Silver Dawn - Barbados-Fort Lauderdale - December 21-January 5

[Observer]

The real crunch at Barbados airport occurs when several wide bodies from the UK, and or Europe have arrived around the same time.  Not withstanding access to Airlines schedules, these timings are in some ways unpredictable: whether or mechanical or other factors can delay arrivals. I have found five star fast track to be very reassuring when I can see two European wide bodies unloading at the same time.

[Abuckett]

Five star is who we used and they are excellent. There are cheaper options but we have not used them. We did have a long wait for luggage. Half the bags came out. Then there was a long wait for the second half. That was the only downside apart from losing a wheel and a strap on one bag and that can’t be blamed on the airport.

[Abuckett]

Back to the trip report. Boxing Day (day after Christmas) we were in Curaçao. David went on the semi-submersible excursion which he enjoyed. I was suffering from too much food and too many late nights so did not go. After he came back we took the shuttle into town and toured the tourist shops. He bought a tee shirt, I bought a pair of flip flops. To get over this exhausting tour, we stopped for a beer! Willemstad is very pretty with a couple of very interesting bridges. That evening we ate at La Terrazza with one of our trivia team. We both had an eggplant starter. He then had the veal chop and I had a small pesto pasta. We all had limoncello for dessert! Yesterday we were in Aruba where we have been before. Our excursion was on a submarine. We were taken by boat to the submarine. We descended a 12 step ladder to the viewing area where we sat in back to back rows. We saw lots of beautiful fish, shipwrecks, coral and at one point landed on the ocean floor. The whole excursion lasted about two hours. I would highly recommend it. David said it was better than the semi submersible. Last night we ate at Salt and had pre dinner drinks at Salt Bar. We both had fish cakes for starter. He had cod for a main. I had quail. He had cod. My meal was excellent. He found his cod was spoilt by the spicy sauce and he likes spicy food. Today we are at sea and will be in Cartagena tomorrow.

[Abuckett]

We ate again at The Grill last night. The manager very kindly moved the only remaining table to a nice space between two columns and overlooking the pool. It was originally located in a dark corner by the check in desk. He did this without our even asking. I again had a Caesar and David the roasted veggies and mozzarella salad. He again had the filet and I had lamb chops. Of course cooked to perfection by ourselves! We both had baked potatoes fully loaded. This morning I watched the Dawn come into Cartagena and park right next to the Nova. Very cool. Guests on both ships can visit the other ship. We have friends coming over from the Nova. We have sailed on the Nova. They have not seen the Dawn. Today’s excursion was a classic car tour of Cartagena. It was excellent. The cars were all American with their tops taken off so they became convertibles. The car tour took an hour. We also had a walking tour and lunch. Tonight we will eat at Silver Note

[Host Jazzbeau]

44 minutes ago, Abuckett said:

Today’s excursion was a classic car tour of Cartagena. It was excellent. The cars were all American with their tops taken off so they became convertibles.

That must have reduced their torsional rigidity from linguine al dente to limp linguine...  🤣

[les37b]

On 12/28/2023 at 11:27 AM, Observer said:

The real crunch at Barbados airport occurs when several wide bodies from the UK, and or Europe have arrived around the same time.  Not withstanding access to Airlines schedules, these timings are in some ways unpredictable: whether or mechanical or other factors can delay arrivals. I have found five star fast track to be very reassuring when I can see two European wide bodies unloading at the same time.

 

Agree. On our flight earlier this year, a Virgin flight arrived just before our BA flight. From memory it wasn't a massive queue, but long enough and remember seeing people being led through. Just remember to fill in your immigration docs before arriving. I'd estimate we probably would have saved 20 mins had we fast tracked. However, if you are taking the provided transfer to the hotel on the other side, you'll be waiting for everyone to get through before you leave. We got through relatively quickly and the SS transfer people on site didn't seem too convincing in terms of time frames etc, so decided just to take a taxi. That saved us more time than the fast track would have, but combined, we'd probably have saved over an hour overall.

 

Leaving, the only issue was checking in bags at the desk, which wasn't speedy and the desk didn't open until there was an enormous queue. We were lucky and near the front, but lessen learned as we will be taking the exact same flight in 3 weeks time.

[Abuckett]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

That must have reduced their torsional rigidity from linguine al dente to limp linguine...  🤣

I didn’t understand you so I asked the expert (David) who said it would if we got over 10 mph but then the shock absorbers would have quit

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 minutes ago, Abuckett said:

I didn’t understand you so I asked the expert (David) who said it would if we got over 10 mph but then the shock absorbers would have quit

I owe David a drink!

[Abuckett]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I owe David a drink!

He’s waiting for it!

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, Abuckett said:

He’s waiting for it!

And this is why 'all inclusive' cruises are more fun.  Anything [included] he wants!

[Abuckett]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

And this is why 'all inclusive' cruises are more fun.  Anything [included] he wants!

Me too! We’re not sexist!

[Abuckett]

Sorry I haven’t posted the last few days. I’ve been a bit under the weather. Caught a cold/cough from 2 of our trivia team which zapped me of all energy. Haven’t really eaten anything for 3 days. We had a very nice dinner in Silver Note on the 29th which was about the last time I ate anything substantial. I think I had lobster which was excellent and I think I had tuna - also excellent. David had the Beehive - a strange dish - but he loved it. Can’t remember what else he had. We overnighted in Cartagena and had dinner at Spaccanapoli. We had a sausage pizza. It was very good but I managed one slice. The next day we were in Colon, Panama. We had already canceled our excursion as it left too early and was too long. It was to see the Canal but involved a one and a half hour bus ride and left at 8.00. I wouldn’t have been able to go anyway. We stayed on the ship. We went to La Terrazza for the NYE dinner. I ate an asparagus starter and a risotto. I don’t remember what he ate. We were privileged to be seated next to the Captain’s table. He has family on board for the holidays. The whole party had to move inside to the Panorama Lounge as the weather was frightful - rainy and windy. We went to it but left as it was crowded and very loud. We went to Dolce Vita where they had the chocolate buffet. We didn’t partake. The next day was a sea day. The weather was awful - rain and wind - very choppy seas. I didn’t even eat dinner. Today we are in Roatan, Honduras. Weather is calm and a bit overcast. I woke up this morning feeling much better but decided I shouldn’t go on an excursion. David went. I will probably relax at the pool. Sorry this post is not very exciting but you can’t choose who you associate with and we like our trivia team very much!

[Abuckett]

Well - happy I didn’t go on Roatan excursion. Apparently it was pretty awful. It was a semi submersible cruise to see coral and fish. The boat had no life preservers and two windows were leaking. There was a refreshment stop with thimbles of water, juice or beer. Several bought their own drinks. One man sat on a bench and it collapsed under him - completely rotted out. The piece de resistance was the men’s facilities. I am posting a picture. It was attached to a tree and had a screen on one side! From all accounts, Roatan will be removed from itineraries going forward.  Dinner that night was at Salt. I never make a note of what we eat so I usually forget but I know it was very good! The next day was Cozumel. Again I stayed on the ship and he went deep sea fishing. There’s a reason it’s called fishing and not catching! There were no bites whatsoever. However it was an excellent and very professional excursion. There were 2 other people on the boat plus a captain and first mate. David loved it. That night we ate at La Terrazza. Caprese salad for both of us, Cacio e Pepe for me and a different pasta dish for him. Everything excellent. The pasta cooked perfectly al dente. Dessert was limoncello. The last day was a sea day and packing day. Dinner was with our trivia team at Atlantide. A very fun evening. I had caviar and scallops. He had tuna and veal chop - everything excellent. We chose the last debark time the next day as we were just picking up a rental car and driving to Palm Beach for lunch with friends. Our debark was delayed as immigration got very backed up so we were asked to stay on the ship. Once we got off the line had cleared and everything went quickly. We had a little bit of a wait for the Avis shuttle bus but once we got to Avis everything went smoothly. After lunch we had a long drive across the State to our home on the Florida West coast. To recap we had a wonderful cruise, met lots of nice people and gave booked t  by e same cruise for next Christmas on the Moon. The only difference is that it adds Belize. It will be interesting to see if they drop Roatan. The food for the most part was excellent. Dress by almost everyone was really nice. Lots of tuxes on the 3 formal nights. We have noticed some minor cuts but nothing that would make us switch from Silversea or jump overboard! We will be on the Ray in August from Venice to Athens and mentioned on the Moon next Christmas/New Year.