Tag: caribbean

The Crane, Barbados: A promise kept

2005
Our brief glmpse of The Crane in 2005.

It was 2005 and we were on our way to Antigua for a week of relaxation at the St. James’s Club.  Who knew that even in the early 21st century the airport on this beautiful Caribbean island didn’t have a landing guidance system that would safely land an aircraft in the fog?  In fact, who knew that Caribbean islands had fog?

After the third attempt and pull-up, it was clear to us that there was a problem.  The first stop after that was the island of Guadeloupe for fuel.  Sitting at the front of the aircraft, we got as far as the top of the steps to look out the open door and breathe in the warm, tropical air – and then we were off to Antigua again.  But to no avail.  The weather was just too bad so we would have to spend the night in Barbados.  We could hear the groans all around us.  Well, we thought, an adventure.

It was a credit to Air Canada that they were able to find overnight accommodation for everyone on a Saturday night in February within an hour or two.  We were among the lucky – or at least we chose to think that!

We were taken to The Crane, a residential (read: condo) resort on the rugged east coast of the island.  Since it was so late, the restaurant was closed – but the manager on duty roused the cook who got out of his bed and came to make hamburgers for the dozen or so of us who hadn’t eaten in so long we couldn’t quite remember at that point.  In the dark it was difficult to tell what the resort was like – but the next morning, it was clear that this was a place we would want to return to at some later date.  We made a promise to ourselves and kept it.

Overlooking the rugged Atlantic

Last winter’s cold temperatures here on the east coast of Canada sent us fleeing once again to a Caribbean cruise, and this time it was one that would leave from Bridgetown, Barbados.  So, before we boarded the Silver Cloud, we spent three days exploring The Crane.

Built on a rugged bluff above an extraordinary white sand beach, The Crane is billed as the oldest resort in the Caribbean.  Don’t be fooled, though.  The old mansion that was expanded into a hotel that opened in 1887 is still part of its charm and houses the spa and a few rooms.  But the rest of the place is a series of charming new buildings housing extraordinary suites/apartments – just the kind of place discerning travelers would love.

We booked ourselves into a one-bedroom suite because we had remembered the junior suite we had been housed in that fateful night years before.  And the rooms were just as lovely as we remembered with their four-poster mahogany beds, breathtakingly spacious bathrooms, breezy white cotton-covered sofas, dining room, kitchen, laundry and the list goes on.

Grand Jetee

The property itself has several wonderful pools. The oldest pool overlooks the beach and is just the kind of place where, if you squint just a little, you can picture early 20th century guests sitting about with parasols, fanning themselves daintily.  Throughout the property there are several wonderful pieces of sculpture.  One is a life-size bronze statue called Grande Jetee and if you know anything about ballet, you’ll recognize the form.  As parents of a son who is a ballet dancer, we were quite taken with it the first time we saw it and even more so the second time around.

There is a series of little shops and restaurants around a kind of town square within the complex and it houses, among other boutiques, a convenience shop.  We noted that many of the guests seemed to be buying stapes no doubt to use for their own meals in their residences.  As a result, the restaurants were practically empty most of the time.

One of the restaurants on the property, Zen, offers a Japanese-Thai menu and was the #1 Zagat-rated restaurant in Barbados in 2009 and 2010.  Its setting overlooking the Crane Beach, often counted among the world’s most beautiful, is something not to be missed.   But don’t forget the pizzeria onsite as well!

A series of connected pools

The pool area was practically deserted – many of the ground floor suites have their own plunge pools and it seemed that many guests simply stayed on their own lovely lanais.  We had a sense of privacy and luxury everywhere we looked.

We truly enjoyed our three days at The Crane, but did think that a longer visit would be a bit too laid back for us.  The resort isn’t within walking distance of anything and we do get a bit bored sitting around a pool all day!  That said we could use a few pool days right about now and certainly would go back to the Crane if we ever take another cruise out of Barbados. We kept our promise to return – and The Crane kept its promise – the promise it offered on one brief encounter.

Crane Beach from the resort above (there is an elevator and a staircase leading down — an up!)

Some photos of our suite…

Part of the wonderful bathroom in the suite
The bedroom of our suite at The Crane, Barbados

When fact & fiction collide: La Source, Grenada

The serenity of the yoga pavilion at La Source, Grenada

In the mid-1990’s Herman Wouk wrote a novel (which subsequently became a Jimmy Buffet musical) called Don’t Stop the Carnival about a displaced advertising exec who finds himself on a Caribbean Island managing a beachfront hotel.  If you ever thought that you’d just like to escape the northern climes to move permanently to the tropics, and perhaps manage a little hotel, you need to read this novel first as a bit of a cautionary tale – or so said one of the managers of the spa-hotel La Source who recommended the book  to us when we spent an eventful week on the idyllic island of Grenada.

A few years ago, we decided that we wanted to experience a spa vacation of sorts.  We had never been to the Caribbean island of Grenada, and it looked like a place we might really enjoy.  So, on closer inspection, we noticed that the hotel La Source billed itself as a place where those spa-like activities were all part of the package.  The place looked like exactly the sort of place a discerning traveler might spend a relaxing week being pampered in gloriously tropical surroundings.  So, with the full knowledge that the property was just re-opening a month before our arrival after having been closed for a couple of years (it was hard-hit by hurricane Ivan), we set out for a week of relaxation and spa treatments.

When we arrived, everything looked wonderful – the newly planted vegetation in the central courtyard was just starting to take root, and our beachfront room with its mahogany four-poster bed and high-pitched ceiling was lovely.

Our accommodation at La Source from the beach

We did note, however, that the building directly behind ours was not quite renovated.  The pool looked inviting and the beach dazzling.  The resort’s two boats (one to take us water-skiing or biscuiting, and one to take us on dives) were moored in the cove.  But where were the people?  Well, they were there – all 50 or so of them, but the place seemed deserted.  Being lovers of seclusion, we thought that was just fine.

The first evening there we happened to meet a member of the management team over drinks in the bar.  This was just as we were listening to other guests regale us with their stories of what had occurred the week prior to our arrival.  Their two-week sojourn had begun with a week where the pool was empty as a result of lack of water on the premises and – you guessed it – no water for several days in the rooms.  We were appalled!  During the week that we were there, we had only one day when there was no hot water, but at least there was water.  This all sparked off the conversation with the manager who told us that running a high-end spa in the Caribbean, especially one that had been devastated by a hurricane, was not for the faint of heart.

There had been personnel issues, construction woes, water difficulties, materials deficiencies – just the sort of story that Wouk’s book detailed.  But that had been fiction.

Patty with the aquatics director facing her fear!

We had been well aware that the place had just reopened.  We went with our eyes wide open, which is more than can be said for some of the people we met that week.  However, most seemed to take it all in stride.  We found the people who worked at the property all polite and personable in a reticent kind of way.  It’s part of the culture, and as slightly reserved Canadians, we understood this kind of cultural approach.  We enjoyed the lack of people and wondered what it would be like with 200 – the capacity – rather than the 50 or so who were there the week we were.

Art looks out over St. George's from the fort.

We both wonder now if Patty would have been as inclined to go in a biscuit with Stanley, the head of water sports (since she has a fear of the water) if there had been more people around.  And we wonder if Art would have been inclined to make his way to the spa for his daily treatments wearing a spa robe, as everyone did.  Neither activity is within our individual personalities – but La Source just seemed to bring it out in us!

The view from the Ocean Grill in Grenada

We happened to be in Grenada again last winter during a day trip when we were cruising the Caribbean.  We got off the ship and hired a taxi to take us back to La Source.  When we arrived we found an amenable front-office staff person who gladly took us onto the property (after assuring herself that we were presentable and would not accost the guests) so that we could see the finished renovations.  What had been newly planted gardens were now lush and full, and there was a new boutique in the spot where an empty building had stood.  It still seemed to us that there were few people around, although she assured us that the resort was full.  Ahhh, we thought.  It would still be a great place to take a spa vacation week.  We then headed back into St. George’s for a beer at our favorite water-front bar, The Ocean Grill.

After our week in Grenada the first time, we did read Don’t Stop the Carnival and it was as if we were on holiday again.  Bottom line: if you’re planning a winter escape this year and are looking for a great beach read, this is it.  Bon voyage!

The Ocean Grill -- the perfect place for a cold beer!

Good things come in small packages: A small-ship cruise

A picture is worth a thousand words - The Silver Cloud (on the right!)

For many people, bigger is better.  For us discerning travelers…not so much.  When the ship Oasis of the Seas launched in 2009, we took one look at its specs (close to 6000 passengers) and knew immediately it wasn’t for us.  The largest ship we’d been on at that time was just slightly over 2000 passengers, and we knew that was quite large enough.  But we wanted to go smaller.  So we looked to the self-described “six-star” experience.

It’s wonderful to be at that point in our lives (nudging ever closer to retirement and yet still with significant cash flow) so that we can travel in a way that allows us to be a bit more discerning than we used to be – because, self-described or not, the so-called six-star cruise lines cost.  And for us, there is one place where bigger is better when it comes to getting on a cruise ship; that place is the size of the stateroom.

On the occasion of our twentieth wedding anniversary some years ago, we decided to treat ourselves to a Royal Suite on a Celebrity cruise ship and we’ve never been able to go back to a smaller stateroom.  So, we are looking for value when we choose an experience.  In the case of moving to smaller ships, we first tried Regent – first the Navigator (490 passengers) and then the Mariner (700 passengers)[1] – then ended up earlier this year on a Silversea ship, the Silver Cloud with all of 296 passengers.  What an experience that was!  Even if you can’t afford a Silversea cruise, or a Silver suite on board, come along with us and we’ll tell you what it’s like.

Art in the suite dining room

We boarded the Silver Cloud in Bridgetown, Barbados at the cruise terminal.  We were greeted not by the usual line-ups and booths that face you when you go aboard a larger ship in places like Fort Lauderdale; rather there was a table with three of the ship’s personnel to greet us with our documents and a wave us to the pier.  Once on board, with a glass of champagne in hand, we had our ID photos taken and were whisked to our suite.

What made the ship so different than previous experiences was that you could stand in the bar at one end of the ship and look down its one corridor and see to the other end.  Then, as you walked along the corridors past occasionally open doors of suites (every stateroom aboard is at least a small suite) and see out both sides of the ship: there are no interior cabins; everyone has an outside suite and some 90% have verandahs.

Patty in the suite living room

The ship’s itinerary took us to several islands that we had never visited before either as an island vacation or as a cruise ship port.  These included Dominica, Bequia and St. Bart’s.  Some islands just don’t have the capability for one reason or another, to host the larger ships, so smaller is better when it comes to accessing them as ports.

We prefer just the two of us for dining companions on any given cruise ship.  In fact, when ships have set dinner times and tables, if we can’t be guaranteed a table for two, we won’t book.  We’ve been burned in the past by having to spend a meal or two in the company of loud wind-bags who like to hear themselves talk – not our idea of a relaxing meal.  On these small ships you just arrive at the dining room any time during dining hours and ask to be seated.  In our case, our requests each evening for a table-for-two were never a problem (unlike a previous experience on a Regent ship when the maître d’ simply could not seem to understand precisely what a table-for-two meant).  Despite our  preference for ‘twosomeness’ in dining, the ship is small enough that you would have to stay in your suite the entire cruise to not come in contact with just about everyone on board some time during the 10 days.  The amazing thing was that we found ourselves in the company of some 250 like-minded people.  These were people who could afford to travel well, but who were looking for an experience that assured them they had spent their money well.  They were not disappointed in this experience, nor were we.

One aspect of travel aboard these six-star ships a traveler needs to know is that people dress.  Some of the lines (Regent for example) have really moved away from truly formal evenings, however, every night on the Silver Cloud was like a cocktail party with cocktail attire expected – and you would certainly stick out if you chose not to dress up a bit.

Our invitation to dine with the Captain of the Silver Cloud

Of course, the food was wonderful and these are all-inclusive experiences.  Not once does a bar tender ask you to sign a bill.  There is no passing over your room key for anything to be added to your bill (except spa services and if you choose wines off the sommelier’s premium list).  Wine, drinks, and gratuities – they are all included in the price.

The entertainment was fairly low-key and yet there was always something to keep us amused.  We would not, however, like to have too many days at sea on such a small ship.  This kind of a cruise where there are five or six lovely ports to explore is the ideal way in our view to experience all the perks of small-ship cruising.

We ended up sharing our van and driver with several passengers from another larger cruise ship who were stranded at a beach on the island of St. Kitts.  When they asked us which ship we were from and we mentioned the Silver Cloud, one of them asked us what it was like on board such a small ship.  “I  heard that everything is included and you have a butler,” he said.  We nodded.  He sighed.  “I’m going on one of those someday,” he said.  “It looks like a private yacht.”  Couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Bequia
Bequia