Finalizing gathered info for AOS excursions...Barbados route...help please???

[RN7997]

There are 7 of us cruising on AOS in May. All in our 20's and 30's.....and all adults. Right when I think I have it pretty much figured out I am questioning myself.......so suggestions are appreciated. I have my group coming over tomorrow to discuss options and finalize plans so I can book things I want to book.

 

This is what I have so far in a nutshell:

Barbados

*At this point the plan is to take a cab to the Boatyard. I am reading mixed reviews about it though so now I am unsure. ALos its our first visit here so I am wondering if I shouldnt be doing a land tour of some sort with a little beach time incorporated???? ANy suggestions??? We will be there on a Monday so the caves are closed and non of us are interested in swimming with the turtles so catamaran tours are not what we are looking for......more land based tour maybe seeing crane and a nice lunch and some beach time at a beautiful beach!! Please help me figure out what we could book and get all of this?????

 

St Lucia

*This one is final...we are booked for a private tour with Serenity and looking forward to that!!!

 

Antigua

*We rae thinking about reserving a spot at Jolly Beach Resort and having a full all inclusive beach day....looks really nice and I love the pool with swim up bar;) Unless you have a better idea???

 

St Maarten

*Initial thought is we will be tired...its the 4th port day in a row and maybe we will just cab it to Orient. BUT...my hubby isnt as much of a beach bum as me so I am worried that 2 full beach days in a row will be not a good idea. I am considering Bernard's tour?? Tips/suggestions??? Joyce Prince is all booked up so that is not an option for us.

 

St Croix

*This one is hard to get info on since ships are newly sailing there. The local beach to cab to seems to be Cane Bay. I am really thinking this will be our R&R day. Either stay on ship or cab to beach when we feel like it or I heard you can get cabs to do island tours resonably???? Anything there we shouldnt miss?????

 

For those of you that have sailed this route it is really port intensive!!! Any suggestions?? How did you handle 5 ports in a row???

 

TIA for any help!!

[AZ ParrotHead]

There are 7 of us cruising on AOS in May. All in our 20's and 30's.....and all adults. Right when I think I have it pretty much figured out I am questioning myself.......so suggestions are appreciated. I have my group coming over tomorrow to discuss options and finalize plans so I can book things I want to book.

 

This is what I have so far in a nutshell:

Barbados

*At this point the plan is to take a cab to the Boatyard. I am reading mixed reviews about it though so now I am unsure. ALos its our first visit here so I am wondering if I shouldnt be doing a land tour of some sort with a little beach time incorporated???? ANy suggestions??? We will be there on a Monday so the caves are closed and non of us are interested in swimming with the turtles so catamaran tours are not what we are looking for......more land based tour maybe seeing crane and a nice lunch and some beach time at a beautiful beach!! Please help me figure out what we could book and get all of this?????

 

St Lucia

*This one is final...we are booked for a private tour with Serenity and looking forward to that!!!

 

Antigua

*We rae thinking about reserving a spot at Jolly Beach Resort and having a full all inclusive beach day....looks really nice and I love the pool with swim up bar;) Unless you have a better idea???

 

St Maarten

*Initial thought is we will be tired...its the 4th port day in a row and maybe we will just cab it to Orient. BUT...my hubby isnt as much of a beach bum as me so I am worried that 2 full beach days in a row will be not a good idea. I am considering Bernard's tour?? Tips/suggestions??? Joyce Prince is all booked up so that is not an option for us.

 

St Croix

*This one is hard to get info on since ships are newly sailing there. The local beach to cab to seems to be Cane Bay. I am really thinking this will be our R&R day. Either stay on ship or cab to beach when we feel like it or I heard you can get cabs to do island tours resonably???? Anything there we shouldnt miss?????

 

For those of you that have sailed this route it is really port intensive!!! Any suggestions?? How did you handle 5 ports in a row???

 

TIA for any help!!

 

The Barbados route on AOS has been our favorite cruise so far:

 

My 2 cents:

 

Barbados--I highly recommend you reconsider the snorkeling/swimming w/sea turtles. An amazing experience! We did it on Silver Moon and it was the best excursion we've ever done. Hands down.

 

Antigua: As an alternative to the AI, you can go to Darkwood or one of the other 364 beaches on the island and rent beach chairs. Most of the beaches have some food and services available. The island is beautiful. We rented a scooter and tooled around stopping at several places along the way. It's a gorgeous place.

 

St Lucia: Good Choice--you need a guide here.

 

St Maarten--Suggest renting a car here. It's easy to get around and people drive on the right! You can drive out to Orient (not my favorite beach on the island) or explore on your own. The French side is quite beautiful and quiet.

 

St Croix--Not much help here--we went to St. Thomas.

[RN7997]

St Maarten is the only island we have been to before and we rented a car a we were robbed, so we are thinking of either a cab to the beach or touring with a guide??

[highseasredneck]

There are 7 of us cruising on AOS in May. All in our 20's and 30's.....and all adults. Right when I think I have it pretty much figured out I am questioning myself.......so suggestions are appreciated. I have my group coming over tomorrow to discuss options and finalize plans so I can book things I want to book.

 

This is what I have so far in a nutshell:

Barbados

*At this point the plan is to take a cab to the Boatyard. I am reading mixed reviews about it though so now I am unsure. ALos its our first visit here so I am wondering if I shouldnt be doing a land tour of some sort with a little beach time incorporated???? ANy suggestions??? We will be there on a Monday so the caves are closed and non of us are interested in swimming with the turtles so catamaran tours are not what we are looking for......more land based tour maybe seeing crane and a nice lunch and some beach time at a beautiful beach!! Please help me figure out what we could book and get all of this?????

 

St Lucia

*This one is final...we are booked for a private tour with Serenity and looking forward to that!!!

 

Antigua

*We rae thinking about reserving a spot at Jolly Beach Resort and having a full all inclusive beach day....looks really nice and I love the pool with swim up bar;) Unless you have a better idea???

 

St Maarten

*Initial thought is we will be tired...its the 4th port day in a row and maybe we will just cab it to Orient. BUT...my hubby isnt as much of a beach bum as me so I am worried that 2 full beach days in a row will be not a good idea. I am considering Bernard's tour?? Tips/suggestions??? Joyce Prince is all booked up so that is not an option for us.

 

St Croix

*This one is hard to get info on since ships are newly sailing there. The local beach to cab to seems to be Cane Bay. I am really thinking this will be our R&R day. Either stay on ship or cab to beach when we feel like it or I heard you can get cabs to do island tours resonably???? Anything there we shouldnt miss?????

 

For those of you that have sailed this route it is really port intensive!!! Any suggestions?? How did you handle 5 ports in a row???

 

TIA for any help!!

 

Antigua:

I speak highly for the catamaran snorkel and sail. I think its the 3.5 hr. one if I'm not mistaken. Its not the one to the private island, although I've heard thats great too and we may try it in Oct. when we are down there. But the catamaran trip is great and leaves from the pier right where the ship docks. You are on the yellow "Wadadli" (Carib name for the the island of Antigua) Cats. This is probably the best known catamaran company on the islands. All the guys that run the boat are awesome and you sail out to snorkel, then on the way back its all you can drink rum punch (what they call "devil juice") and bite sized tuna sandwhiches. The tour also stops at a nice deserted type beach for swim time on the way back to the pier. You mentioned earlier your not big on catamarans but its really laid back and you get to see a good bit of the coast of the island which is awesome. There is also a bunch of cool shopping right at the port and nice flea market kinda area.

 

Barbados:

I suggest hailing a cab at the pier and tell them to take you to Malibu Beach. Its the beach right in front of the Malibu rum factory. Its great and last time we were there it wasn't crowded at all. If you get tired of the beach you can tour the factory and buy, and most importantly consume some rum.

 

St. Maarten:

I have to reccomend taking the $2/person bus over to Maho beach and wath the 747s land at the airport about 20-30 ft. over your head. Although the last hurricane kinda tore the beach up there. Otherwise, I think its a great place to score a great deal on a new watch for men or a new purse, jewelry for women. There is also a little harbor/inlet right off the mainstreet (you can see the ship sitting at the pier) where you can pay to go on the beach and its nice calm water to float around in and you can rent jet skis and go nuts in the harbor and ride over kind a near the AOS also. Just don't go to far or they kinda get upset.

 

St. Croix:

????? were also looking forward to seeing whats up there, as its a new stop.

 

Hope this helps.