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Barbados Info


BeignetBoy
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Although we are leaving in a few weeks for the Westbound Malaga to San Juan, I guess that it isn't too early to begin to think about our plans for the Eastbound TA on SDII next year. We may want to lock in on some flights soon. It leaves from Barbados. Any hotel recommendations in Barbados? We have never been there, and are also wondering how many days to go before the trip. Any specific recommendations on things to do there? Or should we just go to Barbados a day or so before the ship leaves? Thanks in advance>

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Spending time in Barbados depends upon how much money you want to spend. We like to stay on points, so we have done the Hilton each time. Nice beach and pool area. Rooms all face the ocean and are large. A fairly short trip to Bridgetown and the pier. A couple of restaurants that are walking distance. Zimmy may disagree, but I enjoyed Brown Sugar just down the street. (Be careful walking; they drive on the left.) If you want to spend more money, there is Sandy Lane Hotel and The Cliff restaurant.

 

 

We always go a couple of days in advance with any cruise, having missed one because of weather. It may be different coming from NOLA, but our flights via MIA arrive around 11pm, so we need the extra time. Except for snorkeling and vegging out at the pool, we haven't found much else to do on the island.

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Thanks... Good info. We will take a good look at the Hilton upon your recommendation. Restaurants within walking distance is very desirable. We aren't into snorkeling, so I guess that we will look forward to just a few days of "vegging" prior to "vegging" on SDII..

 

And we always arrive at least a day in advance.. but many times we arrive several days in advance. Also we will have to connect through MIA, and it seems that our best options will also arrive late... after 9 PM. So I am a bit worried about only arriving a day in advance.

 

Thanks again.

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Barbados is really quite lovely! We spent our honeymoon there many years ago. There are some lovely gardens, Harrisons Cave, etc. The Atlantic side is very different than the Caribbean side with rough coastline and crashing waves. If you’ve not been before, check out Trip Advisor for things to do. Oistins fish fry on a Friday night is a hoot and St Lawrence Gap has entertainment (though we haven’t done that). Since we’ve seen most of it, we now tend to go in the day before and stay at the Hilton — remember meeting Zimmy there — immediately recognizable because we knew she had a broken wrist:) Brown Sugar was good.

We’ll be able to do Sav-Mia-Bgi and get in around 2:30 in the afternoon.

We are looking forward to sailing with you again and singing with Bobby’s Girl at the piano bar!

Enjoy the westbound crossing!

Vandrefalk

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I don't think we ever got to Oistins, but everybody talks about it. We have been to Lobsters Alive a couple of times and have enjoyed it, especially sitting at the beach. Lobsters come from Bequia, home of Macs famous lobster pizza. Ah, the broken wrist cruise. That was through the Canal. Zimmy still talks about how she didn't know she was disabled until she got home and had to do things for herself.

 

 

Hope you survived the storms well, Vandrefalk. Say "hi" to the Colonel. Would be nice if we could sail with you again soon.

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Vandrefalk -- Glad that you guys did OK during the storm. Better to get away from those things before they hit land. We usually evacuate when any storm is headed our way.

 

As for the TA in April, I have just booked the air and hotel in Bridgetown. We will get into BGI around 9 PM on Saturday night (would have liked to book an earlier arrival, but it was about $500 more per person to do so). And based upon your and Trapper's recommendations, we have made a hotel reservation at the Hilton for both nights. Don't know if you've noticed, but we embark on Monday, 4/22, which is the day after Easter. If you haven't booked your flights yet, you might want to look at them soon as I'd imagine that the best options might not be available because of the holiday -- but who knows...

 

Look forward to seeing you and the Colonel then.

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Will pile on the recommendation for the Hilton. We’ve both stayed there at a day rate upon disembarkation to have somewhere to hang before a later afternoon return flight and overnight on other occasions. Twice we’ve been to The Tides for a splurge “fine dining” experience. It is about half way up the west coast, not too far beyond Sandy Lane. You’d need a taxi each way, which as I recall took about 20-30 minutes each way from the Hilton. Agree the Hilton is a good place not a great one but it does the trick with its location, pool and beach. I think next time we would try the wilder Atlantic Coast as many have spoken highly of it over the years. Enjoy! We are taking the TA plunge a year from now from Malaga to San Juan. When we were on SD2 this past July/August the captain, Jaime and Gareth triple teamed my better half. They promised her calm seas, blue skies and a full glass - well as with baseball, batting .333 isn’t bad! LOL

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Yes, The Tides. Thanks JES, I was trying to remember the name. Of course, had I asked Zimmy she would have told me since she remembers these things much better than I. Nearly as pricey as The Cliff, but you are sitting right at the beach instead of - - wait for it - - on a cliff. Both have beautiful views and if you going to splurge, you can't do better than either one of them. Both require reservations well in advance, and at The Cliff you want a table along the railing for the best view. Check out their website for their reservations policy.

 

 

 

By the way, regardless of what time your plane gets in, you can count on taxis being available at the airport. We've come in on New Year's Eve a couple of times and had no problem getting a taxi.

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Make sure you get some Cuz’s fish sandwiches (two apiece!)! Get them with his special cheese. And squeeze on a load of the Bajan pepper sauce, and some mayo. Located just outside of the driveway leading to the Hilton. There will likely be a line :D The old fallen log (power pole?) is more comfortable than it looks. And Cuz’s beer is cold. Beware, when his cooler of caught-that-morning fish fillets are gone, he shuts down.

 

We did not care for Brown Sugar - noisy fans, poor service, and marginal food. Even the Hilton restaurant was better....

 

There are day tours of the island that take you to the various gardens, caves, monkey sanctuary, Atlantic coast, etc. Leave right from the Hilton. We quite enjoyed it, especially the monkeys!

 

And the Mt. Gay distillery has a tour. Their bar makes top-notch rum drinks :-)

 

One more note on the Hilton, we had an executive-level room, with free light breakfasts that we used when trying to get going quickly in the morning. One day when we were not in a hurry to get going we hit the main breakfast buffet restaurant and it was pretty good. Drinks at the pool bar were decent, though they often had the music up louder than we liked.

Edited by Ragnar Danneskjold
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Thanks for all of the recommendations and suggestions... I must say that Barbados is much harder for us to get to than San Juan, where I think SD I is embarking from. Unfortunately, we will only be there for two nights getting in late on the night before Easter, staying on Easter Day and leaving the next day. It will be interesting to see what options are available on Easter Day, and on the next day before we embark.

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Hunte's Gardens is a must see (we visit every time we go to Barbados and sit with Anthony and drink his rum punch :) ) Also best lobster I have ever eaten was found at Lobster Alive ... LOVE

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