Adventure - southern back to back cruise

I'm hoping someone out there can help me as I'm getting bogged down doing research. we've booked to go on the adventure of the seas doing a southern back to back itinerary for our 25th anniversary. I'm trying to book some independent tours for each island but not sure if it's worth doing a tour on every island as its a port intense itinerary and I don't want to be booking too much if some of the islands are not worth doing a tour. Maybe some of the islands it might be better to do a beach or all inclusive resort.

We're visiting San juan, Charlotte Amalie(St Thomas), St Kitts, aruba, Curacao, st croix, St Maarten, St johns (Antigua), St Lucia and Barbados.

Any help would be most appreciated.

We did the b2b southern a few years ago. Antigua you can easily take a cab to the beach, same with st Thomas and st Maarten. It depends on what you like to do. We did some great tours in Aruba and Barbados in the past. Barbados- snorkel with the sea turtles is great.

Curaçao you can walk over the floating bridge and to the shopping- there are also some interesting snorkel tours.

When you say tours are you just looking to see the island or are you looking to go snorkeling, museums, major "sites"?

We did this same B2B last December. You might consider posting in the roll call for your cruises and see what your fellow passengers are doing.

Anything really. Not bothered about museums but do like to know a little about local history. I don't want to miss out on any "must see" places, but don't want to be going touring around an island if there isn't much to see or do just for the sack of it, I'd much prefer to pick a nice beach or AI resort. I just don't want to go all that way and miss out on anything. Thanks for your help

I'm not a beach person. I have had good luck just picking up a tour at the cruise port. You can usually find plenty of independent drivers in the area. It helps if you research the ports in advance so you have an idea what you want to do. Of the ports you listed, St. Maarten is my favorite, mainly because I love Maho.

Anything really. Not bothered about museums but do like to know a little about local history. I don't want to miss out on any "must see" places, but don't want to be going touring around an island if there isn't much to see or do just for the sack of it, I'd much prefer to pick a nice beach or AI resort. I just don't want to go all that way and miss out on anything. Thanks for your help

Some of the more iconic things at each island:

Curacao- Floating pontoon bridge and shopping area

St Kitts- The viewpoint where you can see the carribean sea and the atlantic ocean or go to nevis

Barbados- Sea turtles

puerto rico- if you are there at night look into biobay, there is also el yunque and old san juan

st lucia- the pitons

antigua- beaches

st maarten- orient beach or maho beach or go over to st barts

st thomas- beaches/shopping or go over to st john

you will probably find decent snorkeling at most of these places too.

I read a lot of negative reviews for St Lucia before our Adventure OTS cruise... We almost canceled the private excursion we had set up due to the reviews. So glad we didn't, was one of our all-time favorite excursions.

COSOL TOURS

We did enjoy swimming/snorkeling with the turtles and stingrays, but the turtles were semi overcrowded.

Before I get bashed for saying semi overcrowded, and asked if I want an island for myself yadda yadda let me explain. There were several excursions (thru RCI) for the turtles. We picked one that seemed to have a nice balanced blend of activities. Instead it was several excursions meeting up at the turtles at the same time. I was told that was unusual, but not too sure if I believe that.

If you are staying in San Juan for a few days (either pre or post cruise) Old San Juan is always good. We have not been to Bio Bay yet but have been told it is a must see.

Thanks everyone :)

I'm hoping someone out there can help me as I'm getting bogged down doing research. we've booked to go on the adventure of the seas doing a southern back to back itinerary for our 25th anniversary. I'm trying to book some independent tours for each island but not sure if it's worth doing a tour on every island as its a port intense itinerary and I don't want to be booking too much if some of the islands are not worth doing a tour. Maybe some of the islands it might be better to do a beach or all inclusive resort.

 

We're visiting San juan, Charlotte Amalie(St Thomas), St Kitts, aruba, Curacao, st croix, St Maarten, St johns (Antigua), St Lucia and Barbados.

 

Any help would be most appreciated.

Our favorites (have done these islands numerous times), and do only private excursions:

Antigua - AdventureAntigua.com - 3 different offerings, all terrific, our favorite is the classic yacht, but enjoy them all

St. Croix - Virgin Kayaks

St. Kitts - Thenford Grey or myislandtours by Javin, depending on how active you want to be

St. Lucia - we do a daypass at Ti Kay Village - nice beach, very good snorkeling, good lunch

Barbados - Calabaza catamaran

Check out the ports of call section on CC. Lots of info there.

I enjoyed Cosol Tours in St Lucia. However we did the Island tour and didn't swim with the turtles. Very long drive back after the tour but well worth it. One of my all-time favorite tours on a cruise.

In St. Thomas, I did a tour with Godfrey. Included shopping in downtown, a tour of the island, and you could choose to be dropped off at a beach and then he'd come back later and pick you up. Very reasonably priced.

In St. Kitts, we toured with Royston but I have heard people have had a hard time getting him to respond lately. He took us all over the island. And when I say all over, I mean ALL over - TOP to bottom. His tour was like $45 (5 years ago) and lasted all day, included admission to Brimstone Fort, lunch/drinks, and time at a beach. We tipped him $15 p/p bc we thought he did such a good job. He is on trip advisor.

San Juan - we always just walk around the Forts and around downtown San Juan. Last time I did a horseback riding excursion through Carnival and had a good time.

In St. Maarten I booked a tour with Bernard's and I would not book with him again. Maybe he's not solely to blame, but we had one couple in our group who was continually late at EVERY stop and he never spoke with them about it. In essence, it made us late getting to Maho Beach which is where the planes land practically on top of you and b/c of their lateness, we had little time there and I didn't get to see a single plane land. I was very disappointed.

I tried to "wing it" in Barbados and totally messed up. Ended up paying a taxi $50 to drive us around the island for a couple hours and felt it was a waste of money. I have read a lot of people who have booked with Calabaza Sailing Cruises (catamaran/turtles) and had a fantastic time!

I still have pictures up from that cruise in my signature - it was the Carnival Victory cruise if you'd like to see pictures from some of these tours.

I have a good little tip for St. Thomas. You can do Blackbeard's Castle on your own.

Take a taxi from the port to Blackbeard's Castle. You pay a very small entrance fee and are given a map for a self guided walking tour. You kind of zigzag downhill to various historical points. There is a rum factory, historical homes and an amber museum at the bottom of the hill. I loved it. So many gorgeous pictures taken. It seemed we had the place to ourself that day....our own little paradise.

At the bottom of the hill when you are done, you can cross the street to some shopping areas and then taxi back to the ship.

The ship offered it as an excursion, but we saved a lot of money doing it on our own!

In Curacao, we like to spend half a day at a beach and the afternoon walking around Willemstad. There are some good walking maps of Willemstad online.

Curacao has good cove beaches for snorkeling. We have enjoyed Blue Bay recently.

In Aruba, we like to take a taxi up to the Radisson on Palm Beach. Beautiful beach.

In Barbados, we have done an island tour which is fine, but recently enjoyed Carlisle Bay for a beach day from the Harbour Lights facility.

Barbados is a good island for a tour, but it's important to know what to see, so good to read up on sights.

In St. Thomas, it is good to have a tour if there are lots of ships in. The last time we were there, the traffic was very busy- so we were glad to have an excursion to the beach.

Have fun planning your excursions.

I recommend the Trikes tour in Aruba. We had a blast. I loved that tour. They have about 5 trikes. You all ride in a group around the island. The people that run this tour are so nice. For 2 people the cost was $190.00. Its worth it.

Admission to Blackbeard Castle in St Thomas includes use of the swimming pools. Quite a walk uphill from the flea market on the east end of Charlotte Amalie but easy if you get a cab to the entrance at the top. Nice amber in the amber museum/shop and shipwreck jewelry at the top next to the rum factory.

If you have not been to Aruba, recommend a 4x4 Land Rover tour of the island. While the large natural bridge collapsed a few years ago the smaller bridges are still there. Usually these stop at the Ostrich Farm (typical tourist trap).

If you have been before you can take public bus 10/10A/10B or 7 to the major north beaches. Bus station is across the main road when you leave the port just to the right. Cost is around $2.40 US and they give change on the bus, or you can buy tickets at the booth. Get off where you want, walk the beach, and then get back on near any resort to go back to town. See Arubus.com web site for more info.

We are doing this for our honeymoon next year. I'm going to be following this thread closely!

I would also recommend Trikes Aruba. We did this tour last week and had a blast. Fabulous way to see the island.

On Curaçao we did Aquafari which was incredible. It is underwater scooters and you get about 20 feet down and are underwater for about an hour. Absolutely amazing.

On St Thomas we did the Godfrey tour. We took it about 12 years ago and enjoyed it but I can't recommend it anymore. We had a driver named Haji or Aji who was knowledgable about the island but to great excess. Just way to much talking at different spots. Went on forever. Plus Godfrey kept showing up and sort of chirping at the guy and it was distracting and annoying. They kept stuffing more people in the truck along the way. Wouldn't do it again.

In St Kitts we had no plans. As we walked off the ship there was a guy behind the fence with a tour sign and credentials hanging from his shirt. He told us full island tour with beer etc for $25. A couple other people were going so the six of us said wth. This guy's name was Alphonse-The Big One. What a character. We started the tour with a cop walking with us to the bus and Alphonse giving him a whole bag of beer from the cooler. The cop ducked behind the bus and drank a beer before heading back to work, bag in hand. At every stop along the way he gave locals drinks; beer or juice or water or pop. Most especially the police. Every time we were told 'you got the best guy on the island.' The thing he said most on the tour was, 'just give me one minute.' LOL. He stopped at a grocery store and came out with Doritos for all of us. Then he stopped at a fishery and got ice for the cooler. Then he got a call and was given an address and he stopped at a house and put some sort of medicine and a bandage on a woman's back. I was like,'Lordy he's the island witch dr too." Lol. Craziest tour ever. We have laughed over and over about how nutty it was. We did see everything we wanted to see though and the fort and the batik factory were both stunning.

I recommend the Trikes tour in Aruba. We had a blast. I loved that tour. They have about 5 trikes. You all ride in a group around the island. The people that run this tour are so nice. For 2 people the cost was $190.00. Its worth it.

So glad to see you enjoyed it. Saw the other person's post as well. Trying to decide whether or not to spend that much money on that one tour. I think you have made the decision easier. Thanks.

I have had good luck just picking up a tour at the cruise port.

I recommend the Trikes tour in Aruba. We had a blast. I loved that tour. They have about 5 trikes. You all ride in a group around the island. The people that run this tour are so nice. For 2 people the cost was $190.00. Its worth it.

I also highly recommend Trikes Aruba! However, they only have 2 tours a day due to only having 5 trikes, so book way ahead of time. The trikes have manual transmissions and you shift from a stick in the center of the bike. The guides told me that they are not listed on the cruise tours because they would be required to have a lot more bikes than they can afford.

I also highly recommend Trikes Aruba! However, they only have 2 tours a day due to only having 5 trikes, so book way ahead of time. The trikes have manual transmissions and you shift from a stick in the center of the bike. The guides told me that they are not listed on the cruise tours because they would be required to have a lot more bikes than they can afford.

Thanks for the info about booking ahead. I keep looking at their site and then doing nothing. Both my husband and I have driven stick shift so that won't be a problem. I saw a few utube videos about the trikes and it does look like fun. When I looked up the places they stop at, they don't seem to be anything real exciting. Anything you can tell me about the stops? It says on their site: the lighthouse, Casi Bari Rock formation, Alto Vista Chapel and the local fish market with refreshments and toiles available at each stop. Anything to look for re refreshments/local food? We are thinking of the early tour which says 8:30 but the ship only docks at 8. Did you go on the early one? Any problem time wise?

We just got back yesterday from several of the ports you mentioned.

In Antigua we took a cab to Darkwood Beach. Gorgeous beach, super clean white sand, and very very few people (under 50 all day). It was a great beach day to do nothing. I could have stayed longer.

Barbados was the highlight of our cruise by a mile. We did Cliff Sharker turtle tours. He is no frills...no lunch and not a fancy boat. It's a small boat and he serves rum and local bread. But it's the experience that makes him top notch. We had 9 huge turtles to ourselves for over an hour. He takes amazing pictures and sends them to you. Depending on the type of tour you pick from him determines the rest of the day. I've heard amazing things about Calabaza and if lunch and the extras are what you are looking for them I think they'd be the way to go. I will go back to Cliff Sharker in a second.

Thanks for the info about booking ahead. I keep looking at their site and then doing nothing. Both my husband and I have driven stick shift so that won't be a problem. I saw a few utube videos about the trikes and it does look like fun. When I looked up the places they stop at, they don't seem to be anything real exciting. Anything you can tell me about the stops? It says on their site: the lighthouse, Casi Bari Rock formation, Alto Vista Chapel and the local fish market with refreshments and toiles available at each stop. Anything to look for re refreshments/local food? We are thinking of the early tour which says 8:30 but the ship only docks at 8. Did you go on the early one? Any problem time wise?

The ship was docked until 11pm when we visited, so taking the afternoon tour was fine for us, we did not worry about the ship leaving without us. They will meet you right outside the pier gates and walk you about 2 blocks to the trikes. VERY friendly, young guides. The tour really circles the island. Aruba is a desert island, and is very flat. You can not get in the light house, and a local is selling drinks if you want. You can climb up on the rock formation and get a great view of the entire island. We stopped and a local eatery/bar for refreshments near a fishing port. The world cup was going on and we enjoyed the excitement for a little while with very friendly locals. The guides lead you in a dune buggy and rotate each bike to the front to get pictures that they post online for you to download for free. You can bring your own water bottles, because each bike has a storage area.

Thank you so much for that info re the trikes.

So glad I read this post!! I was looking at this cruise for next summer; didn't even realize alternating cruises had different ports-- clearly the solution is a B2B!!

Can anyone give information about late July/early August? Anyone experience issues with weather?

Thanks everyone for all the great info.

We've booked the trikes in Aruba and the calabaza tour for Barbados.:)