Barbados

We decided that everyone could use a day off from getting beaten on by the hot sun so we would go into Bridgetown, Barbados and walk around and explore. We had read online that it was a charming town and that it was a “mini-London with Caribbeanesque charm”. I don’t know why anyone would think that from what saw. What we saw was neither charming nor anything like London. Maybe we missed it but the cab dropped us, and every other ship passenger going to town, at the same location in central Bridgetown and it is not a great place to explore. It was dirty and many, if not most, buildings looked run down. We walked around for a short while but quickly decided that this wasn’t a place we wanted to do more exploring in the heat with the kids. Maybe if we do another cruise that stops there we will have to do more research on the town to find out if we missed something or what we read was simply way off base about Bridgetown.

We all went back to the ship and had lunch. It was decided that Emily, Susan and the kids would stay on the ship and just have a relaxing afternoon on board. Chris and Dan decided to take a taxi to a local beach (Payne Bay just out front of the Blue Monkey bar) to see what the snorkeling was like. While there they saw 3 turtles, 3 Tarpons (about 6 feet in length), a puffer fish and a bunch of fish that were the exact same color as the sand. Overall it was a good snorkeling experience.

The kids did an early dinner again before Kids Club and another show in the Stardust Theater, this time a comedy show. The adults ate in the main dining room, which was quite nice and felt more like a cruise meal experience should. We’ll blog more at the end of the cruise on our thoughts of Freestyle vs. traditional style cruising.

Next up – The Island of St. Lucia, which is supposed to be a highly lush tropical Island, but then again Bridgetown was supposed to be full of charm.