Need help with Bardados excursions and other ports off the Carnival Victory. Thanks

[gam888]

Going on the Victory in March. After having done some research and compared the excursions prices with Carnival and independent companies, we are considering doing these: St Thomas: Godfrey tour, Dominica: Bumpiing tour, Babados: Swim with Turtles Shasha tour. That leaves St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten not decided yet. We have some shipboard credit we need to spend, so thinking of booking at least one excursion with Carnival although their price is easily 1/3 higher than the independent companies. For St Lucia, heard good things about Cosol tour but heard you are inside a van most of the time. I looked at the Carnival price of the Catamaran cruise to the Pitons for $60, does not seem that much more than what Cosol tour wants. So there is one possibility. I also looked at San Maarten, Carnival is charging $25 to $35 dollars for a couple of land tours that go around the island visiting the French and Dutch sides. Has anyone hired a taxi or a private tour company to go around the island themselves and how much does a taxi charge per person? St Kitts I am getting the impression you can just walk around from the pier. Can you take a bus to the Brimstone Fortress? I figure we would be pretty tired out by all these shore excursions everyday on the stronger ports and by the time we get to St Kitts (second last day) we wouldn't mind not doing a major excursion not to mention we are ringing up quite a bill by the time we pay for all these (times 3 people) in 6 days! Could anyone who have done some memorable excursions on these island please share their experience with us. I need to make a decision especially with what excursion I should book with Carnival to use up the shipboard credit. We are not big on ordering drinks or going to the casino so would rather spend it on a tour that has the closest price comparison with a local company. Thanks!

[Aplmac]

Suggest you go over to the Carnival section and use the Search function

to call up the several long-and-involved VICTORY review threads

that go thru the island destinations in some detail

-a few of them with neat photos to illustrate this and that!

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=980056

 

 

.

[Aplmac]

This is short one...'only' twenty-three pages long.. :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=880248

 

but when you're done(2 hrs. later) you'll have a good feel for the whole cruise! ;)

.

[2PinaColadas]

We are going on a tour with Bernard in St. Martin. He comes highly recommended on here. $35 / person for island tour including beach time.

[Cordelia]

Hi, We are interested in Bernard for St.Maarten Island tour. How long is your tour? what beach do you go to? Is advance payment required? Does he take Credit card or cash payment? Thanks in advance for your help.

Freezing in MN

[Bobthetomato]

We will be going 3/6/11 and booked with Bernard...you need to call and give him your CC # over the phone.

[storres]

gam88 We did Cosol tour in St. Lucia 3 years ago and it was one of the best we have been on. We were a group of about 30 and he did a great job that everyone enjoyed. We had a few hours of beach time built into the tour so it was a nice day. The roads are up and down and very narrow so do not stick the same people at the back of the van our 7 year old got car sick near the end of the tour since she was riding in the back all day. Other then that is was well worth the money and a great day. Bring Cosol a few apples and he will love you!:)

[TrishLoves2Cruise]

Not sure if you knew this or not gam88, but the Dominica port has been cancelled.

You might want to check with your travel agent on this!!

[Dan_Quebec]

Not sure if you knew this or not gam88, but the Dominica port has been cancelled.

You might want to check with your travel agent on this!!

 

 

Just look at the date he posted his question....february 2010 ;)

[2cool2cruise]

I can mirror gam888's dilemma here. The cost of all these tours will easily hit around $200.00 plus tips. My cruise date is in May and just now starting to research on land tours. We're two females who are not big on any beach activity; perhaps a few minutes to see a beach scenery and take pictures are good enough for us. We are interested on land tour - scenic views, historical sites, etc. and some shopping.

 

Would love to hear from anyone who's been and taken tours on Carnival Victory's ports...St Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. Which ports do you strongly suggest going on excursion with a tour guide and which ports are doable on your own?

 

Any thoughts, suggestions or recommendations are highly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[icequeen]

We are just back from our Victory cruise of Jan 30/11. I have been blogging about our various ports of call and also have detailed postings on my blog for about 14 islands. There is info on excursions, beaches, tour operations, local transportation, etc. if you want to check out your options.

 

We never book through the ships and always arrange our own excursions. I do a lot of researched (thanks for Cruise Critic). We go with well-reviewed operators and have never had any problems and have paid quite a bit less than you would pay through the cruise lines. We also try to take local transportation wherever possible so we can get more of a feel for the islands and the people...and save a lot of cab fares too ;)

 

Enjoy!!

[gam888]

Thank you everyone. It's been almost a year since we went on the Victory. I am still receiving replies every so often. I suppose it will still be beneficial to other folks who are still planning on excursions to these islands. For the record, this is what we did: San Juan, visited one of the forts. Took the free trolley from the dock area to get there. St Thomas, went with Godfrey Tours. I would definitely recommend his tour. Dominica, went to Trafalgar Falls, too crowded, but we did enjoy the Emerald Pool. Barbados, booked with El Tigre catamaran to swim with turtles. The tour was nice but didn't see that many turtles. The water was not that clear and we were in deep water, the snorkeling was just ok. St Lucia we went with Corsol tour and I would recommend him as well. St Kitts, we just hanged around in the cruise dock tourist village area. St Maarten we shared a taxi with other people and went around the island to the French side and back to the Dutch side. We like the island a lot. Thanks again everyone for replying my post.

[2cool2cruise]

Hi! Can anyone provide Bernard's contact email address please? thanks.

[2cool2cruise]

thank you IceQueen-- will check out your blog ASAP.

[Prairie_Gal]

Hi! Can anyone provide Bernard's contact email address please? thanks.

 

http://www.bernardstours.com/feedback.htm

[Prairie_Gal]

Our Victory cruise isn't until next January, but these are the excursions I am considering:

 

St. Thomas - Island tour with Airforce 1 (Papa Bear)

Sea Day

Barbados - Catamaran cruise to see the turtles, not sure which company yet

St. Kitts - Island tour with Thenford Grey

St. Lucia - Beach day at Rendez Vous Resort

St. Maarten - Island tour with Bernard's tours

 

We haven't been to any of these islands yet, so I think this is a nice mix of touring and relaxing.

[CLS/KAS]

Can I get the number/contact info for El Tigre Catamaran.

My booking w/another svc. fell through, so I'm scrambling to find one for next week.

Tried Heatwave-website works, but number is "no longer in svc.

Am running out of time and options for Barbados

[icequeen]

You may also want to try Shasa Catamarans. It is a small outfit run by a husband and wife team (Jason & Tess). We toured with them a couple of years ago and have nothing but good to say about them and the experience.

[dyfed]

My all time favorite is Coolrunnings.

 

 

Can I get the number/contact info for El Tigre Catamaran.

My booking w/another svc. fell through, so I'm scrambling to find one for next week.

Tried Heatwave-website works, but number is "no longer in svc.

Am running out of time and options for Barbados