Best excursions for southern Caribbean cruise on C Eclipse in December

[Solongwisconsin]

So, we're pretty new to cruising, though we did enjoy a fabulous cruise with Celebrity 5 years ago.

 

This year we are taking the 14 day cruise with Celebrity Eclipse to southern Caribbean. We are trying to decide what excursions to take, what to give a miss. What's worth the money?

 

We are in our mid 50's, good health and active. Open to any suggestions that others may have.

 

Thanks so much,

S.

[upwarduk]

take a tour that takes in Nelson's Dock Yard.

[madridgirl]

I suggest finding your roll call on. There are usually great suggestions and many times someone will reserve a private excursion and ask if anyone is interested in joining. Another great tool is to find the port of call on here and again, there are always a ton of suggestions...I'll be on the Eclipse in December as well...

[Clydesmom7865]

If Barbados is a port I can HIGHLY recommend an all day catamaran cruise with Silver Moon cruises. http://silvermoonbarbados.com/ They take reservations on line. We swam with sea turtles. snorkeled in some of the best waters, there was a total of 10-12 on board, private lunch prepared by the Captain with food from her personal garden which was fabulous. All you can drink and eat including alcohol. Luxury catamaran yacht with 2 bathrooms. About $100 per person. They also picked up/dropped off at the pier.

 

In Aruba: Aruba Bob Snorkeling: http://www.arubabobsnorkeling.com/faq.asp

 

In St. Lucia: http://www.cosol-tours.com/contact.html

[BSinPNS]

If you are stopping in Bonaire - don't miss snorkeling with Woodwind.

 

Another great option in Barbados is Calabaza Sailing.

 

Concur that Aruba Bob is great.

 

Have done this cruise two years in a row.

 

Have a great time.

[vickykay]

We primarily did things on our own or small group ( private) excursions but we did do the evening sail in Aruba thru Celebrity and enjoyed it.

[Wolfie469]

Are you going to Cartagena,Colombia, and through the Panama Canal?

[OCruisers]

So, we're pretty new to cruising, though we did enjoy a fabulous cruise with Celebrity 5 years ago.

This year we are taking the 14 day cruise with Celebrity Eclipse to southern Caribbean. We are trying to decide what excursions to take, what to give a miss. What's worth the money?

We are in our mid 50's, good health and active. Open to any suggestions that others may have.

Thanks so much,

S.

 

Please tell us your Ports of Call for your upcoming cruise.

LuLu

[Sloop-JohnB]

Please tell us your Ports of Call for your upcoming cruise.

LuLu

 

Agree... Knowing which islands your ship will call on would make replying easier. Ships and their Itineraries change often. Don't really relish looking thru Eclipse's whole Caribbean season just to guess which cruise is yours

 

Cheers!

Edited November 11, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[swigso]

When in St Thomas this is a great day

http://Www.independence44.us

Also in Antigua get the bus to Nelsons Dockyard it

Is really fun to do it on your own, when there you can get a

Boat across to a resort Hotel where the beach is fantastic.

Check out the ports of call Board to each of your stops

And also join the roll call for your sailing

The Eclipse is a fantastic ship and the 14 night cruise is fantastic

[bxqlsigelsq]

There are usually great suggestions and many times someone will reserve a private excursion and ask if anyone is interested in joining.

[tbmrt]

Bernards Tours in St. Maarten

Tours with Terry - Samana

Dominica - Beno

Bus drinking tour in Cozumel

Chankanaab Cozumel

 

 

 

The above were some of our favorites.

[Solongwisconsin]

So many helpful people!!!

 

So grateful for all of the kind advice. We are reading responses with excitement and planning feels less like stress and more like fun. Thank you for all of your helpful input.

 

The ports of call for this cruise on the Eclipse are below:

 

 

• Oranjestad, Aruba
  
• Willemstad, Curacaon
   
  
• St. George's, Grenada
  
• Bridgetown, Barbados
  
• Castries, St. Lucia
  
• St. John's, Antigua
  
• Basseterre, St. Kitts
  
• Philipsburg, St. Maarten
  

[Clydesmom7865]

So many helpful people!!!

 

So grateful for all of the kind advice. We are reading responses with excitement and planning feels less like stress and more like fun. Thank you for all of your helpful input.

 

The ports of call for this cruise on the Eclipse are below:

 

 

• Oranjestad, Aruba
  
• Willemstad, Curacaon
   
  
• St. George's, Grenada
  
• Bridgetown, Barbados
  
• Castries, St. Lucia
  
• St. John's, Antigua
  
• Basseterre, St. Kitts
  
• Philipsburg, St. Maarten
  

 

My suggestions for Barbados, Aruba and St. Lucia are in my post up top.

 

For Antigua: http://www.adventureantigua.com/

 

For Grenada: http://www.nativespiritscuba.com/index.htm

 

Obviously all my adventures center around nature and scuba/snorkel. All were reasonably priced and very safe. I had no issues with any company I booked. Also NONE of them had me trying to recruit other passengers to go along. I booked as a solo and joined others already on adventures that day.

 

I will let others comment on St. Maarten as the excursion I booked there was awful and I came within nanoseconds of almost missing the ship thanks to the tour company so I would NOT recommend them to anyone.

[upwarduk]

If there are a large number of ships in St Maarten, a ship's tour might be advisable, as traffic can be bad.

Many people take a taxi to view the planes landing at the airport.

They fly so low over the beach- scary. Just put Maho Bay into a search engine and watch the videos!

 

It all depends on your interests.

 

My favourite island is Aruba, but my son worked at the Refinery for a year, so we spent 2 weeks there ( x2) so I'm biased.

Edited November 12, 2014 by upwarduk

[bxqlsigelsq]

There are usually great suggestions and many times someone will reserve a private excursion and ask if anyone is interested in joining.

[Maligator]

Most of the ship excursions fell short of our expectations. Lots of brief stops with no opportunity to actually get out and experience the locations and several that technically fit the description, but weren't what we were led to believe.

 

My suggestions:

 

In Aruba, I'd pick sailing-related tours. Ours was half sailing and half bus. The bus was a windowless school bus and the stops were both brief and not very interesting. Casibari Rocks were OK, but I could've done without the lighthouse and tiny chapel. The evening sunset catamaran sail was great.

 

In Curacao, the ATV & beach tour didn't meet expectations. We spent more time caravanning through the towns to get to the coast than we did at the coast. And the beach visit was a disastrous let-down. Bring extra cash if you want to sit anywhere. The description didn't mention the chairs were available for rent.

 

In Grenada, the Dougaldson spice plantation was interesting, but the visit to the national park was weak. Enough time for a bathroom break and a rum punch before we were herded back on the bus. The fort over the harbor was nice, but again, not enough time for anything more than a few snapshots.

 

In Barbados, the caverns are not to be missed. We enjoyed this tour.

 

In St Lucia, we'd have skipped the "volcano tour" if we could do it over again. Maybe look for a sailing tour or flightseeing trip. The "volcano" was a bubbling mud pit and smelled like sulfur. If you've experienced either, you've already done this tour.

 

In Antigua, we took the Montserrat helicopter tour. Best money we spent on excursions for this cruise, hands down. It was fascinating. Do pay attention to the weight restrictions, though.

 

We didn't go to St Kitts, so I can't help you.

 

In St Maarten, we grabbed a taxi van and split the cost with 8 other people to get to Maho Beach, where the planes land. Assuming your all-aboard time is 5:00pm, make sure you leave the beach by 2:30pm. The traffic was a nightmare and we made it back around 4:30pm. At least one ship excursion was late and we saw several people running for the ship on their own.

 

A detailed review is linked in my signature if you're interested in more details.

[izzy19]

So many helpful people!!!

 

So grateful for all of the kind advice. We are reading responses with excitement and planning feels less like stress and more like fun. Thank you for all of your helpful input.

 

The ports of call for this cruise on the Eclipse are below:

 

 

• Oranjestad, Aruba
  
• Willemstad, Curacaon
   
  
• St. George's, Grenada
  
• Bridgetown, Barbados
  
• Castries, St. Lucia
  
• St. John's, Antigua
  
• Basseterre, St. Kitts
  
• Philipsburg, St. Maarten
  

 

Hi, on our Southern Caribbean out of SJ we hit most of the same ports with the exception of Antiqua...Aruba and Curacao were both beach days on a bus outside the port...Grenada was a private tour booked outside on our own...took us through the country...bought some spices...saw where the local law enforcement trained...Barbados was a Mt Gay rum tour which was good and this time we are going with Calabazza charters for a snorkeling excursion...St. Lucia was booked with Spencer Ambrose and was really good...former police officer and very knowledgeable...St. Kitts was a private tour to Cockleshell...views were great...this next cruise is a volcano hike and St. Maarten was the America's cup yacht race which was a lot of fun...followed by "pour your own happy hour" at a bar on the beach (although I can't quite remember what it was called...imagine that...:)

[shipshape sam]

So, we're pretty new to cruising, though we did enjoy a fabulous cruise with Celebrity 5 years ago.

 

This year we are taking the 14 day cruise with Celebrity Eclipse to southern Caribbean. We are trying to decide what excursions to take, what to give a miss. What's worth the money?

 

We are in our mid 50's, good health and active. Open to any suggestions that others may have.

 

Thanks so much,

S.

 

If you go to Barbados, we did the Segway and it was GREAT. They take you out into a cow pasture along the coast and the views are neat. I want to go back and will do that excursion again!

[phoenix_dream]

I would strongly suggest also that you join your Roll Call and discuss options there with fellow cruisers. Also, go to the Ports of Call board on Cruise Critic and you will find a significant amount of information for each port.

 

You didn't say specifically what you liked to do - swim, sail, hike, sight-see, shop, gamble, all of the preceding? Obviously that makes a difference in recommendations. You will be visiting some very nice islands on your cruise - I'm jealous - that is the cruise we are planning after DH retires. :) Most of the islands you are visiting satisfy virtually all of the options I mentioned. Aruba, for example, has some of the most beautiful beaches, best shopping, best gambling, as well as some sight-seeing and hiking. It is by far one of my favorite islands. If we know what you like to do, our recommendations can be more directed to your likes. If you like to mix it up - some of the islands are better for some activities than others so it would help to know that as well.

[Mr. Click]

+1 on Eli's Ecco tour in Antigua, a wonderful day in and on the water.

In St. Lucia we have enjoyed Spencer Ambrose's Jalousie Beach cruise. They get you out early, down to the beach early before it gets crowded and provide a very nice lunch and drinks. The roads on St. Lucia are poor at best and the boat tour let us see some of the island and still get some beach time.

[charmed101]

Agree with Silvermoon tours in Barbados, if you have never been on a catamaran that this is the one for you. A great day on the water by an informed, friendly staff, I will be going back on my next cruise.

[Holly2]

We were on the Eclipse last year. Great itinerary. Did independent tours with roll call members. Can recommend tbe following:

Aruba- Sonny

Curacao-irie

Antigua- lawrence of antigua

St. maarten- bernard

St kitts (prev cruise) thenford Gray

St lucia- Herrod

Have a great time!

[cruisehome]

thanks