Voyager of the Seas Part 4 Barbados

August 29, 2024

Voyager of the Seas Part 4 Barbados

Sometimes when Mr. UR and I cruise we like to take different excursions. He's much more of a snorkeler than I am, and I like to take an island tour more than he does. That was the case on the island of Barbados on our Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas cruise. He went on a snorkeling excursion while I took an island tour, which was one of the best island tours I have been on. The guide was phenomenal and she gave us so much info about the island and its people that I was in overload. Such as:

- Barbados' literacy rate is 99.7% which is, according to our guide, second highest in the world. One of the reasons is their excellent, and free, public school system.

- Barbados is one of the few places in the world where McDonalds failed. There isn't one on the island - they prefer their local fast food chain of Chefette, which is indigenously owned with 15 locations. The most popular dish is the roti - a curry wrap, usually made with chicken as the protein.

- There are no private beaches in Barbados. All are public. Including the beach behind Rihanna's $22 million condo!

- Tiger Woods was married here at an exclusive resort, Sandy Lane, in 2004 to his now ex-wife. Woods rented out the entire resort including 200 rooms that ranged from $700 to $8000 per night. He also booked every helicopter on the island so there would be no journalist flying overhead.

-Barbados was colonized by the British Empire which included slavery and plantations. It's major crop is sugar cane. It became independent in 1966 and became a commonwealth with the Queen as its head of state. They replaced the Queen with a president in 2021.

Sugar Cane

Favorite fast food on the island

All beaches are public

Now that we've heard some facts, let's travel around Barbados and see what I saw on my tour!

National Botanical Gardens

The first stop on our tour was at the Barbados National Botanical Gardens. Only opened in 2019, this gardens features tropical flowers, as you would guess, and shrubs and trees. We were given time to walk around this small - it's 250 acres with much of it being open space - gardens. Part of the tour included a rum punch or non - alcoholic punch, your choice. And we could sit and enjoy it on the back deck overlooking the gardens. Then we could look around the very small gift shop and poof! it was time to go. It was a short but very nice stop. If you're in Barbados, the gardens is free so it might be worth your while to stop, especially if you're a garden lover.

St. John Parish Church

St John Parish Church is a beautiful Gothic inspired church that was founded in 1645. It's a must visit for anyone who enjoys history as it's one of the oldest churches on the island. It is the fifth church building standing here as others were destroyed by fire (1660) and hurricane (1675, 1780 and 1831) The current church was built in 1836 and is known for it's ornately carved pulpit which consists of 6 different types of wood: ebony, locust, Barbados Mahogany, machineel, oak and pine - the first four being indigenous to Barbados. Another claim to fame for the church is its ties to Istanbul as it is the final resting place for the second brother of Constantine, the last Christian emperor of Constantinopole.

Currently it's a stop on tours for its history and also for its incredible views - quite possibly the best views on the island. Certainly, the best views from a church I've ever seen! I, also, enjoyed looking at a small market they were holding and purchasing some handmade mahogany earrings for my daughter.

Bathsheba Beach

Along the east coach of Barbados, Bathsheba Beach was out last stop on our day tour of the island. It was breathtakingly beautiful with huge rock formations in the water. Rumored to look like Bathsheba's baths - where the wife of King David bathed in milk to keep her skin soft - this beach is part of the dramatic coastline with wide white sand beaches.

A surfers paradise - annual surf competitions are held here annually - due to the famous Soup Bowl where top notch waves can be found. (It's not safe to swim here, however, because of the rock formations and rough surf)

The village of Bathsheba itself is home to a small community of fisher folk and their families. Along the coast are guest houses, local rum shops and restaurants.

We stopped for all of us to walk along the beach and take some photos. There was a small cafe and an artist selling her art. It's safe to say that this was my favorite part of the tour and I could've stayed all day. If I ever get a chance to return to Barbados, I would head straight for Bathsheba beach and not leave!

Our last order of business was to head back to the port and our ship but not before we stopped at the top of the hill for some great views over the coast. Beautiful!