One "Must-Do"

I will be posting in the port section also but for those of you familiar with the Gem out of Puerto Rico it is very port intensive. A different port each day and we have the $50/port promo so will be limited to NCL excursions.

Since we may never return to these ports (you never know) if you had to pick ONE must do, what would it be? Port times are listed as 8:00 to 5:00. We are open to all types of excursions, wanting to make sure we don't miss what is most memorable for each destination. In other words, although I love to snorkel I would not want to waste time snorkelling at a destination where that is poor, etc.

Bridgetown, Barbados (never been)

Fort-de-France, Martinique (never been)

Basseterre, St. Kitts (never been)

Philipsburg, St. Maarten (spent 2 weeks here but what would you do?)

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (have done Trunk Bay and Buck Island, loved the turtles at Buck Island)

Barbados....Harrison Caves...You can book an amazing tour with Glory Tours. We just did recently !!

I will be posting in the port section also but for those of you familiar with the Gem out of Puerto Rico it is very port intensive. A different port each day and we have the $50/port promo so will be limited to NCL excursions.

 

Since we may never return to these ports (you never know) if you had to pick ONE must do, what would it be? Port times are listed as 8:00 to 5:00. We are open to all types of excursions, wanting to make sure we don't miss what is most memorable for each de stination. In other words, although I love to snorkel I would not want to waste time snorkelling at a destination where that is poor, etc.

 

Bridgetown, Barbados (never been)

 

Fort-de-France, Martinique (never been)

 

Basseterre, St. Kitts (never been)

 

Philipsburg, St. Maarten (spent 2 weeks here but what would you do?)

 

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (have done Trunk Bay and Buck Island, loved the turtles at Buck Island)

Hi Med tech...also going on Gem..leaving 23rd. I am so glad you asked that question! We are in the same boat...lol.. Have so far booked two excursions through NCL...In St Martin..buttertfly ..but mainly going to Marigot to shop and find french pastries...and In St Thomas..we are going to St John. Looking daily to see if NCL added Barbados excursions yet before booking anymore through Ncl....Only two more "free" excursions! Hopefully you'll get some great advice! Hope you have a fabulous trip!

I will be posting in the port section also but for those of you familiar with the Gem out of Puerto Rico it is very port intensive. A different port each day and we have the $50/port promo so will be limited to NCL excursions.

 

Since we may never return to these ports (you never know) if you had to pick ONE must do, what would it be? Port times are listed as 8:00 to 5:00. We are open to all types of excursions, wanting to make sure we don't miss what is most memorable for each destination. In other words, although I love to snorkel I would not want to waste time snorkelling at a destination where that is poor, etc.

 

Bridgetown, Barbados (never been)

 

Fort-de-France, Martinique (never been)

 

Basseterre, St. Kitts (never been)

 

Philipsburg, St. Maarten (spent 2 weeks here but what would you do?)

 

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (have done Trunk Bay and Buck Island, loved the turtles at Buck Island)

Hi I'm on this cruise and also in the roll call :D. For Barbados I HIGHLY recommend snorkeling with the sea turtles. We did this last September and loved it! Lots of vendors on the beach at Carlisle bay, but I suggest finding Neville. As for Martinique, I've had a hard time finding any info here, so I think we'll just mosey around and enjoy the area around the port. In St. Kitts, I've booked us on the rain forest Eco tour with Thenford Grey. He had come highly recommended on here and on trip advisor as well. This will also be our first time here. In St. Maarten we just plan on going to Maho and sitting at the Sunset bar waving the planes. As for St. Thomas, we're heading to Sapphire bay for the day. It will be our first time here as well, and I've read a lot of good things about Sapphire. I hope this helps :D

Well, it looks like we can't do anything until NCL posts their excursions...

In Martinique we did a NCL excursion to St. Pierre, rum factory and the church. It was on a large bus, but we enjoyed it and there was enough time left over to do some shopping and walking around the port area.

We have been to a few of these places.

Look in my signature line for places we have went to in St Thomas and St Maarten. My reviews are loaded with TONS of pictures.

St Thomas, I highly suggestion COKI beach for AMAZING snorkeling right from the beach. You will not be disappointed. We also just returned from Linquist beach there and the beach is BEAUTIFUL and the snorkeling was "ok" (it's not located in my signature line yet...I just finished my review). You can find the review HERE.

St Maarten, the "in" thing to do is watch the planes come in. Amazing experience and Mullet Bay is right next (within walking distance). I have reviews of both of those in my signature line too with tons of pictures. We just went to Pinel Island by kayak and it was a beautiful place. That review is located HERE.

St Kitts, I have a review from Reggae in my signature (didn't care for it too much) and we just returned from Carambola and had an awesome time. The thing to see here, if you have never seen it, is the black sand beach. It's right down from Carambola and you just walk down to the beach or you could go to Ship Wreck. The black sand is beautiful and sparkles in the sun. My review is located HERE.

We just returned from Barbados and went to the Boatyard. I think the thing to do here is swim with the turtles if you haven't already. Going to the Boatyard is $20 pp (by cruise ship and I think $15 if staying there) and it included a chair and umbrella, welcome drink AND the ride out to the turtles. Amazing experience. My review is located HERE.

We have been to a few of these places.

 

Look in my signature line for places we have went to in St Thomas and St Maarten. My reviews are loaded with TONS of pictures.

 

St Thomas, I highly suggestion COKI beach for AMAZING snorkeling right from the beach. You will not be disappointed. We also just returned from Linquist beach there and the beach is BEAUTIFUL and the snorkeling was "ok" (it's not located in my signature line yet...I just finished my review). You can find the review HERE.

 

St Maarten, the "in" thing to do is watch the planes come in. Amazing experience and Mullet Bay is right next (within walking distance). I have reviews of both of those in my signature line too with tons of pictures. We just went to Pinel Island by kayak and it was a beautiful place. That review is located HERE.

 

St Kitts, I have a review from Reggae in my signature (didn't care for it too much) and we just returned from Carambola and had an awesome time. The thing to see here, if you have never seen it, is the black sand beach. It's right down from Carambola and you just walk down to the beach or you could go to Ship Wreck. The black sand is beautiful and sparkles in the sun. My review is located HERE.

 

We just returned from Barbados and went to the Boatyard. I think the thing to do here is swim with the turtles if you haven't already. Going to the Boatyard is $20 pp (by cruise ship and I think $15 if staying there) and it included a chair and umbrella, welcome drink AND the ride out to the turtles. Amazing experience. My review is located HERE.

Hey!

I just finished reading 55 pages of your last review, lol! Different ship but almost same ports. I'm trying to decide between Coki and Sapphire in St. Thomas.

In St. Maarten previously on a cruise we did the Mullet Bay walk to Maho that you did. Last September we ended up flying there and staying 2 weeks in a timeshare so pretty much saw the whole island, and did Pinel by ferry. No way could I have kayaked! And that smell! Wowza!

Barbados we're definitely going to do the swimming with the turtles. I'll be handing my daughter the camera as I'm dealing with a torn shoulder and I have a feeling I'll be lucky just to be able to get in and out of the boat.

Thank you so much for answering this post :)

Hey!

 

I just finished reading 55 pages of your last review, lol! Different ship but almost same ports. I'm trying to decide between Coki and Sapphire in St. Thomas.

 

In St. Maarten previously on a cruise we did the Mullet Bay walk to Maho that you did. Last September we ended up flying there and staying 2 weeks in a timeshare so pretty much saw the whole island, and did Pinel by ferry. No way could I have kayaked! And that smell! Wowza!

 

Barbados we're definitely going to do the swimming with the turtles. I'll be handing my daughter the camera as I'm dealing with a torn shoulder and I have a feeling I'll be lucky just to be able to get in and out of the boat.

 

Thank you so much for answering this post :)

Oh wow, you made it that far huh? (55 pages :D). Yea, Coki and Sapphire is a hard one. Sapphire is so beautiful and the snorkeling is great. But I personally thought that Coki blew that place away for the snorkeling. I think I have seen more at Coki than about 95% of the places I have been to before. But the beach at Coki just doesn't compare to that of Sapphire.

Check out Sapphires webcam: http://www.sapphireinthesun.com/ (it's just so beautiful when it's sunny...it looks a little cloudy at the moment).

I ended up booking with Calabaza Sailing Cruises. $110 got you a 5 hour lunch cruise with only 12 passengers. We stopped at a spot where the turtles hang out to snorkel with them and then headed to a shipwreck. All day we were supplied with the most delicious rum punches I had ever tasted. The hostess/captain/cook Gina grated fresh nutmeg on each one. It really added to the flavor. We sailed to a beach area to have lunch. There was a variety of fresh dishes and everything was very good. Most everybody then took to the water to relax and drink some more. There was also beer, soda and water to drink. Fabian, one of the crew who also guided us in the water, had an underwater camera that he used to take pictures of everyone. Those photos were then shared on a OneDrive . We were also emailed a cookbook of Barbados recipes used on these cruises. I would definitely recommend this excursion and we all felt we got our money’s worth

I have some of the pictures Fabian took here:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...3&uploaded=101

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My favorite spot in Barbados is the east coast heading down to Bathsheba. The scenery is spectacular. There's a great spot where you cross over the ridge between the east and west side of the island and the view will blow you away. The coastline is rugged but the little settlements are very low key and tranquil. Quite a break from the hustle bustle of Bridgetown.

Whatever you do, don't miss eating the National Food of Barbados - Flying Fish!

Their "CUTTER" (Flying Fish Sandwich) is delicious. YUM! :D

Just did the same type of five hour day on Silver Moon catamarans. By far the best excursion I have ever taken. 12 people, 60x30 foot cat, drinks, food, snorkeling and swimming, beautiful cabins for changing, $115.

My favorite spot in Barbados is the east coast heading down to Bathsheba. The scenery is spectacular. There's a great spot where you cross over the ridge between the east and west side of the island and the view will blow you away. The coastline is rugged but the little settlements are very low key and tranquil. Quite a break from the hustle bustle of Bridgetown.

You've got me with the "spectacular scenery" part. Did you book this as a private tour? If so, with who?

We're looking for non-beach experiences. I did the sea turtle thing last time in Barbados with a private catamaran and we unfortunately arrived at the famed spot along with half the passengers from the three cruise ships in town. So I'm looking for something considerably different this time.

Barbados....Harrison Caves...You can book an amazing tour with Glory Tours. We just did recently !!

I will second this. Awesome views!! Check out Mountain Top in St. Thomas, awesome views there.

Shasa catamaran swimming with the turtles was great!!

We also really like Harrison Caves!

We just returned from Barbados and went to the Boatyard. I think the thing to do here is swim with the turtles if you haven't already. Going to the Boatyard is $20 pp (by cruise ship and I think $15 if staying there) and it included a chair and umbrella, welcome drink AND the ride out to the turtles. Amazing experience. My review is located HERE.

Thanks so much for the Boatyard info. I think that's what I'll look to do next year. Going to check out your St. Lucia info now!

Thanks so much for the Boatyard info. I think that's what I'll look to do next year. Going to check out your St. Lucia info now!

You're welcome and thank you.

Hi. I am thinking about visiting Harrison's Cave (booking the tour through Glory Tours). Their website says return back to the ship is between 1:00 and 1:30. We would also like to visit Carlisle Bay. I did this a few years ago with my sister and we had a great time swimming with the turtles. Is it possible to do both of these things in one day? I'm think we could get to Carlisle Bay by 2:00 and stay until about 4:00 leaving us plenty of time to get back to the ship for 5:00. Thoughts?