Valor's Southern Caribbean Itinerary Question

[djvickers]

I'm getting ready to go on the Valor in July. I'm really excited about all of the ports, but at the same time I'm a little concerned about it being so port intensive of an itinerary.

 

If you had to choose one stop to not do an excursion on and to just meander around town at your leisure, which port would it be?

 

The ports are: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Martin, St. Lucia, St. Kitts

[bigdaddyvoges]

I think that all depends if you have been to these islands before. We are going in September and since we have been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten on previous cruises, we are not going out of our way to do excursions. Maybe a quick stop to the beach, grab some local food and drink, then shop.

[Preds]

We're doing the same cruise in August. IMO, the port to just chill, relax, shop and maybe hit the beach is St. Maarten. Phillipsburg has a great beach, shops and restaurants all within a 15 minute (half mile or so) walk from the pier. You can also pay to take a water taxi across the bay, but IMO it's no quicker then just taking the leisurely stroll around the bay.

[hockeyluver]

I agree, when we do this trip and get to St. Maarten we are getting on the water taxi at the pier and going over to the beach and chill for the day. Then a little shopping at our favourite rum store :p but then this will be our 6th :eek: trip there.

[INCHARGE]

St. Thomas will be the chill day for us. We will probably just get off the ship and walk around the shops in the port area. In St. Maarten, how is the Dutch side? We have never gotten past the French side, so we want to go there on this trip.

[Aplmac]

Something tells me you've got it back to front?

-unless you cruise on small rather-expensive boutique ships that stop in at Marigot, over on the French side.

 

 

Most of the big ships (Carnival, etc.) stop in at Philipsburg on the Dutch side

so I'm thinking you never got past the DUTCH side.

 

......................

Marigot is nicer than Philipsburg, in a different way(whatever that means).

Next time to you visit Sint Maarten,

take a taxi (20 mins) and go straight over to Marigot

before it gets too hot.

 

Shops in Marigot close at 1 p.m. for a 2 hr. long siesta

re-opening again at 3 p.m. -so bear that in mind.

 

.

[serene56]

We are cruisers-- been on many. If I did not go to a port on any of our visit we will get off the ship.

 

We have been to St Thomas and st Marten many times. last cruise we stayed onboard most all week.

 

Valor is very port intensive. It was too much for us-- but they were all new ports at the time.. we needed a vacation afterwards

[mlrack101]

Ive done the Victory twice (the Valor replaced the Victory in January) It is port heavy BUT worth every minute! Depending on what you are looking to do you can relax on St Thomas at a few beautiful beaches (our last trip we went to St John...and SOOO worth it! We did this on our own w/ someone we had met on our roll call and had plenty of time the beaches are amazing)

Barbados ~ Boatyard. Chillax beach and great drinks. Security is good and they will watch you bags if you opt to go out on the jet skis

St Lucia ~ TOUR! What ever you choose to do its an amazing gorgeous island! We did Spencer the first time and ziplining the second.

St Kitts ~ if you like an adventure and a real free for the island Look up Javin. We've done his tour twice and are already thinking of heading back in 2015!

St Maarten theere is TONS of shopping about a 10 minute walk from the pier along w/ a beach. Of course theres always Orient Beach if you want a 'sight' or we did an ATV tour (it was fun even though I would never recommend our tour guide...you actually ride the ATVs right on the street) and we still had time to go to Maho beach via cab. That was amazing, the planes seems to come in mid afternoon. Theres a restaurant right at the beach w/ decent food/drinks and you'll get some amazing pictures along w/ some of the bluest water Ive ever seen.

 

Enjoy!

[INCHARGE]

Something tells me you've got it back to front?

-unless you cruise on small rather-expensive boutique ships that stop in at Marigot, over on the French side.

 

 

Most of the big ships (Carnival, etc.) stop in at Philipsburg on the Dutch side

so I'm thinking you never got past the DUTCH side.

 

......................

Marigot is nicer than Philipsburg, in a different way(whatever that means).

Next time to you visit Sint Maarten,

take a taxi (20 mins) and go straight over to Marigot

before it gets too hot.

 

Shops in Marigot close at 1 p.m. for a 2 hr. long siesta

re-opening again at 3 p.m. -so bear that in mind.

 

.

Thanks so much. You are right, it is the French side I need to see. :) I will save this information, because we are not early risers, so I have to remember to get there early.

[mainescout]

I really enjoyed the walk in St. Thomas from the pier into town. Great sights along the entire way. If you want there is the skyway along the way which gives you a great ariel view of the harbor. Once you get into town there are ample places to sit and enjoy an adult beverage or three.

[kathy884]

We're doing this cruise in March and only have a budget to do two more expensive excursions. Here's what were doing in case this gives you any ideas for non tour days. We also enjoy some boat time without the crowds, so want to have some port days that aren't too full of activities.

 

1) St. Thomas -- We are just doing the beach there (planning to hit Sapphire Beach) // Stayed there for a full week before

 

2) Barbados -- Here we are doing a Catamaran tour to do a little snorkeling with Sea Turtles -- doing Calabaza (our most expensive tour)

 

3) St. Lucia -- Here we are doing a full day tour with Cosol (our second of two more pricey tours during the cruise // For what this covers, though, it looks quite reasonable

 

4) St. Kitt -- more on our own. Planning on doing the Clay Villa House and Plantation (do our own transportation - probably cab), but that's just $15 pp and then hit South Friar Beach (maybe see some monkeys)

 

5) St. Maarten -- This will be a sleep in day and then we'll hit Maho beach in the afternoon to see some big planes. This is my son's favorite place to fly on his flight simulator game / planes go right over you -- rare to see that.

[larkz]

I enjoyed this itinerary last December (before Valor replaced Victory), but I would have preferred one more sea day for relaxation. I tend to overdo activities in the ports. Even so, I wouldn't be able to deliberately chill at any particular port. It just aint in me!

 

St. Maarten was great for kayaking, so I wouldn't skip that one myself. However, it depends on what you're into.

 

We did Atlantis submarine on Barbados, but beforehand we walked into town and enjoyed the scenery and people-watching. On the way back we received a free ride from a taxi that wanted into the gates of the port (so she could pick up outgoing cruisers who needed a tour or ride somewhere on the island).

 

St. Kitts was (as a reviewer of this itinerary recently mentioned) remarkably similar to Maui in many ways, especially if you went around the island. It is one that I would return to just to stay for a week.

[gone_cruisin]

St. Maarten or St. Thomas. They are very similiar and they both have great local shopping.

 

St. Maarten you could go to Maho Beach and watch the airplanes fly over.

[Chitownlou]

We are also on the Valor in July... we booked excursions on every island... but nothing too strenuous. Mainly a little shopping, an island tour and some time on a beach.

[bamboozel]

Mako beach in St. Martin was outstanding...loved it!

[kelz66]

St. Thomas or St. Maarten. :cool:

[mn_isla_girl]

 

2) Barbados -- Here we are doing a Catamaran tour to do a little snorkeling with Sea Turtles -- doing Calabaza (our most expensive tour)

 

 

You won't be disappointed with Calabaza!! :D

[erby2283]

I can tell you which port to DEFINITELY book an excursion in and that's Barbados! We tried to wing it and paid an arm and a leg for an hour tour around the island and got dropped off in town and got a bite to eat and walked back to the ship. I really wished I had researched more and booked an excursion.

 

I've been to St. Thomas 4x now and if you've been there before, you can do a lot a shopping in tour or easily get an island tour for $30!

[Lovefuninthesun]

I'm getting ready to go on the Valor in July. I'm really excited about all of the ports, but at the same time I'm a little concerned about it being so port intensive of an itinerary.

 

If you had to choose one stop to not do an excursion on and to just meander around town at your leisure, which port would it be?

 

The ports are: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Martin, St. Lucia, St. Kitts

 

That is what we always do in St. Thomas and St. Martin -- stroll, people-watch, shop, eat lunch.

[Daonlyone2000]

I'm getting ready to go on the Valor in July. I'm really excited about all of the ports, but at the same time I'm a little concerned about it being so port intensive of an itinerary.

 

If you had to choose one stop to not do an excursion on and to just meander around town at your leisure, which port would it be?

 

The ports are: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Martin, St. Lucia, St. Kitts

 

I just came off of this Cruise and for me I would do something easy going in St. Maarten. We were really tired by this day and could have just done a tour or a little shopping across the harbor.

[Chelleum]

I'm going on this cruise in Oct., I'm not going on an excursion in St. Thomas and Barbados. These are gonna be beach days. St. Lucia doing Cosol, St. Kitts doing Royston (may cancel and tour on my own prefer a half day over a full day), and St. Maarten doing Bernards tour. These are all new ports for me, but my BF do not want to do a tour on every island.

 

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[erby2283]

I'm going on this cruise in Oct., I'm not going on an excursion in St. Thomas and Barbados. These are gonna be beach days. St. Lucia doing Cosol, St. Kitts doing Royston (may cancel and tour on my own prefer a half day over a full day), and St. Maarten doing Bernards tour. These are all new ports for me, but my BF do not want to do a tour on every island.

 

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I did both Cosol and Royston's.....think twice before cancelling Royston's tour. He showed us the ENTIRE island! And if you don't want to do an all-day tour, send him an email and ask him if you can just do half a day. He'll usually cater to your needs. Cosol's tour and Royston's tours are my two favorite tours to date! I have plenty of pictures in my Victory review below (not the Valor review - the Victory did this itinerary before they moved the Valor there).

[Chelleum]

Thanks erby2283, for the information about Royston tour. I had told him when I booked that I wanted to do only the island tour and no beach. I was thinking more about my BF getting up early to do his tour after Cosol. He so slow moving in the mornings.:)

 

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