Category: Uncategorized

Travelling to St Maarten

Arrived at the cruise port of Philipsburg which is the capital St Maarten on 5th January 2023 on the Marella Explorer 2. When you get off of the ship there are people selling excursions which is around $20 – $25 US dollars.

Taxi’s

There are also many taxi’s waiting to take you to Maho beach. We didn’t book any excursions in St Maarten as we wanted to go to Maho beach which is not far from the port. We knew it was just a short taxi ride away.

You need to queue for the taxi which are mini buses. They will fill the mini bus up before setting off. Everyone who is in the queue is going to the beach. Our taxi driver was very informative about the island and advised that both sides of the Island live independently with their own hospitals, schools, government etc. He was born on the Dutch side of the island which he informed is where there is more work and appears to be financially better than the French side. There were many Casino’s on the Dutch side but not any on the French as it is illegal to gamble there.

The beach is around 20 minutes away from port . Where the mini bus drops you off is where they will pick you up again.

Maho Beach

The beach itself is just a couple of minutes away from the car park. There is a small bar which sells food and drinks on the way to the beach. There are also many people walking around the beach selling cold drinks.

Maho beach is renowned for how close it is to the airport and how low the planes come in to land. There are many signs stating how dangerous it is to get too close to the fence of the airport. Although there are Tiktok and Youtube video’s of thrill seekers clinging to the fence when jets are taking off.

The Power of the jet planes

We witnessed a jet take off and people, hats, shoes, towels all getting blown in to the sea. The beach has a very steep incline from the sea. There were people literally rolling down the beach. It was funny to watch as nobody got hurt thankfully. The beach did clear around that area just in case another plane took off but it wasn’t long before other unexpecting people came and sat in the same area in the path of the jets.

Planes taking off and landing

It is really busy with flights coming in to land every few minutes. Most of the planes were smaller planes from other Caribbean Islands. The smaller planes and the propeller planes did not have the same impact as the larger jets when they were taking off. It was quite safe on the beach when they took off or landed.

When the planes are landing it really does feel that you can reach up and touch them although not advisable to even try.

The Beach

The beach itself has lovely soft sand and crystal clear turquoise sea. The sea was so pleasant to swim in with its warm temperature. There were many people swimming in the sea but the main attraction is the planes flying in and out.

After a few hours we then went back to get a taxi to the ship. Again there are many taxi’s lined up to take you back.

Summary

We did not see much of the island therefore can not comment on what it is like to stay there or to have visited other places of interest in St Maarten’s other than Maho Beach. What we did see of the island was beautiful even though in parts there was still evidence of 2017 hurricane Irma . Although being on the cruise allowed us to see many destinations in a short time but the downside is you don’t get enough time to really explore the island. It would be better to visit less places and have more time in them.

Images

Things to do

• Visit Maho Beach
• Visit one of the Casino’s
• Visit Fort Louis
• Visit the Zoo
• Have a go on the ziplines
• Do an island tour
• Visit Fort Amsterdam

Top Tips

• If going to Maho Beach ensure you are not sat inline with the runway of the jets
• Follow the safety advice
• Ensure you have what you need for the beach (Towels, sun cream, drinks, swimwear, hats etc) as we didn’t see anywhere to buy these items.
• Island tours are cheaper from the local operators
• Although this is a Dutch/French country everywhere excepted US dollars.
• Check out the temperature and rainfall for best time to visit the island. Be aware that the hurricane season officially runs from June to November.
• Check out other destinations we have visited in the Caribbean. Please click on the following links Mexico , Cuba , Jamaica , Antigua , Dominica
• Check out UK government safety advice before travel St Maarten https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/st-maarten
• Check out our general travel tips. Click on the following link Travel Tips

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	29	29	29	30	30	31	31	32	32	31	30	29
Low Temp	23	23	23	24	25	26	26	26	26	26	25	24
Rainfall	65	50	45	65	95	60	70	100	140	115	150	95
Number of days	12	9	9	12	10	8	12	14	14	14	15	13

Travelling to Antigua

We arrived in Antigua on 3rd January 2023 on the Tui Marella Explorer. The cruise port was in Antigua’s capital St John’s. Please see for full details of itinerary of cruise.

This is where you disembark the ship there are several people wanting to sell you excursions which are between $20 and $25 which is a lot cheaper than Tui. Also there are also many duty free shops selling alcohol, perfume, tobacco, jewellery etc.

Prior to the cruise we had looked at excursions in Antigua. When deciding what to do on an excursion we like to do something that is unique to the country/island or that we may never do it again. The one that caught our eye was Sting Ray City. There are some people that do not feel that the stingrays are not treated very nice. But they are in their natural habitat and are free to swim away if wanting to do so. Although we were not 100% sure if this was the right thing to do we decided to go ahead and book the excursion and see for ourselves as many other people had advised it was a great experience and the Stingray’s were never treated badly.

Stingray City

As we had booked our cruise with Tui we looked at their excursions but unfortunately they didn’t do it. Therefore we looked at other tour operators who were also booked up. We contacted Stingray City direct who advised that they had capacity for us on the day we wanted to go. Although we were advised we had to make our own way there which cost $40 each way. Stingray City cost $50 each which is around £146. Many taxi’s are available as soon as you step off the ship.

Travel to Stingray City

The taxi took about 30 -40 minutes to reach our destination. On our way the driver informed us of various landmarks and information regarding the island. He explained that he was conscripted to the military for 2 years but then became a lorry driver. He advised that to be a taxi driver you have to not only have a license to carry passengers but you have to return to education.

When we arrived at our destination he advised that he would wait for us as the experience was predicted to last approximately 2 hours. We were a bit early for our slot of 11 am therefore had to wait for more people to arrive.

Disclaimer

When more people arrived we were taken to a shaded area where we had to sign a disclaimer. Following this we were put into lines for the boats that take you to where the Stingrays are. They cram as many people as possible on to the boats. Be prepared for the water to splash up the sides of the boat and hang on to your hat.

Floating Island

The boat takes you to a floating island where the sea around it is crystal clear and turquoise in colour. As the boats do not leave all belongings can be left on the boat. Snorkelling equipment is provided if you want it. We prefer the full face masks therefore brought our own. Many people were nervous about getting in to the water with the Stingray’s but the guides reassured people that it was ok. Although there were many people that watched from the floating island and did not go in the water.

Interaction with the Stingrays

The guides throw squid in to the water to attract the Stingrays and soon there were a lot of them swimming around. It was a bit a nerving to begin with when the large Stingrays were brushing past us but soon we felt comfortable with them. They were very tame and did not appear to mind being stroked. The guides encouraged people to have photo’s with the Stingrays which had been mentioned by other people that they did not agree with this. We were also given squid and were able to feed the Stingrays directly. Stingrays such there food up like a vacuum so it is a good idea when feeding them not to let any digits get in the way. The guides show you the correct way to feed them to avoid any injuries.

When most of the food had gone a lot of the Stingrays swam away but there were a few that continued to swim through the crowd looking for food. We never witnessed anything which we feel would warrant anyone to say that they are mistreated. We suppose holding them is not natural to them and this is something that should not be done. When we held one it was very calm as we had been shown the correct way in order not to distress them. The stingray did not even swim away when we finished holding it. The stingray continued to swim around people.

Amount of time in the water

Not sure how long we had in the water with the Stingrays but it seemed long enough. We were taken back on the boats to where we started. Here we were given a cup of Rum Punch and given the option to purchase photo’s. The Rum Punch was very strong and went straight to our heads lol. We bought the photo even though it was not very flattering at a cost of $15 dollars.

Our taxi driver was waiting for us to take us back to the ship. On our way back he appeared to take us a different way which was through the streets in the centre of Antigua.

Summary

Antigua is a beautiful island. The people are so friendly and helpful. There is a lot more to see and do than what we had the time for. We would love to come back to this island and spend more time here. Maybe another cruise or a holiday who knows time will tell.

Images

Things to do

• Swim with Stingray’s at Stingray City
• Visit Shirley Heights
• Visit Nelson’s Dock
• Visit the Brid Sanctuary
• Visit a beach
• Taste the Rum Punch
• Take an island tour.

Top Tips

• If wanting an island tour go to one of the local operators when you get off the ship if on a cruise. Prices are $20 – $25 which is much cheaper than Tui, Cruise Ship excursions. It also benefits the local people.
• If wanting to go to Stingray City book before you go on the cruise, holiday or if you are just visiting the island. Stingray City gets booked up pretty quick. We booked direct with Stingray City. We emailed them on stingray@candw.ag
• If time is limited as we were plan your itinerary before you go. If where you are wanting to go is not on one of the local island tour let them know as they will always try to accommodate. Having a private tour of the island, seeing what you want to see and going where you want is relatively cheap just ask for a price from one of the local taxi’s/tour operators.
• Do not confuse the East Caribbean Dollar (XCD) with the USA dollar, The XCD is worth a lot less. At the time of our travels 1 USD was 82p and 1 XCD was 30p.
• Please click on the following link for general travel advice Travel Tips
• Check out other Caribbean destinations we have visited Cuba , Mexico, Jamaica , Dominica
• Check out government information regarding safety https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/antigua-and-barbuda
• Check out our general travel tips. Click on the following link Travel Tips

Weather

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	27	28	29	28	29	30	31	30	30	29	30	29
Low Temp	22	22	23	23	24	26	25	25	25	24	24	23
Rainfall	21	41	30	27	56	62	72	75	87	101	88	63
Number of days	18	16	14	12	13	14	18	18	16	16	17	17

Travel to Barcelona

We visited Barcelona as it was part of our itinerary on our cruise. Please click on following link to find further information regarding the cruise and all the destinations we visited Highlights of the Mediterranean Our ship docked at Barcelona port on 15th July 2022. We were then taken to bus to the centre of Barcelona which was arranged by the cruise ship. There was a small fee to use the bus 7.50 euro’s return.

Hop on Hop Off Bus

We decided to get on the hop on hop off bus rather than a guided tour. There are two different hop on hop off bus routes around Barcelona (West – Orange route and East – Green Route). You may need to use both of these routes to see the sights that you want to (we needed to). We originally got on the West Orange route as one of the sights we wanted to see was Camp Nou home to FC Barcelona and is only on this route.

When you get on the bus you are given headsets and plug them in at the side of the seat. There is a button to change the language in to English if it is not already on this. The information provided is extremely interesting with facts about each destination, places of interest etc on the route. You can just stay on the bus all the time until the end of the journey or you can get off as and when you chose. Each route takes about 2 hours to complete if you remained on the bus.

Destinations – Orange Route

We got off the bus at stop 5 which is Camp Nou. Camp Nou translates to new field. This was a very popular destination to get off at as most of the bus got off at this point. Some people had booked tours of the stadium but has time was limited we were unable to do this. We wondered around the outside of the stadium along with lots of other people as this is obviously a main tourist destination. We took several photo’s and then got back on the bus. The buses run every 15 minutes to each stop on the route.

Our next destination was Casa Batilo which was 2 stops away from Camp Nou. Casa Batilo is sometimes known has “the house of the dragon. Casa Batilo is a building in the centre of Barcelona. It is a bit strange to see it surrounded by designer shops and chain fast food places. It is a very interesting building and nothing like anything we have seen anywhere in the world.

We decided to plan where we were going to go to next therefore we stopped and had a bite to eat and a cold drink. Temperature was already 39 degrees at 1pm. In these temperatures drinking a lot of water is essential.

Destinations – Green Route

We decided to walk to get on the East – Green Route to go to Basilica de a Sagrada Familia which is a large unfinished church. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Barcelona. When you get off the bus you can see how popular it is as it is very crowded but still well worth the visit. If in Barcelona this is a must see. Although it is still unfinished even though it was started being built in 1882 it is breath taking. We took a lot of photo which we have looked back on and even now see something new as there is so much detail gone in to this church.

The queue to get back on the bus was very long but it did go down pretty quickly. We got on the bus to the end of the line and then decided to walk down the Las Rambles the most famous boulevard in Barcelona. It is lined with nice bars, restaurants and street sellers. It would have been nice to have had a drink and a bite to eat on Las Rambles but unfortunately did not have enough time as the last bus back to the ship was 5.30pm.

Summary

Although we did not get off at many stops we did manage to see a lot of the sights of Barcelona. Barcelona is one of the trendiest cities in Europe. It has something to offer everyone of all ages. We would have loved to have had more time in Barcelona. To have time to visit the beaches and have a Sangria and some Tapas in one of the traditional bars and Restaurants. There was so much more we wanted to see and do. We think you need at least a few days in Barcelona. We will definitely come back to Barcelona.

Images

Things to do

There are so many places of interest in Barcelona the hop on buses take you to all the sites. There are 2 routes Orange and Green.

Top Tips

• If you only have a short time in Barcelona plan what you want to see (Route maps of hop on and off bus can be found on line)
• Ideally spend a few days in Barcelona.
• If on a cruise get on the earlier coach to the centre of Barcelona therefore giving you more time.
• The designer shops are cheaper than in England so bag yourself a bargain.
• Plan time out of your day to sample the local cuisine.
• Check out the festivals in Barcelona – La Merce Festival in September is a large street party. There are a lot of other festivals but this is the biggest.
• Check weather below for best time to visit Barcelona. These are averages therefore

Weather

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	13	14	16	18	21	25	27	28	25	22	17	14
Low Temp	6	6	9	11	14	18	21	22	19	15	10	6
Rainfall	33	41	33	37	54	11	25	64	75	87	34	35
Number of days	3	5	4	5	5	2	2	5	5	6	4	5

Travelling Light

If you are wanting to travel light there are ways to maximise the amount you can take for carry on baggage.

• Buy toiletries in airport – this means that you can take what ever size you want and are not restricted to the 100ml rule .
• If needing more than one jacket/coat wear them – you can always take them off when you are in the airport.
• Wear coats/jacket with pockets where you can put items in them (not creams or liquids).
• Travel Vacuum packs are a good investment as they come with a light weight mini USB pump vacuum which enables you to fit triple the amount of clothes in a suitcase. (always check the weight of the case when full to avoid additional charges).
• If you want to take toiletries with you instead of buying at airport, buy the empty travel bottles/tubs (can buy for as little as a £1 per pack) and fill them with your own products.
• Mosquito repellent is expensive at the airport and some of the bottles are over 100ml. Mosquito repellent wipes are ok to be left in your hand luggage and have worked fine for me in the past.
• If you have more than one carry on bag and are limited to one bag. Get a duty free bag and put things in that as it is not counted as a carry on bag.

Train Travel UK

• Using the Train split website is a good way to save money on most journeys – just enter your details in to the website and it will calculate the savings for you. You don’t have to change trains to get the savings – https://www.trainsplit.com
• If there is more than one person travelling together it may be worth checking out getting a Two Together Rail card which costs £30 for a year. I have bought more than one of these as I have used one with my friend and another with Mike. You just need a photo of each of you to add onto the railcard – https://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk
• Booking in advance can save a lot of money. You can usually book up to 3 months in advance.

Cheap Flights

• When airlines advertise a sale try to be ready to search at the time they state the sale starts to bag a bargain.
• If you are flexible with where you want to go and dates try skyscanner – https://www.skyscanner.net/skyscanner/flights. In the search specify the month you are wishing to travel and leave the destination as Flexible. This will bring up all the destinations with the cheapest price for that month.  We have had return flights to various places including Prague, Portugal and Poland for under £45.
• Booking flights in advance is good too as when the demand for the flight goes up so does the price.
• Be aware of additional costs with certain airlines as although the headline price of the flight may seem cheap, when other elements are added, such as hand luggage or reserved seating, it can increase the price considerably and if you are on a tight budget that’s the last thing you need. Certain airlines now charge for a small suitcase. Other airlines may charge a bit more for the flight but include hand luggage and therefore could work out cheaper.

Airport Lounges

Different airports and terminals in different countries all have different choices of Airport Lounges. Search the following to weigh up if it is worth the amount that is being charged.

• What is the cost.
• What is available in the lounge (wifi, Tv, newspapers etc).
• What drinks are available (alcoholic and non- alcoholic).
• What food and snacks are available (hot and cold).
• How long can you be in the lounge prior to your fight departure.
• re you able to stay in the lounge should your flight be delayed (some lounges offer this at a small cost).
• Search for discount codes prior to booking . We have used discount codes in the past for airport lounges and have saved up to 12%.

Considering the cost of food and drinks in airports we have found that the lounges are often good value for money and the whole experience more relaxing than being in the main terminal concourse.

Airport Transfers

There are so many transport companies in every country to choose from with various prices for the same journey.

• Check prices for more than one company.
• Look for discount codes before booking.
• Check the companies reviews as some companies have been known to take the money and not turn up.
• Check if your accommodation offers airport transfers as this can often be safer and cheaper.
• Ensure you have your flight times and address of accommodation prior to booking.

Accommodation

Again there are so many companies to choose from that offer the same accommodation at various prices.

• Check price comparison sites such as Trivago and Tripadvisor.
• When comparing websites always check you are looking at the same hotel with the same board details. For example one site may offer the hotel at a cheaper price but this may be on a room-only basis, whereas another site may offer you the same hotel at a slightly higher price but this may be on a bed and breakfast basis.
• If you have a disability or children do check whether the hotel can accommodate your needs.
• Always check package holidays for price as it is not always cheaper to book accommodation, flights and transfers separate.
• Check out reviews but be aware if you are paying 3 star prices you are not going to get 5 star accommodation.  Take any extreme views with a pinch of salt and look for common elements of feedback from a number of reviews.
• Secret escapes – https://www.secretescapes.com/luxury/hotels is a good site to look at if you are wanting a bit more luxury in accommodation but without a large price tag.

Package Holidays

Many companies can offer the same package holiday’s at different prices.

• Check out what the package includes (does it include baggage and transfers)  and if it doesn’t include everything research the cost of the additional elements.
• Check out reviews of both the package holiday company and accommodation.
• Check if the company is ATOL and ABTA registered.
• Check price comparison sites.
• Some hotels offer various board bases – do check to ensure that the board basis is what you want before booking.
• If booking all-inclusive check out what is included as all-inclusive varies from hotel to hotel.
• Some all inclusive finish at 11pm others may be later. Many offer 24 hour all inclusive. Always check that the all inclusive is within the times you want. If you like to have a drink in to the early hours and the all inclusive finishes at 11pm this may put added cost on your holiday.
• Many travel agencies advise to book in advance which can work better for a lot of people. We have found booking around 2 weeks before we want to travel as saved us a lot of money. For example 2 weeks to Egypt 5 star was £1200 we paid £680 last minute.

Introduction

Let us introduce ourselves! We are Debbie and Mike and our passion is travelling and enjoying life experiences. As we both have grown up children and no pets we are able to travel when we want (work permitting) although we do travel sometimes with family and young children. We also consider ourselves to have quite a young, optimistic outlook on life therefore our experiences on our holidays reflect this.

Reason for setting up the site

The reason we have set up our website is that we want to provide down to earth views, advice and tips for some of the destinations we have visited. Many travel websites focus solely on expensive experiences of far and exotic destinations. Although we do visit some of these destinations we also visit more affordable destinations which are closer to the UK, including places of interest in Europe. On our site we will also include many all inclusive package holidays and cruises.

Unfortunately we are now of an age where the back packer scene and the club scene are no longer for us, but we do like to have a good time! Undoubtedly we like to have fun, sometimes having a drink well into the early hours while meeting many different people. We also like to join in with games and activities when staying in a holiday resort. As well as the fun side of travelling we also like to experience the cultural side of travel and spend a lot of our holiday time sightseeing. Basically we aim to get as much as possible out of our holidays. On this site we will try to cover weather, destinations, places of interest, things to do, entertainment (if in holiday resort), food and drink and nightlife.

We aim to provide advice for travellers who are on a tight budget and also for those that wish to spend a bit more on their trips. Some of the tips we provide at the end of each destination review come from our learnings from our experiences in those locations and which would have been useful to know before we travelled. Many are money-saving tips and we all like to save a bit of money – we believe that if we keep the cost of our trips as low as possible we can afford more travel experiences in the future!

We are new to writing about our travel experiences

Being totally honest we are new to producing a website and writing about our travels so we are sure the site will come with some flaws – we are not professional writers! In addition we are not influenced by or receive any payment from any hotel or travel provider. We are simply here to provide our honest views and opinions on the locations that we have visited. Our main hope is that this site will provide you with a bit of an insight into the locations that we have visited and to provide some ideas and tips should you wish to visit any of the destinations. Over time we have visited so many places which have provided many unforgettable memories. We have written about all of the places we have visited over the past few years.

We hope you enjoy reading our posts on the various destinations we have visited, including package holidays, far away destinations and cruises. Please do let us know what you think by using the feedback function on the site, and also please do share this site with your family and friends. We aim to keep adding to the content of the site as we continue to travel to new destinations.

Please click on the following links in green or use the search function at the top of the page to read about some of our trips to the following destinations – Africa – Tunisia . Sharm El Sheikh , Cairo , Hurghada , Agadir , Cape Verde, Safari/Nairobi, Diani Beach America – Miami , Las Vegas , New York , Washington DC , Los Angeles , Bali – Bali , Brazil – Rio de Janeiro , Foz Do Iguacu , Praia do Forte , Bulgaria – Borovets , Sunny Beach , Caribbean – Antigua , Barbados , Cuba, Dominica , Grenada , Jamaica , Martinique . St Lucia , St Maarten , Croatia – Zadar , Cruises – Highlights of the Mediterranean , Taste of the tropics , Paradise Islands , Cyprus – Protaras , Hong Kong – Hong Kong , Italy – Florence , Ravello , Rome , Pisa , Venice , India – Goa , New Delhi , Mumbai , Poland – Gdansk , Wroclaw , Portugal – Madeira , Singapore – Singapore , Spain – Barcelona , Thailand – Bangkok , Koh Samui , Turkey – Kemer , Lara Beach , Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh City , Nha Trang United Arab Emirates – Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah