Cruising on Jewel in February- help with day trips please!

[Cruisingfamilyx10]

I told our travel agent we want to do some excursions (family of 4 with an 8&9 year old), our preference was to:

 

*see the volcano on St. Lucia

*snorkel

*whale watch

 

The travel agent suggested an outline like this:

 

St Thomas--Coral World or Turtle Bay Sail and Snorkel or Magens Bay Beach

St Croix--not much here to do so I would just do a beach day.

St John Antigua--Kayak and Snorkel Eco Tour or Stingray Swim and Snorkel or the Canopy Tour

St Lucia--Dolphin and Whale Watch Safari or the Volcano-----better reviews on the Whale Watch

Grenada--River Tubing or Caribbean Cats and Sail and Snorkel

 

 

She recommended whale watch or volcano both for St. Lucia! Is there another island that has equally good whale watching opportunities?

 

Anybody do the excursions above and can weigh in? Pros? Cons?

 

Bit frustrated (and still overwhelmed)

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Miss Vickie]

I told our travel agent we want to do some excursions (family of 4 with an 8&9 year old), our preference was to:

 

*see the volcano on St. Lucia

*snorkel

*whale watch

 

The travel agent suggested an outline like this:

 

St Thomas--Coral World or Turtle Bay Sail and Snorkel or Magens Bay Beach

St Croix--not much here to do so I would just do a beach day.

St John Antigua--Kayak and Snorkel Eco Tour or Stingray Swim and Snorkel or the Canopy Tour

St Lucia--Dolphin and Whale Watch Safari or the Volcano-----better reviews on the Whale Watch

Grenada--River Tubing or Caribbean Cats and Sail and Snorkel

 

 

She recommended whale watch or volcano both for St. Lucia! Is there another island that has equally good whale watching opportunities?

 

Anybody do the excursions above and can weigh in? Pros? Cons?

 

Bit frustrated (and still overwhelmed)

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

St. Lucia is your best bet for both the volcano and the whales. So. Lucia has a "drive-in volcano" you can see, and is on the standard tours. And February is still a little early for whale sightings at the other islands.

 

For Antigua I'd strongly suggest either Eli's Eco-tour or Classic a Yacht excursion, www,adventureantigua.com. Both are superb and your kids would enjoy them. If the Canopy a Tour is the zip-line, they may be too short. We visited the facility once, and some of the elements had a 5'1" minimum height (I'm too short).

 

Coral World is a good suggestion for St. Thomas, and the beach for St. Croix.

 

I'm not sure about the river tubing in Grenada - it may be a little rough. I don't know. I bet the kids would enjoy the catamaran, though.

[Cruisingfamilyx10]

Appreciate your answer, thanks.

 

Is it possible to do a whale watching and volcano? Are there double packages or do we need to decide?

And yes, the kids are short, so zip linings out. We'll have to return!

 

 

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[tidygirl]

Have you checked on Trip advisor to see what tours are available and reviews of private companies? We have had some awesome experiences just going off the ship and finding someone to take us on a tour! Cheaper and more personable! One example Grand Caymen snorkel city went off the ship not sure what we were going to do but we found a tourist information deskand they said they had a man that would take us out to Stingray city.So our family of 5 and another family of 4 went together. The captain told us his family was the one that found Stingray city and that you could feed the stingrays (Not positive that was the truth) On the way back in he let my hubby drive the boat and he played his guitar and sang to us! Can't beat that!

[Miss Vickie]

Appreciate your answer, thanks.

 

Is it possible to do a whale watching and volcano? Are there double packages or do we need to decide?

And yes, the kids are short, so zip linings out. We'll have to return!

 

 

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For St.

Lucia, I'd check with someone like Spencer Ambrose (check the ports of call boards, someone will have provided contact inf) to see if he can do both in one day. At the least, he'll be able to advise you on whether it's possible, or if you have to make a choice given the constraints of a cruise port day.

 

I googled the canopy tour - there's a zips only option, minimum age of 4, minimum height 48", but you should probably check their tours

http://antiguarainforest.com/tours/#nav

 

By the way, we always do private tours - never ship tours. Better value and we've made some great friends on the islands doing it that way.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Miss Vickie

[Cruisingfamilyx10]

Thanks miss Vickie! No concerns about not making it back on time if not on a cruise supported tour? Or is that the ships way of having a $$ monopoly with certain businesses?

 

 

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[Miss Vickie]

Thanks miss Vickie! No concerns about not making it back on time if not on a cruise supported tour? Or is that the ships way of having a $$ monopoly with certain businesses?

 

 

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We've never had an issue. We plan carefully and plan to be back at the dock at least 30 to 60 minutes before all aboard. The good private operators know their reputations depend on getting people back to the ship on time. I actually know of one instance where folks on a ship-sponsored excursion were in a boat which ran out of fuel at the mouth of the harbor in Antigua. The crew had no means of communication with the shore. A private tour saw their predicament, called their office on a cell phone, loaded the stranded folks onto their boat and got them back to the dock. On time.

 

Part of our motivation is when we book privately 100% of our spend becomes part of the island economy, rather than part of a cruise ship cost center..

Edited December 10, 2014 by Miss Vickie

[Cruisingfamilyx10]

Thanks! that's what I like- support jobs/workers on the island and not RCL👍

 

 

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[Debde]

St Croix--not much here to do so I would just do a beach day.

 

I'd recommend the Ship sponsored catamaran trip to the beach. When we did it, it was called the Jolly Mon and we loved it.

 

I like ship sponsored because they know where myself and family are at and feel just a bit safer that way but that's just me. The staff does get to make the money as Royal just tacks on a bit extra. That small amount for my personal sense of security is well worth it. They also make sure that excursions are up to code and if not, they are dropped from the ships program. The guides do get to keep tip money too so I think you still help the locals.

 

...... noted the feelings here are just mine and are definitely not shared by all here on CC!!;)

Edited December 10, 2014 by Debde

[erniesband]

I'd recommend the Ship sponsored catamaran trip to the beach. When we did it, it was called the Jolly Mon and we loved it.

 

I like ship sponsored because they know where myself and family are at and feel just a bit safer that way but that's just me. The staff does get to make the money as Royal just tacks on a bit extra. That small amount for my personal sense of security is well worth it. They also make sure that excursions are up to code and if not, they are dropped from the ships program. The guides do get to keep tip money too so I think you still help the locals.

 

...... noted the feelings here are just mine and are definitely not shared by all here on CC!!;)

 

Sorry to burst your bubble on that one, the cruise lines negotiate rates with the excursion operators that are heavily weighted to the corporate advantage. I've heard from some operators that the cruise lines often get as much as half the rate charged.

But as you say you have your reasons and I have mine.

[hipster1]

CruisinFamily,

I second the recommendation from Jodi and Ernie for Elis Eco tours for Antigua! ( Hi guys!) I actually think they recommended it to us when we cruised a few years back. It's a great company that you can't go wrong with. We had a wonderful time aboard thier boat.

 

As for private vs ship, we tend to use private tours. We have never had a problem.

 

Ali

[Debde]

Hi erniesband!! We were on Jewel together!!

 

You're probably right that they get more than a "bit extra" as I stated but I just can't help but like that my ride knows where I am.:o

 

Actually, most ship sponsored excursions have asked us to fill out one of those 'how did you like us' form as they seem to be OK with the work the ship provides them. I think.........

 

But yes, OP-that's what this forum is here for. Gathering information from so many with different outlooks so you can choose with lots of info. provided to you that you feel comfortable with!! Be it a ship or private tour.

 

Enjoy the Jewel. great ship with a great itinerary!!:)

[tidygirl]

We did a ship sponsored tour to a fishing village in Labadee they kept trying to get us to buy stuff they were selling so the money would go directly to them. That gave me the impression they didn't get much for the boat bringing us to them if any. The money could have just went to the boat operators?