Transatlantic Escape. Part One

Legend Of The Seas. Royal Caribbean

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Hotel

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We joined this 16 night cruise in Barcelona. Hoping to get an upgrade we arrived at the dock at 11 am and to our great delight we ended up in a suite for a very modest cost. We had previously booked a balcony cabin on deck 7. Embarkation was smooth and we were on board by 11:45. This was our second cruise on the Legend and chose it because we prefer its size to the Mega ships. Part of the “Vision Class” it is easy to navigate and seems more intimate than others we have sailed on. She carries 1800 passengers and 720 crew, weighing in at around 70,000 tons and eleven decks high she is by no means small but around the second day you can begin to recognize familiar faces. The majority of th...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2008

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Fort Young Hotel

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Hotel

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We did not stay at this hotel but following our long hike around the town and Botanic garden we decided to have lunch there. We were very impressed by the quality of food, service and beautiful grounds. In 1720 there was a wooden fort on this site it was built by the French. In 1761 British forces captured it and the island. Nine years later construction began on the Hotel {named after the British Governor} some of original walls have survived and are part of the present building. Hurricane David totally destroyed the hotel which had opened in 1964 and it wasn’t re opened until almost ten years later. The hotel has 73 rooms/ including 3 suites. The luxury oceanfront suites all h...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2008

Fort Young Hotel

Roseau, Dominica
(767) 448 5000

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Kingstone St Vincent Tour and Town Walk

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Attraction

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We had the best ships welcome ever in St Vincent’s it was the inaugural visit of the R.C.L’.s Legend of The Seas and the port was set up to welcome the ship. An excellent steel drum band played non stop and there was ample room for visitors to sit and enjoy the music or dance, whatever the mood provoked. All the shops in the port area were open and ready for business a very festive and welcoming air abounded. We arrived on the 12th of December around seven am and we disembarked around 10am. We did not book ships tours preferring to peruse the town first and then find an island tour independently. St Vincent is located in the Windward Islands between St Lucia and Grenada, it...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2008

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Port Stop and tour St Kitt's

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Attraction

Church Of The Immaculate Conception. Photo -

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This volcanic island was the first permanent European settlement and was established in 1642 by Captain Thomas Warner an Englishman. He and his small group landed at Sandy Point on the Caribbean side. The Caribs who inhabited the island granted English settlers permission to remain, however the British and French struggled for control and the island was fought over for over 80 years until the treaty of Versailles gave the British dominion and the Caribs were all slaughtered at a place now known as Bloody Point. In 1877 St Kitts became a crown colony and five years later its sister Island Nevis. The state of St Christopher and Nevis was declared independent in 1983 and in 1...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 1, 2008

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Lord Nelson Tall Ship. Port Visit.

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Attraction

Explaining adapted gear for disabled sailors Photo -

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We saw this ship ahead of us as we approached Tenerife and we caught another glimpse of it in the late evening after we left that Island. We could not believe that it was a sailing ship because it seemed to be traveling very fast, it was quite a sight all lit up against the ocean. We arrived in La Palma Canary Islands around 7am and noted the ship was already docked further down the Wharf. We had a burgee from our Yacht club in Hamilton and so decided to check out the ship and hopefully meet its crew and present the Burgee to them.It turned out that the Ship belonged to the Jubilee Sailing Trust a UK charity and its aim is to promote access to sailing for physically disabled and a...Read More

We saw this ship ahead of us as we approached Tenerife and we caught another glimpse of it in the late evening after we left that Island. We could not believe that it was a sailing ship because it seemed to be traveling very fast, it was quite a sight all lit up against the ocean.

We arrived in La Palma Canary Islands around 7am and noted the ship was already docked further down the Wharf. We had a burgee from our Yacht club in Hamilton and so decided to check out the ship and hopefully meet its crew and present the Burgee to them.

It turned out that the Ship belonged to the Jubilee Sailing Trust a UK charity and its aim is to promote access to sailing for physically disabled and able bodied men and women through tall ship adventures. People with mobility impairments can benefit from learning to sail and these ships {there are two} are especially designed to provide anyone regardless of ability to take on active roles in all aspects of sailing.
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We were invited aboard and presented our burgee to the second in command because the Captain was busy in the chart room. We met the captain later and was surprised to discover that she was first, a female and second only in her early forties.
We were shown around the beautiful tidy ship and met many of the adult crew who’s ages stemmed from late forties to 70’s.

The ship and galley is wheelchair friendly plus disabled sailors can ascend to the crows nest by means of special rigging. The Helm is set up to allow Hearing and vision impaired individuals to take their turn. Our guide demonstrated the speaking compass, vibrating alarms and brighter lighting for tracking the radar on screen for those with visual impairments; for those with limitations using hands and arms, extensions have been added in order to allow a turn at the wheel.

There are 8 permanent crew, total crew capacity is forty persons, fifty percent of whom must have physical impairments. There are no “passengers” and able sailors are budded with disabled. There certainly seemed to be a friendly atmosphere among the crew they exhibited friendly banter amongst themselves with lots of jollity and laughter.

We remarked on seeing the ship the previous afternoon and related that we were surprised that a sailing vessel seemed to be overtaking our large cruise and our guide told us they had sailed all night and they decided not to stop in Tenerife sailing through the night to La Palma . Our guide related that on her watch they had a close call she said “ a foreign cargo ship was moving in too close as if to cross the path”, radio messages from The Lord Nelson reminded the vessel of right of way {because she was under sail}, a heavily accented male voice replied “you are using engines as well because your speed is nearing 14 knots” she replied “we are under sail I am the captain we are not using the engine give way.” he replied “ In my country we do not recognize female captains women should be at home looking after husbands” The Lord Nelson moved off because the foreign vessel continued course refusing to follow the seafaring rule that motor vessels yield to sailing vessels. Being on watch is not a time to slumber, and being right could be dead right.
The Jubilee Sailing Trust offers trips throughout the year from four days and longer’ around the UK, Europe and the Canary Islands.

These ships are maintained to the highest standards; it is a charity and welcomes donations. E mail. voyages@jst.org.uk for further information
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2008

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