cruise visit the website:
www.pocruises.com
THE ADVERTISER regional papers across Kent PAGE 75
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