Day 14 Bridgetown, Barbados
The overnight transit from Grenada was back into the Atlantic and was smooth.
We arrived early on Friday morning and were woken to the sounds of a busy port. Azura was in the port with two other cruise ships.This was the last time Azura would be here this season and the loading and unloading had started early. I watched the Bajun Immigration officers file onto the ship at about 7 am in order to ‘immigrate’ us all. We had been given boarding passes for our planes home as well as the Bajun customs and immigration forms. Before breakfast we all queued to present passports and forms to be stamped and be given a small piece of card to show that we had been processed.
I had booked a photography tour of Barbados but was disappointed when P&O cancelled it due to lack of interest. This was the third time this had happened since cruising with P&O from Barbados. Instead after breakfast we headed out through the cruise terminal to the taxis and joined a mini bus of passengers heading for the beaches. We were going to The Boatyard in Carlisle Bay which meant going through the middle of Bridgetown.
It is only a $5 dollar taxi ride then $15 to enter The Boatyard each. For this you get sun loungers, an umbrella, WiFi and crucially the first drink is free. A bargain!
A bucket of six beers was only $15.The PA system pushes out music with the occasional announcement in the morning telling of the few rules including the times of the three happy hours. Their beach is a public beach but importantly no jet skis or speedboats can approach the beach through the swimming area.
Lunch is ordered at the bar and you are called over the PA when it is ready. Ours was ready in less than 20 minutes and was a chicken strips and fries – for $10.50 each.
The afternoon’s music was punctuated by announcements of taxis leaving for the cruise terminals. A mini bus left nearly every 20 minutes and as part of the ‘package’ was free if taken before 17:30. After another happy hour 2 for 1 on rum drinks) the siren rang for free shots at the bar.
After a few more hours of sun and swimming we left to ago back to the cruise ship to begin packing in one of the taxis and skipped calling at the cruise terminal bar. Carlisle Bay is by the flight path of the airport which is an unfortunate reminder of having to leave the Caribbean soon.
After packing we went to The Beach House for dinner. Here’s our menu.
And our starters and my desert . . .
After a glass of champagne on our balcony to round off the evening, we finished packing and put our suitcases out in the corridor. The next time we would see them would be in Gatwick.