Going to Barbados #1.......

Right here we go......

Our friend (who is a taxi driver) arrived at 6.45 a.m. on the 13th January to take us to the airport.  Unfortuntately we were still snowed in, so it was impossible for him to pick us up at our front door, we had to 'slide' the suitcases up the Grove to meet him.    Thankfully it wasn't snowing and our journey to the airport was without mishap or delay.    Our flight was on time until we boarded the plane, it had started snowing so the plane had to be de-iced, which meant a 90 minute delay.  This wasn't as bad as the flight from Gatwick which was delayed by about 6 hours!

We had paid for Premier seats on the flight and they were well worth the extra - loads of leg room and very comfortable.    Also complimentary drinks throughout the flight were included! It was a really nice flight, which we spent reading and watching films and we arrived in Barbados at approximately 4.15 pm local time.   We were taken straight from the plane to minibuses to be transported to the ship - no customs, no collecting baggage - fantastic!

We alighted from the bus and were ushered into a 'hanger' where we had our photographs taken, registered my credit card and were given our cruise cards, which we used to charge all purchases on board and which were scanned each time we left or boarded the ship.

Then we got our first glimpse of the Ocean Village.  Here she is!

Once aboard we were directed to our cabin, after being given numerous leaflets and information about the ship.   We had booked a suite with a balcony and were thrilled with it, when we eventually found it - the ship was huge!  I had booked a little treat for us as a surprise for MWM which was waiting for us when we got to our suite.

Beautiful exotic flowers, fruit and a box of delicious chocolates.

Here are some views of our suite.

Our beds

Our lounge area

Walk in wardrobe

(with iron/ironing board and trouser press - not that we used them)

Dressing table, tea/coffee making facilities and TV.

You will notice that it was dark so here's two photos taken the following morning from our balcony.

We had to attend an evacuation drill at 6.30 pm, then we were free to settle in.   We unpacked all the clothes that needed to be hung, then went to one of the four restaurants for something to eat before returning to our suite to finish unpacking.   By this time we were totally worn out so decided to go to bed - it was 9.30 p.m. local time but bearing in mind Barbados is four hours behind the UK it was actually 1.30 a.m. and we'd been up since 4 a.m. the previous day.

There had been an announcement that the Gatwick flight was late which mean that instead of sailing at 8 p.m. we wouldn't actually be sailing until about 2 a.m.  We woke up at 1.30 a.m. as the ship set sail and went out on the balcony to wave goodbye to Barbados until the following Wednesday.   We then went back to bed and slept soundly, being rocked gently by the sea, until 8.30 a.m.

Join me again for our first day at sea.