Shore excursions - Azura caribbean, 1st time cruiser

[pne1881]

Hi, I'll be taking my 1st ever cruise in December to the Caribbean on Azura. Ports of call are, Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Grenada, 2x Barbados. At this time, the shore excursions are not viewable online, so can anybody suggest,

1. Which ports offer the best opportunities for self excursions?
   
2. Which ports offer no real option for self excursions, and therefore, is best to book with P&O?
   
3. Are any of these ports not worth disembarking at?
   

I understand this question is purely subjective, but any advice would be greatly appreciated, afterall, the constant self searching can only give up so much information, and the real life experiences are the best ones to listen to.

Thanks in advance to all contributors.

[LEESRE]

Hi, I'll be taking my 1st ever cruise in December to the Caribbean on Azura. Ports of call are, Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Grenada, 2x Barbados. At this time, the shore excursions are not viewable online, so can anybody suggest,

1. Which ports offer the best opportunities for self excursions?
   
2. Which ports offer no real option for self excursions, and therefore, is best to book with P&O?
   
3. Are any of these ports not worth disembarking at?
   

I understand this question is purely subjective, but any advice would be greatly appreciated, afterall, the constant self searching can only give up so much information, and the real life experiences are the best ones to listen to.

Thanks in advance to all contributors.

 

In our opinion most of those mentioned ports asre doable on your own. All will have taxis waiting and you just make sure you know the price before you set out.

If you like beaches etc then Aruba is great for this also for shopping has a very good shopping mall near to the dock.

Grand Turk is also beach an bars, Curacao is great to walka round and is quite doable from the ship.

I am sure some others will come up with excursions, but go online and suss out the locals that do excursions you will find them far cheaper than P&O, and usually they are the same trips.

[John Bull]

As Leesre's answer, the Caribbean is the easiest place in the world to DIY, using taxis & minibuses lined up at the pier/port gate. .......... drivers are trustworthy & friendly, they know their island & they know the importance of back-on-board time. Sharing is the norm, though you're not obliged to (they charge for the vehicle, you can go ashore with sharers or meet others by the taxis or drivers will find sharers). Agree broad itinerary & price (haggle just a little & confirm whether this is total or per person) before you board, pay when you get back - again, this is the norm. They can replicate ship's tours or customise or suggest somewhere completely different. Tours are usually about half-day - take your beach gear & at the end of the tour get the driver to drop you at a beach (or shops etc) - if that's not close to the ship he can return for you or suggest bus, water-taxi, whatever. So much cheaper, more fun & more flexible than going with the herd.

Do stick with the port taxis, they're all known to each-other & reliable - any offers from further away may be cheaper but may be unlicensed/insured.

Activity excursions (river tubing, 4x4, catamaran, etc) usually cannot be replicated on the pier, play safe & take ship's offerings.

 

Barbados - consider far (east) side of the island (called Scotland) for rugged scenery / wild Atlantic rollers, end up on a west coast beach.

Or walk (20 mins) into Bridgetown.

Or taxi up west coast to a beach (lots of them)

Or I recommend ship's snorkelling with turtles.

 

Curacao. Nice town, dutch architecture, interesting floating bridge. Pleasant shopping but not cheap - better bargains elsewhere on your cruise. Only ever been to the town, don't know the rest of the island.

 

IMHO Aruba is unworthy of a tour. Pretty barren & featureless. Make it a beach/shopping day. Across the road from the port gate is the bus station. Catch a bus (like a shuttle, as one leaves the next one loads & leaves) to "hotel district", get off at Holiday Inn & walk between hotels to beach. Very touristy, all the toys. Ten mins by bus, about $3 return. Then modern cloned shopping malls near the port gate (stax of jewellery shops). This aint dutch & it aint the Caribbean. You'd think you were in Florida. Not my scene at all, but each to their own.

 

Grand Turk. Can't help.

 

Tortola. Taxi to Cane Garden Beach, agree time for driver to return. Or ship's excursion to "the Baths" (rock formation on the beach) on the nearby island of Virgin Gorda (take swim gear). Can be done way better & cheaper by local ferry but if you screw up or the return ferry is cancelled it's a long swim to catch up with the ship :D - low risk but major consequences.:eek:

 

St Maarten. Taxi tour to the french side, drop off at the super shopping in Philipsburg (locally-owned individual shops, good variety, keen prices, decent beach behind the shops), walk or water-taxi back to ship.

Or for something a little more hairy, Maho Beach

 

St Kitts. Sugar train can only be booked via ship & its expensive (but folk say its great fun & it books-out early). 2/3rds of the trip is by road, the cirular route round the island can be cheaply & easily replicated by taxi/minibus. Get the driver to deviate up to Brimstone Fort for views. Not the most interesting island.

 

St Lucia. Has to be drive-in volcano & sights on the way. About $30 pp by minibus or taxi.

Ship offers minibus one way, catamaran the other. If you go for it, book soonest & ask for minibus out & catamaran back rather than vice-versa.

If you do it by vehicle hired at the port, ask driver to drop you at Choc beach (idyllic palm-fringed cresent beach, few tourists, few locals, one bar) or further to Reduit beach in Rodney bay (tourist beach, all the whistles & bells). Ask driver to return at agreed time.

 

Grenada. Taxi/minibus up into rain forest, spices. Back via Fort St George, overlooking town & ship, get driver to drop you at Grande Anse beach near water-taxi. Water taxi back to ship about $6.

Or early walk into town. Spice market. But the rest of the town is hilly. Mebbe followed by rain forest or water taxi to beach.

 

Can't remember taxi/minibus prices, but all around $20 to $30 pp.

 

Check out the forums on the individual islands - via "forum jump" at the bottom of this page.

 

Great itinerary, have a good one.

 

John Bull :)

[Andee]

In Barbados, Aruba, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, and Grenada, I researched what was available to see/do, selected what interested us, and negotiated with a cabbie when we got off the ship to take us to those places.

 

The second time we were in St. Lucia, we "met" another couple on the Roll Call board for our cruise, and decided to rent a car togehter. For very little more than the cost of the St. Lucian drivers license, they provided a driver.

 

In Aruba, we took a ship's tour, something we rarely do. It was a snorkeling tip that included a narrated tour on the way to the snorkeling spots and stops to snorkel at a WWII shipwreck and a coral reef.

[cb at sea]

A guidebook is a must if you're planning on doing things on your own...it will allow you to know ALL that each place offers, give you tips on transportation and costs, shopping, beaches, points of interest, etc...

Very few places require excursions....but you do need to do proper research on where you're going!!!

Bookstores sell them, or libraries have them at no charge for your use.

[pne1881]

Thanks so much for these quick responses, and looking forward to hearing more from other contributors. You all make the experience seem marvellous and we can't wait to go.:)

[beachchick]

Have you checked the Ports of Call forums for your ports? There's a wealth of first-hand knowledge there that will be specific to the places you are visiting.

 

beachchick