Despite having a late night the evening before, I actually woke up before 6:00am without the need for an alarm clock. As I was awake so early and could not get back to sleep, I sat on our verandah and watched a beautiful sunrise as we sailed slowly through the British Virgin Islands on our way to Tortola. As I had been offline since we left Port Canaveral, I also switched on my iPhone as I was able to use my data plan free of charge whilst in both the British and US Virgin Islands and spent a few minutes online chatting to friends and family back home.

I was really looking forward to our day exploring Tortola as even though it was not my first time in the British Virgin Islands, I had only quickly passed through Tortola back in 2002 before taking a boat to a nearby island for a couple of days.

As our all ashore time was not until 7:30am, we got a cup of tea from Deck 11 and spent the next hour chilling on the verandah (which was covered in soot once again) before getting dressed and getting our bags ready for our first port day. We had a rental car booked from 8:30am so we were in no hurry to be first off the ship.

We arrived in Cabanas at 8:00am for breakfast and at this time, it was not too busy as people were already disembarking the ship. It was great to sit and eat breakfast with a beautiful view looking out over Road Town harbour. After breakfast, we collected our bags and double checked we had both our wallets, driving licences and passports before we went back up to Deck 11 to fill up our water bottles from the drinks machines. We also made a quick stop on Deck 13 forward to take some photos of Tortola from the front of the ship.

We disembarked the Disney Fantasy at 8:30am from Deck 1 forward and made our way along the pier to Tortola Pier Park. We were the only ship docked in Tortola that day which was great as everywhere was very peaceful. As is usual on every trip we do, neither of us have any interest in booking or taking part in any organised excursions or Port Adventures as I think they are overpriced, a waste of money and you can see far more of anywhere you visit if you make your own plans and see everything for yourself.

Before our cruise when I was doing some research on Google, I had discovered that there was an Avis Rental Car office located right at Tortola Pier Park itself which was a perfect way for us to be able to explore the island in our own time. We could also both drive in the British Virgin Islands on our UK drivers licences and did not need to obtain an International Driving Permit. As we had read differing opinions online on the state of the roads after Hurricane Irma had devastated the island in 2017, we made sure we booked an SUV for our day in Tortola.

We found the Avis office easily in no time and as there no was no one else waiting when we arrived, we were quickly given our car for the day. There were maps of Tortola available but we did not need to take one as we were able to use Google Maps on our iPhones as we both had data whilst in the Virgin Islands.

The strangest thing about driving in the British Virgin Islands is that even though you drive on the left hand side of the road (which we do in the UK), all the cars are left hand drive (as they are in the USA and Europe) which took a few minutes to get used to as the combination of those two things does not usually happen anywhere you go. There was also a notice in the car on the corner of the windscreen to remind everyone to drive on the left.

Driving in Tortola is incredibly easy as the island is not too big so it does not take long to get anywhere. There is one main road which goes around the whole island which makes it very easy to navigate and very difficult to get lost. There are also roads which leave Road Town and head straight uphill and across to the other side of Tortola where the majority of the beaches are located such as Great Mountain Road.

Our first stop was just outside of Road Town as before our trip, I’d seen a photo of the Disney Fantasy which I wanted to try to get. From looking at the picture as well as a map, I could work out which road we needed to take (Belle Vue Road) and a few minutes afterwards, I got the photo.

We rejoined the main road just outside of Road Town and started our drive around the island in an anti-clockwise direction towards Beef Island where Tortola Airport is located. However we did not drive onto Beef Island and continued around Tortola stopping at various viewpoints including ones looking towards Guana and Great Camanoe Islands as well as another looking down towards beautiful Josiah’s Bay.

Along the next part of the main road (this section is called Ridge Road), there were many spots overlooking Road Town and the Disney Fantasy docked at Tortola Pier Park. As we were standing outside of our car and taking photos, a tour bus approached and slowed down slightly for people to take their photos of the ship through the windows for maybe ten seconds (if that) before speeding up again – the people sitting on the other side of the bus would have been very unlucky. I’m amazed the bus did not stop and let people off to take photos for a few minutes especially given the price they charge. It’s just another reason why I dislike organised tours and will always tell people to avoid them at all costs.

As I was looking at Google Maps on my iPhone deciding where to stop next, I noticed that we were close to a road that would take us down to a beach. As we couldn’t come to the Caribbean and not step foot on a beach, we made our way down some steep and narrow roads to Brewers Bay and I’m so glad that we did. Despite not being a beach person, Brewers Bay is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen or been to in my life. It truly was idyllic.

There was only about five other people along the whole length of the beach (most of the organised excursions go to other beaches on the island) so it was incredibly peaceful and calm. The water was crystal clear and warm even though I only went for a paddle in it. It was truly the definition of paradise.

Whilst we were at Brewers Bay, we spent ages sitting and watching two pelicans who were continuously flying through the air and then diving into the sea looking for food.

Just under fifteen minutes after leaving Brewers Bay, we reached Cane Garden Bay. This is the beach where most of the organised tours will bring you as it is easily accessible from Road Town especially by taxi. It looked really busy and as we were the only ship in Tortola that day, I wouldn’t like to think how crowded it gets on busier days. There are also many beach bars and restaurants so getting something to eat or drink here would not be a problem.

On the next part of our drive to Smuggler’s Cove, we drove alongside the sea and the views were beautiful. One of my favourite sights though was a group of pelicans sitting on a giant inflatable in the sea – it looked like they were having fun!

Smuggler’s Cove was another absolutely beautiful beach that we stopped at and whilst there was a few cars parked there, the beach was still nearly empty. My favourite thing here was all the signs showing the distances to different places around the world including Pyongyang in North Korea!

It was in this area of Tortola that we saw the most damage from Hurricane Irma. Whilst we had seen signs of hurricane damage during the day including cut down trees, it was here that we also saw damaged yachts abandoned at the sides of the roads.

It was also on the Western part of the island where we were glad we had a four wheel drive car as some of the roads were unpaved and very bumpy so having an SUV made the driving a lot easier.

The drive for the last part of our journey from West End back to Road Town was very easy as the road was flat the whole way. As we arrived back into Road Town we stopped to get another photo of the Disney Fantasy at Queen Elizabeth II Park where we had uninterrupted views across Road Town Harbour.

We stopped to fill our car up with fuel in Road Town before making our way back to Tortola Pier Park to return it to Avis. Our car for the day had cost $74 plus $12 fuel which was definitely money well spent and so cheap and affordable for the amount of Tortola that we actually saw during our drive around the island. Renting a car really is the best way to see some places around the world. Even if you just wanted to go to the beach for the day (which we saw several families renting cars at Avis doing), a car works out so much cheaper if there is a group of you plus you get so much longer at the beach than the one or two hours that the excursions give you. It really is a no-brainer.

We arrived back at Tortola Pier Park at 1:15pm – just over four hours after we left as we had seen everything we wanted to on this day. We both absolutely loved our time exploring Tortola and I would love to go back again as I enjoyed it so much. The British Virgin Islands were just as beautiful as I remembered them from my last trip back in 2002 – it really was a perfect day with plenty of perfect memories.

We did not have to show our passports or any photo ID to the port officials in Tortola but before boarding the Disney Fantasy, we made sure to take even more photos of the ship from the pier. Despite it being 1:30pm at this time, there were still huge groups of people leaving on Port Adventures from the ship – probably heading to the beach for only an hour with a thirty five minute stop at a souvenir shop for $47 each and no I’m not joking as that is actually what one of the afternoon Port Adventures is!

After leaving our bags back in our stateroom, we had lunch in Cabanas which was open until 2:15pm that afternoon. Naturally after lunch our next stop was the Aquaduck which only had a short line as most people were not back onboard the ship yet.

As the all aboard time in Tortola was not until 5:45pm, we sat for the rest of the afternoon at Satellite Falls and enjoyed the peace and quiet as well as an ice cream. This cruise was definitely turning out to be as relaxing as we wanted it to be!

We watched sailaway from Tortola from our verandah and there was a beautiful sunset – a perfect way to end our day in the beautiful British Virgin Islands.

Mickey’s Pirates in the Caribbean deck party was due to start at 7:30pm and I could not wait to watch it again as I had loved it so much on our cruise on the Disney Dream. However I also remembered how busy it had been on deck for this party so once I had showered and got dressed, I headed up to Deck 12 with a cup of tea to grab a good spot to watch it. Even though I was there forty five minutes early, there was not a soul waiting on Deck 12 and only five other people already sat close to the stage on Deck 11. I know it was between the two dinner seatings but I really could not believe how quiet it was compared to our previous two cruises – I really was expecting a lot more people to be there already.

Even just before the show started, it was still quiet compared to what we have seen before as half of the Deck 11 area was still empty and there were plenty of spaces left on Deck 12. This was just one of the many examples throughout the week of why I preferred my cruise on the Disney Fantasy to the Disney Dream – it was just simply calmer and more relaxed the whole time we were onboard.

Another thing I noticed on this night was that there was not as many people dressed up in pirate costumes at all compared to our last few cruises – most people were just wearing shorts and t-shirts and the bandanas that are left in your stateroom during the day. There was also a distinct lack of any light-up merchandise or those awful bubble wands being sold on deck.

The show starts with Donald saying that no one in the audience has what it takes to be a pirate so he, as well as Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Goofy teach everyone how to become a member of Mickey’s pirate crew.

Then a little while later when Captain Hook and Smee take over the ship, Mickey challenges Hook to a “Captain’s Challenge” to win the ship back.

Once Mickey’s Pirates IN the Caribbean had finished, a dance party started on Deck 11 and it was busier on deck then than what it had been during the entire show. As it was time for dinner for everyone on second seating, we walked down to Enchanted Garden on Deck 2 and it was noticeable how many people skipped dinner that night as there were a lot of empty tables in the restaurant.

The Pirate menu had some subtle changes since our last cruise but I was not that hungry so instead of a main course, I ordered three appetisers instead – Sri Sumbhajee’s Vegetable Samosa, the Deep Fried Calypso Crab Cake and Angelica’s Lime Marinated Shrimp. All three were delicious and even though they were small, they were just the right amount of food for me. I did not want to order dessert as I wanted to have room for the Cabanas Pirate Buffet later on that evening.

On each of the cruises we’ve sailed on so far, we usually rush through dinner on Pirate Night before running back up on deck to grab a good spot to watch the fireworks. However we had already decided that on this cruise that we were not bothered about watching the short Captain Jack Sparrow show on the Deck 11 stage and were just happy to stand anywhere on deck instead to watch the fireworks and simply continue to have a relaxing night.

The Buccaneer Blast show and fireworks were due to start at 10:15pm but we first wanted to meet two characters who we had never met before when they were dressed up as pirates. There was a short line for Pirate Donald Duck who was meeting on the Deck 4 balcony at 9:45pm followed by an even shorter line to meet Pirate Daisy Duck at Preludes at 10:00pm.

After we met Donald and Daisy we took the elevator up to Deck 12 and found that was where everyone on the ship already was! We had already thought of somewhere on the starboard side of the ship to stand which was on the “bump out” on Deck 13 forward. There were only two other people there – both of who were laying down on the sun loungers at Satellite Falls. It was surprising it was so quiet as Currents bar located nearby on Deck 13 was very busy yet here there was hardly anyone else in sight – helped massively by this being an adult only area.

The view of the fireworks was great and once they finished, we too sat down on one of the sun loungers for about fifteen minutes to let the crowds on Decks 11 and 12 disappear elsewhere on the ship.

As we walked towards Cabanas, we saw that Club Pirate was in full swing on deck and as usual the Cha Cha Slide was being played – I think the only time I ever hear that song is on Pirate Night on Disney cruises!

Thankfully it was calm when we reached Cabanas and I was happy that my favourite Strawberry Panna Cotta desserts were still on the menu – so much so that I got three as I like them that much. I also got a cup of tea to take back to our stateroom to sit and drink in bed with my desserts.

Once I sat in bed, I only managed two of my desserts as I started to feel incredibly tired so I put the last one in the fridge to eat the following day. It was nearly midnight and as I’d been awake for about eighteen hours, it did not take long to fall into a deep sleep!

Coming up next on our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy – our day in St Thomas with Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Party at Sea!

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