We are a sailing foursome of active retired folks looking for good service, good entertainment, great ports and fabulous food! We had a great trip aboard Allegiant Air from NC to Clearwater/St Pete airport ($49 one way). Of course, our shuttle (BlueOne) was expensive all the way to Tampa, but he was great company and stopped for us at Total Wine so we could make a pick-up! We then spent one pre-cruise night at Hampton Inn Ibor City, less than 1 mile from the port. We enjoyed our stay there and they offered free anytime shuttle to anywhere within 5 miles (also on the trolly line for rides down to Channelside).

We arrived at the port about 11:30 am and embarkation was very quick - we were onboard before we knew it! Our verandah cabin was exactly as we expected - you see, we had previously sailed on the Maasdam, sister ship to the Veendam. Luggage arrived timely, lunch in the Lido was very good and we went wandering to see what was new or different. Some crew seemed a little confused and we learned later that a number of new crew members came on board when we did (is this a good sign?)

itinerary was Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, Grenada, Isle de Margaurita (Venezuela), Bonair, Aruba, and Grand Cayman. We thoroughly enjoyed all ports, especially Bonaire and Aruba - praised for their clean streets, beautiful colored buildings and great little shops. We did shore excursions at Barbados (Best of Barbados - very good), Grenada (bus tour - very good guide who stopped and took fruit off the trees for us to see), Isle de Margaurita (also bus tour to major sightseeing - very interesting guide), and Grand Cayman (a delightful trip to an orchid farm, Sudbury Plantation and other stops). Read more