David Fiske Affiliate Marketing & Web Development

This is the last of the articles. We took 2,108 photos so it's not realistic to put them all on here! I wouldn't want to bore you either!

I've taken a look at getting to the ship and about the ship itself. Now it's time for the ports of call. We only had a day in each and we generally tried to spend half a day partaking in a RCI excursion and the other half doing some shopping and trying to see a beach!

In a cruise diary fashion, I've picked the best picture to sum up each day of the holiday.
 
Day 1 - Fly out to New York



The day was long so the most memorable part (besides New York) has to be ... bed!!! This is our room at the Doubletree JKF.

Day 2 - Board the Ship and Depart



The day consisted of waiting, travelling, waiting, boarding, waiting and sailing. It was our first taste of the rocking back and forth motion, something that didn't seem to bother us although we had stocked up on travel sickness pills as a precaution!

The photo above is of a bridge we had to pass under to get out of New York. Worst case scenario gives just 8 feet of clearance so it's quite tight and quite a spectacle!

Day 3 - Sailing



The first day was novel as it was completely at sea. We took plenty of pics of the boat.

Day 4- Sailing



Sailing ago though it's not gotten boring yet.

We were invited to a Honeymooner's party - there were 6 newly-wed couples on board.

Day 5 - Sailing



Sailing once again. Longing for a bit of dry land!

Still discovering parts of the ship. Finally found the heli-pad!

Day 6 - St Thomas



DRY LAND!!! The funny thing was that we continued to sway back and forth on dry land.

We went up a hill in a cable car, took a scenic tour of the island and walked a total of a couple of miles into town and back.

Day 7 - St Maarten



We docked in the Dutch side of the island. The French side of the island is where they filmed Speed 2 - the bit where the cruise ship ploughed into the island.

We went on an island tour as well as a trip on a boat with a glass bottom, looking at coral and other niceties.

We walked around a two mile round trip to the town and in the process found a beach!

Day 8 - Dominica



This island is famed more for rainforest than beaches, hence it was very hilly and very green. There wasn't much to do though fortunately our excursion was for most of the day into the heart of the forest.

Day 9 - Barbados



We went on a tour similar to the one in St Maarten, only we went in an actual submarine down 130ft.

Plenty of beaches on the island - 365 in fact.

Day 10 - Antigua



This has to be the best island (IMO) we visited. Incredibly picturesque and synonymous with my idea of the Caribbean.

Our tour took us around the island seeing local pottery, pineapples, herbs (?!), and finally to a beach, albeit for 10 minutes.

Day 11 - Sailing



A sad day as we know the holiday is ending. Nevertheless, we make the most of the hot weather and calm seas.

Day 12 - Sailing



Same as day 11!

Day 13 - Sailing



In the words of the captain, "Mother Nature doesn't like us much today". Up to 27 foot waves meant we were cabin-bound, drugged up on travel sickness pills. Yippee.

Day 14 - Disembark and Fly Home



Loads of sitting around. Breakfast was at 7am. We had to sit around until 1030am to disembark, followed by a 2 hour bus journey, half an hour in the Doubletree again, a transfer to the airport, 4 hours waiting then 6 hours flying. Long, tiresome and somewhat boring.

Conclusion

The question we kept getting asked is would we do it again. Without a shadow of a doubt we would. It's an expensive holiday but essentially it's a 5 star hotel that lets you wake up in a new place each and every day. The service aboard was outstanding along with the activities to do. The UK customer support arm of RCI leaves a lot to be desired for which is why we would hesitate to book with them again. That said, it truly was an unforgettable experience.