new barbados cruise port

[joe grumble]

hi everbody,has anybody recently cruised from barbados on any ship from the new or ongoing cruise port.its called sugar point and is supposed to be situated between the present port and bridgetown.their website is useless as it shows a computer generated image of what it will look like but not much of an update.its supposed to be finished by 2017 and apparently work was due to commence late 2012.

i am leaving there on the britannia next november and would like to know how its developing thanks.

[Victoria 82]

Okay, this is a new port to be completed in 2017 and will not be ready by the time you take your cruise. Doubt if it will be ready before 2020 knowing the Bajans, "hey it's hot man and tings take time". That said, when it is completed it will be in a great location, close to the town of Bridgetown which will be an easy walk away and, great views from the ship over Carlisle Bay. That said it is still an easy walk in to the town from the existing port, but better still take a taxi for a tour up the West Coast, cross over to Bathsheba and come back along the South Coast. Advice is to get a taxi outside the port gates and ask for Adrian but if not haggle for a price that suits you, Bajans might be slow but lovely folk and having agreed a price, won't rip you off. Enjoy.

Vicky

[joe grumble]

what is the present (old) port like for checking in.is it really old/tired looking or is it similar to fort lauderdale princess check-in facility.we are sailing next november from barbados on britannia with some friends who it will be their 1st cruise. hope it doesnt resemble an old shed.do you have to walk from this to the ship around the seabreak or do you get a bus to the gangway.

sorry to sound snobby but i`ve bigged up the cruise experience for them and dont want them to think the facilities will reflect the cruise to come.

also a little worried about those terrible rule britannia sail aways.so cheesy and typically brit abroad behaviour. had it on azura to the fyords.cringeworthy.

ps i am british but like to leave that thing at home whilst on holiday.otherwise go to blackpool or skegness. tin hat on ready for replies. :)

[davecttr]

what is the present (old) port like for checking in.is it really old/tired looking or is it similar to fort lauderdale princess check-in facility.we are sailing next november from barbados on britannia with some friends who it will be their 1st cruise. hope it doesnt resemble an old shed.do you have to walk from this to the ship around the seabreak or do you get a bus to the gangway.

sorry to sound snobby but i`ve bigged up the cruise experience for them and dont want them to think the facilities will reflect the cruise to come.

also a little worried about those terrible rule britannia sail aways.so cheesy and typically brit abroad behaviour. had it on azura to the fyords.cringeworthy.

ps i am british but like to leave that thing at home whilst on holiday.otherwise go to blackpool or skegness. tin hat on ready for replies. :)

When i was there last year on Oceana it was about 500 yards from the terminal to the ship, and it was raining! The terminal is fairly modern but in our case the excursion departures were a shambles because all the coaches pull into the terminal to load and that rain plus a HAL ship having an identically named excursion lead to chaos :eek:

 

Yes, the great british sailaways are cringeworthy, especially if there is a german ship berthed next door when they always seem to play the dambusters march :o The germans can get their revenge though by waving their towels in response :D

Edited December 10, 2015 by davecttr

[daiB]

what is the present (old) port like for checking in.is it really old/tired looking or is it similar to fort lauderdale princess check-in facility.we are sailing next november from barbados on britannia with some friends who it will be their 1st cruise. hope it doesnt resemble an old shed.do you have to walk from this to the ship around the seabreak or do you get a bus to the gangway.

 

sorry to sound snobby but i`ve bigged up the cruise experience for them and dont want them to think the facilities will reflect the cruise to come.

 

also a little worried about those terrible rule britannia sail aways.so cheesy and typically brit abroad behaviour. had it on azura to the fyords.cringeworthy.

 

ps i am british but like to leave that thing at home whilst on holiday.otherwise go to blackpool or skegness. tin hat on ready for replies. :)

 

 

When you get off the coach, well bus you go through a large shed. Have your photo taken and the formalities done and then you emerge by the side of the ship. You walk less than 100 yards and you are on the ship.

 

I think Dave above, was talking about a visit to Barbados as a port not as a starting point.

[jaceyar]

Most people adore the sailaways and pillorise anyone who doesn't. I find them tacky but they are easy to avoid.

[Heartlands1]

what is the present (old) port like for checking in.is it really old/tired looking or is it similar to fort lauderdale princess check-in facility.we are sailing next november from barbados on britannia with some friends who it will be their 1st cruise. hope it doesnt resemble an old shed.do you have to walk from this to the ship around the seabreak or do you get a bus to the gangway.

sorry to sound snobby but i`ve bigged up the cruise experience for them and dont want them to think the facilities will reflect the cruise to come.

also a little worried about those terrible rule britannia sail aways.so cheesy and typically brit abroad behaviour. had it on azura to the fyords.cringeworthy.

ps i am british but like to leave that thing at home whilst on holiday.otherwise go to blackpool or skegness. tin hat on ready for replies. :)

 

I'm afraid it's nothing like Fort Lauderdale. Just a shed and not air conditioned but the queue moves quite quickly. The good thing if you're coming in on a chsrter flight is that you don't have to pass through Barbados airport and your luggage goes straight to your cabin. However this can take hours so take a change of clothes for dinner in your hand luggage as I'm afraid it's likely your travel clothes will be wringing with swest from the Customs shed. I would have expected better from Barbados.

 

As for the British sailaway there is only one after the last port of call. The songs are fun while in port and though thry do Land of Hope and Glory and one verse of God Save the Queen they are well out of the port and eardhot of other ships by then.

No obligation to join in but it was quite an impressive sight.

[chrisg1uk]

Yes it's a big shed but you are not there for long and getting down about it just because it's functional rather than plush would be silly in my opinion. Just relax, you won't be there for long and my experience is that everyone is good natured and you are on holiday!

[daiB]

Yes it's a big shed but you are not there for long and getting down about it just because it's functional rather than plush would be silly in my opinion. Just relax, you won't be there for long and my experience is that everyone is good natured and you are on holiday!

 

 

Yes you are on a Caribbean island not the USA or a major European city.

 

Most people report getting off the plane to getting on the ship to be less than an hour and most of that will be in the bus. We managed inside 50 mins.

[Somerset Cruiser]

The shed is rubbish and the buses aren't very good. But you know what I am always so pleased to be in Barbados and it is so laid back I couldn't care less. Roll on February.

[jeanlyon]

I agree totally about the sailaways. Very cringemaking. We avoid them. Can't stand all this arm waving and silly flags. I wonder why P&O do them. Other companies have music, but not this British Empire stuff.

Edited December 11, 2015 by jeanlyon

[Somerset Cruiser]

I wonder why P&O do them.

 

I think the simple answer is that a lot of people enjoy it.

[daiB]

I agree totally about the sailaways. Very cringemaking. We avoid them. Can't stand all this arm waving and silly flags. I wonder why P&O do them. Other companies have music, but not this British Empire stuff.

 

 

Why should you like it or even care if it is going on. Even on Britannia I doubt if there were more than 1000 to 1500 people attended and the two we had were rocking.

 

I hate Bingo but I don't go on and on about them having it on he ship.

 

With so many other things going on I can never understand why people have to be so upset about a sail away that less than halve of the passengers go to.

 

It's not even the best place to watch the sail out.

[cruisebore]

I think the simple answer is that a lot of people enjoy it.

 

 

Yes they do :)

[terrierjohn]

Why should you like it or even care if it is going on. Even on Britannia I doubt if there were more than 1000 to 1500 people attended and the two we had were rocking.

 

I hate Bingo but I don't go on and on about them having it on he ship.

 

With so many other things going on I can never understand why people have to be so upset about a sail away that less than halve of the passengers go to.

 

It's not even the best place to watch the sail out.

Apart from the sailaways from Port Everglades (where everyone wants to wave to the port webcams) I doubt there are more than a few hundred passengers bothering with sailaways on most US cruise ships, and many of them are just sunbathing by the pool.

A lot of US cruise passengers we speak to are quite jealous of the P&O sailaways and wish there's were as joyful.

[daiB]

Apart from the sailaways from Port Everglades (where everyone wants to wave to the port webcams) I doubt there are more than a few hundred passengers bothering with sailaways on most US cruise ships, and many of them are just sunbathing by the pool.

A lot of US cruise passengers we speak to are quite jealous of the P&O sailaways and wish there's were as joyful.

 

 

Yes there have been Americans posting on this page saying how much they loved our sailaways. One sent me a couple of photos of Arcadia sailing off into the sunset from St Maarten. They had been green with envy of the great time people were having.

[bee-ess]

We went on Princess last year around the Eastern Med and there were no sailaway announcements at all - they just dropped the lines and left which was a bit flat really.

We enjoy coming into port and sailaways but don't really need music for that but lots enjoy it and I have to agree that it is a nice time for a drink on deck for sailaway. I think I prefer the P&O sailaways but do find the British one a bit cringeworthy.

[Somerset Cruiser]

They had been green with envy of the great time people were having.

 

That will never do, people enjoying themselves! whatever next:rolleyes:

[joe grumble]

thanks for all the replies about the port/sailaways. i thought i was going to be shot down in flames with my original comments.

its taken me 6 years of big in up cruising to our friends and finally they have booked up with us,britannia caribbean nov 2016. i cant wait to show them what its all about. of our 6 previous cruises with princess x2,ncl x2,celebrity and p&o, they all appeared amercanized (is that a word) :) apart from the p&o one. therefore i hope it will get off to a great start as i`m sure the rest of the cruise will be familiar to our previous ones regarding food,drink,entertainment,sunbathing,rooms and service.

just wish there was more updates on the port in barbados.it certainly needs an injection of modern infrastructure to it as i recall it being one of the most rundown sad looking ports we`ve ever stopped at.

[CCFC]

I'm currently on Britannia in Tortola and when we got on in Barbados it was about 45 minutes from getting off the plane to getting on the ship. I have to say it's a big warehouse which is hot and has an unusual odour. Check in was really quick so it just added a bit of travel experience for us. Love the ship, I thought it was sailing from St Lucia next year while the new Barbados terminal was being built?

[joe grumble]

yeh,britannia is homeporting in st lucia next year but i assume that people will get on in barbados and then some in st lucia like a back to back out of port everglades. glad you like the ship, i`m fed up of reading bad reviews about it.there`s no pleasing some folks is there. its basically the same ship as the regal princess weve just been on except its kitted out differently. these people that moan should wake up and realise how lucky they are to be on these wonderful machines.

we got fed up with sitting aroun d the same pool/beach on 2 week holidays so we tried cruising 5 years ago and we love it.

[tartanexile81]

. I wonder why P&O do them. Other companies have music, but not this British Empire stuff.

 

 

Because they're lots of fun and very popular. We go on a cruise to have a great time and the GBS is just part of an amazing entertainment experience with P&O.

[Somerset Cruiser]

just wish there was more updates on the port in barbados.it certainly needs an injection of modern infrastructure to it as i recall it being one of the most rundown sad looking ports we`ve ever stopped at.

 

A shame you feel like that, I love Barbados Port, but each to their own.

 

Having said that if you think it is rundown and sad its probably because its changed very little in the 18 years we have been going there. Whereas during that time many ports have grown from being nothing other than a dock to having their new terminals built. Again each to their own but there was much to be said for the simpler way. Today it seems to be about shopping.

[zap99]

I'm currently on Britannia in Tortola and when we got on in Barbados it was about 45 minutes from getting off the plane to getting on the ship. I have to say it's a big warehouse which is hot and has an unusual odour. Check in was really quick so it just added a bit of travel experience for us. Love the ship, I thought it was sailing from St Lucia next year while the new Barbados terminal was being built?

.

 

Yes, you arrive at the dock and it's a big old shed. But that big old shed is in Barbados. Nice cruise terminal at Southampton, or big old shed in the Caribbean ?, no contest. I won't say what ship we were on a few weeks ago, but at the sailaway they sang " rule Britannia"

[Somerset Cruiser]

.

 

Yes, you arrive at the dock and it's a big old shed. But that big old shed is in Barbados. Nice cruise terminal at Southampton, or big old shed in the Caribbean ?, no contest. I won't say what ship we were on a few weeks ago, but at the sailaway they sang " rule Britannia"

 

See as you were on ...... can I ask what is the diameter of the tables on the Balconies.

 

Odd I know :)

 

Edit, yes that shed, I have never really taken much notice of it really, always hot and tired, anyway its the gateway to a 2 week Caribbean cruise.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Somerset Cruiser