Caribbean Playground for the Rich and Famous
By GERRY and PAMELA BARKER/North Palm Beach Life/December, 2019
For the next two days, Crystal Serenity is docked in Bridgetown, Barbados, where we'll celebrate New Year's Eve. Barbados is a beautiful island with many wonderful beaches. Thankfully, it's been largely spared the hurricanes that have ravaged sister islands in the region, with the last major storm in 1955. As a playground for the rich and famous, you can pay as much as $30,000 a night to stay in its posh resorts.
This time we are taking the "Highlights of Barbados" tour. Let's go!
For the next two days, Crystal Serenity is docked in Bridgetown, Barbados, where we'll celebrate New Year's Eve. Barbados is a beautiful island with many wonderful beaches. Thankfully, it's been largely spared the hurricanes that have ravaged sister islands in the region, with the last major storm in 1955. As a playground for the rich and famous, you can pay as much as $30,000 a night to stay in its posh resorts.
This time we are taking the "Highlights of Barbados" tour. Let's go!
First Stop -- Orchid World...
Photos by North Palm Beach Life
Glad we had a ticket!
|
This is Orchid World and Tropical Garden, featuring over 1,000 orchids and six acres of Caribbean plants and flowers. As we walked the paths through the garden, we also got some panoramic views of the island, thanks to its 800-feet above sea level elevation.
One of the garden's scenic views
An orchid in one of their greenhouses
|
Next Stop, St. John's Church...
|
Not only is this a beautiful old church, but also its setting affords some of the most scenic views of Barbados. Dating from at least the 1600s, the church has been rebuilt multiple times after fires and storms. Spend extra time in its gardens and enjoy the solitude. |
A panoramic view from the church gardens
The cemetery and adjoining gardens
|
Inside the cathedral
|
|
Last stop, St. Nicholas Abbey...
|
|
|
We left the church and traveled along the coast before climbing toward St. Nicholas Abbey in Saint Peter
St Nicholas Abbey, built in 1658, is said to be "one of only three genuine Jacobean mansions in
the Western Hemisphere." A plantation and restaurant, it also features a rum distillery.
the Western Hemisphere." A plantation and restaurant, it also features a rum distillery.
|
Inside the mansion you'll find collections of antiques and art, with rooms preserved in time. |
|
Lush gardens surround the plantation
|
One of the garden walkways
Good idea to not touch the Sandbox Tree, left. Its bark is covered in small spines.
|
The restaurant
|
The plantation is famous for its rum production, which started in 1631. While there, we enjoyed a delicious rum punch on the patio.
|
|
Meanwhile, Back on Serenity ...
Best part of the tour -- the cold towels waiting for us back at the ship.
Serenity, you're spoiling us! |
Everything is in place to ring in the new decade!
|
The always-smiling Sachina,
our stateroom steward. |
Passengers and crew crowd into the atrium area for the big countdown.
10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
