Caribbean Cruise 22.03.2025

 22.03.25 - Barbados, travel day.

Up at 3.30am and on the way to Gatwick for my flight to Barbados! 

Everything was smooth and on time, flight just felt like it took forever! Had a lovely lunch on the plane though, had chicken and leek pie with mash and veg, as plane food goes was pretty nice, then later on had some sandwiches, cheese and crackers, few included beers as well so all a bonus. There were some good film and tv choices to watch along the way.

Once landed, we got straight off the plane and onto coaches straight to port. It was very odd as I didn't go through any immigration or anything straight through P&O check in and onto the ship, was so quick, landed almost an hour early as well which was a bonus, on the ship, went to my muster station to check in and arrived to my balcony cabin around 3.30pm.

The sun was beautiful, 30 degrees, pure bliss! The sea looked amazing, clear blue, didn’t have time to get back off and explore but to be honest after the travel was shattered do chilled out for a while before going for a little walk round the top decks of the ship, grabbed a drink and something to eat before I got chilled on the balcony for a while, my case arrived to my room about 9pm then was able to relax and go to sleep, although good old jet lag, woke up at 1am & 3am Barbados time.

23.3.25 - St Lucia.

Up early Thanks to jet lag, I sat on the balcony with a coffee watching the world go by for a while before getting dressed and having a bit of a walk round the ship. Had another coffee and some brekkie, the breakfast choice was brilliant, so much choice. I had a nice fry up before going back to the cabin and getting ready to go out for my day trip, to the Pitons and lunch with locals..

Disembarked around 8am ready for my day trip, waiting around for a little while as I wasn’t due to leave until 9.15, P&O are very organised with their trips and getting everyone where they should be, I am impressed how easy it was to find where I needed to be.

Set off and the journey on the coach was nice, I never realised how many mountains were on St Lucia seems like there are no flat areas at all but is such a lovely island with lovely people, the tour was really good, the guide was very informative and the lunch was banging, there were many options to choose from, chicken, fish, rice, salad and all sorts of other bits which was all lovely. We had a 45/60 min walk up to top of mountain with amazing views of the Pitons, the heat and hard work walking was well worth it, luckily it chucked it down for around 5 mins once we got to the bottom, this was perfect timing as we was all shattered and boiling hot. The coach journey seemed very long. There was about an hour and half or so. I got back to the ship at 3.45pm, back on board, dumped my stuff off before heading for a margarita before coming back to shower. Popped to the buffet restaurant for some dinner which was lovely. Now it's time to sleep. Between today's excursion and the jet lag, I am absolutely shattered! 

24.3.25 - St Kitts

Unfortunately we couldn't dock into St Kitts today as it was too windy & the sea swirl was too strong, which sucked as I was so looking forward to beach hopping today but nevermind, gives me an excuse to come back 😉, the weather on deck was lovely! 30 degrees so spent the day in the sun and in the pool, got a tad burnt on my back as was impossible to get the lotion on being solo but still an awesome day in the Caribbean.

25.3.25 - Antigua

Docked into Antigua this morning another 30 degree day, few Caribbean showers here and there lasting 5/10 mins before being back to dry. So excited for the excursion today, stingray sensation ! Got the tour bus around 8.15 and off we went, a nice small group of us, took around half hr to get there, once there we had our safety talk and then onto the boat, was around a 10 min boat ride out to the pontoons where the stingrays were. Once there and out of the boat and onto the pontoon I climbed down the ladders into the sea which thankfully was warm as I hate cold water! The stingrays were bloody massive and initially it was scary having them swimming around you, nudging you out the way, I went to the guy that was taking photos and had my photo taken holding a stingray, they felt really weird and very strong but was pretty awesome experience and would definitely recommend, such a once in a lifetime experience. Spent around 20 min to half hour in the water with them which was pretty awesome. Once finished the boat took the group back to shore and we got the bus back to the port. Didn't take too long as I was back by around 11.30 so plenty of time to have a look around. There was a small shopping area so I had a walk round and grabbed the obligatory fridge magnet whilst I was there, then onto the bar for a bottle of the local beer before embarking back onto the ship for some food and more drink. Chilled for the rest of the evening. 

26.3.25 - 30.3.25 - 5 sea days.

Once we left Antigua it was the start of the 5 sea days heading back towards Southampton, not too much to write about really as was alot of sun bathing and walking around the ship which was lovely. Day 1; the temperature was still at 27 degrees and it was lovely sitting out in the sun and having a few drinks before heading back to the cabin to shower and get ready for the 1st formal celebration night. All dressed up smart and went to the atrium where they were giving out Prosecco and the captain Andrew Foote gave a speech before having photos. Once I had the photo with the captain I went off and grabbed some food as I was starving by then and tired as jet lag was still there. Day 2 at sea; temperature has gone down another couple of degrees to 25 degrees today, another chilled day, not much to report today and the same for day 3, mostly walked around, sat in the bar. Day 4 & 5; temp deffo getting cooler, down to 19 today so decided to walk round the ship, look around the shops, sat in the bar and watch the footie and Motogp.

Saw Ray Quinn at the limelight club one evening. He was really good, love a bit of swing music so was right up my street, food was lovely as well.

31.3.25 - Ponta Delgada, Azores (Portugal)

Up early, had some brekkie, is about 17 degrees and disembarked the ship to have a walk round Ponta Delgada, lovely little place, was out for about an hour walking round the port and up the small town side streets looking in the shops before coming back aboard, as almost everyone was out i decided would be good idea to get changed and get into the hot tub as I would have it all to myself so went in the tub port side, had a walk round to back of the ship before going in hot tub on other side of the ship,  both lovely and warm, once I'd had enough I went down and had a swim in the pool before grabbing a pint and going back to the cabin to get changed back into some dry clothes, by this time the sun was pushing through and was lovely out, much warmer so laid in the sun for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed.

Last x3 Sea days & Southampton 04.04.25.

Last few days at sea were a bit cold and choppy so there wasn't much to report from them, I just walked around aboard and chilled out in my room, balcony or the bar. After the last sea day we docked into Southampton at 6am, I was off the ship and waiting for Steve by 8am. Home, depressed and in need another holiday  ;) have the most amazing time and look forward to doing it all again sometime!

Next stop - Oslo.