Most Memorable Excursion in Southern Caribbean

Hi - We are on Celebrity Reflection for 14 Night Southern Caribbean cruise in Dec. I am working on selecting my excursions. I am reviewing all the individual port sections too.

But please tell me about a special excursion you took. It can be for any Caribbean island, even if not listed below. I will keep it for future reference.

So far we have 3 private excursions booked - Calabaza at Barbados, Woodwind in Bonaire and the Trikes in Aruba. Also considering Passions on the Beach sunset dinner on Aruba.

7 -Dec Fort Lauderdale

8 -At Sea

9 - At Sea

10-Dec ST. JOHNS, ANTIGUA 7:00 AM 4:00 PM

11-Dec BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

12-Dec CASTRIES, ST. LUCIA 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

13-Dec ST. GEORGE'S, GRENADA 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

14-Dec AT SEA

15-Dec ORANJESTAD, ARUBA 8:00 AM

16-Dec ORANJESTAD, ARUBA 7:00 AM 6:00 PM

17-Dec WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO 7:00 AM 7:00 PM

18-Dec KRALENDIJK, BONAIRE 7:00 AM 3:00 PM

19-Dec AT SEA 20-Dec AT SEA

21-Dec FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

Outside of the snorkeling tours you listed above (very good), our favorite tours are renting a car and exploring. Just love being out on our own.

Have fun!

A toss up between Eli's Ecco Tour in Antigua and Spencer Ambrose's Pitons by speed boat tour in St. Lucia. Both great all around.

A toss up between Eli's Ecco Tour in Antigua and Spencer Ambrose's Pitons by speed boat tour in St. Lucia. Both great all around.

Since we are doing 2 snorkeling excursions, on St. Lucia I wanted a combo of land and water. Spencer Ambrose sounded great and someone on our cruise call is taking this excursion. But in the port section for St. Lucia there are some recent posts saying Spencer Ambrose has problems. So I was looking at another excursion that gets good reviews on trip advisor - Joy's Adventure Excursion. But I can't find alot of reviews on Cruise Critic for Joy's. So I'm still undecided about St. Lucia.

Harrison's Caves in Barbados, amazing underground journey in a tram.

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Joe knows St Lucia!!! Check it out on trip advisor

check out Debbie Berkers Golf Cart rental in Bonaire-best way to see the island-go down to Jibe City Beach its beautiful

OP mentioned Passions on the Beach in Aruba. We went there for dinner a year or so ago when in port late that night.

It's great and worth doing!!!

It's at the New Amsterdam Hotel on Eagle Beach. Suggest you book a table about 1/2 hour before sunset and sit and "watch the show". Sun going down, people getting their last bit of beach for the day etc.....soon its dark and you just see and hear the surf from tables in the sand. Really outstanding and friendly service.

We had no trouble getting a "front row table" in January. Just ask nicely.

Two excursions we loved were ABC Jeep Tours in Aruba. We did the north coast and had so much fun. The other was a private sailing tour with Epic Tours in Bonaire.

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We enjoyed the Mystic Catamaran Cruise in Antigua. We toured St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose a few years ago and enjoyed it. Drift snorkeling with Woodwind was my favorite snorkel.

We enjoyed the Mystic Catamaran Cruise in Antigua. We toured St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose a few years ago and enjoyed it. Drift snorkeling with Woodwind was my favorite snorkel.

The drift snorkeling with Woodwind was nice, however it should be noted that the snorkeling is done out of a small Zodiac and it is very difficult to get back into the Zodiac. The technique is to drop under water and then try to propel yourself upward above the side of the Zodiac. At least earlier this year there were no handles on the Zodiac and no ladder.

Also, we snorkeled by the Pitons earlier this year and it was not very impressive. It likely would not matter which tour you are taking. I would try something else other than snorkeling in St Lucia. We are going again in February and we looking for other options.

Consol Tours in St. Lucia. Awesome!

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Consol Tours in St. Lucia. Awesome!

 

 

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Darn autocorrect...it’s Cosol Tours.

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Not on your list, but one of our top 5 excursions of all time was with Royston in St. Kitts. It was an island tour, but it can be customized if there are certain things you want to do or see. It was a private tour for the 4 of us. We went places that the tour buses don't go. We had a picnic at the fortress. Everywhere we went there were no other people. We'd pull in as the big tour buses were leaving. It was very fun and exciting.

The drift snorkeling with Woodwind was nice, however it should be noted that the snorkeling is done out of a small Zodiac and it is very difficult to get back into the Zodiac. The technique is to drop under water and then try to propel yourself upward above the side of the Zodiac. At least earlier this year there were no handles on the Zodiac and no ladder.

 

Also, we snorkeled by the Pitons earlier this year and it was not very impressive. It likely would not matter which tour you are taking. I would try something else other than snorkeling in St Lucia. We are going again in February and we looking for other options.

When we snorkeled with Woodwind it was from a catamaran and they are still showing this boat on their web site. No mention of a Zodiac. I find it hard enough to get back on to a catamaran, let alone a Zodiac.

Did not snorkel at the Pitons, just enjoyed the land tour and the water for a swim.

Since we are doing 2 snorkeling excursions, on St. Lucia I wanted a combo of land and water. Spencer Ambrose sounded great and someone on our cruise call is taking this excursion. But in the port section for St. Lucia there are some recent posts saying Spencer Ambrose has problems. So I was looking at another excursion that gets good reviews on trip advisor - Joy's Adventure Excursion. But I can't find alot of reviews on Cruise Critic for Joy's. So I'm still undecided about St. Lucia.

We went with Spencer a a few years ago and had a great day. The snorkeling was a minor part of the trip. We had a great beach day, saw lots of the island as we cruised down to the Pitons and lunch was great. Maybe Spencer got too big? It has been a few years since we were there and things do change. St. Lucia has had a lot of hurricane damage over the years and the roads are often bad. Our first visit we got to see the botanical gardens, the mud baths and some beach time by the Pitons but the last time we went the gardens were closed. It is a pretty island so get out and see it, especially if you already have two snorkel trips booked

You have already booked two of the best! We did Calabaza in Barbados and Trikes Aruba this past March. Calabaza was by far the best catamaran we have ever been on...Trikes was an amazing ride!

Enjoy both!

Susan

The drift snorkeling with Woodwind was nice, however it should be noted that the snorkeling is done out of a small Zodiac and it is very difficult to get back into the Zodiac.

I've been out with Woodwind 5 or 6 times - have never known this to be the case. Is it something new?

I find it difficult to believe, since they are so service oriented and seem to cater to inexperienced swimmers/ snorkelers.

Helicopter tour over Montserrat from Antigua.

Also if you just fancy a lazy day in St. John’s walk up to the Cathedral on the hill, clearly visible from the ship. It is presently being refurbished and very interesting.

I was going to recommend the Trikes in Aruba but looks like you have that covered

Also another vote for an island tour with Royston in St Kitts. We usually aren't huge island tour folks but Royston was great and loves his island. He is a bit of a dare devil as well.

We enjoyed the Mystic Catamaran Cruise in Antigua. We toured St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose a few years ago and enjoyed it. Drift snorkeling with Woodwind was my favorite snorkel.

We did the Excellence Catamaran Cruise in Antigua and it was one of the best excursions we've ever done. Also have heard many great things about the Mystic (they are very similar from what I hear).

We also had a great day with Creole tours in Antigua. Boat, snorkeling and BBQ Lobster.......what else do you need

https://www.creoleantiguatours.com/

St. Lucia is prob our fav island. Last year we decided to take a water taxi (Feel Good Taxi - plenty of reviews) to Sugar Beach and we loved it so much we're doing it again this year.

This option is much simpler than a more organized excursion but it was great. The water taxi ride, gosh maybe 35-45 minutes (can't really remember) was fantastic and we got a short tour of the island from the water before arriving at Sugar Beach. On the way back to the ship, Feel Good (Cap't Daniel) took us to another small inlet for ~ an hour of snorkeling where we grabbed another cocktail at yet another amazing beach bar before getting back to the ship in plenty of time - he was a great guide!

At Sugar Beach there are some inexpensive (or maybe free?) chairs to the left of the little dock but we bypassed those all together and walked along the beach path (leading from the dock off to the right) to the Sugar Beach Viceroy resort (stunning!) We negotiated chair rentals from the women at the beach hut which allowed us access to the swimming pool, too. We had the best cocktails of our trip at this beach and ended up having a spectacular lunch at the beach front restaurant.

Not really a tour and a bit sedentary :cool: so this may not be a fit but it sure is beautiful...

Whatever you decide, enjoy - Reflection is a wonderful ship!

did the trikes in Aruba. was just ok. did not see a whole lot. would not do it again. Aruba it's self is not very attractive once out side of resort areas. a great restaurant in Aruba is called Flying bonefish. tables on a beach and some are actually in the water! In curacao we rented a car. really enjoyed that.(advance car rental) Bonaire we did woodwind and would definitely do it again!

later,

ezemoney

Hi - We are on Celebrity Reflection for 14 Night Southern Caribbean cruise in Dec. I am working on selecting my excursions. I am reviewing all the individual port sections too.

But please tell me about a special excursion you took. It can be for any Caribbean island, even if not listed below. I will keep it for future reference.

 

So far we have 3 private excursions booked - Calabaza at Barbados, Woodwind in Bonaire and the Trikes in Aruba. Also considering Passions on the Beach sunset dinner on Aruba.

7 -Dec Fort Lauderdale

8 -At Sea

9 - At Sea

10-Dec ST. JOHNS, ANTIGUA 7:00 AM 4:00 PM

11-Dec BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

12-Dec CASTRIES, ST. LUCIA 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

13-Dec ST. GEORGE'S, GRENADA 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

14-Dec AT SEA

15-Dec ORANJESTAD, ARUBA 8:00 AM

16-Dec ORANJESTAD, ARUBA 7:00 AM 6:00 PM

17-Dec WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO 7:00 AM 7:00 PM

18-Dec KRALENDIJK, BONAIRE 7:00 AM 3:00 PM

19-Dec AT SEA 20-Dec AT SEA

21-Dec FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

Calabaza and woodwind are both very good excursions. To bad you are not overnight in Barbados. The calabaza sunset dinner on their deluxe catamaran is the best!