Where/what to do?

[CanadianMAG]

I am lost on how to plan things while in port, as I am not sure what ports are good for what, this is our first cruise

 

We would like to

1) snorkle - never been before

2) shopping

3) relaxing on a boat or beach

4) nice tours of the island ( we have been on a tour in the back country when we went to Domican Rep. and loved it)

 

Here are our stops, if anyone can recomend what to do at each port, and if I am missing anything major or if you have suggestions that would be great

 

1) Nassau

2) Half Moon Cay

3) St. Thomas (shopping????)

4) Tortola

[CanadianMAG]

anyone?

 

Or even excursion sites would be helpful. I havent seen any in my searches.

 

Thanks

[crisp1]

I haven't been to Nassau in 20 years, Half Moon cay is a 'private' island, so it's the beach party or snorkeling most likely, Haven't been to Tortola ( someday). But have been to St Thomas twice and will be returning this April. It is a beautiful port, there is a shopping center just off the pier, so you can 'do' something and leave shopping til just before you have reboard ( serious shoppers go into town). You can walk over to the aerial tram and for around $10 go up to the point overlooking the port. There is Coral world and Coki beach (good snorkeling- not much of a beach)This can be booked thru the ship, or you can take a cab. Some say Sapphire beach is beautiful ( take a cab). Last time we went over to St John to Trunk bay to snorkel ( st john may be more beautiful than St T. You didn't say what cruise line you're taking, but carnival has excursions listed on their web site but without prices (last time I checked). Princess has them with prices, and you can book before you cruise. Another site worth checking out is http://www.Lifeiscruising.com Have a great cruise.

[CanadianMAG]

Thanks for your reply.

 

I am going with HAL. I will take a look at the website you gave me.

 

I heard St. Thomas is where you go to by diamonds, pearls and gold, do I go to town for that??? I figure by that time I will be married for ONE week and will deserve a one week anniversity present! :D Im soo bad!

[TupeloHoney]

I highly recommend going to the Baths at Virgin Gorda when you are in Tortola. We went last year and it was the highlight of our cruise. They are amazing. You can get on a ferry fairly close to the ship and zip over there. I recommend going first thing in the morning though - rumor has it it gets very busy later in the day.

[CanadianMAG]

Great thanks!! That was one of the things both my Fiance and I had circled to took into!

[lachner]

We were in Tortola on December 14. We walked from the ship to the ferry. (You can see it to the left as the ship is docking, the roof is red.) The walk took maybe 10 minutes. We took Speedy's ferry. We took the 10:30 as we had just missed the 10:00. The ride was about 30 minutes. Then Speedy's taxi service which is in a jitney to the Baths. The roundtrip ferry and taxi was $30US pp. The ship excursions are much more.

Although there were alot of people on the jitney as we headed to the Baths alot of them must have stayed at the main beach once they got down the hill. We took the "path" to the left at the bottom to Devils Claw. You go over and around boulders and up ladders. On the other side there is a beautiful secluded beach. There were few people here. We swam and snorkled (bring your own gear). The snorkeling was like flying as the height of the boulders under water changed constantly. There were a few fish and some coral. It kept me happy.

We had lunch at the top of the Baths. Nothing fancy but very good. Grilled veggie sandwich or crab salad or for the unadventurous like my husband, a cheeseburger and fries. The VISA bill converted to Canadian was $31 including tip for the two of us. Just a note, you can pay for the ferry with VISA also.

When we got back to Tortola we walked to the Botanical Gardens but it poured so we sort of ran through it.

This was my favorite stop on our cruise.

 

Have fun.

 

A fellow Canadian

[MSUSigmaK]

St Thomas has great shopping. We have been there before but this year we docked at their new facility which did not have shopping near by. Take a cab into town. When we were there before we were with a friend who lives there. She took us to Elegant Jewelry Shop on Raadets Gade, one of the side streets off of Main Street. It's a small shop and she trusted the owners. We learned alot about pricing at other jewelers, the price shown, their "best" price and the "locals" price. It was nice to go to a store where you would get a great price from the start. They have a web site if you want to check it out www.elegantjewelryshop.com and an e-mail address Elegant@islands.vi if you want to ask questions before you get there. There are fantastic perfume stores also. Another shop in St Thomas is The Tradewinds Shop, thetradewindsshop.com. They have nice china items and wll ship purchases home. I purchased a Franz vase with seahorses on it, it arrived the day we got home.

 

In Tortola go to Pussers for a Painkiller. It's a great pub with clothing and gifts. Town is about a 10 minute walk from the docks. We loved Tortola, very friendly people. If you're crazy..and you do your thank you notes during your honeymoon, the post office in Tortola is down the street from the gift shop side of Pussers. We mailed our Christmas cards and they arrived in the States in approximately a week. Kind of fun to have interesting stamps and send greetings from a tropical location.

 

In Nassau...not much to suggest. I don't think that the stores offer great deals. The straw market is overrated. The hair braiding ladies are now located in the building at the pier so you no longer have to deal with them approaching you for an extended period of time. Can suggest Senor Frogs which is near the straw market.

 

Have a great time and congratulations!

[iluvtravel]

If you've never been snorkeling, you can't miss experiencing this in the deep blue Caribbean Sea! IMHO the best snorkeling would be at Trunk Bay in St. Johns. The beach is powder perfect. There are a great variety of fish in a protected bay area. There are even signs underwater pointing out what to look for. You would have to take a ferry (about a 45 min. ride) from St. Thomas if you were interested or there may be a ship tour offered.

 

I would recommend Tortola as the best snorkeling if you don't want to have to worry about traveling to another island. We have been to Tortola twice. The last time we took a ship's tour called Virgin Islands Sailaway. It was fantastic. We took a catamaran to some caves at Norman Island for snorkeling. The snorkeling was good, although you are getting out from the boat into deep water-no wading in here. We then proceeded to a beach where there was another chance to snorkel from the beach or you could just enjoy the beach and the sun. There was a bar at the beach also, but it was closed when we were there. I would highly recommend that tour.

 

The other tour I would recommend from Tortola would involve traveling over to Virgin Gorda. I see that other CC'ers have recommended this option. The link to the ferry is http://www.speedysbvi.com/ferryservice/schedule.html. You can also schedule it through the ship. Virgin Gorda is a small beautiful island, not as developed as most of the others in the area. When we were there (January) there were bushes overflowing with brightly colored flowers all over. The Baths are unique in themselves, rock formations creating caves. This trip does require some slightly strenuous activity. It's about a 10-15 min. hike downhill (uphill coming back) to get to the Baths. There is also a restaurant at the top of the Baths with incredible, panoramic views, and fairly good food. This is a link to a typical tour to Virgin Gorda. http://www.islandshipping.com/vg_baths_trip.htm

 

Half Moon Cay is HAL's private island. It is a tropical paradise, but not much else to do but enjoy the beach. They have recently offered several new tours, from eco tours to horseback riding to snorkeling with stingrays. We just enjoyed sitting on the beach, listening to the band playing, and soaking up the sun.

 

St. Thomas is a great port for just about anything you would like to do-shopping, beaches, etc. For detailed information, visit the St. Thomas forum. If you would like an island tour, this would be a good place, because there are a variety of things to see and experience here. We have snorkeled at Coki Beach before and were not impressed. There seemed to be more people there than fish. It may be different at other times.

 

We've only been to Nassau once. We will be visiting again in Jan., but only have 5 hours there, not a long time. We will probably spend our time at Cable Beach. If you haven't seen Atlantis, and are interested in that type of thing, it's worth taking an island tour that will include a brief tour of Atlantis. There will be taxi drivers waiting at the dock, offering tours. We made our own arrangements this way, which was quite a bit cheaper than the ship's price, plus we did get to see Atlantis, had a smaller group, and told our driver what things we wanted to see. The straw market is worth a brief visit.

 

As far as shopping, Tortola probably has the best prices for cheap, trinket-type souvenirs and tshirts (though maybe not a lot of choice). St. Thomas, as mentioned above, is known for its jewelry.

 

Have a great time! It's hard to go wrong when you're visiting these places!

[sea_breaze]

Been to St Thomas. Enjoyed Coral World but agree that there were more butts and feet then fish while snorkeling @ Coki Beach. Magens Bay is rated as 1 of the most beautiful beaches in the world and it is but was also very crowded. Next month we will be taking ferry to ST Johns for snorkeling @ Trunk Bay. Heard great things about ST Johns. ST Thomas very poular cruise port and can be overwhelmed with cruise ships on any given day. If you are adventerous rent a car (we did this last year) to get away from crowds. Road ways narrow and you drive on left side of roadbut like anything else you get used to it. Can go to www.cruisecal.com to find out how many ships will be in port on day of your arrival.

 

Half Moon Cay is the nicest of all the private islands we've been to. Loved this place. Sugary white beach crystal clear water. Far left side of beach there is a rock wall. Great snorkeling here the day we were there. Saw small shark, lobster, many fish. Also found the biggest Conch shell I've ever seen in perfect condition. You could've sold this for $30.00 in shell store easy but I left it. Hope this helps

 

Had a blast with HAL-Probably my favorite cruise.

[wire58]

Hi. Last year I arranged on my own (not through the ship) a parasailing adventure for hubby and teen daughter. They absolutely loved it and are so glad they did it. They were in the air for a good deal of time and the crew was super nice. Would recommend to anyone interested in that adventure. The funny thing was, it ended up being the same company the cruise ship used!