Shore Excursions: Thoughts?

[PostcardJar]

We will be on the Holiday Cruise aboard the Summit. Has anyone been to those southern Caribbean ports and has ideas for good shore excursions given that we really don't want to spend a day sitting on a beach?

 

Any help would be appreciated. We visit Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. (We also stop at St. Kitts, but know people there who have made some recommendations to us.)

 

Also: on St. Maarten we'd like to go to Maho beach. There is a 3.5 hour tour from the cruise line that costs $45 p/p. Is there a cheaper way to get there?

 

Thanks!

Edited December 14, 2016 by PostcardJar

[akowilm]

A cab is much cheaper, but you know you will make it back to the ship on time with the ship's excursion. Afternoon traffic back to the port can get a little crazy, so be mindful of the time! The Sunset Bar and Grill is great for grabbing a snack or drinks so you can make a day of it at Maho.

 

St. Thomas has great beaches, Sapphire, Megan's Bay, and there are many very reputable private excursion companies for sailing and snorkeling, or y9ou can take the ship's 'excursion' to St. John's and have a free day there with a guaranteed return ferry.

[jelayne]

Have you joined your roll call? There may be Independent excursions you can join. Also check out the ports of call on CC you will find recommendations for independent tours. We rarely do the ship's excursions,overpriced, too many people and you can only go as fast as the slowest person.

[Mr. Click]

another vote for joining your roll call and finding groups. In St. Lucia we did a speed boat tour with Spencer Ambrose. We cruised down the coast to the Pitons, had a day at the beach there with lunch and drinks included and then speed back to the port in plenty of time. Spencer has been running tours for years and knows his business. In Barbados we just did a cab to a nice beach once and the other times we walked into town where we found lots of cabs and vans with drivers who were happy to give us an island tour with a beach stop if we wanted. It was better than the cabs that the load inside the port, those are filled to capacity and often cramped. The walk to town is short. It is a great cruise, we did it 4 times before we stopped spending winters in the Northeast.

[Copa2Go]

We went to the Harrison's cave in Barbados. It is really beautiful. On the way back they stop at a hillside view for pictures of the coast. They also have drinks there and a little shopping plus a monkey. Also on the way back from the ship we drove thru town and saw the sights.

 

 

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[Copa2Go]

St. Maarten is a great place for shopping.

 

 

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[PostcardJar]

Thanks, all, for your thoughts--and please keep them coming. We have joined the roll call--I'll check there, and will look into the boards for those ports. We are pretty new to CC (all things considered) so we are just beginning to learn all the resources that are at our fingertips on this site!

 

Thanks again, and we are definitely open to more thoughts and ideas!

 

S & A

[watchdiva]

IF there is space available I recommend a catamaran in Barbados. Silvermoon offers an outstanding 5 hour sail and I highly recommend...it may be our favorite excursion in the Caribbean. Very small number of passengers and lunch is fantastic!

 

 

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Edited December 14, 2016 by watchdiva

[cheeseheads4ever]

I can tell you we were just off Equinox and I recommend Skinny Carson Tours in Barbados. Reliable and very good drivers. I can also tell you DO NOT BOOK D and A TAXI in St Martin! VERY CONFRONTATIONAL and VERY MISLEADING TOUR.

YOU WILL REGRET IT. There are many other taxi services so just book with someone else.

Maybe I shouldnt post this here but just wanted to help fellow cruisers out.

[PRH]

Another vote for Silver Moon. We are already booked for our fifth time with them. Class act, great food and beautiful cat.

 

 

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[Orlando Vic]

We will be on the Holiday Cruise aboard the Summit. Has anyone been to those southern Caribbean ports and has ideas for good shore excursions given that we really don't want to spend a day sitting on a beach?

 

Any help would be appreciated. We visit Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. (We also stop at St. Kitts, but know people there who have made some recommendations to us.)

 

Also: on St. Maarten we'd like to go to Maho beach. There is a 3.5 hour tour from the cruise line that costs $45 p/p. Is there a cheaper way to get there?

 

Bernard's Tours in St. Maarten give excellent value (and do go to Maho Beach). http://www.bernardstours.com/

[BlueSkiesTX]

I second Bernard's Tours. :)

[wwcruisers]

IF there is space available I recommend a catamaran in Barbados. Silvermoon offers an outstanding 5 hour sail and I highly recommend...it may be our favorite excursion in the Caribbean. Very small number of passengers and lunch is fantastic!

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Another vote for Silver Moon. We are already booked for our fifth time with them. Class act, great food and beautiful cat.

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We've gone out with Silvermoon Cats, twice -- both experiences were great! They have fairly decent snorkel equipment, and they take you to two different snorkel locations: one where you can snorkel over a shipwreck (LOTS of fish), and the best one: snorkeling with sea turtles! :cool:

[dodger1964]

We are also on that cruise.

 

Christmas cruises are often quite quiet on cc roll call boards. I'm surprised we had enough (barely) to get a Celebrity cc get together.

 

We have been to St. Maarten and St. Thomas many times, Barbados/St. Lucia/St. Kitts once or twice each.

 

This trip we will probably rent cars in St. Maarten, Barbados, St. Kitts, and might keep our rental for St. Thomas (although apparently now we might be docking at wrong dock for that to work easily).

 

We have taken taxi to Maho (we go to Maho every trip...I could spend days watching planes, other people not so much!).

 

Taxi very easy to do, just go the the back side of pier building to taxi stand, they will put you in a large van and it will cost about 8 or 9 per person each way.

 

The other option is to take a public bus (for 1 or 2 dollars), but you have to go into town to get them. That is a good 1/2 hour walk. But very doable if you really want to save money...but take time.

 

Hope to see you on ship...I grew up not far from you (town on highway 30 in Iowa).

 

 

Check out "ports of call" section of cc also.

 

Trent

 

added: And since we don't leave St. Maarten until midnight, traffic won't be a problem, although if we spend too much time at Sunset Bar at Maho Beach we might not make it back in time!

Edited December 14, 2016 by dodger1964

[ClaudiaB]

Calabazas is great in Barbados. Great snorkeling and lunch and beautiful boat.

 

Get 2 or 3 other couples in a taxi/van to go to Maho. The best flights are about 1 p.m. to 2:30. Check the Princess Juliana International airport schedule on line. After 3:00 it's all over as far as big jets. You can get a drink and lunch at the big bar on the beach at Maho. Fun place. It's about 45 minutes from the ship, so not a quick taxi ride. It was about $10 a person each way.

 

St. Maarten is a great foodie town. All the "lo lo" family owned eateries especially in Grand Case. Mmmm. Take a private tour that begins at Amsterdam Cheese. It's an X excursion for the same money as the private excursion with the same name, except Celebrity's is shorter, has more people in the food tour, and one less stop. We were two couples in a van with guide and driver and went all over the island to 5 food stops. It was a wonderful day. Taste of St. Maarten I think is the name, but google it and do it independently. The same place runs both tours but they themselves recommend their private tour. About a 15 minute walk from the ship.

Also in St. Maarten the America's Cup race. It's so much fun. We love St. Maarten, probably should just fly there and spend a week or so!

[MKellyUtah]

In BARBADOS last week, we did the Calabaza Sunset Sail ... as another poster said, they only take 12 people, snorkeling with sea turtles over a shipwreck, great crew-great service-great drinks-and great fun. Maybe the best port excursion we've ever done.

 

In the past in ST. MAARTEN we've done a tour with Bernard's ... very reliable & informative, with nice clean vehicles.

 

The one time we were in ST. THOMAS, we took the RedHook ferry over to St. John and an open-air taxi there to a beautiful beach (Cinnamon Bay.) A wonderful place away from the hordes of humanity if you have the time (like a normal 8:00am - 5:00pm in port.