Looking for advice from a Southern Caribbean expert

[natdalton]

With so many stops on our next cruise in December 2015, departing San Juan going to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten, I'm find the task of planning excursions rather daunting. All these stops are new to us and where ever does one start in developing the best plan of action?

In your opinion, which ports should be beach days and which excursion days?

We love snorkeling, a little drinking, maybe a fishing excursion, would love to take in/explore as much of the local sights and culture as possible, etc.

Thanks in advice for any advice.

[MsMot]

With so many stops on our next cruise in December 2015, departing San Juan going to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten, I'm find the task of planning excursions rather daunting. All these stops are new to us and where ever does one start in developing the best plan of action?

In your opinion, which ports should be beach days and which excursion days?

We love snorkeling, a little drinking, maybe a fishing excursion, would love to take in/explore as much of the local sights and culture as possible, etc.

Thanks in advice for any advice.

 

IMO, St. Lucia should definitely be an excursion day - not my favorite island. The other islands all have great beaches. We've had the most fun beach days on St. Kitts, St. Maarten and Barbados. You can go either way in St. Thomas. This is a great itinerary. Enjoy!

[maritaysa]

I'd say Maho Beach in St Maarten and Magen's Bay in St Thomas. Do a sailing/catamaran in St Lucia to see the Pitons.

[Kristi Williamson]

With so many stops on our next cruise in December 2015, departing San Juan going to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten, I'm find the task of planning excursions rather daunting. All these stops are new to us and where ever does one start in developing the best plan of action?

In your opinion, which ports should be beach days and which excursion days?

We love snorkeling, a little drinking, maybe a fishing excursion, would love to take in/explore as much of the local sights and culture as possible, etc.

Thanks in advice for any advice.

 

If you go to the CC home page, there's a "ports of call" section with TONS of information on each of these ports. There's no way we could do it justice here.

 

However, of those ports, I'd say St. Thomas and Barbados are really great beach days. St. Lucia has Pitons that's always worth a see if you've never been there. We did the catamaran in St. Kitts last time and we really enjoyed it. The water is SO warm and clear.

 

St. Maartin is great for beaches, too, especially Maho and Orient. Maho has the planes flying over, so you can just pit stop there for a drink at fly over times and head to the beach before or after. We like to shop here, too. I don't enjoy shopping in St. Thomas, but many others love it there.

 

Coki Beach in St. Thomas isn't as pretty as Magen's Bay or Trunk Bay on St. John's (you can take the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John's pretty easily) but the snorkeling there is pretty good, as far as snorkeling in St. Thomas goes.

 

Either way, head over to the ports section. You'll get much better info.

[sykimball1498]

We have done all these islands at least once and recommend the following excursions/shopping/beaches, etc.

 

ST. Thomas has great beaches, but also great shopping. I would spend the day doing half and half if you like shopping, if not, just relax on the beach. Last time we went to Meaghan's Bay and it was wonderful. Expensive drinks though so be prepared. Sapphire Beach is also nice I hear.

 

St. Kitts we went to the fort and it has great history and views. It gets a little windy and might rain that far up the mountain so be prepared for that as well. It was sunny all day in town.

 

Barbados we did the rum factory excursion and that was a lot of fun as well. We have not tried any beaches on Barbados so I cannot comment on those.

 

St. Maarten has great beaches and they ahve the Maho beach where the planes land right over you. It might be fun to try. I like the shopping in St. Maarten as well.

 

St. Lucia was more dirty in town when we went and is more third world than other places on your itinerary, but a sailing excursion around the Pitons might be fun for you.

 

I hope this helps as we love all the islands on your itinerary, but St. Thomas and St. Maarten are our favorites on this itinerary.

[natdalton]

Thank you guys very much. I have checked out the port boards and boy o' boy is that a lot of info to wade through. I've gotten some good referrals for excursions there, but can't book an excursion for every port, so knowing which beaches are a don't miss and which are better for excursions, gives me

a jumping off point.

[Kristi Williamson]

Thank you guys very much. I have checked out the port boards and boy o' boy is that a lot of info to wade through. I've gotten some good referrals for excursions there, but can't book an excursion for every port, so knowing which beaches are a don't miss and which are better for excursions, gives me

a jumping off point.

 

Keep in mind the taxi service in St. Thomas is expensive!! They aren't regulated like Cozumel. So, if you pick a beach here, make sure to factor in the cost of taxi service and compare it to just taking a Carnival excursion. You can shop here directly from the pier or walk to the tram that takes you up the little mountain top for drinks and great picture opportunities. The tram is 19 dollars, I think.

 

We've found that private excursions are the way to go, if you're comfortable booking yourself outside a Carnival excursion. We've never had an issue.

 

Good luck! This is a fabulous itinerary!!!

[uprivermama]

This is a fun, but busy itinerary! I would recommend a fairly cheap beach day in Barbados at the Boatyard. $15 includes your chairs, umbrella, a drink and your ride back to port. Beautiful beach with lots of options: rope swing, trampoline, iceberg (all free) and waverunners and snorkeling with turtles (add'l cost: negotiate with FREQUENT "salespeople" who walk the beach).

 

You've gotten good advice, so I won't re-hash it all, but I would definitely second the need to plan an excursion in St Lucia. There are some good private tours available. We did the Jalousie Beach Break with Spencer Ambrose, and while it was an ok day, I think we caught Spencer on a bad day. Disorganized, very late, and to top it off, it was pouring at the beach (which of course was not his fault ;) )

 

Enjoy the cruise! Make sure you account for the go-go-go of this intinerary. By the time we got to St Martin, we were TIRED!!!

[golfb4cruzing]

MY 2 cents: St Thomas has changed greatly and now very commercial. We do catamaran/snorkel excursion over to St Johns. St Maarten is always shopping day and the beach is right there. Barbados, we did once and not a safe place. So excursions or private beach. St Lucia and St Kitts, never been must go with other opinions.

[seechiken]

We did this itinerary a couple years back..

We absolutely loved Shipwreck beach bar in St Kitts. We caught a cab - there were monkeys galore, awesome beach, great food, drinks and there was a wonderful woman doing massages on the beach with fresh aloe.

The other favorite was Sapphire Beach in St Thomas, we got a cab and there were very few people there for the first several hours - Beautiful!!

[taboom]

Barbados - we walked to Carlisle Bay (we went to Harbor Lights). It was a 3km walk...we took our time and it took us about 45 min. Swam with the turtles right off the beach. Cost of our day - $5 for 5 beers and we "splurged" on chairs and umbrella ($15). Never felt unsafe walking there.

 

St. Thomas - took the $1 bus to Coki Beach. We had to walk about 1km to the beach from main road. We rode the bus with the locals and they talked to us and let us know when we needed to get off. St thomas looked extremely poor but the locals were all very friendly. Cost for the day - $2 each way

 

St Maarten - walked into Phillipsburg and took the bus to Mullet Beach and then walked to Maho. Took bus back to Phillipsburg. Cost - $2 each way.

 

St Lucia - did a private tour with Tim's Transport. Would recommend him! He was great and took us where we wanted to go

 

St Kitts - spent day mostly on ship....walked in town a bit and had some $1 beers and free wifi at bar. It's the first building on right as you leave the secured area

[cb at sea]

You have PLENTY of time to research where you're going...get a guidebook from your public library...find out which ports have what you want to do...THEN start the planning!

 

Most folks do stuff they would never do, because they know nothing about where they're going or what's available! Research is KEY to getting the most from you time ashore!

[natdalton]

We did this itinerary a couple years back..

We absolutely loved Shipwreck beach bar in St Kitts. We caught a cab - there were monkeys galore, awesome beach, great food, drinks and there was a wonderful woman doing massages on the beach with fresh aloe.

The other favorite was Sapphire Beach in St Thomas, we got a cab and there were very few people there for the first several hours - Beautiful!!

 

 

Monkey's galore?!?!?! You might have just sold me on Shipwreck beach bar in St. Kitts. Thanks for that tidbit. :D

[jsglow]

You've got a lot of reading to do. Let me try to advise you using another tactic that might help. I've been to each of these islands multiple times both via cruise ship, sailing vessel and land vacations.

 

In order, most Americanized to least:

 

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Maarten

St. Kitts

St. Lucia

 

And there's a pretty big difference between the top and the bottom. Personally I'd do 'beach' in St. Maarten. Orient is probably my favorite in the entire Caribbean. Easy to do without any organized tour. Grab a fixed rate taxi and go. No problems whatsoever.

 

St. Thomas is very commercialized so depending on what you want almost anything is available. If it's your first time there, I might do an island tour/beach day. On later visits you might venture over to St. John's for example.

 

We've done both a catamaran and an island tour in Barbados. Enjoyed both. A simple beach day is also pretty easy. Again, you won't feel too out of place in any of those places and they are very used to Americans.

 

St. Lucia is a very beautiful, tropical island. I'd organize either a boat trip to see the Pitons or a taxi tour of the island. I personally wouldn't venture there without a pre-arranged guide. You will feel very far from home when you step off the ship and having confidence in a local tour operator will make you more comfortable. Same would go for St. Kitts where an island tour with your dedicated taximan is a great way to see it.

[t_car]

We did this itinerary on the Valor a couple of years ago. Loved it.

Had been to most of the ports before.

We are doing it again on the Liberty this October. :D

 

St. Thomas - shopping right next to the pier. We took a taxi, open air truck with seating for 10-12 people, to Megans Bay beach. Relaxing and nice. Inexpensive. Many other excursions to pick from if into that. A time before then, we took a local tour operator for a guided tour of island. Like stated before, this island is very commercialized.

Barbados - did a local tour ($25) saw the sights and some shopping. Not impressed much. Doing a beach in the fall instead.

St. Lucia - definite tour day. Strongly disagree with a previous poster. St. Lucia is gorgeous. We did the Cosol Tours (Google him and email). Saw everything, banana plantation, drive through volcano, mud baths, see the Pitons, boat ride to Jalousie beach in between the Pitons, some snorkeling there, food and drinks included, free beer too. Doing same tour again, have sister and brother in law with us this time.

St. Kitts - looked around at market near the pier, took cab to beach.

St. Maarten - another good tour day with beach stops at Maho and Orient beach. Be aware that tour operators generallystop at the part of Orient beach where it is regular beach on left side, and nude beach on the right side.

 

You must definitely get to San Juan at least one day ahead. Great areas in Old San Juan to explore. We are staying in Ocean Park area day before, at Tres Palmas inn, a guest house right across the street from the ocean. Go to their website and check it out. Great reviews, looking forward to the relaxation.

 

Join your roll call, meet fellow passengers, share ideas, maybe do excursions as a group. It was great fun.

 

Enjoy your cruise. You will have a fabulous time.

Edited April 7, 2015 by t_car
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[cruiseapril]

We like Magen's Bay Beach in St. Thomas, but many prefer a day in St. John.

Our last time in St. T., we took a ship's excursion to Magen's (not expensive) and were glad we did because the town was crowded and the traffic thick.

 

In Barbados, we have taken an island tour by bus and also have spent the day at Carlisle Bay from Harbour Lights. Enjoyed the beach day more, although glad we saw quite a bit of Barbados.

 

In St. Maarten, we went to Orient Beach- but it was too rough for swimming that day and quite crowded. Another time we would try another beach.

 

In St. Lucia it is important to have a tour as the roads are narrow and winding-so need an experienced driver and guide.

 

Have fun planning and let us know what you do on these islands.

Edited April 7, 2015 by cruiseapril

[AZ Ocean Lover]

I haven't been to all the ports you are going to but my 2 cents would be to not bother snorkeling in St. Maartin. My one regret on this port was that I didn't spend time touring the island. We opted for a snorkel cruise and while the snorkel cruise was fun (went past Maho Beach) the snorkeling was pitiful. St. Thomas was a little better. We went for a morning snorkel and then went into town. The shopping and restaurants are really fun.

 

I have learned over the years to not overbook myself with excursions. Space them out, enjoy an easy, non-structured shopping or beach day. It's hard to resist the temptation of booking something everyday but have found the days we don't have something booked we have enjoyed just as much. You still need to do some homework for these days. Plan what beaches, restaurants, shopping areas, etc. but you are on your own time schedule.

 

Have fun.

[seechiken]

this is at shipwreck beach bar - monkeys decided to cover the NOT