Barbados Review- Destiny Sailing 10/17/04

[pholter]

Barbados:

 

This was our favorite port of the trip. We had a very long day planned with Glory Tours- Best of Barbados. It was raining when we got off the ship, so we started the day with a bit of disappointment, but the skies cleared up pretty quick. If you’ve booked with Sarah at Glory, you’ll need to walk all the way through the terminal building and down the street past security at the gates to find the van. We made our first stop at Harrison’s Cave where we rode a tram through the cave, which was discovered in the 1970’s. We saw underground pools and a waterfall, many rock formations, and lots of stalagmites and stalagtites. Then, we were off to Bathsheba beach to see one of the best surfing capitols in the world. We watched a guy riding some waves and stopped for some great photos. Ricky was our driver and guide. He pointed out lots of great history of the island and where all the stars lived, too. We stopped for a local flavored lunch at the Sand Dunes Bar & Restaurant which was delicious! Off to the Wildlife Preserve was next to see all the Green Monkeys, Peacocks, Turtles, and many other species. This place is really cool because you walk around through their surroundings and they walk and play freely right there with you or in front of you. Ricky bought us all a Rum Punch to round out our stay at the preserve. We drove to the dock to meet their new boat and captain next. It was a great glass-bottom boat with a huge deck to lay out on top and covered seating below. They again pointed out all the cool houses and who they belonged to. We got really close to Tom Selleck’s house and saw where Tiger Wood’s got married, etc. Everyone swam with the turtles and snorkled for quite a while. We all viewed the beautiful coral and fish through the glass bottom of the boat. It was very cool and a great way to end the day. This tour was from 9am- 5pm(ish). The price is very reasonable for all the different things we got to see and learn. The best of land and sea. I believe the current pricing is about $95 per person. http://www.glorytours.org/. We went back onto the ship for a quick change of clothes and we were off to the Boatyard for dinner and some adult beverages. Dinner was actually pretty mediocre and nothing to write home about- we even tried the flying fish appetizer since I knew that was a specialty of the island. The drinks, on the other hand, were really great! In no time at all, I was inside the cage over the bartenders dancing for the crowd and earning some free beads. One of our friends we met at embarkation joined me while the bartenders sprayed us down with water and the crowd got a little wild. It was a total blast! We walked along their pier over the water, ran into some of the ship’s crew, and danced quite a bit. All an all, a fantastic day in Barbados. The taxi driver was challenged by us to get us back to the boat in 2 minutes (which was totally impossible we felt since the ride over took about 7-10). This was the scariest, but most fun I’ve had in a taxi- 1 minute and 45 seconds later, we were in front of the terminal with barely a minute to spare before last call. Don’t forget to sample and purchase some of the Calypso Rum Cakes sold in the terminal. You can get sample, single serving sizes for just $4 each and the bigger ones are available, too. I actually purchased some online and had them shipped to me at work to share once I returned home.

 

[barbados]

Pholter, thanks for the great review!

 

I think it will help many people decide what to do on the island.

 

I also want to thank you for your support and enthusiasm about Barbados.

 

Barbados is really many countries with a common shore.

 

If one just visits Bridgetown proper, they may be disappointed. A person has to get out of the city and explore, as you found out.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience with all of us. :)

[pholter]

Pholter, thanks for the great review!

 

I think it will help many people decide what to do on the island.

 

I also want to thank you for your support and enthusiasm about Barbados.

 

Barbados is really many countries with a common shore.

 

If one just visits Bridgetown proper, they may be disappointed. A person has to get out of the city and explore, as you found out.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience with all of us. :)

Mr. Barbados-

 

No- thank you for all the time and energy you put in to helping me plan my trip on this message board. You go out of your way to answer everyone's questions. You helped make our day a very memorable one on your wonderful and friendly island! :D

 

The review is the least I can do to try to share our experiences- we only had one day; what a great thing it would be to be able to live there even part time. Maybe Oprah Winfrey would let me house sit for her :p

[momdaughterondestiny]

I would like to thank you both. Thanks to Mr Barbados answering all the ? asked of him and explaining in detail what makes his island so special. And thanks to you Pholter for your review of Barbados with glory tours. I emailed Sarah last night after I read your review, and got an auto email then this morning an email from Sarah herself. She was so nice and answered my ? and told me to feel free to email her with any questions I had . I also read your whole review of the entire trip on the Destiny and I want to tell you that both of these reviews have helped me greatly plan my entire trip. I was excited before now to get to go to Barbados (it an Aruba ) being the reason I chose this itinery. So thanks for your detailed review and sharing your experience with us.

Gina

[spicy1]

Pholter,

 

We're going on the Destiny 12/05, and can not thank you enough for your reviews. I have been in your message shadows for quite some time now.

Thank you and I'm happy that you had a great trip.

[karjenyes]

Pholter,

This is Karla who was with you on the Destiny and on Glory Tours. We discussed the problems others on these Boards had had with Sarah. As it turns out in addition to honoring the verbal quote she gave me - She also has over charged my credit card. In trying to be fair, I gave her over a week to correct this. If you have any connection with her - please implore with her to fix quickly so I do not need to take further actions.

 

Karla J.

[pholter]

Hi Karla- Sorry there was a delay in your credit. I know originally it took an extra few days for my charge to show up, but that happened with all my charges from the other ports as well. It could be an international thing- not sure. I communicated with Sarah via email and her website, but I'll be happy to try for you. I had such a great time that day and really loved meeting you :)