Windstar Barbados rt-Where does it dock in each port?

[sueswny]

Does anyone know the exact location of the dock(for a Windstar cruise) in each of these places?

Basse Terre, St. Kitts

Marigot, St. Martin

St. Barthelemy FWI

Des des Saintes, FWI

Pigeon Island, St. Lucia

I'm doing this cruise and I think I might want to rent a car in a couple of places.

thanks!

[6rugrats]

You will tender at a lot of these ports. There's a good review here that discusses soem of these ports:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=13564394&highlight=tendering+ports+barbados+cruise#post13564394

[merrilyanne]

The cruise does not go to Basse Terre or Nevis any more. We did not find this out until the night before we were to go ashore in St. Kitt's and Nevis, and found out Basse Terre was also taken off of the itinerary the month before but many passengers were not aware of the change.

 

Briefly - the ship tenders at most ports except Barbados.

 

There is only a small dock at the beach on Pigeon Island in St. Lucia, and most people just stay there for the BBQ. You can get a taxi outside the gates if you want to go down to the town of Castries, for about $20. each way. Quite a busy town, but not alot there, except for a big local market with the usual T-shirts and souvenirs and a fruit market for the locals.

 

The tender takes you in to the small town on Illes Des Saintes, but there are only a few stores there, and no taxis, so you have to walk a long way over the hill to the beach - about a half hour to 40 minute walk mostly uphill. There are a lot of scooters to rent and bicycles. the locals on scooters driver very fast around the bends and up and down the hills, so may be a bit treacherous if you are not used to dodging scooters, goats and school children.

 

The tender takes you into the main dock in St. Bart's and the taxis are extremely expensive to get to the beach, and the taxi drivers very unfriendly. St. Jean's beach is great - and calm - Governeur beach is nice but usually too rough and no shade or no place to get a drink. Some said Shell beach near the town was small but nice, but mostly shells and not soft sand, and most passengers I talked to didn't actually go in swimming, as I think they said it was a bit rough (but don't quote me on this). Very nice harbour and nice views of the harbour from the hillsides, if you can convince the taxi drivers to slow down so you can see it. Very expensive to shop there. As someone else said in their review, the locals act like they don't want you there and the taxi drivers had attitude.

 

In St. Martin, again the tender takes you into the main dock/town on the west side (not Phillipsburg) and there are restaurants and the usual local souvernir markets there, and some stores and internet places. I took the ferry over to Anguilla, and then just walked around the small town when I got back to St. Maarten. If you haven't been to Phillipsburg before, it is bigger and more stores and a beach right in town. Personally, I couldn't see the advantage of not docking in Phillipsburg.

 

St. Kitt's is very friendly - (again, I took the ferry over to Nevis, but not a lot there except for beaches - very small town - nothing to see or do in the town, - small botannical gardens towards the centre of the island - very, very friendly people). You can jump on a local bus (white private van) for about a dollar and go all over the island, just by flagging one of them down. I went to the Fort, which has amazing views, but I wouldn't suggest taking the bus there, as then you would have to walk a long way up a steep road to the top. Best to take a taxi and get the driver to wait for you. Frigate Bay is nice, and nice views from the top of the hillsides if you get a taxi driver that is willing to show you a bit of the island.

 

Not sure if renting a car is worth it, as it is difficult to drive in strange towns with winding roads and speeding local drivers. I do not know anyone on my cruise that rented a car anywhere.

 

In Barbados, you can also get a local bus, but problem is the main bus terminal is too far from where the ship docks to walk, so you would have to take a taxi there to get a bus. Problem in Barbados is that neither the airport or the cruise terminal has lockers or storage, so your luggage will be a problem. I think the Hilton or the Astra Hotel charge a fee for you to use their facilities for the day.

 

Hope I was of some assistance.

 

Marilyn

[Ajbike]

Thank you for the information Marilyn. Just curious of the two cruises (north and south) which was your favorite? Do you remember where you tendered to in Tobago? Was it Charloteville? I'd love to see a full review of the two cruises.*S* we are leaving on Saturday to sail on Sunday I can't wait !!

[merrilyanne]

My favourite was the southern because of the Grenadines, although I did like St. Bart's and St. Kitt's on the northern itinerary. Yes, in Tobago we were in Charlotteville - quite remote with very little there as far as a town. Mostly a fishing village.