Barbados was the first stop on our recent Caribbean Cruise, which some of you may recall was our first ever cruise experience. It might sound odd therefore to hear that the total time we spent on Barbadian soil was a matter of minutes. I recently mulled over my first impressions of cruise travel, reflecting on my belief that it is difficult to see a destination properly with just a few hours there so why on earth would we choose not to spend those hours on land at our first port of call?

The reason was this: when I heard that Barbados is one of the best places in the world for snorkelling with sea turtles and seeing underwater shipwrecks (experiences that were still very much on my wish-list), no hotel, no beach visual and no island tour could penetrate that stubborn layer of will in my head that…