Private Shore Excursions

Was wondering if anyone has booked a private shore excursion for the following ports of call - St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts. We are a group of 4 and would like book privately instead of with the cruise line. We feel that the groups are so large. Cheers

Was wondering if anyone has booked a private shore excursion for the following ports of call - St. Thomas' date=' Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts. We are a group of 4 and would like book privately instead of with the cruise line. We feel that the groups are so large. Cheers[/quote']

 

We have booked privately in the following ports:

 

• Antigua - Segway of Antigua. Our first time on a Segway and we were very impressed with the guides/instructors.
  
• Barbados - day sail with snorkeling and lunch with Calabeza. Our second best snorkeling experience anywhere (first place goes to Woodwind in Bonaire)
  
• St. Lucia - 3 different tours with Serenity Tours. All first rate.
  
• St. Kitts - not our favorite island but Thenford Grey has a good tour.
  

You can get lots more recommendations the Caribbean Ports of Call board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587.

We have done this excursion in St. Thomas. Excellent. I think there were 11 of us.

http://www.usvisailing.com/daysails.html

Was wondering if anyone has booked a private shore excursion for the following ports of call - St. Thomas' date=' Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts. We are a group of 4 and would like book privately instead of with the cruise line. We feel that the groups are so large. Cheers[/quote']

 

I will toss out another thought. We have been in those ports (many times) and have never used any excursion or tour...with one exception. The exception is that on one of several visits to St Lucia we did take a private Catamaran tour down to the Pitons and nearby beach. We only did this because we had decided to do some snorkeling around the Pitons...and this was the easiest option. But otherwise, we easily handle all those island using public transit, sometimes a taxi, a rental car, etc.

 

All that being said, we agree that a group of 4 (or 3, or 2) are better off using some kind of private tour versus the ridiculous overpriced and too many people cruise line excursions. Now,...do you want to know what we really think ? :)

 

Hank

We have done private tours...you can't go wrong...look on the port of call boards for good advice...also trip advisor....I usually compare the two....we always book private.....with the exception of an all day trip far away from the port....good luck and happy cruising!!!!

I heartily agree with preschool teacher. We've done private excursions on all of the islands mentioned by the OP, and enjoyed them very much. So much more enjoyable when you are with a small group, and they aren't as ridiculously overpriced as the identical ship excursions.

I usually begin by checking on the ports of call forums, then check the TripAdvisor forums as well, before contacting the tour operator.

On St. Lucia we used Cosol Tours, on Barbados - Glory Tours, & on St. Kitts - Greys Tours...all were very good to excellent.. hope this helps.

Do the things you want to do REQUIRE excursions? Most things are quite easy to DIY!