05 November 2022

This trip was a long time in the making, it first started with the savings club putting a little bit away every month so it wouldn’t impact our families and we could have an incredible trip without the guilt! (I can help if anyone would like to set up a saving scheme) after booking the holiday we unfortunately got covid cancelled twice, lost 2 people to operations and finances but finally went ahead third time lucky. We started the trip with a taxi to the airport (I can Highly recommend N.A.S Travel) Nick helped us all with our cases and puts you in holiday mode right from leaving your house. We arrived at Heathrow checked in and went straight to the lounge (Plaza Premium Lounge) A lounge is a great way to kick of your holiday giving you somewhere to sit / relax and have some food and drinks before you fly. We flew with British Airways, Unfortunately, we were not all able to sit together but we had a great flight out and the staff on BA were amazing, super friendly. The queue to get through Immigration at arrivals was quite long, however we were able to get a Taxi quite quickly. Taxi took about 20/30 mins and cost us 70$ for all six of us. Miami beach – Wow it is stunning! I loved the Art deco buildings; the promenade and the beaches were beautiful. we spent the day exploring, visiting The Botanical Gardens, Muscle Beach, Ocean drive, Lincoln Road. We got in over 20k steps that day, but it was worth it! We stayed at The Shelbourne Hotel. It was a great located property with access to the beach and promenade, and with bars and restaurants within walking distance. Hotel was lovely with lots of facilities. Be prepared If you are travelling to Miami beach, it is VERY expensive. We ate out at NaiYaRa which is a Thai Restaurant, the food was amazing! We then went for drinks at Juvia it has the most amazing views of the city with incredible cocktails. We found using Uber when we did need to travel via car the cheapest way to travel. Carnival Carbbean Cruises – The Carnival Sunrise is a smaller ship and a little dated in décor but clean and tidy. I think I have been spoilt in the past having been on some of the newer cruise ships. I would rate this ship a 3-star standard. We prepaid for our drinks package which allowed us to enjoy a large choice of drinks without worrying about the final bill. Food was included on the cruise this included a formal restaurant where you check in for a time slot or you could go to the Buffet dining when open. There were several types of snack bars open throughout the day also. Including a Pizza Bar which was open until the early hours ?? Carnival pride themselves on being the ‘Fun’ cruise ship and they were that, with all the game shows, entertainment and watch out those water slides are fast. The clientele is predominantly American with very few other nationalities. We stopped at: Bahamas + Princess Cay – Simply stunning, beautiful beaches with crystal clear waters, you can see that this is where the rich and famous like to holiday with all the big houses on the coastline, we took a 2-hour tour round the island with Sean a local taxi driver who did a fantastic job of showing us round and telling us all about the island. This was 30$ each. We finished off at the beach where we had a swim in the beautiful sea and then had some cocktails. The locals were all friendly and welcoming. On the Princess Cay Island this was a purely private island, with several different water sports which could be pre booked including glass bottom Kayaking, snorkelling, and fishing as well as pedal boats. Food was available in the form of a BBQ buffet with some soft drinks. Alcoholic drinks could be purchased at several of the bars across the Island. Though we didn’t have children with us they were accommodated for which included a pool and play area etc. Grand Turk – Again Simply stunning, beautiful beaches with crystal clear waters opted for a relaxing beach day here but would really like to have seen more of the island. We headed towards the end of the beach where we found Jack’s Shack. Great BBQ food and cold beers! There was a little shopping area which was tax free and then a Margaritaville which had a pool that you could sit and relax. On our return to Miami we hungout at Bayside which was very close to the port, we were able to store our luggage for 7$ each for the day, we did some shopping had a few last drinks before we headed to the airport for our night flight, I surprised everyone by flying home Premium economy with British Airways which was the perfect way to end a great trip.

05 December 2019

For my husband's 40th birthday I brought him a mini cruise for us to go on with three of his best friends. What an amazing weekend it was for such an occasion, I can highly recommend these short cruises to so many people: Hen/Stag Do Groups of friends Special birthdays Couples Wedding anniversaries We met all of the above! Our ship was the Aurora a smaller adult only ship and it really did have the party atmosphere. We each had a balcony cabin but I think I would have been equally happy with a outside or even inside cabin as the weather was not great and we did not spend much time in the cabin. There was no shortage of food and service was fantastic offering excellent vegetarian and vegan options. If you didn't want to go for the formal sit down meal then you have the option of a buffet restaurant open until the early hours. I loved the fact that you could get all dressed up for dinner. After dinner there was no shortage of entertainment shows, piano/jazz bars, Karaoke bars, Casino and a disco. On the day we stopped in Belgium you had the option to do a selection of day trips, stay on the boat, or pop into the local town (which is what we did). It is a lovely like seaside town great for a wander round the shops (purchase some Belgium chocolates) and a drink on the sea front. The only downside was it was all over far to quickly leave me wanting to do another.

05 October 2019

A long weekend with friends in Croatia. Croatia is perfect for a weekend break being a 2-hour flight from London, to get to Novalja it was a 60min transfer. Novalija is the party capital of Croatia from mid-June – end of August, hosting Hideout, Sonus, Barrakud and Fresh Island festival on the famous Zcre beach. The clubs attract a good mix of top DJs each summer – big names appearing during previous summer seasons include Fatboy Slim, Benny Benassi and Fedde le Grande (at Aquarius) and Paul van Dyk, Axwell and the Swedish House Mafia (at Papaya). We went early September so just missed all the parties. We stayed at the Pool Villa Aldura a beautiful, contemporary 2-bedroom apartment 10mins walk from the sea front with its amazing restaurants and bars. Croatia had the most beautiful pebble beaches with the clearest of warm waters, Novalja is set in a bay therefore the water is calm. Croatia really is an up and coming hot destination for the UK market offering great value for money breaks.