Cruise description

14 Night Cruise sailing from Bridgetown roundtrip aboard Adonia.

14 Night Cruise sailing from Bridgetown roundtrip aboard Adonia.

Cruise Overview:
As winter takes hold, why not head for the sun and soak up the warmth of the east Caribbean? Look forward to a cruise filled with fun, fiery food and happy smiles.

Beautiful Barbados is where your Caribbean adventure begins. Make the most of its idyllic beaches before sailing on to some of the Caribbean’s best loved islands. A wealth of wonders awaits at each call. Dive down for some serious snorkeling in Mayreau, St Vincent. Soak up the French-Caribbean flair of Guadeloupe. Or succumb to the chic charms of pristine Martinique. Then it’s back to Barbados before heading home.

Highlights of this cruise:

Bridgetown
Watching the Atlantic surf crash down on the rugged east coast of this richly diverse island and, for a moment, you may feel you could be on the Cornish coast but the moment you hear the waves of gospel singing emanating from a tiny local church you realise you could not be anywhere else but Barbados.

While, over on the sheltered west coast, the glorious beaches are pure Caribbean. And there are more beaches and a lot more bars, cafés, restaurants and clubs creating a vibrant 24/7 lifestyle on the south coast, too.

In the capital and cruise port, Bridgetown, there are intriguing signs of its British colonial past while, across the island, you are really spoilt for choice. You can enjoy every watersport under the sun; stunning nature walks and bike rides; or maybe a trip to the uniquely magnificent Harrisons Cave underground complex of caverns, waterfalls, stalactites and stalagmites.

Mayreau
A couple of square miles of desert island paradise, Mayreau is home to just 200 people. There are no hotels so chances are you will be the only visitors when you go ashore for some serious sun-worshipping, swimming, snorkelling and just plain chilling out on the mile-long Saline Bay beach.

This is the smallest of the Grenadine islands and you will look in vain for shopping malls, casinos or nightclubs. Mayreau is so exclusive that it is just like being on a private island and is always a highlight of any Caribbean cruise in which it features.

Antigua
With over 365 beaches, there is a slice of white sand heaven for every day of the year - even a leap year - on the idyllic Caribbean holiday island Antigua, which played host to Admiral Horatio Nelson’s fleet in the late 1700’s. Nelson’s Dockyard now bustles with crew and guests from yachts and cruise ships sailing these waters for pleasure rather than for King and Country.

The main port, St John’s, is also the capital and a vibrant hub for shopping as well as being within easy range of some of the best beaches – at Fort James, Deep Bay, Galley Bay and Hawksbill. Almost perfect weather conditions and low humidity, due to the warm prevailing trade winds, allows Antigua to boast of being the sunniest of the Eastern Caribbean islands with the lowest annual rainfall. It is also the largest of the English-speaking Leeward Islands although it is only 14 miles long and 11 miles wide. Still, with a population of less than 70,000, this means there are lots of wide open spaces – especially on those gorgeous beaches.

St Maarten
Half French and half Dutch, St. Martin/Sint Maarten is one of the Caribbean’s most diverse and interesting islands.

Ships dock at the Dutch capital Philipsburg, a delightful warren of narrow streets called steegjies, where you will find interesting shops and leafy courtyard cafés. Start your exploration at Wathey Square, which is home to a fine collection of traditional West Indian ‘gingerbread’ houses as well as a colourful market.

If you would prefer to enjoy a little French ‘je ne sais quoi’, take an island tour to the pretty French capital Marigot, worth visiting for its colourful markets, lovely café-lined waterfront and the chic boutiques of Marina Port La Royale, where you can pick up unusual jewellery and leather goods. Or spend your day on a catamaran trip from Philipsburg for fabulous deep-sea snorkelling with lunch.

Tortola
If you want to experience the ‘undiscovered’ Caribbean, cruise to the unspoiled British Virgin island of Tortola. Rising to 1,709 feet at its highest point and famed for its rugged volcanic landscape, Tortola has proved difficult to develop as a major tourist haunt, and so has preserved its charm.

Its quaint capital, Road Town, is charming and compact. Just five minutes walk from the tender drop-off at Wickhams Quay you will find Main Street, home to a colourful crafts market and a range of small speciality shops selling Tortolan ceramics, Mexican glassware and unusual carvings sculpted from sea flotsam.

You will also find some of the loveliest and least crowded beaches in the Caribbean. At Cane Garden Bay you can tuck into a barbecued freshly caught fish; snorkellers will find the most eye-boggling marine life at Lower Belmont Bay, while those who prefer to stay dry can stroll through spectacular virgin rainforest at Mount Sage National Park.

St Kitts
If you have ever dreamt of the classic Caribbean island, chances are it looked a lot like St. Kitts. You will recognise that mixture of deserted beaches, sleepy villages, lush rainforest greenery and sugarcane fields and maybe even the mini-mountain range with a dormant volcano in its midst.

Yet the first thing you will see when the ship docks is pretty much brand new: St. Kitts cruise terminal and marina complex - a collection of shops, bars, restaurants and gardens. Once through that, though, you can explore the back streets and impressively restored Georgian buildings of the capital, Basseterre.

Independent since 1983, St. Kitts covers just 65 square miles but has its own World Heritage site: Brimstone Hill fortress. Another option for St. Kitts cruise visitors is the 45-minute ferry to sister island Nevis.