Captain Greybeard

As well as being the latest hotspot cruise destination, Dubai must be one of the biggest building sites on the planet. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to realise that facilities for passengers embarking on and disembarking from cruise ships in Port Rashid are rudimentary to say the least. Though thinking back, I recall that there was nothing more than a couple of marquees on the quayside when I disembarked from the Queen Mary 2 in Dubai last year. Costa Cruises have two ships operating out of the port this winter, and they will be joined by [...]

Tourism has yet to make a big mark on St Vincent, largest island in the Grenadines. But with its modern, though modest, cruise terminal, and with a new airport due to open in 2011, it will surely catch up with its busier neighbours. Leaping dolphins welcomed the Ventura to the port of Kingstown this morning, and after breakfast 12 of us clambered aboard a much smaller vessel, the Sea Breeze, in search of more of these delightful creatures. With the help of amiable skipper Hal Daize and his hydrophone, we were not disappointed. During the four-hour excursion, we saw countless [...]

Up with the lark yesterday morning, after another late night in the casino, but the early start was well worth it. The Ventura had arrived at Dominica, a lush, mountainous island whose lofty volcanic peaks are covered in tropical forests. After a short minibus ride from the tiny capital, Roseau, along a tortuous road built in the 18th century by slave labour, and past grapefruit and avocado trees, we arrived at the rain forest aerial tram, for a cable car journey through the jungle. The round-trip journey took us from the base station, 1,900 feet above sea level, through the [...]

It’s December 1, and Christmas has arrived early in the Caribbean. A team of riggers spent last night and today unpacking giant cardboard boxes and festooning Ventura’s bars, restaurants and public areas with maritime-themed garlands. You don’t often see clam shells, even sparkly plastic ones, among the festive decorations ashore. And you wonder whether things aren’t going a little far when even the rails around the Jacuzzis sport Christmas greenery. Ashore in Philipsburg, St Maarten, the jaunty pirates in the souvenir shops now wear white beards and red velvet hats. And the steel bands are playing the first of the [...]