Cruise & Stay with Tui Holidays

Meeting up with our fellow travellers, a tradition started by our voyage to Singapore in 2023, we explored the ship. Some went to see the ship entertainment, others to grab a coffee, and generally got in a good leg stretch.

That evening, our group started strong, we cracked into the all-inclusive drinks package. Well, when I say we, Mr B, and our fellow cruise travel crew - Mr & Mrs J and Mr & Mrs N all did. 

In typical Jen form, I was struggling with an unpleasant cough. So no cocktails for me that night. Though as the photo proves, I did fight through, and managed a beer like the true warrior I am. Lol!

Easily distracted by pretty things, glow-in-the-dark, and fairy lights - my nails kept me occupied as I happily showed them off under the UV lights on the pool deck.

Docking into the Cruise terminal by 8am, we had breakfast on board ship at the buffet overlooking the island.

 In the cruise terminal area there is an array of shops, so you don't need to wander far for duty free and tourist shopping. Our excursion for the day was to visit the Island of Virgin Gorda.

We were met at the port by our excursion hosts and popped onto a bus to take us to our large water taxi. Our water taxi then took us to Virgin Gorda, passing the rather impressive looking Ritz-Carlton yacht hotel.

Another adventure. This time we spent a lot of time on a bus as the tour guide drove us around talking about the various places we passed on our way. 

Sint Maarten or Saint Martin depending if you're speaking to the Dutch or French side of the Island was a very busy destination. 

One of our stops was at Marigot, the French capital of the Island. Most of the gallery images below are from there. We stopped at little market, and we found a quiet spot to enjoy a cold beer.  The Island brew was called SXM, so of course I had to give it a try, and like most of the Caribbean lagers, it was very nice.

We boarded the tour bus, and headed off for the most stops of our journey so far. As we travelled, our tour guide pointed out historical buildings, like the old cabin in the gallery below, and old churches of varying denominations. 

Our first destination of the day, was to The Blockhouse. This is an old English Fort and Garrison complex built in 1789 and used until 1854. Here soldiers would monitor Antigua's west coast against French invasion. It is now a great view point to look at the homes of the rich and famous. Eric Clapton's home being the most obvious as we gazed across the water.

From there we went onto Shirley Heights. This was a lovely little spot, simply for it's view of the perfect little looking dock below, called The English Harbour. That was our next stop.

The English Harbour, is the famous Nelson's Dockyard Heritage site. We really wished we had more time here. It looked to have a lovely little pub, but owing to the fact we only had 15 minutes left to absorb the sites, we didn't get chance to soak in the history. We've put it on our 'to do' list we we ever get the chance to go back. 

Impromptu

Exhausted pigeon time

Coach transfer to our hotel

More to follow......