Jump to content

Southern Caribbean Port Question


lmb1988
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

Firstly thanks for taking the time to read, and/or comment with any tips!

 

DH and I are doing a 14 night Southern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity in December 2018. We have never visited any of the ports on the itinerary, and I am hoping that you more experienced cruisers might be able to help!

 

What we are trying to do is work out which islands have must do excursions, or must have places to see and which other ports are good for just beach days, or a stroll around town. I am using both the cruise critic forums and trip advisor to try and establish what there is to see etc at present, but recommendations and suggestions are a valuable help! We have picked a couple of excursions so far, which I have detailed below.

 

Our ports of call are:

 

Bridgetown, Barbados

Casteries, St Lucia - Spencer Ambrose Land, Sea/Beach tour booked

St George’s, Grenada

St John’s, Antigua

Aruba (overnight)

Curaçao

Bonaire - Woodwind snorkel trip booked

 

I appreciate that “must do/see” for one person might not be for another, so to word it a different way, we are traveling from the UK, if you were coming from several thousand miles away, what would you not want to miss seeing? We will be 30 and 43 at time of cruise, aren’t particularly into museums, like a bit of history, nature, adventure, love food and enjoy a few rum punches along the way [emoji484]

 

Thanks again! And happy cruising :) x

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For Barbados we have enjoyed the catamaran/snorkeling on either Calabazas or Silver Moon. If you crave a beach day, Harbour Lights or Boatyard are a good time.

 

We enjoyed the Spice Tour on Grenada, not sure if it is back up and running.

 

Good luck in your planning. We have done Spencer Ambrose and Woodwind before, you will not be disappointed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Grenada we did the spice tour with Mandoo. I don't recall that we had any rum punches, but there was info on spices and an opportunity to buy fresh spices, plus a tour around the island, scenic photo stops, etc. Mandoo was a great guide and I'd highly recommend his tour. I'm not sure if it's offered through the ship. We just booked it on our own. There were lots of cruise people on that tour though.

 

http://www.grenadatours.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a walking food tour we've done in Barbados that was really fun. A little bit of history, lots of good food. I believe it's was called Bajan Walking Food tour -should be able to Google it.

 

 

 

Thank you for this, just found it on google! Sounds right up our street and a little different

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you golfers? Sandy Lane is world class on Barbados. There is a country club in Curacao that isn't too bad, either.

 

 

 

You already have the best snorkeling trip planned (Bonaire).

 

 

 

Unfortunately not! Re Bonaire, yes I did a lot of forum reading to try and pick the best snorkel stop to do out of all the ports

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aruba Trikes. Sells fast, book early.

 

Curacao... atvbuggy tours.com

 

Both of these are so fun and great ways to see the islands. Book online. Reviews and pictures on tripadvisor.com

 

Antigua....Stingray city booked onboard. Not sure if you can do this on your own.

 

Barbados...cat/snorkel with the turtles. As mentioned book with Calabaza for best experience. ( or Silver Moon)

Edited by eandj
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barbados: Agree with others with their suggestions to take a Catamaran excursion to swim with the sea turtles. Also, having your catamaran tour including a beach stop is a plus.

Be sure to eat some "Flying Fish" -- the National Dish of Barbados. The flying fish sandwich is called a "Cutter" and not to be missed. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had Aruba overnights twice this last year. Each time we rented a Jeep for one or two days. However, we had done a guided off-road drive a few years earlier so had some idea of where to go and how to get there. So, rent a Jeep and find an experienced couple on your roll call who can help navigate...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aruba: We really enjoyed Eagle Beach.

Bonaire: we went snorkelling with the Seacow but snorkel spots will be the same as Woodwind - you'll love it.

Barbados:we snorkeled with Calabaza last month - just amazing! small group, nice people, open bar.

So you have already some snorkeling planned but Barbados is different from Bonaire, in my opnion. Bonaire has nice coral, lots of tropical fish - but the turtles you see in Barbados (they feed them) are just amazing. The catamaran is really nice, check the pictures.

Antigua: Valley Church beach is really pretty

 

 

(I'm 36 years and from Belgium :-))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will also be on this cruise Dec 2018, enjoying reading about all the excursions (all new ports for us too). We are birders and just got off Reflection 11 day cruise, birding with group of Carefree Birding in west Caribbean. Had great time on Reflection and booked while onboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You really should get a guidebook on the Caribbean, and read up on your ports! Every bit of info you need to know is in the guidebook...from points of interest, to activities, beaches, bars/restaurants, shopping, transportation, safety, etc......the more your research, the better time you'll have...and you'll be able to do it much cheaper than if you just book excursions without knowing anything! Research is KEY!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You really should get a guidebook on the Caribbean, and read up on your ports! Every bit of info you need to know is in the guidebook...from points of interest, to activities, beaches, bars/restaurants, shopping, transportation, safety, etc......the more your research, the better time you'll have...and you'll be able to do it much cheaper than if you just book excursions without knowing anything! Research is KEY!

 

 

 

You know when something is so glaringly obvious that you didn’t even think about it?! This is one of those times!!! Excellent idea, thank you - going book shopping at the weekend! I spend all my time researching on here/TA/internet didn’t even think of a guidebook 🤦🏼*♀️

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions - going to look at all of them in depth, definitely Calabaza for Barbados - I briefly looked at their website yesterday and it looks amazing [emoji41]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...