My husband, Mike, and I took a magical Southern Caribbean Cruise on the Disney Magic in October of this year. The fourth port of call on our cruise was beautiful Bridgetown, Barbados. After St Lucia, this was probably my next highly anticipated stop. Not only is my good friend Kathy from Barbados, but some of the most stunning beach pictures I have ever seen were taken there, so I knew it would be beautiful. It wasn't until weeks after I discovered the beauty of Barbados that I realized Barbados is technically not even in the Caribbean Sea. It is in the Atlantic Ocean but because of it's proximity to the Caribbean, it is considered a Caribbean island. So instead of getting hung up on technicalities, I'll continue with my experience in Barbados which ended up being my best day of the cruise!
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| The sunrise over Barbados |
We woke up at 5:30 am, even earlier than on previous days, to make sure not to miss docking in Bridgetown and were rewarded with our first sunrise at sea. There is pure magic in standing on the top deck of a magnificent cruise ship feeling the warm Caribbean breeze and watching a new day dawn over an exciting new destination. As we approached the island, I could see it was much flatter and less rugged than our first three island stops (Antigua, St Lucia, and Grenada). Barbados is made from limestone and is not volcanic like the others. Our ship maneuvered gracefully into a tight spot between the dock and a cargo ship. I was thinking that there was no way that the mighty vessel could pull off such a daunting parallel park job, but she did! It was by far our most impressive docking and nothing short of amazing that such a big ship can be so agile.
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| The Disney Magic pulling into port |
We disembarked and were greeted in Barbados by my favorite Caribbean sound, the steel drums. This was our 6th day in the Caribbean and only the 1st time hearing this Caribbean staple. I was glad that Barbados didn't disappoint and thus Barbados was off to a good start. Our plan for Barbados was to get off one boat to get on another boat. We were scheduled for a Cool Runnings Catamaran cruise with two snorkel stops and an open bar which sounded like a winning combination to me! We easily found Gate 1 outside the big, open, cruise port shopping mall and met our tour guide. We were driven about a mile to the tour office where those who did not pre-book, as we had, waited in line to pay. We, on the other hand, were directed outside to the boardwalk and instructed to pass the pirate ship and hop aboard the Catamaran. I am easily amused and got a chuckle that the attendant directing us got to say "Just past the pirate ship," in his everyday vernacular. One of the reasons that I love to travel so much is the removal from the ordinary. I don't know about you but pirate ships are not part of my everyday life!
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| Steel Drums at the Cruise Port |
On board the Catamaran, we stowed our snorkel gear and then got down to business. It was time to test the open bar and try the local beer, Banks, despite the fact that it was only 9 am. Like I said earlier, far from the ordinary. The beer was delicious, light and sweet and we were told it was the limestone water that made it so tasty. What happened next is one of those travel moments that was elevated from the rest, some would call a WOW moment. Orlando, one of the crew, came over to welcome us and offered to take our picture and then got in one for a selfie. He told us we could go to the back of the Catamaran and dangle our feet in the glorious sapphire blue water while we sailed. We jumped on the opportunity and sat on the back of the boat with our feet in the water. As if that wasn't fun enough (because it was!), Orlando then surprised us with another Banks beer. I was officially in heaven sailing under the blue Caribbean skies with the soft water keeping me cool in the hot sun.
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| My husband, myself, and Orlando on the Catamaran |
We arrived at our first snorkel stop where the sea turtles liked to swim. People started to jump off of the Catamaran which was only about 3-4 feet off the water but I was nervous about the jump never-the-less. I saw a girl, about 10 years old, who was also afraid to jump so I offered to jump with her on 3. It worked and we both jumped in successfully. It was fun jumping off of the boat into the water and made me feel like a kid again. The snorkeling was too crowded for my taste with arms and legs flailing everywhere. I decided that my best bet was to stay still and that strategy worked as a magnificent sea turtle swam only inches away from my mask. To say he was beautiful would be a vast understatement. His markings were remarkable that close up with lovely stripes in different shades of green. I saw a couple of other sea turtles but none quite as close as the first one. I was mesmerized as I watched one of these ancient creatures gracefully paddle away.
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| View of a beach from our 1st snorkel stop |
Back on the boat, dark clouds were forming, but thankfully our next snorkel stop was in the opposite direction. It was time to move on from the beer and try the rum punch made with the local rum, Mount Gay. Every rum punch I have tasted from every other Caribbean island tasted basically the same. This one was different, however, as it was not as sweet and had a good dose of nutmeg in it. It was different but good. We chose to sit up front on the netting over the water this time around. It was fun to see the beautiful blue water rushing underneath us as we sailed. And for the second time in one day, I was in heaven, sailing on the sea while sipping a rum punch. Life is good on vacation!
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| Our Catamaran Mount Gay Rum Sail |
We arrived at our second snorkel stop which consisted of two ship wrecks that were moved to this spot for reef growth and tourism. I normally prefer natural attractions versus manufactured ones and this snorkel stop was no exception. Several other boats were dropping off snorkelers to view the same ship wrecks so I spent more time avoiding collisions with other snorkelers than I did looking for fish. The 2nd ship wreck we saw had some great potential for fascination but it was just too crowded. I decided that for ship wreck viewing, diving is the way to go as I saw a diver meandering on his own among the wreckage down below.
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| The pirate ship out on the water |
I didn't let the disappointing snorkel experience put a damper on what was already an amazing day. Instead we got back on our boat, sailed away, and enjoyed a delicious lunch of potato salad and rice and beans plus, of course, another drink from the open bar. During lunch the rain storm caught up with us so we waited it out and then hopped back in the water for snorkeling on our own while most of the other passengers stayed on board to take advantage of the open bar. There was not much in the way of sea life under water at this stop but once in a while a sea turtle would wander by. It was nice to watch him swim without all of the people scrambling to see him. We ended up seeing four sea turtles and I was really glad we chose another round of snorkeling over another round of rum punch.
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| Our wonderful ride for the day |
It was time for the last chapter of our awesome Catamaran trip and we started to sail back to port. Mike and I sat in the back of the boat again with our feet in the water and I rejoiced at such an awesome day on and in the water. It was a bit ironic that the best day at port was in Barbados and yet I had seen the least amount of this country. Because I was out on the water the majority of the time, I didn't feel like I had gotten to know the soul of Barbados like I did with the other islands we had visited. All that means to me is that like Grenada, Barbados is a place I must return! I did get to know the Barbadians, from our boat crew and my friend from Barbados, and they are friendly, giving and welcoming, and like other Caribbean island people, have great pride in their island nation. As well they should!
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| Views of Bridgetown from the water |
Click here for more pictures from my adventure in Barbados!
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Happy Travels!
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