That's what I was thinking Luci, we actually wanted to do a 2 week cruise, but it was full.
Don't mind doing the stay first, we once did a cruise then stay and spent all the second week wishing we were back on the Sunbird.

I know what you mean Marjrie. We've done two cruise and stays. The first one was OK, 4* hotel yet I was still hankering after being back on the ship. The second was a hotel in Majorca which was the pits and we decided we may do a stay and cruise, but would never do a cruise and stay again.

luci

Hi
I haven't sailed on the OV but the other ships I have sailed on (Costa) have all sold cigarettes. When I went last September to the Med. you could by cheap cigarettes at all the ports. Greece we paid 18 euro (200)and in Turkey they were only £10 (200)if you had any English money.

Have a good holiday

Jude

Well, I've done it!!! Booked a cruise for next May... wait for it...on the Ocean Village!!! So probably the other end of the scale totally!! Anyway we leave Southampton of the 11th and set sail to Gibralter the on to Cartagena then Barcalona then Palma then Tunis then Rome then Cannes then Barcalona (again) then Ibiza then back to Palma for a flight back to Glasgow! Only the one flight so I will manage that (I hope). Can't believe the deal I got. 13 nights in an FF cabin for £882 each. I think its great value for money seeing that the second part of the cruise alone was £659 for basic inside cabin. I am so excited I can't think about anything else So now I am looking for info on the Ocean Village!! All the reviews I have read so far seem to be positive. Any comments would be appriciated! I think I have made a sensible decision to opt for OV instead of P&O, and I think my other half will enjoy it more.
Regards
Trish

Hi Trish

I have split your post from the Oriana one so that it may get a better response in its own topic.

Excellent news Trish! I honestly think you have made the right decision as the Oriana may be a bit of a culture shock after the Sunbird.

There are not many posts on here about the OV, but if you put "Ocean and Village" or OV into the Search facility at the top of the page it should find them all for you. Select Posts instead of Topics to find the specific posts.

You can use the same method to find info on the ports of call as there is a lot of info on doing them yourself rather than with the ship, mostly in the Thomson's Spirit topics. However be sure to spell Barcelona with an "e" not Barcalona as it won't find it!

A good starting point would be the following link which also has links within it, one of which has a review of Ibiza as a port which is not a common one:

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=8763

Looking forward to sharing your excitement in the build up to your cruise!

HTH

luci

nyone trsavelling on he above cruise at xmas - would welcome any thoughts about the trip

Hi

We have some reviews of the ship at Oceana cruise reviews here

HTH

luci

My wife and I are going on Ocean Village Calypso and Coconuts/Sugar and spice cruises before Christmas and whilst I have read the available reviews on this site I am hoping for more advice about activities ashore. The destinations are :-

Barbados
Aruba
Curacao
Isla Maguerita
St Lucia
Tobago
Tortola
Antigua
Dominica
Trinidad
Grenada ? ?

Ok Grenada is a bit iffy after hurricane Ivan, but are there any recommendations for what to do on these islands ? I have been to a few of them before (for a day on a previous cuise) and been on the best of Dominica tour, the Aruba submarine, and Harrisons caves in Barbados.

I have received OV's excursion booklet and it costs £95 each to swim with Dolphins at various islands- is it worth it and can it be done cheaper on your own ? The helicopter trip over Antigua is £145 each or £290 per couple ( you could have a week in Spain for this !)
Has anybody any tips for going it alone but staying safe on these Islands ?

Thanks , Frank

! £145 each, that is scandalous. The helicopter trip last year was £65 each and it was a little bit more for the Monserrat flightseeing but certainly nothing like that. It was good but not that good !

Also Frankmitch, what you have to be careful off is wanting to do certain excursions such as swimming with dolphins in Tortola, and the ships blocking the said companies from taking their passengers. We tried to book a dolphin and helicopter trip independently and were unable to do this. Ocean Village had chaos apparently with people who figured out such trips were easier to do independently and then went demanding their money back !

CURACO - In Curaco we went to the Sea Aquarium where I snorkelled and my boyfriend did diving. I would say if diving interests you and you are a beginner then this is adequate. They also have dolphin shows on there. You are right by the town centre for a wander round, cross the rickety swinging bridge and you are there. Not great shopping but not too bad either.

ISLA MARGARITA - There is very little to do when you dock and the trips when we went all involved a great deal of travelling (at least 1.5 hours each way) which we could do without. Therefore we went to the small beach which is right where you dock with the warmest sea ever and we spent the afternoon back on board.

I have given you info on the other islands so hope that is also of some help.

With regards to staying safe on the islands I have never had a problem. This year I went with a friend (two young females) and expected hassle and was a bit worried and we were fine travelling to the beach, going round the shops etc. We always got the mini-bus type taxis which we shared with others and we were always last back to the ship every day !

Thanks Sam, for that information. I can't believe that the helicopter price has more than doubled in less than 12 months. Thats not an excursion, its an extortion ! I was wondering how the people who do the tours know you are from the OV if you don't tell them. Couldn't you just be holidaying on the island independently ?
All I want is a beach really, and I suppose I could walk or taxi there. I'll bring my own inflatable dolphin and charge £90 for people to swim with it !

I am not sure how they tell but maybe you have to show proof of where you are staying, I am not sure? But there was uproar last year and the independent companies have now become strict about taking passengers when the shops are in dock, as I said I tried to book two trips.

So for beaches.

Barbados - try the Boatyard a short taxi ride away, look it up on the internet.

Aruba - Palm Beach, we took a taxi to the Sheraton (now changed its name but the taxi drivers know it as this) and used their facilities such as loungers etc. I thought Palm Beach was beautiful.

Margarita - as I said there is a beach where you dock although it can be quite busy as it's not so big.

Tobago - Pigeon Point - this is the only beach I have been to where I have paid an entrance fee although it is not that much. Its a taxi ride away and is quite nice. Some people said their favourite but not mine. There will be a steel band which is quite nice and a restaurant and bar. Again will be very busy.

Tortola - go to Cane Garden Bay, we went in the afternoon and it was very nice, not too crowded either.

Antigua - take your pick!! All beautiful.

Grenada - If you do go there you can get a water taxi cheaply across a short stretch of water and onto Grand Anse beach. A lovely wide and long stretch of beach with hut type restaurants and bars. Again quite crowded near the top end, just walk further down.

Am sure you will have a great time, enjoy your sunbathing !

Thanks Sam, I have noted all your advice. I have read in another forum that you can go to the Curacao Sea Aquarium independently and swim with dolphins and its cheaper than the OV.
http://www.curacao-travelguide.com/activities/dolphins.shtml
I might change my mind and choose some excursions but half of the problem is knowing whether the OV outings will be fully booked if I wait till I get on the ship. On my last cruise 5 years ago on the Dawn Princess, many of the more popular trips were not available to book on the ship, as they were full! Still is nice to know you can always find a nice beach anyway.

Thanks again, Frank

I would e-mail the Curaco Sea-Aquarium directly and make your own arrangements. This is a new destination for Ocean Village (I went there on Sundream) so maybe nothing has been enforced yet. If so the aquarium is only a short taxi ride away from where you dock so it would be easy to diy.

I would say if you have a trip you would be really keen on doing then pre-book it as the popular ones can (and do) sell out. The good thing I found about pre-booking was that there is no hassle when you get on board, its all already arranged and the appropriate tickets are posted under your door the night before the excursion.

Again, have a great time and I will keep my eye out for your review !

The abseiling down a water fall in the rain forests of Dominica, was brilliant. Quite hard work, but well worth the effort. Couldn't believe I'd done it.
Tortola, we got a boat to Virgin Gorda, and visited to Baths of virgin gorda, fabulous rock and cave formations leading to a beach called Devil's Cove lovely.
And we also went Quad Biking, which was excellent value, we did this in St. Kitts, and was a whole morning. Well worth the money (no previous experience necessary). Have a great time!

REMEMBER to check your holiday insurance for all these activities many are excluded from standard policies.

Unfortunatetely I'm not able bodied enough to do any 'activity' style trips. Due to a spinal condition, bouncy things like 4 wheel drives, quad bikes, abseiling etc are a No No. I've had to tell my insurance company about my back problem !
I'm limited to beaches, a little bit of walking, sailing, swimming, coach trips and getting drunk (not necessarily in that order).
I need specific information really on alternatives to the organised Ocean Village trips ashore, whether I can just grab a taxi for a day and still save money, that kind of thing. Thanks for your replies !

We went to Coche Island when we were in Margarita and it was beautiful. People who went shopping in Porlamar complained that the shop keepers were rude and didnt enjoy the day at all.
Everybody who went on the Jolly Roger cruise in Antigua came back absolutely slammed - the Rum must have been flowing very freely. I enjoyed the all inclusive Jolly Beach resort but wish I d gone on the pirate cruise.
Snorkelling in Bonaire which is very close to Aruba and Curacao which have replaced it was the best experience of the fortnight even in the rain(especially in the rain) coz the ones who stayed on the beach got wet and us divers never noticed.
The 7 hour Land and Sea cruise in St Lucia was awesome too - most picturesque island we visited. I would do this again if i returned
Island tours in Dominica and Grenada both very interesting - especially the nutmeg factory in Grenada - never seen so many of the same thing in my life. Must have been about 30 million in the factory!!! Emerald Pool in Dominica was very refreshing cold pure water.
Tortola Land and Sea adventure ok - nice day probably should have gon to Virgin Gorda though.
Cant help with T & T - new to itinerary this year.
Excellent holiday though and would have no hesitation returning to Ocean Village in the future.

I have just come back from and Ocean Villlage holiday, having had to endure the noise nuisance of being incarcerated in room A206. The last 4 cabins at the stern of the ship on this level (both sides) suffer a noise level incompatible with the expected comfort level of an A deck cabin.

The problem lies in their position below the rear outside decking of 24 hour restaurant "Plantations". There is incessant scraping, graunching thumping of tables and chairs being dragged about at all hours of the day, causing sound to come through the ceiling of these rooms. I know of several people who complained on this holiday about this.

Further, cabin A206 and its mirror image on the Starboard side have an additional noise problem.
There is an external steel open staircase running down from deck 14 to deck 12 which has its root directly above these rooms ! It is absolute hell trying to sleep with heavy footed over fed people yomping up and down these stairs in the midle of the night. I could not get Reception to move us ( they claimed the ship was full ) and they took little action until I went down thumping the counter when I reached the end of my tether. The action they took was too little too late, and was impossible to police (try and restrict access to the stairs and rear deck) and did not improve the situation adequately. This is now the subject of a written complaint and application for compensation. I will be posting elsewhere for advice on how to go about this.
Meanwhile, be warned. Stay away from these cabins !

Sorry to hear this Frankmitch, but apart from this problem did you have an enjoyable holiday?