AIDA Caribbean 2023 · Page 4

We continued across the island, past a lake with flamingos, to our next stop, a distillery. After a little tasting and the chance to shop, we went straight back to Mandy and Jörn's home to park the vehicles.

Here Mandy told us that she had another tour that day and could take us either to the beach or to the cruise terminal. So the tour didn't end at the cruise terminal after the beach stop, as described. We chose the beach and were dropped off there. After sunbathing and swimming, we went back to the cruise terminal at our own expense.

The way this ending was handled considerably clouded our opinion of this excursion.

This tour cost 75 euros for the Twizy plus 40 for a passenger, excluding drinks and the trip back to the ship.

After a relaxing sea day we reached St Lucia. St Lucia is a dreamlike island nation in the eastern Caribbean and part of the Lesser Antilles. The island is known for its breathtaking natural beauty, varied landscapes and warm, friendly culture.

Here we had booked excursion ST43 through AIDA (65 euros per person). At 8.45 a.m. we set off in a big open jeep, heading for St Lucia's rainforest. After an hour of hairpin bends we reached the rainforest; our destination was the Anse La Raye waterfall right in the rainforest. The short walk to the waterfall was glorious. It had rained, but it was still a great experience.

We went back towards Castries, heading for Vigie Beach. Here we could swim for 2 hours and enjoy the wonderful beach. Vigie Beach is one of the best-known beaches on the island and is characterised by fine golden sand and clear, turquoise water.

We reached our next dream island, Barbados. Barbados lies east of the Lesser Antilles and offers a rich mix of sun, sand, history and culture. We had already booked a catamaran tour with the operator El Tigre through GetYourGuide. We were picked up punctually by minibus at the terminal in the morning and went straight to the catamaran's landing stage. With about 30 other international guests we set off straight away, heading for a spot by a sunken wreck. Here we had the chance to snorkel and marvel at the wreck. After a short trip we stopped at our next snorkelling spot, where turtles can be seen. We could watch and marvel at the turtles underwater.