What to do in these ports?

Hello all,

We're going on our first cruise in Nov/Dec 2017. I'm trying to figure out what to do where.

Here's where we're going:

St. Thomas

Dominca

Barbados

St. Lucia

St. Maartan

Puerto Rico (only have a few hours between 3pm and 8pm)

Here's what we want to do:

Snorkel

Zip Line

Hike

ATV/Jeep/Rhino tour

Shop (men's watch and local specialties)

Not just lay on a beach

The trip is 3 adults. One is a scuba diver and he and myself have snorkeled in Belize so we're spoiled. But my son, 26-years-old, really wants to and we want him to have a good experience. He was looking at those underwater motorized bike thingys. In St. Maartan, we've done the America's Cup Racing experience, which we loved but don't want to repeat.

If we were to take a limo from the port to an excursion, which port would be the most reliable for that?

Also, can you really just walk of the ship and grab excursions? I don't want to overpay on the ship, but I AM a planner and am nervous about this part of our trip. (NCL Jade, staying in the Haven).

Grantley private tour guide at Shipwreck Beach , gave us a great tour to the Sulfur Springs and shipwreck beach beach

In Dominica you would probably enjoy taking a tour into the mountains to view the beautiful falls and hike around.

A whale watching excursion would be another option. :)

Of the islands that you listed, I personally found the best prices for watches at St. Maarten. St. Thomas is higher I found.

Pooh

In Dominica we really enjoyed the screw spa. It is in the rain forest with six different sulfur pools built into the forest. They go from very hot to cold. Very relaxing and made you feel wonderful. Was only $10pp when we went. Good for an hour to kill. We were also supposed to do river tubing but that got canceled due ti river conditions.

I would second the motion on Screws Spa. Very funky and cool. They have kind of a Rasta thing going on. It's like no spa you'll ever see!

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In Dominica you would probably enjoy taking a tour into the mountains to view the beautiful falls and hike around.

 

A whale watching excursion would be another option. :)

Agree with the tour to the mountains, it is beautiful. Not really much to do in the port.

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Dominica has some of the best diving in the world from what I have read. There are steep drops just meters offshore in some areas. I have personally snorkeled Champagne Reef a few times. I found it much more interesting when we had a dive guide. He pointed out critters I would have never seen on my own. The reef sits on an area that vents hot sulfur gas in streams of bubbles. Your guide will go down and bring up samples of the hot water from those vents. I know that friends go lionfish hunting at another spot, and you may be able to find someone to take you out for that kind of adventure.

I have seen people repelling the Trafalgar Falls. Others have gone canyoning for a different type of adventure.

DON'T plan a beach day for this island. The only beach in the area (about a 15 or 20 minute drive) is not what most people look for in a Caribbean beach. But there are 365 rivers to enjoy!