New to Cruising - do we need to do a shore excursion every port?

[Hesa0603]

Hi guys, I'm Sarah! I'm going on a Southern Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Fascination in June 2018 with my husband, and in-laws (we're all new to cruising).

 

I have a question about shore excursions. Do we need to do one in every port, or are ports set up so they're easily walk-able to town/the beach? (I know this might be a dumb question, but I have no idea.)

 

These are the ports we're stopping in, any input on ones that we would absolutely want to book an excursion would be super awesome:

St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia , St. Kitts, St. Marteen

 

I've been to the USVI a couple times, and want to go over to St. John... has anyone done this from the cruise port? I imagine it would be similar to taking a taxi from the airport to Red Hook, then the passenger ferry? Also, has anyone been to St. John since the hurricane? Should we plan on sticking to St. Thomas?

[mef_57]

Hi Sarah.

First advice for newbies is to take a bit of time to see all that Cruise Critic has to offer. It has forums about your cruise line - because some questions are ship specific; forums about ports of call - because people will help there about what to do; and a First Timer forum for folks like you.

Second advice is to visit your library or book store. There are books about Caribbean cruising and give details about ports and what to do...though it won't have the current situations post hurricanes.

I would also check out the 'what to do' part of TripAdvisor for port suggestions for the specific towns.

I am quite sure you will be able to get feedback about St. Thomas and St. John on that port of call forum.

Dominica is the other island quite decimated by the hurricanes. So check out that forum. The other islands received less to no impact. All would be safe to just walk around in if you need a slower day.

[Extra Kim]

Most ports are easy to do on your own, BUT Dominica is a port where you will be thankfull that you did a excursion.

 

I have done the "Wet tour" two times with Levi and these are the best tours I have done in the Caribbean. Can't find it on the homepage but ask for it and he will know which tour it is.

 

http://www.bumpiingtours.com/

 

P.S I have not taken this tour after the hurricane last year and I don't know if it has affected any of the sites.

[Keith1010]

We have cruised the Southern Caribbean along with the Eastern and Western Caribbean locations many times and have taken very few excursions. Most we can d on our own.

 

In St. Lucia I would take a tour as the area near the cruise port is not very good.

 

In Barbados if you like to walk you can walk into town (about 30 minutes) and there is a lot to see. Or you can take a taxi out to say a nice beach.

 

St. Maarten you can take a taxi to get to some nice beaches or also walk into town which is about a 20 minute walk.

 

St Kitts and St. Thomas are both easy to do on your own.

 

I agree that a tour in Dominica would be advisable.

 

There are ports of call boards on Cruise Critic for each of these ports so you can look at them to get ideas of what people do. Also look at on line sites such as http://www.frommers.com for ideas.

 

Keith

[Herfnerd]

I've done that itinerary - most of the time we spent at a beach or walking the town.

 

In St Lucia, I highly recommend Cosol Tours

[ldubs]

We have cruised the Southern Caribbean along with the Eastern and Western Caribbean locations many times and have taken very few excursions. Most we can d on our own.

 

In St. Lucia I would take a tour as the area near the cruise port is not very good.

 

In Barbados if you like to walk you can walk into town (about 30 minutes) and there is a lot to see. Or you can take a taxi out to say a nice beach.

 

St. Maarten you can take a taxi to get to some nice beaches or also walk into town which is about a 20 minute walk.

 

St Kitts and St. Thomas are both easy to do on your own.

 

I agree that a tour in Dominica would be advisable.

 

There are ports of call boards on Cruise Critic for each of these ports so you can look at them to get ideas of what people do. Also look at on line sites such as www.frommers.com for ideas.

 

Keith

 

"Like". Well done.

[Floridiana]

We have walked into town in St. Lucia, but it is not a particularly interesting town. There is a straw/souvenir/food market between the cruise port and the town. Plenty of taxis outside the cruise port whose drivers offer their services.

[Bonnie J.]

I can highly recommend Cosol tours in St Lucia! We have been on 100+ tours since our 1st cruise in 1984 and this was one of the BEST, if not the very best, tours we have ever taken.

Yes, it is a long tour but ours went over it by about 45 minutes. They are VERY aware of when you have to be back at the ship and we got back in plenty of time. There are a lot of stops including one where there was fantastic local food to sample free and one to a beach (we went by boat to get there) that was right by the Pituns. (Sp.?.)

 

In Barbadoes we snorkeled with the turtles- a private tour. In St. Maarten you can got to a nude beach if you want to. We had fun river tubing in St. Kitts, also a private tour.

There are many things to do in St. Thomas, can't say what we liked best.

 

We haven't done any ship's tours for years. You can find ones by Goggling tours on each island. The tours do not want to have anything but good reviews so you can count on them.

 

Also go to your Roll Call here on CC and see what others are doing on your cruise. We have joined people from our Roll Calls and done tours we've done together together.

[Floridiana]

Barbados: You can also walk into town. It is more interesting than Castries in St.Lucia and looks better, but it is not safer or less safe than Castries.

St. Marten: Philipsburg is a nice town in walking distance from the port, but you can also take the small ferry. Lots of shops that cater to tourists' needs.

[lbjen]

There are some excursions where it’s safer to take the ship excursion, eg it’s a very long tour and there’s a good risk of you being late back to the ship.

[57redbird]

I've done that itinerary - most of the time we spent at a beach or walking the town.

 

In St Lucia, I highly recommend Cosol Tours

 

 

I second Cosol Tours! --- it was fantastic!

[navybankerteacher]

Lots of good points - I would just add that St. John is definitely worth getting to from St. Thomas - which is pretty crowded generally. There are usually catamaran sails -either through the ship or on your own - direct from the pier.

[cb at sea]

Definitely get a guidebook on your ports...read up on each, decide WHAT you want to do, then you can figure out HOW! Most things are quite easy to do on your own, but you really need to know something about where you're going...whether it's on a cruise or land vacation! Don't expect to hop off the ship without knowing a thing, and have a good time. Research is key. DIY is always cheaper than those pricey "excursions".