Caribbean trips. Organised or DIY?

[rosiebee]

:oFriends are going on their first cruise aboard Destiny in the Caribbean in January. They've asked me to find out which excursions are 'must do' ones and what's fine to do on your own. They've been on Thomson website, but they make all the excursions sound good! Any suggestions would be really appreciated as like most of us they don't have a vast budget.

[kruzseeka]

:oFriends are going on their first cruise aboard Destiny in the Caribbean in January. They've asked me to find out which excursions are 'must do' ones and what's fine to do on your own. They've been on Thomson website, but they make all the excursions sound good! Any suggestions would be really appreciated as like most of us they don't have a vast budget.

Hello rosiebee,

Here are a couple of links to the two itineraries - several of us contributed to them so there should be a selection of ideas for trips/DiY options. I would say that most trips offered by Thomson can be done more cheaply by using the local taxi firms so that you can save quite a lot that way. just be careful they are registered firms though.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=929750

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=930536&highlight=caribbean+gems

The only place I'd strongly recommend doing a ship's trip is in the Dominican Republic as La Romana isn't great and there have been reports on here of taxi scams/hold-ups! :eek: Your friends could either just have a lazy day on board or the Altos de Chavon trip wasn't too expensive - we did that on our middle day and really enjoyed it.

If your friends have any specific questions after eading the threads, get back and I'll help if I can. It's a great itinerary though and I'm sure your friends will have a wonderful time. :)

[rosiebee]

Many thanks for the links Kruzseeka. I'm sure they will be a great help. Wish I was going too!
Rosiebee

[smiffy1951]

Hi rosibee:)

If your friends want to swim with the dolphins on Tortola, that can be booked online before you go and it works out cheaper than the Thomson excursion, plus there are less people in the group so you get more time with the dolphins. The hotel where it is, is within walking distance (about 20 mins along the coast) or you can get a taxi outside the port.

Like Kruzseeka we did the Altos de Chavon trip in our middle week on Dominican Republic and it was lovely - in fact it was Kruzseeka who recommended it to us.

Apart from the dolphins we did all Thomson trips, but I know there were plenty of organised tours outside the ports which people took and said they had a really good time.

I can also recommend Sage Mountain and Cane Garden Bay on Tortola. Brimstone Fort on St Kitts and the hike to Seven Sisters on Grenada (I think that's where it was).

I could go one forever as the 2 week itinerary is the best cruise we have had and we've booked it again for March 2011.

Hope this helps a bit.

Janet:)