Azura 28th Oct.....first cruise

Hi this is my first time on a cruise and I was directed to this site as many of you will surely know what's what.

There are so many choices regarding excursions, I don't know what's best.

I travel on the Azura on the 28th with a couple of friends any ideas.

Thanks in advance

Mat

Hi There and Welcome!

Lucky you going to the Caribbean on Azura - lovely place and lovely ship!

Re. excursions - I think it depends on whether you and your friends are happy to get up and wander around the local town, or whether you wish to see a bit more of each place you visit.

When we first cruised we always went on a tour, sometimes half day, sometimes full day, as we had never been to any of the places and having a guide explain things around you, as well as seeing the different culture and countryside as you travel, was definitely a better option than just getting off where we were docked and wandering around. You save money doing this, but you can't possibly get much of a feel for the area you are visiting.

Each Caribbean island is very different to another, although the people are all just as friendly, so, personally I would go on a tour to get a feel for the place. One particular tour we did enjoy immensely was in St Lucia when we took a catamaran trip down to the Pitons and back - get fun with lots of rum punch and beer drunk!

You will find you love cruising (be surprised if you don't!) and it certainly won't be the last time you visit any of them so you could do your own thing next time.

Re. Azura, make sure you visit The Glass House, Sindhu and The Beach House for a meal, and The Planet Bar for drinks and the wonderful scenes on the screens at the back of the bar. The film screenings on Seascreen will be wonderful in the warmth of the Caribbean so do try to see one. She is a wonderful ship and I'm sure you'll enjoy her.

Happy Cruising! :)

Good advice from Cruise Puss - all of which I would endorse.

The Caribbean is wonderful - so warm and colourful and that includes the people, culture and character of the different islands as well as the climate and sea temp!

Advice regarding what to do in each island depends on your preferences. We always think of beaches in the Caribbean but also do an island tour for a change in some ports. If you're doing a Med cruise for example there is a wealth of history, culture and variety of experiences - for some I'd recommend a ship's tour (for the input of the guide or perhaps because of the difficulty of getting to places you want to visit) but you may be surprised by how much can be done independently. And the Caribbean is an area we mainly prefer DiY and is one of the easiest areas to do this. It's often very much cheaper, if it's a beach you want then you decide how long you stay (not stuck with tour times) and there are loads of taxis and tour firms at the port offering all kinds of tours. Link up with fellow passengers to make up a minibus transfer etc and you'll find it economical. At some ports we use local buses or water taxis to get to the beach - it all depends on the practicalities. Other passengers will be happy to help and advise - we're always interested to learn of others' experiences for ideas and recommendations. And do go to the Port presentations on board to give you a flavour of what the attractions are at each destination. You don't need to book their trips though!

We always get off the ship fairly early then head back to port with plenty of time to spare. That's one thing you need to factor in as the ship waits for it's own excursions if they are late - but not for individuals. If you get back to port in good time you can then have a wander around and get a flavour of the locality - markets, bars etc.

I would encourage you to decide on the type of things you think you would like to do at each Island then come back and I'm sure there will be plenty of ideas forthcoming as well as ways to tackle it.

I'm not sure which islands you're visiting - some are great for easy beach days, most on here would recommend Cosol Tours in St Lucia (excellent!), English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard on Antigua provide something a bit different and historical, St Kitts railway is another type of experience and then there are the best islands for beaches or inland tours to see the tropical and lush vegetation......... whatever interests you most.

I remember our first cruise when everything seemed to be confusing - we didn't know what to expect or how it all worked but you will discover that once you've checked in, everything is very well organised, there are reps to help you and it all slots into place. In your cabin will be all the information you need to get to grips with life on board and the ship's daily newspaper delivered each evening to your cabin will tell you all about what's happening the next day. But as I said before we've always found our fellow travellers are a mine of information and more than willing to help out if you're unsure of how things work and I'm sure you will find the same. Enjoy your first cruise - you're in for a treat!

We found our first cruise quite daunting as everyone presumes you know the routines and what is available.

A good way of finding info on the different ports is to have breakfast in the mdr and share a table with other passengers. Apart from it being a very civilised meal instead of fighting your way around the buffet, you will probably find that a lot of your table companions will have been to the Caribbean before and be able to give you plenty of advice, dont be afraid to ask.

Hi

DH and I are going to the Caribbean in January for the first time and have done a bit of planning. I notice you are doing the re-location cruise so do not have as many ports of call as we will have. However, just to share, we have decided to do the Cosol Tour on St Lucia, St Maarten probably a beach by local transport as far away from Maho beach as possible ( we don't want to see the planes or get held up in traffic in that area ) and in Grenada we will take a water taxi to Grand Anse beach and walk on to Mourne Rouge beach.

There are reviews on cruise critic in the "ports of call" section and on tripadvisor. Have a lovely first (but not last ) cruise.

Hi

DH and I are going to the Caribbean in January for the first time and have done a bit of planning. I notice you are doing the re-location cruise so do not have as many ports of call as we will have. However, just to share, we have decided to do the Cosol Tour on St Lucia, St Maarten probably a beach by local transport as far away from Maho beach as possible ( we don't want to see the planes or get held up in traffic in that area ) and in Grenada we will take a water taxi to Grand Anse beach and walk on to Mourne Rouge beach.

There are reviews on cruise critic in the "ports of call" section and on tripadvisor. Have a lovely first (but not last ) cruise.

There is a water taxi from just by the pier at St Maarten which takes you to the beach in town - although you can walk it. There are some attractive buildings, lots of shops and a good local market in Philipsburg so if you've not been before there's plenty to see and a good beach there without going elsewhere.

There is a water taxi from just by the pier at St Maarten which takes you to the beach in town - although you can walk it. There are some attractive buildings, lots of shops and a good local market in Philipsburg so if you've not been before there's plenty to see and a good beach there without going elsewhere.

Thank you, I will look into that for St Maarten. I'm trying to do one day busy, next day beach on our island hopping holiday, and prefer to DIY. Are you recommending Great Bay or Little Bay? Ive read that Great Bay can experience pollution. Would the water taxi go to Little Bay?

Thank you kruzseeka :)

Thank you, I will look into that for St Maarten. I'm trying to do one day busy, next day beach on our island hopping holiday, and prefer to DIY. Are you recommending Great Bay or Little Bay? Ive read that Great Bay can experience pollution. Would the water taxi go to Little Bay?

Thank you kruzseeka :)

Well you threw me there jasperado - I've had to Google Earth to find out!! The main Bay around which the town sits is apparently Great Bay. It seems as though Little Bay is round the promontory and the next bay along. We've never been there so I can't comment but there doesn't look to be much in the way of beach there or is it a hotel complex you're considering? I don't think the water taxi goes further ie to Little Bay. You might need a taxi for that.

The water taxi takes you to a jetty more or less central to the town but a little nearer

to the ship side - but this is all on Great Bay. We generally walk quite a way along the beach in the opposite direction to the ship as it's generally not so busy the further you walk from the centre. We are going in January too and according to a cruise schedule website, at the moment we seem to be the only ship in so it shouldn't be busy so that's not going to be an issue on our trip. Although I know things can change!

As for pollution, I've read that too but can honestly say we've been perhaps half a dozen times and have never thought it a problem although without doing a microbiological test, how would I know? Dependent on how the waves break it sometimes throws up sand but generally the water looks clear. We go in swimming and touch wood have never developed a problem so can't say we've suffered as a consequence. It's very calm for swimming too and plenty of loungers and umbrellas for hire with bar service and WiFi available too. We've always found the beach clean too.

Hope that helps. :)

Well you threw me there jasperado - I've had to Google Earth to find out!! The main Bay around which the town sits is apparently Great Bay. It seems as though Little Bay is round the promontory and the next bay along. We've never been there so I can't comment but there doesn't look to be much in the way of beach there or is it a hotel complex you're considering? I don't think the water taxi goes further ie to Little Bay. You might need a taxi for that.

 

The water taxi takes you to a jetty more or less central to the town but a little nearer

to the ship side - but this is all on Great Bay. We generally walk quite a way along the beach in the opposite direction to the ship as it's generally not so busy the further you walk from the centre. We are going in January too and according to a cruise schedule website, at the moment we seem to be the only ship in so it shouldn't be busy so that's not going to be an issue on our trip. Although I know things can change!

 

As for pollution, I've read that too but can honestly say we've been perhaps half a dozen times and have never thought it a problem although without doing a microbiological test, how would I know? Dependent on how the waves break it sometimes throws up sand but generally the water looks clear. We go in swimming and touch wood have never developed a problem so can't say we've suffered as a consequence. It's very calm for swimming too and plenty of loungers and umbrellas for hire with bar service and WiFi available too. We've always found the beach clean too.

 

Hope that helps. :)

He he....why dont you have a portable microbiological test?? it's the new "must have" £9.99 from Amazon :D

Kidding apart, we might have to go a little further afield that day whereas you are one, lone Azura, we will be one of SIX ships with a pax load of 21,000!

We are not looking at visiting a hotel complex......why pay $75 each to sit on a beach or by a pool, we can do that on Azura.

Whatever we do it will be a "cheapie" day because our next day is Tortola and I think we will do the "island magic bus tour" there.

Apologies to Mat69 for hijacking your post :o

He he....why dont you have a portable microbiological test?? it's the new "must have" £9.99 from Amazon :D

Kidding apart, we might have to go a little further afield that day whereas you are one, lone Azura, we will be one of SIX ships with a pax load of 21,000!

We are not looking at visiting a hotel complex......why pay $75 each to sit on a beach or by a pool, we can do that on Azura.

Whatever we do it will be a "cheapie" day because our next day is Tortola and I think we will do the "island magic bus tour" there.

Apologies to Mat69 for hijacking your post :o

:D Must get one from Amazon along with the anti-viral, Deet and everything else which we seem to persuade ourselves we need!!! Seriously though perhaps the micro kit wouldn't be such a good idea - we'd never go in the water!! :eek: Sorry to hear you've got so many ships in with you - we did last time. We still managed to find loungers though - and some of the American ships seemed to clear off quite early so that made it much less busy! Have a good time whatever you decide to do. :)

Have a great trip whatever you choose to do; the Caribbean's beautiful

Dan

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Thanks for all the advice so far.

Mat :):)

 

We are going in January too and according to a cruise schedule website, at the moment we seem to be the only ship in so it shouldn't be busy so that's not going to be an issue on our trip. Although I know things can change.

Well that changed rather quickly! I was thinking it sounded too good to be true so checked again - it's Barbados where we're the only ship in! St Maarten there are 5 of us and none are leaving early! Oh well need to get off early to stake our claim.

Maybe not all the ships will turn up. At one of our ports (think it was Grand Cayman) there were supposed to be 4 ships in as well as Britannia, a total pax load of nearly 17,000, but two of the ships never materialised. Britannia was first in, it was lovely standing on deck in the sunrise and watching the other ships sail up the channel behind us.