Travel 

Advertisement

Review: A sports-studded cruise in the Caribbean

by Belinda Weber

Forget the cruise ship standards of dressing for dinner and playing shuffleboard. Ocean Village is updating the experience with a casual atmosphere onboard and quad-biking and kite-surfing ashore

First there was the scuba diving. Then the snorkeling. Then the quad-biking. While you can have a snoozy cruise to exotic locales with Ocean Village, banish the idea that the main activities are shuffleboard and making laps around the buffet tables. We had a full schedule and got a taster of beautiful destinations.

• Rooms
• Onshore sport activities
• Enjoying cruise-ship standards
• Childcare
• The details

Rooms
Ocean Village itself is well-equipped, with comfortable cabins are comfortable stocked with teas and coffee, lotions and potions. Our suite with balcony had twin beds that could be converted into a queen-size and our walk-in wardrobe had drawer space to keep the most hardened fashionista content. Our balcony, although narrow, sported two reclining chairs so we could enjoy the sights and sounds of the water as we sailed along.

The ship sailed each evening, which meant we awoke each morning in a new place. We visited the Caribbean islands of Tortola, Antigua, Dominica, Trinidad and Grenada. With just one day at each destination, you don't gain much insight into the places, but it does serve as a teaser, giving you a chance to work out where you want to return. A daily onboard newspaper highlights the 'must see' places and recommends a few lunch spots.

Onshore sport activities
One of the highlights of the cruise was the Action Ashore activities at the ports. These range from jeep safaris and mountain biking to abseiling, kayaking and kite-surfing. If you're feeling particularly flash, you can even take a helicopter ride over a live volcano at Monserrat. At Tortola we escaped the rainy, overcast day by scuba diving on the wreck of the RMS Rhone, a mail ship that sank during a hurricane in 1876. We slipped underwater and swam amid moray eels, vibrant sponges and spiky anemones, not to mention the brightly coloured parrot fish and a huge resident grouper.

In Antigua we tried our hands at kayaking through the peaceful, mangrove-fringed waters, followed by a boat trip to a remote island for a spot of sunbathing and snorkeling on the reef. We rounded off our on-shore adventures with a quad-biking treat on Dominica where we hurtled along a rugged track cutting through the rainforest. You're charged a supplement to go on these well organized trips (generally £24-140), bookable once you're onboard. Be warned though, they are addictive and can considerably bump up the price of your holiday. (All the prices are listed on the Ocean Village website at www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk.)

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB