2^nd October 2011

Coconut Bay

After a pleasant flight to St Lucia, we arrive at 2pm local time. We swiftly make our way through passport control and head for our 10 minute transfer to Coconut Bay Resort and Spa. We were greeted upon arrival with a cool towel and a fruit punch, very refreshing after an 8 hour flight! We quickly check in and head to see the rooms that we have for our 2 night stay at Coconut Bay. I was lucky enough to be accommodated in a Harmony Deluxe Ocean View Room. The room was very spacious; it came with a king size bed, flat screen TV, and had a very modern feel to it. One of the great features to Coconut Bay is that it is split into 2 sections; you have the Splash side which is the family-friendly part of the resort, and the Harmony section, which is the adult only part of the resort, so it has the best of both worlds. In the Splash part of the resort you also have a water park with slides for the children (and grown-ups too!) The hotel also features a brand new Kai Mer Spa, and its own Water Sports Complex featuring Kite Surfing.

On our first evening in St Lucia, we dine at the Calabash Restaurant which is a Caribbean specialty restaurant showcasing Creole and Caribbean cuisine, and then its straight to bed as we have a busy day ahead tomorrow! continue reading…

Click here to book Grand Pineapple from only £899pp

Saturday

Saturday morning, after swiftly checking in for our Virgin Atlantic flight to Antigua, myself and my mum make our way to the Virgin Vroom.  This was my first time using the Vroom and I was very impressed. If you are traveling with children, it is a fantastic way to start your holiday. There is plenty to keep the little ones occupied, from Nintendo Ds Consoles, to an Xbox 360, table football, and much much more! Also your drinks (excluding alcohol) and food is all included in the price (£20 per adult and £12 per child) so you can enjoy a hot breakfast, cereal, fruit and much more and not have to spend a penny! You can also use the Vroom up to 3 hours before your flight departs, and you have flight updates in the lounge so you know exactly when your flight is boarding! After having a leisurely morning in the Vroom, we decide to head for the duty free shops before our flight was called.

8 Hours later, we land into Antigua! The flight with Virgin Atlantic was really comfortable, we had seat back TV’s and a great money saver, your drinks are included throughout the flight!

We have a 30 minute transfer to Grand Pineapple, and after checking into the hotel and being shown to our room I was truly amazed! We were lucky enough to be staying in a Tropical Waterfront Suite, the views from these rooms are stunning and the rooms have also been recently refurbished. After a quick un-packing, we head to the gorgeous white sandy beach and enjoy a lazy afternoon and evening.

Sunday

We decide to spend a couple of hours on the beach in the morning, as this afternoon we are going to head off and see The Old English Harbor & Shirley Heights!

We arrived at The Old English Harbor around 4pm. We had a look around a small museum, there are also a couple of small cafes and shops around too, and the Harbor is beautiful! We then ventured on to Shirley Heights. This is a must for anyone visiting Antigua! Every Sunday night Shirley Heights holds the best Caribbean Party on the Island, where many Tourists and locals attend. It is set on a cliff top overlooking the Old English Harbor, and I believe it has the most amazing views and Sunsets I have ever seen in the Caribbean. The barbeque starts around 4pm, and you also have a fantastic Caribbean Steele Band, which is then followed by a Reggae Band, so it is the Ultimate Caribbean Party!

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Rach & Nic on the plane

On October 31st 2010, we checked into London Gatwick for what was to be our first trip to the Maldives. We were greeted by our Kuoni Representatives Martyn, Katharina and Tracy. We were very excited as we were lucky enough to visit 6 islands on our trip. As 7.30pm arrived we boarded our Monarch Airlines flights to Male, which approximately took 11 hours. This was the last flight operated by Monarch Airlines to the Maldives. continue reading…

16th September 2010

I checked into London Heathrow at 08.00 for my flight to Miami with Virgin Atlantic, to be met by all of the other Travel Agents attending the Bahamas Fam Trip. Check in ran smoothly and before we new it was 11.15am and time to depart London Heathrow. This was my first time flying with Virgin Atlantic, and was pleasantly surprised by the service   and in-flight entertainment. After a lengthy 9 hour flight, we arrived into Miami, cleared customs and checked in for our connecting flight to Nassau, Bahamas. I was surprised how short the flight was from Miami to Bahamas, at just 55 minutes. continue reading…

My second trip to the beautiful Caribbean island of Jamaica provided me with what turned out to be an immensely unique experience; not only would I be presented with the opportunity of sampling the delights of the world famous Sandals resorts, but as an added bonus I would then go on to spend a further week in the luxurious company of Secrets.

What made this experience so particularly unique is that Sandals Whitehouse is widely regarded to represent the ‘traditional Caribbean’ whereas Secrets Wild Orchid very much so gives an insight into the modern and contemporary approach that Jamaica is now moving towards. So not only would I be guaranteed to be spending two weeks in what is quintessentially paradise, but given an ideal opportunity to compare and contrast what these 5* resorts (adults only) have to offer.

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