Live from Azura for Xmas in Caribbean

[Suekersh]

The cruise so far. Having a great time and building up to Christmas.

Christmas in the Caribbean on Azura
Day 1 and 2

It was a long day yesterday. We were at the airport for 7am, checked in, but a little hassle as the seats we had booked were blocked out. The check in girl tried to persuade us that some others were identical but we stood our ground and within 5 minutes it was sorted. We had booked seats on the Thomas Cook flight but had an e mail from P & O only 3 days ago to inform us that those seats did not exist. To ensure 2 seats together we hand to change planes to Thomson and upgrade to premium.

Premium was only 1/3 rd full, the drink was plentiful and the meal was very good. I had peppered salmon and Garry chose the beef. The afternoon tea was not as good as ploughmans doorstops were served. I ate the cheese and left the rest.

The flight was on time but by the time we got to the ship it was 5 pm Barbados time, 9pm British time and we had been up 17 hours. We ate early, went back to the cabin and the cases had arrived. We unpacked and then went to bed.
I think the days are long gone where we could fly long distance then party on the first night.

Today we woke very early as our body clock was still on English time. After breakfast the sun was shining so we decided to go and find out if Folkstone Marine Park had reopened since the renovations. The guy in the tourist office told us it was due to open any time soon but didn't know if it had. We asked the taxi dispatcher who told us that it hadn't yet re opened. We decided on Paynes Bay. The sea was very calm and warm and I was soon tempted in to go and see the turtles. It was a fairly long swim out but so worth it when I saw a baby turtle swimming with a large turtle. Paynes Bay has changed a lot since we were there last year. The entrance which was down an alley way has moved about 100 yds further along. The hotel has closed down along with the little bar. A new bar has opened in the new entrance called coconutz, but the whole area is very quiet. The global recession has hit the tourism here.

After a couple of Banks beers and a very strong rum punch it was time to head back to the port area to stock up on essentials. As we were about to leave the terminal to walk back to the ship the heavens opened. It was torrential rain and we decided to stay put until it stopped. After about 10 minutes it had stopped enough to make a dash for the ship but unfortunately it continued raining on and off for the rest of the afternoon. We were far too late for lunch in the MDR so decided to check the piggery out. It was as I expected but I managed to get some salad and cheese. We spent the afternoon sat on the balcony which is undercover reading and watching the new pax arrive.

We are in the freedom dining restaurant and the food last night and tonight has been very good, although tonight we had to eat early as the muster drill was at 8 pm.

The choice of entertainment tonight is a ventriloquist in the theatre, John Denver tribute act in Manhattan, and a duo in Malabar. There is a CD dance date hosted by dance instructors Gareth and Andrea.

The cocktail of the day is Planters punch.

There is no cruise overview in the cabin so not sure what entertainment is in store for us.

[Suekersh]

Day 3 at sea on route to Grenada.
We were up very early again this morning, and I am sat on the balcony writing this. The sun is appearing from behind the cloud and it is already 80 degrees. We are sailing very slowly but it should be a nice relaxing day.

The first task is to book our Christmas Day table in the Freedom restaurant. This is the only time we will have to do this. As the meal involves extra courses the only way everyone can be accommodated is by having 2 sittings in the restaurants and utilising the speciality restaurants as well. Garry has gone down to sort our booking out. Bookings opened at 07:30, at 07:00 he was about 30th in the queue. We got the seating and table we wanted but many many very disgruntled angry passengers on board. The queues blocked the cafe area for all of the morning. Tales of bring in the queue for 3 hours and more can be heard around the ship. Not a good start for people's holiday.

Our problem with the flight department continues. On our request the flight manager on board contacted us and confirmed that we did not have a seat booking, this is despite the confirmation from head office that we had. She has promised that she will sort this out for us. What would have happened if we had not contacted her we will never know.

There is a lot going on around the ship today, port talks, shopping talks, cookery demonstration, dance class, spa talks, deck sports, football in Brodies, quizzes. Certainly something for everyone. The guest speaker is Martin Carlin talking about the life and death of Ruth Ellis. I think this may be quite interesting but not sure I want to be inside on a beautiful day in the Caribbean.

The ship is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The atrium tree is beautifully decorated and there are lots of decorations on the cabin doors.

We had a lazy day mainly sat on the balcony watching the sea and small islands go by. We ate lunch on the balcony with a nice bottle of Rosé then dozed the remainder of the afternoon away.

Tonight is the first formal night and the Captains Welcome on board party. The headliners are performing Curtain up, Shaun Perry a comedian/ vocalist is in Malabar, and Manuel Martinez is in Manhatten. I think this guy follows us around as he has been on every cruise we have been on for the past 2 years.

The food so far has been very good. For the first time I have registered as a fish eating vegetarian and the menu for the following night has been brought to me to order from. If there is nothing on there I want then there is also a vegetarian menu.

We saw Shaun Perry then danced the night away in the atrium, finishing the night with a coffee on the balcony listening to the music from Breakers bar. It is just loud enough to hear but not intrusive.

Cocktail if the day - Piña Colada

[Suekersh]

Day 4 Grenada
We woke to another sunny day with some clouds which gave some relief to the high temperatures.

We met up with another couple and their young daughter and hired a taxi to a local beach close to Grand Anse. The scenery is typical Caribbean and is much much quieter than Grand Anse. The sea was calm but because of recent bad weather it was very murky so not great for snorkelling. The beach chairs were free, the local beer Caribe, and the rum punch was good. The taxi fare was only 5 US dollars each, each way, so a good value day.

We had arranged to meet up with other posters from one of the cruise forums at Breakers Bar for sailaway. There was a good turn out and nice to put names to faces. Many of us are doing the same trips so will meet up again regularly during the cruise.

We ate in Sindhu menu A which was up to the usual excellent standard. The entertainment choices were the Ventriloquist act in the Theatre, a game show
in Manhattan, vocalist in Malabar, and Big Band sounds in the Atrium. We listened to the Big Band for a while then went back to the cabin to relax on the balcony.

The cocktail of the day Miami Vice on Ice.

Tomorrow is St Lucia.

[Suekersh]

Day 5 St Lucia
A very scenic sail in to St Lucia. We breakfasted early in the buffet and had great views. We are docking at Seraphine point as Celebrity Summit drew the short straw and is docked town side.

I have booked the Piton snorkel trip and Garry will go and do the essential shopping, and we will meet up later and probably finish in the rum shack along with ½ the ship and crew.

The snorkel trip was amazing. The water was so clear and thousands of very colourful fish. As we got into the water the heavens opened for about 5 minutes but after that the sun reappeared. The journey back to the ship was great fun music playing and rum punch flowing. I have done this trip often and never tire of it.

Back in Castries a Garry got absolutely drenched doing the shopping, he caught the little ferry across to the supermarket, but pax we spoke to who opted for Reduit beach did not see any rain at all.

We had a very quiet evening and after dinner relaxed, with a cocktail in the planet bar watching the Planet India scenes.

Cocktail of the day Berried Treasure.

Tomorrow Dominica and another snorkelling opportunity if the weather is good.

[Suekersh]

Day 6 Dominica
We arrived in Dominica early morning. Very calm seas which hopefully bodes well for our visit to Champagne reef for snorkelling and the best rum punch served on any the islands. There is some scattered clouds around and I have just spotted a rainbow. This island is very green and lush with few beaches and many acres of rain forrest.

There is another ship following us in so it may be very busy today in Dominica.
Although the announcement was we were docking in Rosseau we didn't and we docked at the port outside the town.

We met up with some friends and got a taxi to Champagne reef. 20 US dollars return each, 2 US dollars to enter the reef area and excellent snorkelling. I have never seen the sea as calm here or the reef as busy. Plenty of space to snorkel though and once out there it didn't feel crowded. Getting in and out has been improved by rubber matting but it really needs a pontoon. Each year we visit there have been improvements made. I took my underwater camera out but unfortunately it started playing up and after a few minutes went completely dead. I had checked the battery this morning so it is not that. Good job we are visiting St Marten in a few days. That's my Christmas and birthday present sorted. I am so pleased it has happened now and not on our World cruise next month.

Back to the port area and a large craft type market to look round. I bought a fridge magnet but nothing else caught my eye.

The sun came onto our balcony mid afternoon and it is just another perfect day in the Caribbean.

We ate early in the MDR as it was the Peninsular cocktail party at 8pm for all dinner sittings. It was a chance to catch up with some of the officers we have met on previous cruises, the drink flowed well and we were offered canapés but declined as we had just eaten. We were surprised by how few pax were at the event.

The entertainment was a Neil Diamond tribute in Manhatten, the resident band Changez in Malabar, a vocalist in the playhouses and the Ball in the Atrium. We danced for a while but the atmosphere in the atrium for dancing is not the same as previous cruises on Azura. The dance instructors have not got the 'mine host' personality to get people up on the floor. The music they play although Christmasy is not inspiring. I don't know if they provide the music or if they are playing the ships CDs. The entertainment staff no longer attend the balls to dance with single ladies.

Cocktail of the day - Hurricane.

Tomorrow is St Kitts.

[Suekersh]

Day 7 St Kitts
It was very windy docking this morning and Captain Paul had to make some intricate manoeuvres to ensure we could safely dock here.

After breakfast we shared a taxi to South Friars beach and the Shipwreck bar. The monkeys were still eating breakfast and play fighting amongst themselves.

It was still quite windy and the sea was quite choppy. Within an hour the sea had calmed down considerably, the sun was hot and it was time to go and look at the reef. It is very close to the shore here and the fish were plentiful. There was a huge star fish under the pontoon, and I saw lobsters along with the usual array of colourful fish which live in the warm Caribbean Sea. The water was not as clear as Dominica or St Lucia but it was still an interesting experience. I really missed my underwater camera.

The Caribe beer and rum punch went down well to wash the salt water away, and all too soon it was 1 pm and Emile our taxi driver had arrived.

Back at the port the shopping area was very busy, we bought some wine for pre dinner cabin drinking, then boarded the ship for lunch.

There was another ship next to us which I think was French but luckily because it was not as tall as Azura and we are on A deck, the sun was on our balcony.

During the sailaway Captain Paul announced that our stay in St Maarten tomorrow would be extended to 8pm.

The evening entertainment was the Headliners performing the Destination dance show in the Theatre, big band sounds in the Malabar, Manuel Martinez in Manhattan and the resident duo Intermission in the Atrium.

We saw the early show in the theatre, then listened to the duo for a while, before finishing the evening in the Planet bar watching Planet America whilst drinking an excellent Margherita.

Cocktail of the day Chocolate Banana.

[Suekersh]

Day 8 St Maarten
Another hot sunny day. Much quieter here than it has been on our previous visits. There was only one other ship docked.

We got off the ship early as we had quite a shopping list. We were looking for an underwater camera to replace the one which had broken. We got a good deal on a Nikon cool pix which we had already priced up on the ship. We got it for half the price the ship. Garry wanted some Caribbean shirts and these are very inexpensive on St a Maarten as the Rima make are manufactured here. We got 6 shirts for 40 US dollars which is very good value.

We spent the rest of the morning on the beach or at Captain Jacks bar. Although we like this bar the jet skis are now based right by their sun beds so we will probably look for somewhere else next time.

We had booked Sindhu menu B for our evening meal. This was excellent again and we had a window table so had a view of the port as the ship sailed away from St Maarten.

The entertainment choice was String violins in the theatre, these are two very talented young girls who play classical music with a modern theme. A vocalist in Malabar and the resident group Changez in Manhatten.

Cocktail of the Day - Long Beach Iced Tea.

All for now. Tortola today and Sea day tomorrow en route to Curaçao.

[Ray Scully]

Hi Sue

Your post are taking us back to our cruise. Pleased all is going well and you are enjoying good weather. It's been somewhat wet and windy in Lancashire. Have a wonderful Christmas on Azura and many thanks for posting.

Ray

[Dark Knight]

Sue
thanks for the reports
it is our first visit to the Caribbean in Jan and you reports are giving me some good tips for beaches and snorkleing

[Suekersh]

Hi all,
In Curaçao today. Weather is still good and just hearing reports of the storms back home.

Report on last couple of days.

Day 9 Tortola
The weather overnight was quite rough with quite a lot of movement. We had planned to visit Brewers Bay but decided to take a break from the beach today. So far we have only had one sea day so it has been a very port intensive 9 days.

The wind has dropped and the sun is shining.

After a later breakfast, and some laundry done, we wandered into Road town to look round the shops and market area. We found a bar which charged 3US dollars for a drink and 1 hours wifi. We made contact by face time with family and our youngest Grandaughter sang Twinkle Twinkle little star and jingle bells to the amusement of others in the bar. After a visit inside the bar to find the facilities Garry realised we had sat in the wrong part of the bar. We were overlooking a car park and the other side overlooked a beautiful marina. We will remember this for next time.

The weather was mainly good with the odd few minutes of liquid sunshine to try to dodge.

It was the great British sailaway and Neil and his team of ents officers did a great job, and Captain Paul joined them after he had performed the intricate job of getting the ship safely off its berth and on its way to Curaçao.

It was tropical night and there were lots of lovely colourful shirts and dresses about the ship.

The Evening entertainment choice was Peter Cutler in the theatre, vocalist David Kidd in Malabar, dancing in the Atrium, and the tropical Party on deck.

After dinner we visited the Planet Bar and sampled some of the cocktails of the day which was Caribbean Cruise.

Tomorrow is a sea day en route to Curaçao and is also the Lingurian/ Baltic Luncheon.

Day 10 Sea Day en route to Curaçao
It was a very cloudy start to the day but also very hot. The sun soon burnt off the cloud but the captain warned us of risks of showers throughout the morning.

There was a Christmas market in the Atrium and a guess the weight of the Christmas cake in Sindhu, the passenger who guesses the nearest weight wins a free meal for 2 in Sindhu. Fingers crossed.

It was our senior officer hosted lunch day and the Deputy Captain Luke hosted our table. He was very entertaining and the conversation and wine flowed well.
The Captain did not attend as it being one of only 4 sea days he had wedding duties to perform he did however greet all of the guests at the lunch dressed in his formal uniform and very smart he looked too.

As is the norm for us after these events the afternoon was spent sleeping off the effects of the lunch and wine. By the time we woke it was time to get ready for the Black and White formal night. It is such a hard life.
We both ate lightly in the MDR, the waiters were getting into the Christmas Spirit and all had Santa hats on. The majority looked like they had been provided by the ship but some of the ones they had either adapted or purchased themselves were truly spectacular.

The evening entertainment was a choice of String idols second show, a game show in Malabar, an Elton John tribute act in Manhatten and the Black and White Ball in the Atrium.

Cocktail of the day Piña Colada and there is also a new Christmas Cocktail available called Angel Delight. I guess I will have to try it but it has milk in it and I am not a lover of the rich milky cocktails, but I will suffer for the sake of the blog. It is a mixture if Bombay Saphire, Triple Sec, milk and Grenadine, shaken over ice and fine strained into a chilled Martini Glass.



We will be in Bonaire tomorrow and I have a snorkel trip booked with Woodwind. After that 2 sea days back to Barbados and our flight home.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

Sue

[oldbluefox]

Thanks for your reports Sue.

Back home it is cold, wet, windy. Am I jealous............................? Too true I am but pleased to hear from you and that you are having a good time. Don't worry about us.

[JenniC]

Just read all your reports Sue.. And so wishing we were there so may have to book something after Christmas . Enjoy the remainder of your trip and have a great Christmas Day and best wishes to you and Garry for 2014.

[Suekersh]

Hi all, we are now back from a fantastic cruise on Azura. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas.

The remainder of the report from our Xmas cruise.

Day 11 Curaçao
We disembarked the ship early before the temperature rose. It is a reasonable distance to walk from the ships berth, through the Rennaisance centre, which is still not fully finished, and across the Queen Elizabeth bridge. It is a very colourful interesting town and the prices are shown in both Dutch Gilder and US dollars.

We had been led to believe that the prices of goods were duty free and good value. Not so or had we been spoiled by St Maarten?

When it became too hot to continue shopping we found a bar with free Wi Fi and contacted family, and downloaded e mails and messages.

From the bar we could see the bridge so we waited for it to close to allow foot passengers to cross before we left the bar. It can be closed to foot passengers for considerable periods of time whilst ships pass through. As it was close to midday it was very hot walking back to the ships berth.

There were a few stalls close by the ship so we mooched around there in the shade before re boarding. We had lunch on the balcony which today was on the shaded side of the ship. We were very grateful to be out of the intense muggy heat.

We ate our Evening meal in Verona the Italian restaurant on board. Garry and Flora both had the steak cooked on larva rock and I had the tuna steak. Delicious as usual and very quiet, probably due to a prolonged departure time of 8pm.

The entertainment choices were The Headliners performing Reel to Reel, Rebecca Reeves singing in Malabar, Tony Wallace comedian in Manhatten and dancing in the Atrium.

As we had never come across Tony Wallace before we decided to go and listen to him. He was hilarious. Good clean humour with no audience involvement, he could also sing and play his guitar very well. We will definitely look out for his 2nd show.

Whilst in Manhatten I researched the Christmas cocktail. It was much nicer than expected and very strong, but because if was creamy it was not thirst quenching. I can understand why they have called it Angel Delight as this is exactly what it looks like in the glass.

The cocktail of the day - Miami Vice on Ice.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we will be in Bonaire.

Day 12 Bonaire
Our final island of the cruise and another beautiful sunny day. I had an early snorkel trip booked with Woodwind, so ordered room service and ate breakfast on the balcony, watching the sail in to Bonaire. This is a very flat island with all the scenery under the water

The trip was great fun and the crew of the woodwind boat were very informative and made sure everyone on the boat had a great experience. The amount of fish we saw and the different species were amazing. I had seen baby octopus on previous trips but today I saw an adult one. The only downside was the amount of tiny jellyfish in the water. They sting but are not poisonous and the sting soon stops hurting.

The rest of the day we spent looking around the port area and doing the final bits of souvenir shopping. It was exceptionally hot and seemed very strange to think it was Xmas Eve.

Back on ship and the Christmas sailaway. The children were watching out for Santas arrival and Captain Paul kept updating us of his arrival time. Great fun and the ents staff danced energetically in the searing heat.

After another excellent meal in the MDR we managed to secure seats in the Blue bar to watch the children sing Christmas Carols and songs before the 1st performance of P.P. Arnold. I really wished we had stayed in the Blue Bar. This must be one of the worst performers I have ever seen on a P & O ship. She managed to shout her way through a selection of songs and completely ruined most of them. Passengers started walking out after the first 5 minutes and I am not sure if she will be doing a 2nd show but we won't be attending.

We finished the night in the Planet bar. When we got back to the cabin Santa had called early and left presents from P & O. These were two different styles of bags. One a nautical type beach bag and the other a useful cross body bag which has plenty of pockets.

The cocktail of the day Planters Punch.

Day 13 Christmas Day at sea
We awoke early and had ordered breakfast from room service which we ate on the balcony with some champagne. The weather was very warm but overcast.

After breakfast I headed for the pool area and the sun was burning off the cloud but unfortunately by 10am it was socked in again.

The children performed their Nativity in the Malabar and the church service was in the theatre. Probably because of the cloudy weather both were full houses. The children's nativity was hilarious and they did so well.

We met Flora for lunch in the glass house which surprisingly was not as busy as expected. There was no buffet open for lunch only the main dining room and poolside pizzeria and burger bar. The buffet and Sindhu are also closed this evening.

The weather stayed warm but cloudy so we decided to take an afternoon nap to sleep off the bottle of wine, in readiness to start again Christmas Evening.

Christmas night was our final formal night of the cruise. At 6pm we were in the Atrium to hear the Officers Carol Service. All departments were represented by the Officers and they were led by Captain Paul. Tis was a lovely start to our Christmas evening.

Dinner was at 18:15 and as everyone had a table booked the dining room was full and buzzing. The food has been excellent in the dining room all cruise but tonight the the whole food and beverage team had excelled themselves. The food was fabulous with a choice of 9 main courses on the menu. After the sweet and cheese course, there were Mince pies with Brandy cream, Christmas cake, Stollen, dates, nuts and liquor chocolate. The food just kept coming.

The headliners show was a special Christmas show called Cruising into Christmas which was excellent. The Elton John and Tom Jones tribute acts were performing in Manhatten, and there was a Christmas party on deck.

Cocktail of the day was Snowball.
We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Day on Azura.

Day 14 Boxing Day at Sea
We awoke to clear skies and a hot morning. After breakfast I headed for the Coral Pool and a sun bed to continue dozing away the effects of the excess if drink and food from yesterday. The sea screen area was already heaving with football fans marking their place in readiness for the Boxing Day matches.

By lunchtime I had cooked enough and we decided as we had a bottle of champagne left to drink to lunch in the shade on our balcony.

There was a busy afternoon planned as at 14:30 it was the Crew Pantomime Aladdin. It was hilarious and they performed to a packed theatre. Captain Paul appeared towards the end and joined in the fun.

It was the Jackpot bingo at 5pm and some lucky person won over £1200 not me unfortunately, but I am glad I went as I met up with Mary who I had not seen since early in the cruise on the trip to the Pitons. It was nice to catch up and compare our cruise notes.

Our final dinner in the dining room and we said goodbye to Mathdu who had looked after my special meal requests.

The Evening entertainment was P P Arnold again in the theatre but I just could not bring myself to sit through that again, and Tony Wallace the comedian in Manhattan. We went to the Planet Bar for a final drink then back to the cabin to face the mammoth task of packing.

Another wonderful cruise on board Azura is almost over and we have a long day tomorrow.

Day 15 Final day in Barbados and flight home.
He weather was good in Barbados and after breakfast I spent a couple of hours at the pool before the day cabins were ready. Once we could hang our travelling home clothes up and leave our hand luggage we disembarked to go into the terminal. The queues to disembark were horrendous even though no flights were leaving this early. The midships disembarkation had been closed to passengers and only the rear steps were being used.

We wandered around but decided to go back on ship to eat lunch on the balcony. By this time the balconies had been cleaned and the sun was on the starboard side.

Our flight was only slightly delayed leaving the UK so our disembarkation time was kept at 3pm. The only big delay was the Gatwick flight which was 2 ½ hours delayed.

On arriving at the airport the Thomas Cook flight pax were still there and were delayed over 3 hours.

We arrived in Manchester 1 hour later than our due arrival time. Not a bad flight back. Some turbulence for about 20 minutes. The premium cabin was very quiet again on the way back with only about 1 third of the seats filled. Plenty of room to spread out.

The cases came out promptly and our taxi was waiting for us to drive us the 40 minutes home.

Another great cruise and looking forward to the next one on Arcadia on 2nd January.

Sue

[JenniC]

Sounds wonderful Sue.. afte reading you reports I decided to book Ventura on 15th Feb... excited!!! I could do with come advice if you have time before setting off again (where are you going on Arcadia?) Seteve does not snorkel, but I love it so would like to find one or two really good spots so I get the most of out the time - any ideas. We are in Grenada, St. Lucia, Tortola, Dominica, Bonaire, St. Kitts, Curacao and St. Maarten. Thanks Sue x

[Suekersh]

Hi Jenni,

Garry doesn't snorkel either but is happy to come with me to the beaches which is handy to have someone to look after everything so that I can just enjoy the water without worrying about belongings on land.

I do a mixture of booked trips on my own and snorkelling off the beach when Garry is with me.

Grenada - I haven't found good snorkelling here from a beach so I need to research more for next time.

St Lucia- I always book a trip here. Some years ago I found the beach between the Pitons called Jalousie. The snorkelling is amazing and worth the price of the trip. P & O do a 1/2 day one at approx £45 which means back on ship to meet G for lunch then off to look round port area in the afternoon.
The trip is called snorkel at the pitons don't confuse it with cruise to the pitons because the snorkel stop on that trip is a different area and not as good.

Tortola - Brewers Bay very uncommercialised great off beach snorkelling.

Dominica - Champagne reef, this is not a beach and is quite difficult to get into the water as very rocky but once in it is amazing snorkelling. A couple of hours is enough but there is a bar there which hires out anything you need and makes fantastic Rum Punch.

Bonaire, not been often but have slow always booked a trip here. Woodwind this time but the PO trip is equally as good. Last year the fish were all around the port area but this year not as many. Some pax went snorkelling off the beach near the ship and said it was good. The water is so clear and the coral is amazing because it is protected.

St Kitts - South friars bay by the Shipwreck bar. The taxi drivers try to take you further up where it is more commercialised but at the ship wreck vary the reef is close by and great for snorkelling.

Curaçao - and St Maarten, we do other things here instead of snorkelling.

Hope you have a great time in February and look forward to reading about it. If I had to pick out 2 places it would be St Lucia and Dominica or Bonaire, with St Kitts and Tortola not far behind.

Sue

[JenniC]

Thanks Sue, a couple of them I had found via research and have been to South Friars (Shipwreck and Carambola) before (although on one trip did get stuck in Shipwreck with a other couple ) - so must be good as great minds think alike. Going on CP now to look at St. Lucia trip. xxx

[Gill W]

Thanks for posting your reports - I enjoyed reading them

[Flossie]

I was one of the people in the Q to book a table for Christmas Dinner. This was only necessary if you were doing freedom dining and the booking opened on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS at 7.30am. As my husband and I wanted a table for 2 (which always popular) and also for the first sitting I arrived at 7.30am to find between 80-100 people already in the Q. After a while 2 Qs formed one for 1st sitting and one for 2nd sitting but they were so so slow. 2 hours later I got to the head of the Q to find there were no tables for 2 left, but I could be accommodated in Sindhu. This didn't happen so had to share with a couple of strangers who likewise weren't happy at having to share. On the night of the dinner guess what - 6 or 7 empty tables in Sindhu where people hadn't bothered to turn up. We could have been accommodated at them. The weather that day was not good being very cloudy - can only think that because Brodie's Bar was busy from about 10am there may have been a few sore heads by early evening. However good manners dictate if you are not going to take your table reservation you should phone up and cancel it. Complained as did many others to reception but usual non committal response. First Come First Serve to Me would be at the point of booking and paying for your holiday. I sincerely h ope they sort something out for New Year Eve bookings as it is absolutely absurd to Q up for 2 hours plus and still not get what you want.

[Suekersh]

Hi Flossie,

Totally agree with you. Garry went to queue at around 7am and was number 30 in the queue. We did get a table for 2 first sitting, but the table for 2 by the window also didn't turn up. We were also offered Sindhu but refused it as there are very few table for 2 in there. If you book select dining for 2 you are given a table for 4 on your own.

When we were on for Xmas and new year you kept the same table and time for New Years Eve.

Hope you enjoyed the cruise as much as we did despite this problem.

Sue