Advice on Caribbean ports

[Barbara60]

Here are a few of the ports we are stopping at this winter. Can anyone tell me if they have been what their favourite activity is at any of these?

 

Grenada, St Barts, St Vincent, Guadalupe and Martinique

 

Thanks

[LHT28]

St Barts  we just like to window shop & look at the yachts

 

Grenada  we did a land vacation but if you can get a tour to the spice factory  it is nice 

Beach is nice   not too far from the dock

 

Also check the ports of call forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/

[Barbara60]

Thank you.

[Pandazoo]

We have found TripAdvisor very helpful for planning excursions.  Enjoy your trip!

[MEFIowa]

On 9/7/2023 at 12:20 PM, Barbara60 said:

Here are a few of the ports we are stopping at this winter. Can anyone tell me if they have been what their favourite activity is at any of these?

 

... St Barts, St Vincent....

We were at both off of Sirena 11/2022. 

 

For St. Barts, we did the walking of the city, Gustavia. But also went to the top of "Fort Karl" which overlooks the magnificent Shell Beach and we spent some hours enjoying Shell Beach. (St. Barts was run by the Swedes for over a century.)

 

St Barts Beach:: Shell Beach - SaintBarth.com

 

Karl Fort - Monuments and tourism at St Barts (saintbarth-tourisme.com)

 

For St. Vincent, we walked all over Kingstown, seeing the Anglican, RC and Methodist cathedrals. And the Botanical Garden. Plus, the Fort on the top of the hill with the view. PLUS we did an excursion to Black Point Tunnel on the east side of the island. Drove their along the coast and then came back trhu the interior. 

 

Black Point Tunnel (tourism.gov.vc)

 

Fort Charlotte (tourism.gov.vc)

[MEFIowa]

And just for Caribbean RUM...

 

1. St. Vincent--Kingstown, easy to buy an amazing OVERPROOF rum, Sunrise (St. Vincent Distillers, Ltd, Georgetown). Buy the "Very Strong Rum". A rare 84.5% alcohol. 169 proof!

 

2. St. Barts does NOT have a distillery. So do NOT buy any rum there. They just blend what they've bought elsewhere. And it's expensive.

[Cruzin Terri]

This was before Covid but in St. Vincent we contacted Young island Resort and spent the day there.

It was 2019. We took a taxi to the boat lift and then the boat over to the resort.

It was $123 per couple.  You had a room,  use of the beach, a nice lunch with a drink.  It was a great day.

Don’t know if they still do it and what the price would be now, but it is definitely something to consider.

Terri

[MarkWiltonM]

Martinique has a beautiful botanic garden in the rainforest called Jardin de Balata. https://www.jardindebalata.fr/welcome. It's a bit of a trip to get there; we did an excursion there by bus that included a couple of other stops. 

 

We enjoy walking around Gustavia in St. Barts and we always have a nice lunch somewhere. This year we're going to have lunch at Eden Rock hotel (not in Gustavia so we'll have to take a taxi). Last year we had lunch at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, which has the advantage of being a very short walk from where Oceania's tenders disembark in Gustavia. They have an open-air second-floor dining room with a nice view of the harbor across the street. Le Select, very close to the tenders, is an extremely busy and popular spot for burgers. One of the least-expensive restaurants in Gustavia as well. 

 

We don't care much for Grenada or St. Vincent so we use those ports of call as "sea days." 

 

Haven't been to Guadeloupe (we will be there in 2024 on Marina is all goes as planned). I hear it's similar to Martinique. 

[pocogb]

Grenada - Grand Anise beach is beautiful but can get busy if many ships are in.  Morne Rouge is just a bit further along smaller but very pretty and quieter. Take a look through the "Ports of Call - Caribbean" section on Cruisecritic Boards.