First Caribbean Cruise questions for St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, etc.

[nutcrackers]

Hi! This will be our first Carribean cruise and we would love some hints on the which ports are best for things like just getting to a (specific) beach, for snorkeling (we have Costco equipment but not much experience), for touring to a certain place that should not be missed....just getting the best balance between water and land activities among the various ports (no more than one half-day excursion a day is our style.) We'll be on the January 7th E. Caribbean cruise with Princess Cays, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua. We have been looking over the Princess excursions for each place and just can't make decisions! So, if there is a port where you loved a certain land excursion (we love botanical gardens, waterfalls, animals and my husband is a history buff) or you found a great beach or snorkeling excursion, please let me know. Also, if there are any ports where we should just get a cab and name a beach for safe, fun snorkeling on our own instead of doing a Princess excursion that takes you to a beach, that would be good too. Thanks in advance to all you experienced cruisers who have a good memory for what you have done!

[Lsmith52]

We were in St. Kitts this spring for our second Princess Carribean Collection. The catamaran excursion to St. Nevis was awesome. It included a beach excursion.

[Toddy709]

Come and join our Roll Call.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1350498

 

My husband and I fell in love with Jalousie Beach in St. Lucia and are booked with Spencer Ambrose to go back there. Last time we were there we didn't snorkel, but there is an area for snorkeling that everyone says is great.

 

If you don't want to spend the day at the beach, another highly recommended tour is with Cosol, and you still get about an hour and a half at Jalousie.

 

So far that's all we have scheduled.

 

If you want something that's a little bit different, last time we were in Antigua we did a Segway tour and it was a lot of fun.

 

Sorry, just noticed you have already joined the roll call!

[nutcrackers]

We were in St. Kitts this spring for our second Princess Carribean Collection. The catamaran excursion to St. Nevis was awesome. It included a beach excursion.

 

Thanks! We'll look that one up!

[Nylsor]

Last February we cruised the Caribbean for the first time and we booked a private excursion with Thenford Grey on St Kitts . He was absolutely excellent. We took 'The Tour' which lasted from 9.00am to 3.00pm and cost around $50 each. Thenford is a great ambassador for his island, very informative and humourous and took us everywhere. His coach is air-conditioned and spotlessly clean and he supplied us with bottled water. In the afternoon of the tour he took us to Cockleshell Beach where there was plenty of time for a swim. We didn't feel at all rushed - there was time to enjoy everything. We were joined by eight other couples from the Grand Princess and a good time was had by all. If you go to the Ports of Call board and then to St Kitts and Nevis you will find excellent reviews of Thenford Grey Tours. I wouldn't book a Princess tour on Barbados as when you come out of the port you will find many cab drivers all vying to take you on tours around the island. We joined 10 other people in a beautiful mini-bus and we had a fantastic 3 hour tour with a guy called Gary (in his thirties, with dreadlocks pulled into a ponytail) for $20 each - he took us all around the island and we were back at the ship at around 1.30pm. Gary also offered to drop anyone who wanted to at one of the lovely beaches. Enjoy your cruise.:)

[Rosethorn40]

First of all you picked a GREAT itinerary. It's probably my favorite as we have done it twice, and have been to all the islands several times. you didn't really say if you wanted to take ship sponsored excursions or do it on your own. My suggestions are:

 

 

Princess Cay: Treat it as a beach day. You can go swimming, snorkeling, or just sunbathe, and Princess serves a nice BBQ lunch.

 

 

St. Thomas: There is more to do then you can possibly do in a day. Charlotte Amalie has a nice historic district that you can walk around, there are beautiful beaches you can go to (Magens Bay is one of the best), or you can go over to the unspoiled beauty of St. Johns. If you can figure out how to get there, The Baths at Virgin Gorda was one of the most unusual & best beaches I have ever gone to. DH and I long to go back there. You have lots of choices, and will get lots of opinions-All good.

 

 

St. Kitts: Have to agree with going over to Nevis. You can take the ferry over to Charles Town, Nevis, which will give you an idea of what the Caribbean was like before being overrun with tourists. Princess offers (Or at least use to) an excursion to Nevis that you take the ferry to Charles Town (Ride on top), and make a quick stop to the Alexander Hamilton birthplace before going on to a beautiful botanical garden, and I mean an amazing garden.

 

 

Barbados: Lot's to choose from, but swimming with the sea turtles was one of my all time favorite activities. If doing a ship sponsored tour there are a number to choose from; from going out on a regular boat to where the sea turtles are, to nicer catamaran trips that include beach time, and lunch.

 

 

St. Lucia: Take a catamaran to the Pitons. They are beautiful. Most of the catamaran trips include some beach time for swimming and snorkeling.

 

 

Antigua: Last time we were in Antigua we took the 4x4 excursion, which was fun. We went to the top of Shirley Heights that had a fort and amazing views of English Harbor (You will get a "Postcard" shot with your camera). Then we went on to the Nelson Dockyard (Good for the history buff) where we had plenty of time to do a little exploring & shopping on our own. Finally it's was on to one of Antigua's 365 beaches for a meal and a little swimming time.

 

 

Whatever you choose you will have a wonderful time

[nutcrackers]

Last February we cruised the Caribbean for the first time and we booked a private excursion with Thenford Grey on St Kitts . He was absolutely excellent. We took 'The Tour' which lasted from 9.00am to 3.00pm and cost around $50 each. Thenford is a great ambassador for his island, very informative and humourous and took us everywhere. His coach is air-conditioned and spotlessly clean and he supplied us with bottled water. In the afternoon of the tour he took us to Cockleshell Beach where there was plenty of time for a swim. We didn't feel at all rushed - there was time to enjoy everything. We were joined by eight other couples from the Grand Princess and a good time was had by all. If you go to the Ports of Call board and then to St Kitts and Nevis you will find excellent reviews of Thenford Grey Tours. I wouldn't book a Princess tour on Barbados as when you come out of the port you will find many cab drivers all vying to take you on tours around the island. We joined 10 other people in a beautiful mini-bus and we had a fantastic 3 hour tour with a guy called Gary (in his thirties, with dreadlocks pulled into a ponytail) for $20 each - he took us all around the island and we were back at the ship at around 1.30pm. Gary also offered to drop anyone who wanted to at one of the lovely beaches. Enjoy your cruise.:)

Thanks! Sounds like great advice!

[nutcrackers]

First of all you picked a GREAT itinerary. It's probably my favorite as we have done it twice, and have been to all the islands several times. you didn't really say if you wanted to take ship sponsored excursions or do it on your own. My suggestions are:

 

 

Princess Cay: Treat it as a beach day. You can go swimming, snorkeling, or just sunbathe, and Princess serves a nice BBQ lunch.

 

 

St. Thomas: There is more to do then you can possibly do in a day. Charlotte Amalie has a nice historic district that you can walk around, there are beautiful beaches you can go to (Magens Bay is one of the best), or you can go over to the unspoiled beauty of St. Johns. If you can figure out how to get there, The Baths at Virgin Gorda was one of the most unusual & best beaches I have ever gone to. DH and I long to go back there. You have lots of choices, and will get lots of opinions-All good.

 

 

St. Kitts: Have to agree with going over to Nevis. You can take the ferry over to Charles Town, Nevis, which will give you an idea of what the Caribbean was like before being overrun with tourists. Princess offers (Or at least use to) an excursion to Nevis that you take the ferry to Charles Town (Ride on top), and make a quick stop to the Alexander Hamilton birthplace before going on to a beautiful botanical garden, and I mean an amazing garden.

 

 

Barbados: Lot's to choose from, but swimming with the sea turtles was one of my all time favorite activities. If doing a ship sponsored tour there are a number to choose from; from going out on a regular boat to where the sea turtles are, to nicer catamaran trips that include beach time, and lunch.

 

 

St. Lucia: Take a catamaran to the Pitons. They are beautiful. Most of the catamaran trips include some beach time for swimming and snorkeling.

 

 

Antigua: Last time we were in Antigua we took the 4x4 excursion, which was fun. We went to the top of Shirley Heights that had a fort and amazing views of English Harbor (You will get a "Postcard" shot with your camera). Then we went on to the Nelson Dockyard (Good for the history buff) where we had plenty of time to do a little exploring & shopping on our own. Finally it's was on to one of Antigua's 365 beaches for a meal and a little swimming time.

 

 

Whatever you choose you will have a wonderful time

Thanks for all that information. You gave a lot to consider. I appreciate all your time!

[dchip]

Check out my link to our Grand Caribbean Collection. All the excursions were booked through Princess on this cruise. I did a little blurb about each tour and then there are the photos.

 

http://www.pbase.com/dchip/grand_princess_

 

We took a tour with Cosol on St. Lucia twice. It was fabulous. Those pics can be found here along with more Barbados. Barbados was the same tour we did with Princess without the 4WD.

 

http://www.pbase.com/dchip/maasdam_southern_caribbean

 

Have fun,

Denise

[willysgrandma]

IN St. Lucia, we did a catamaran cruise that also included a bus tour to the Volcano and a lunch at a plantation. Loved it.

 

You will find the best shopping in St. Martin. We opted for an excursion snorkeling at Trunk Bay on St. John - loved it.

 

In Barbados, we did a 4 x 4 tour and a trip to the Wildlife Refuge with the monkeys and turtles.

 

This was probably my favorite Caribbean itinerary of all the cruises we've done - you'll love it.

[mitsugirly]

The only place I've been that you mentioned was St. Thomas. We went to Sapphire for awesome off the beach snorkeling.

 

Here's my full review if you are interested along with 5 pages of pictures (link at the end)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26210037&postcount=1

[GrandmaHofmann]

The first time in St. Kitts we took a ship tour. The next time we grabbed a cab driver and had his drive us a circuit of the island. Very enjoyable. Since there's not much to discuss deeply about anything you'd see, a cab driver was fine. However, we hired a private guide on St. Lucia. St. Lucia is one of the few islands in the Caribbean that we think has enough of interest to see that a true guide is useful. I can't remember who we hired. Someone recommended here, and he was excellent. Personally, I don't get off the ship at St. thomas. We've done the mandatory tours and now it's nothing but tee shirts, liquor and jewelry stores. The best thing we ever did there we did by accident. We got on a local jitney instead of the ones that take you to the ship. When I got on, I asked it it went to the ship and the driver nodded-- probably in complete confusion as to why I was getting on his jitney. turned out that jitney runs the locals completely around the island. Each ride costs $1. Well, we rode and rode, a little nervous and a little giddy seeing that we never approached the ship. It was us and Rasta men, local ladies, and nobody else. Finally, the driver said, "Where are you going?" We said, "the ship." And he told us to come up and sit with him and when we got back to Charlotte Amalie, he said, "I'm going to head towards the ship. When I stop at that light, hop out." We were several blocks from the ship at the time. And we did. Naturally, my husband gave him $20 instead of a dollar. We went around half the island. When we were up on top of the hill overlooking the harbor, I told my husband, "The ship charges $50 to get up here." :)

[Host Faith]

Hi! This will be our first Carribean cruise and we would love some hints on the which ports are best for things like just getting to a (specific) beach, for snorkeling (we have Costco equipment but not much experience), for touring to a certain place that should not be missed....just getting the best balance between water and land activities among the various ports (no more than one half-day excursion a day is our style.) We'll be on the January 7th E. Caribbean cruise with Princess Cays, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua. We have been looking over the Princess excursions for each place and just can't make decisions! So, if there is a port where you loved a certain land excursion (we love botanical gardens, waterfalls, animals and my husband is a history buff) or you found a great beach or snorkeling excursion, please let me know. Also, if there are any ports where we should just get a cab and name a beach for safe, fun snorkeling on our own instead of doing a Princess excursion that takes you to a beach, that would be good too. Thanks in advance to all you experienced cruisers who have a good memory for what you have done!

 

We've been to Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua. I have photos of our excursions and descriptions in my review of the Serenade, in my signature. We like to book excursions on our own, not through the cruise line, but only if they have great reputations here and elsewhere on the internet. The groups tend to be smaller and the experiences more unique.

 

In Barbados, we went to Lobster Alive, a beachfront restaurant. You can rent 2 chairs and an umbrella there for $15, and you get 3 tickets for free rum punch or Coke at the restaurant. One of our favorite beaches- powdery white sand and sparkling blue water.

 

In St. Lucia, we always contact Spencer Ambrose. My husband and I have taken the West Coast delights tour, and if we go back to St. Lucia I think we would take the Jalousie Beach break. Jalousie is a beautiful beach.

 

In Antigua, we always go with Creole Cruises. It's a lobster lunch excursion, where you take two stops for snorkeling, and have a freshly caught lobster lunch on Bird Island. Worth every penny.

 

If you do a search on any of these on their respective boards here on CC, lots of info comes up. I hope this helps!

 

~Chrystal