A Journey of Infinite Enchantment
in the Lesser Antilles on the Explora 2
12/5/2025 to 12/14/2025

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Page 1 – Embarkation, Ship
Page 2 – Ship (Continued), Cabin
Page 3 – Entertainment, Activies, Ports of Call: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadalupe; Saint Pierre, Martinique
Page 4 – Ports of Call: Castries, St Lucia; St. George's, Grenada; Kingstown, St Vincent & Grenadines; Bridgetown Barbados

Ports (Continued)

Castries, St. Lucia

As we came into the town of Castries, we could see the brightly colored pyramid shaped Castries Market building.

When we exited the ship, I was impressed with the wide two-way ramp to the dock. It prevented delays on the ramp when people were returning from the port while others were leaving the ship.

The first time I visited St. Lucia, I had a great tour with a bunch of my friends on the cruise. On my second visit in 2021, it was Cathy’s first visit. I hoped to do a similar tour, but due to Covid, we were required to take a mediocre ship tour instead. This time I booked a private tour with Wow Tours (http://www.wowtoursstlucia.com). We booked the group tour but ended up with a private tour with just the two of us instead. We had a wonderful guide named Bernie. He did an outstanding job for us.

Our first of many stops was at a viewing point of the town of Castries below. Bernie told us about the area we were seeing. This was the first port with an additional cruise ship, the Norwegian Epic. I was able to get a nice shot of the Explora 2.

Our next stop was a view of Marigot Bay. It is considered one of the most beautiful and photographed bays in the Caribbean. It was also the site for the movies Pirates of the Caribbean, Blue Lagoon and Dr. Dolittle. The small beach can only be reached by boat or swimming to it.

As we were driving around, I was impressed with how good a condition the roads were in. The main roads to the tourist attractions have been a priority for the government. We drove through the rain forest to get there. The roads were wet since we were driving through a rain forest. There was so much growth along the road.

We stopped at a scenic viewing area looking down at the town of Soufriere, where we were heading. Normally this is a great view of the Pitons, two mountains with elevations of 2,619 ft and 2,438 ft. We could just see an outline in the distance in the clouds of the smaller one. Very disappointing.

We drove into town passing by a brightly painted church.

We continued through town and headed to what is called the world’s only drive in volcano. Since I have driven into Diamond Head in Honolulu, perhaps this is the only active drive-in volcano. Bernie dropped us off at the main site, parked the car and then came back to find a guide for us.

The young man was a wealth of knowledge on the volcano and sulphur springs we were seeing.

He told us about how the area is protected and pointed out the geologists/volcanologists that were walking on the active area.

He told us that tourists have not been allowed in that area since the mid 1990’s when a tour guide named Gabriel fell through the crust into a pit. He received 2nd degree burns up to his waist but did survive the experience. The place that he fell through is now referred to as Gabriel’s Hole. Over the years it has expanded in size. I would see it later from the other viewing area.

To get to that area I would have to take stairs down and back up to the platform.

Before going up the stairs, we took a short walk over to a unique looking beautiful waterfall. I’ve never seen one with that coloring.

We then climbed the stairs to the platform to get a different angle on the springs where we could also see Gabriel’s Hole. It opened considerably in 30 years.

We could see the bubbling mud.

After leaving the springs Bernie drove a short distance for us to see the very popular mud baths. We had no interest in experiencing it ourselves, but I did want to get photos of it.

On the way to lunch, Bernie stopped to show us the UNESCO World Heritage Site marker for the Pitons area. It was made a site in 2004, which protected the beautiful area. At the time developers were wanting to develop the area and even put a cable car between the two mountains. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.

Bernie was taking us to the Seashell Beach Restaurant for lunch. This was the entrance to the stairs down to beach level. For some reason, I didn’t take any inside photos of the restaurant. I guess I was just focused on the views from the restaurant. It was still pretty cloudy when we arrived, but it did clear up some to be able to see the smaller mountain better before we left.

The local dishes they served on their buffet were very good. This was a good place for lunch. It would have been even better on a clear sunny day.

Before going to our next stop, Bernie offered us the local Piton beer. I had it when I previously visited St. Lucia; and was very pleased he brought some for us.

Bernie had a sheet showing some of the tourist attractions we could go to.

He asked which ones we want to visit. When I saw the Diamond Falls picture at the bottom of the sheet, it looked like a good choice. In order to see it we would have to go to Diamond Botanical Gardens. He told us it wasn’t a long walk to see the falls. It was a pretty nice place, but we were focused on seeing the falls.

Along the way we saw some torch ginger. We hadn’t seen that variety before. It was a pretty plant.

The walk was longer than we expected, but we enjoyed it, especially when we came to the waterfall. It was another unique one for sure. It was worth the walk.

We headed back to the car for our next destination. Bernie went back to the Pitons viewing area that was previously so fogged in. It was so much clearer, and we could see both mountains. Bernie said that he wanted to go to the waterfall before coming back to this spot to give it more time to clear up. He made the right decision on that.

He took us to another viewing spot to look down on the town of Canaries. He tried to show us this view on the way to the Pitons, but it was too clouded in. It was much clearer now.

Bernie told us earlier in the tour that we should try some cassava bread. It is very popular on the island. He took us to a small bakery that he said made the best bread on the island. He showed us the fire pit on the outside of the building. It helped keep the inside much cooler even though the oven was inside.

We got to see the cook moving the different types of cassava bread around on the grill. Bernie also showed us a cassava plant.

We picked out two different types of bread and devoured them quickly in the car. They were very tasty.

We then drove through the town of Anse la Raye or Bay of Rays, which was named for all the rays in the bay. We went up to a viewing point above the town.

Our next stop was at St. Lucia Distillers for a rum sampling. It was a big place, and they make several different varieties and brands of rum.

From the entrance we could see the large room where we would be tasting. Once inside we were most impressed with the large variety we could choose from.

For the $7.00 per person charge you could try as many as you wanted and several times if you wanted to. I did try most of them. They were really good. The flavored ones were better than other flavored rums we have had in the past. We were feeling pretty good when we left the tasting. I was glad I could still walk.

Earlier in the tour we could look down from a mountain to see a large number of huge oil tanks. Bernie asked if we knew why they were there since no oil is produced in St. Lucia. He told us that Venezuela ships oil there to get around the US embargo. The oil is then shipped to the US as St. Lucia oil. Rather sneaky! We weren’t going back on that mountain to return to town, but we could see a few of the tanks from the road.

Our last stop was in view of the ship, the Immaculate Conception Church. I previously saw photo of the gorgeous interior and had to see it for myself. When Bernie stopped the car for us to get out, there was a hearse in front of the church. I didn’t want to disturb a funeral, but Bernie said it would be fine. The funeral had finished, but I quickly took some photos and left. It was a unique and gorgeous church. I wish I could have taken more photos of the beautiful ceiling and stained-glass windows.

It had been a most enjoyable and very full day of sightseeing. We couldn’t have been happier with Bernie and the sites he took us to.

St. George's, Grenada

I first visited Grenada in 2016 and had a full island tour. It was OK, but it wasn’t worth repeating an island tour. We were supposed to stop in Grenada on a 2021 cruise, but due to Covid, they wouldn’t let the ship stop there. The mountainous island looked interesting from the ship.

The tall tree on one of the mountains certainly stuck out from the rest.

What really stuck out was the superyacht Leviathan that was close by. The 365-foot yacht was just delivered the month before our cruise. The $500 million yacht was purchased by Gabe Newell, co-founder of the video game company Valve. It is interesting to read about the yacht’s many unique features.

The main attraction for our visit was to see the Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Garden. It contains over 75 concrete statues that serve as an artificial reef. We took a ship tour that would allow us to snorkel to see the sculptures and then spend some beach time close by. There was a long dock we had to take to go next door to the smaller dock where our catamaran was waiting for us.

It was a very nice boat with lots of room to move around. Even though the tour started at 10:00 AM, they provided unlimited rum punch and other drinks. The crew was very helpful and friendly. It was just an enjoyable boat for cruising around the beautiful island.

When we stopped at the sculpture park, fins and masks/snorkels were passed out for those that needed them. We always bring our own masks and snorkels. We were broken into two groups with a guide for each group. As we stopped above a group of statues, the guide would tell us about them and their meaning. It was a good way to appreciate them even more.

After having so many problems trying to take underwater photos with my iPhone in a plastic case in Polynesia, I didn’t take any photos. But one of the guys on the boat did take a bunch with his unprotected iPhone. He said that since the phone is waterproof to 30 feet it wouldn’t be a problem. I hadn’t even considered doing that, but glad he did. He air-dropped a bunch of his photos to several of us. The only problem was that instead of taking normal photos, he took screen shots. In addition to its being lower quality, it showed the white gridlines in the photo. I am still using them in this review

The grouping that is normally shown when you see something about the gardens is the large circular grouping. It is impressive.

The first grouping we saw was group of statues that looked like they were walking toward the beach. They stretched much further out than is shown in the photo. It’s a shame the water was so murky closer to the beach.

Below are some others. In one, the guide is swimming under a desk. In another he is sitting next to a woman statue taking a selfie.

It was a most enjoyable snorkel excursion. We were so glad we did it. After everyone was back on the boat, we headed to Grand Anse Beach. It is consistently ranked as one of the world's best beaches for its beauty, safety, and authentic Caribbean feel. On the way there we saw a section of elevated road that curved around the mountain. We also got our first view of 2-mile wide Grand Anse Beach.

When we stopped on the beach, we were all thrilled with its beauty. This is the kind of beach people dream of being at.

It was a good time to take some photos of our catamaran also.

While I was in the water, Cathy was waving at me from the boat. That’s my girl!

After returning to the dock, I was able to take a photo of the colorful photo opp Grenada sign. I had to wait a while for people to get out from in front of it. I also saw the entrance to the port area shopping.

Once back on the boat, I was able to take some shots of the port area. I was able to take a better photo of the tree on the hill I noticed when we arrived.

I also took a photo of the Explora 2 next to the Marella Discovery 2 on the dock. The Discovery 2 used to be Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas. It holds twice as many passengers as the Explora 2, but is only 9% larger in tonnage.

With the whole afternoon free, we found a cabana on the ship to hang out on until happy hour. It had been a fun and relaxing day.

Kingstown, St. Vincent & Grenadines

This was my first time on St. Vincent. I was most impressed with the dramatic mountainous landscape.

We had another long dock to walk. The tie downs were a long way from the ship. It took a long time for us to tie up to the dock, since the ship was having difficulty throwing the lines out to the receivers. They tried several times and finally did it. We left the ship a little later than planned.

I was unsuccessful trying to find an interesting private tour, so I settled for a ship tour titled Cuisine, Culture & Cocktails. It was a 4-hour tour that was supposed to show us around the island and then let us sample some food and drink of the island. We walked off the pier where we boarded the bus and met our guide for the day, Lafleur. She was a good guide with a wonderful personality. So much fun to be with.

As we drove out of town, I was able to get a photo from the bus of the Kingstown War Memorial that is locally known as the “Iron Man”. It commemorates the 61 soldiers who lost their lives in WW1 and 4 in WW2.

I also liked the police station building with attractive brick patterns.

The main street looked like most of the main streets on the islands we visited.

It took an hour to get to our destination. Since we had intermittent rain, The bus windows were wet, and we couldn’t see that much of the island’s beauty. We finally got to where we would have some drinks and a snack. We had to run from the bus due to a shower passing through.

The sugar mill on the grounds was in beautiful shape. It was also used for dining.

The weather improved and we were able to walk around the grounds. We could look down to the beach far away, but there wasn’t much to do there other than to sit at the bar and have rum drinks.

They were very proud of their locally produced rum. Particularly their 84.5% very strong Sunset rum. Due to the high alcohol content, it can't be carried on an airplane. Their 40% Sparrow rum was much better.

We were eventually told that the snacks were ready. They were OK, but not something I would order in a restaurant.

After quite a while sitting around doing nothing, I asked Lefleur when we were going to the hotel to see the breadfruit roasting and then have some with their national Jackfish dish that was on the tour description. She told me that this isn’t the season for breadfruit or jackfish, so we weren’t going to the hotel. That was a bummer, since that was the main appeal of the tour other than seeing the island. We stayed there for an hour and a half before heading back to the ship.

On the way back I was able to get some photos through the window of some nice homes on the mountains and some beaches.

Outside of town, we made a stop to look down on the town of Kingston and our ship in port.

Once back at the dock, I took some photos of the ship and port entrance.

When we got back to the ship, we looked for another cabana to hang out in. We were surprised at how lucky we were to find empty ones. It helps to only have a 71% capacity cruise. That night we packed for the next morning’s disembarkation and flight home.

Disembarkation

Bridgetown is a different kind of port. To disembark, we had to go to the Explora Lounge for the immigration process. We showed the agents our passports and an Explora person gave us a slip of paper saying something like “Cleared Immigration”. We then went down to the Journeys Lounge to sit until our number was called. Set up in the theater were six tables. On the back table were the key cards for the incoming guests. There must not be a terminal for this to be done before getting on the ship, which was also why we had to clear immigration on the ship.

Another unusual issue with Barbados is that we could not bring carry on suitcases on our own to get off the ship. We had to leave them outside the room for the ship to transfer them for us. The small busses we took to the luggage warehouse had no storage for any size suitcases. We had to put backpacks and other small items on our laps. People that thought their bags were OK to bring had a tough time on the bus ride with very full laps.

Since so many people were staying on the ship for the continuation back to Miami, there weren’t that many getting off in Barbados. It made for a quick easy exit. Once in the luggage warehouse, we retrieved our luggage and went to a counter, where they looked at our passports again and filled in a piece of paper they handed to us.

When we booked our flights, I was disappointed that the earliest flight home was at 4:40 PM, since we couldn’t make the 7:00 AM one. We would either have to wait many hours at the small airport or do something else. I thought about getting a day room but couldn’t find one. I instead found a company that would give us a 4–5-hour tour that dropped us off at the airport. I was communicating with our driver/guide by WhatsApp. He told me where to meet him outside the port.

We were told on the bus that those with independent arrangements had to see an agent after they picked up their luggage. We found an agent that told us that our driver would have to come to the warehouse to pick us up since they couldn’t take us outside the port area. Good grief, what a hassle. I gave the agent our driver's phone number so she could get him cleared to come into the port area. It all worked very easily for us, but I hated that the driver had to jump through hoops to pick us up.

Bridgetown, Barbados

The company we booked was Forever Summer Tours and Transfers (https://foreversummerbarbados.com). Our driver/guide was a wonderful guy named Andre. He was very knowledgeable about Barbados and shared so much information with us.

He picked us up in a brand-new large van. We had the whole van to ourselves. He also had a speaker system that allowed us to hear everything he said very clearly. This was a first-class service.

On my previous two visits to Barbados, I only did water-based tours with a little downtown shopping before getting back on the ship. With this tour we would get to see much more of Bridgetown and other parts of the island. I was looking forward to it. We drove around town with Andre telling us what we were passing. We stopped at the Garrison Savannah Racetrack, one of the oldest horse racing tracks in the Americas.

The racetrack is in the Garrison Historic Area where the British West India regiment had their headquarters. George Washington stayed there for six weeks with his sick brother in 1751. The main guardhouse is quite a structure.

There are canons lining the racetrack.

We enjoyed the scenery from the van as we drove around.

We stopped at Independence Arch on the Chamberlin Bridge. It was built in 1987 to celebrate 21 years of Barbados independence. On both sides of the bridge is a plaque with the Barbadian Pledge on it. It is similar to the US pledge of allegiance.

The pedestrian bridge crosses the Inner Basin where lots of boats are moored. We could also see the Parliament building in the distance.

Walking to another site nearby, I had to take a photo of flowers on a Trumpet Tree. Too pretty to pass up.

Andre walked us over to the Golden Square Freedom Park to show us the Builders of the Barbados Wall monument. The wall is a tribute to the people who contributed to the nation’s history and spirit. There are bricks with names on both sides. A lot of people are honored.

Also in the park is the 1937 Memorial Wall. It was built to commemorate the Barbadians who lost their lives in the 1937 labor riots. It was very interesting as Andre told us what the different works meant.

There is a bust of Clement Osbourne Payne. He was a pioneer of the trade union movement in Barbados. His speeches and actions were considered seditious by the authorities resulting in his deportation. This resulted in the 1937 labor riots where soldiers killed 14 demonstrators and wounded 47 others. The riots resulted in a commission of inquiry which eventually instituted the reforms he was fighting for. In 1998 he was named one of the eleven national heroes of Barbados.

We walked to National Heroes Square, where each of the heroes is honored.

One of the heroes is the singer, Rihanna. She was born in Barbados and still has a home there.

In the center of the square is the Monument to the Barbadian Family. The statues represent different stages of life and importance of the family unit.

I was able to get a better photo of the Parliament building across the street.

Nearby was the Cenotaph War Memorial. It has the names of the Barbadians that lost their lives in WW1 and WW2. In the background is the Dolphin Fountain that commemorates the introduction of piped water to Bridgetown in 1861.

From this location I was able to get a photo of the front of the Parliament building.

When we came from the ship on the way to the Garrison area, we passed by a building that I tried to take a photo of from inside the van. Andre told us not to worry since we would be coming back there. We were now stopping close to it where we were told about the history of the Mutual Life Assurance Society. It is a beauty with so much iron work.

We next drove to the Kensington Oval, the cricket stadium. They had statues of famous Barbados cricket players. It is a very popular sport on this island.

We next drove through an older residential area to see the house where Rihanna grew up. It was hard to miss with the bright colors. It probably didn’t look like that when she was living there. It is now an Airbnb. The street has been renamed Rihanna Drive.

We then began the drive out of Bridgetown up to the northern part of the island. Andre wanted us to stop to see an elegant building called One Sandy Lane. This large building contains eight villas from 8,000-10,000 square feet each. It is known for its unparalleled luxury, privacy and 24/7 concierge service. One of the villas is owned by Rihanna.

Andre told us to walk along the side of the building down to the water. It is some building and is on a gorgeous beach location.

We next stopped in Speightstown at the PRC Bakery. Since it was noon and we still had a couple more hours on the tour, Andre offered to buy us some refreshments at one of the most popular bakeries on the island. We got both sweet and savory treats. They were outstanding!

Andre told us to check out the beach across the street. There was a very nice promenade. We also saw the Emerald Sakara cruise ship. It is a luxury cruise ship that only carries up to 100 passengers. It is about the same size as the two luxury yachts we previously saw.

Continuing our drive, Andre pulled over to the side of the road and asked if we knew what kind of animal we were looking at. We thought they were goats. He told us that they are Barbados Black Belly Sheep. We have never heard of those before. With no wool, they are raised for meat.

We stopped at North Point, the furthest north point on the 21 mile long by 14-mile-wide island. The first things we saw were a brightly colored statue of a woman and a tree trunk and anchor with signs pointing to different parts of the world. Both were popular photo spots for selfies.

The reason we were there was to see the dramatic views of the waves crashing against the rugged coastline. There was a sign pointing to “The View”. It certainly was a view! Just amazing!

I had to take a video, since still photos just can’t capture the beauty we were seeing.

We walked over to the other side of the popular restaurant there to see what it looked like. It was also beautiful, but not as much as the other side. We did need a selfie.

We then drove to the east side of the island to Cherry Tree Hill. The cherry trees were replaced with mahogany trees. The reason we were there was to see a panoramic view of the eastern side of Barbados. Just gorgeous! The Mount Gay rum museum is also on the hill, but we didn't have time to visit it.

Andre took our photo before driving us to the airport for our flight home.

We were so glad that we had to take the later flight, since we loved our tour with Andre. It was the best tour of the whole trip. It also gave us an appreciation for the island of Barbados, that we hadn’t experienced much of in the past. It is now our favorite Caribbean island. This is an island we would happily return to for a longer stay.

Recap

We booked this cruise to experience the new Explora Journeys cruise line. The ship was our primary destination, since we have been to the Caribbean so many times. But we were very surprised at how much we enjoyed our time and excursions on some of the islands. Good tours make all the difference.

We heard so many rave reviews about the Explora line, that our expectations were probably higher than they should have been. But expectations were met and we were very pleased with ship, cabin, service, food and entertainment. In these days of reductions in service and amenities on many cruise lines, Explora Journeys stands out as a first-class product.

A Journey of Infinite Enchantment in the Lesser Antilles on the Explora 2 12/5/2025 to 12/14/2025