Excursions --- just for fun, what have been your top 3 excursions ever?

[ABQrobin]

This is just for fun... not looking to bash and ports or negatives about excursions.  I just want to know what were your TOP 3 excursions you did on a cruise? And WHY?

 

Our Top 3, no particular order:

Kayak and Beach break in Freeport - this is only thru ship, and we weren't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a blast and something we would repeat if we every go back there.  We kayaked for about 90 minutes on a lazy river running thru the mangroves, our tour guide was a blast, the beauty and quiet were remarkable, so much fun.  After the kayaking we walked to a beach where they had a picnic (just sandwich stuff) set up for us and we spent another 90 minutes.  It was windy that day, so not the best beach break but still a fantastic overall excursion.

 

Alaska-Juneau-Helicopter to Hike on Glacier - wow, where to begin.  The helicopter ride (our first ever) over the glaciers was spectacular, then we got out, had crampons put on our boots, and off we went for an hour walk across the top of a glacier.  Words don't begin to describe!  This was way too short, wish we could have been up there a few hours and gotten to trek around a bit more.  But wow wow wow.

 

  Diving at Grand Turk or Roatan -  can't decide which we enjoyed most.  We have been diving at Roatan before but never from a cruise ship.  The dive op, AnthonysKeyResort was fantastic, and dive sites were lush and just easy diving.  Total breeze and relaxing dives.  Grand Turk was new for us, so we were excited to see that 7000' deep wall, and it did not disappoint.  Eagle rays and turtles everywhere.  The dive op picked us up at the beach there, no need for riding in a bus there like Roatan, and the reefs were within eyesight of the ship, but then that's where that wall is located.  Great dive ops in both cases, so they are really a tie.  

 

We had several other top 10 excursions, like the ziplines at Jamaica, and the ruins at Progreso and Belize, etc.  

 

So NOW.....   What would you rate as your TOP 3 cruise excursions and WHY????

 

 

 

[Out of Iowa]

Private guide to El Yunque rainforest/National Park from San Juan, Puerto Rico (so lush and beautiful);

 

Visits to Stingray City at Grand Cayman with Moby Dick's crew (this is fascinating, aquatic nature and may not be here forever - a bit like the long-term outlook for the manatees in Florida?);

 

Carnival's tour to Chichen Itza (since I will probably never get to the Egyptian pyramids).  So glad we took the ship's tour:  the bus groaned and moaned shifting gears and we feared it would give out on the way back to the port!

Edited March 26, 2019 by Out of Iowa
to explain "why"

[bury me at sea]

My favorite was a sailing excursion in Cozumel based on The America Cup.  I've done it twice.  It was the perfect combination of exhilaration and relaxation.

[Lem_On_Ade]

Dunns River Falls and Bamboo Beach Break in Jamaica thru Carnival. We chose to go with Carnival because we docked in Montego Bay and did not want to risk being that far away from the port and not make it back in time. This was a fantastic excursion. I loved climbing the falls and the hospitality from our guide, Tamra was great. I would probably do this every time I'm in Jamaica.

 

We took an island tour with Bernard's Tours in St. Maarten and our guide, the Mailman, made it a wonderful day. I loved seeing both sides the island. We got to eat macarons at a French Bakery, spend some time at Orient Beach and then watch the planes (bucket list for me) at Maho.

 

Also loved snorkeling the wall in Grand Turk. That was such a cool experience, albeit a bit scary not knowing what's just beyond it! We chose the excursion thru Carnival that also let us dive for our own conch shells and then see the stingrays. I would love to do this one again too.

[Butterbean1000]

1. Pirates of the Caribbean Zip Line in Roatan.

2. Champagne Catamaran in St Thomas.

3. Nachi Cocom in Cozumel. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by Butterbean1000

[TNMIMI6]

Atlantis Submarine in Barbados.--Since I am not a strong swimmer, this gave me the opportunity to see all the varieties of sea life.

 

St. Kitts--Thenford Grey's Island Tour with Pastor Henry.--St. Kitts is a beautiful island; Henry was so knowledgeable and we learned so much.

 

Cane Garden Bay Beach in Tortola.--It was a beautiful beach, so relaxing.

[Steve551]

Do they have to be off of Carnival ships?

 

Two days spent in Israel touring the Holy Land (2017 Celebrity & coming up again 1/2020  Royal) & an over-night tour in Egypt (I forget the year, 2014???,  Celebrity I believe it was could have been NCL - so many).

 

[ZoeyVictoria]

Maya Chan in Costa Maya.

[DukeASUGirl]

In no particular order:

 

Juneau -- we did this on our own. We hiked up Mt. Roberts and then took the tram down. The view was stunning! The hike is free obviously, and then if you spend $5 in the gift shop you get the tram ride down for free. Afterwards, we hopped a bus to Mendenhall Glacier. Because we did it on our own instead of an NCL tour, we had time to actually hike out to the glacier. Incredible, and the entire day cost us around $25 for two people.

 

Skagway -- we did this on our own as well. We bought tickets for the White Pass Railroad and got off at the first stop (can't remember what it's called, but the cruise line had an actual tour getting off at the same stop). At that point, we hiked a couple of miles into the forest and came across a glacier at the end. Beautiful! Then we hiked back and caught the train on its return. After, we went for crabs in town and saw the Days of 98 musical revue.

 

Cozumel -- again, on our own. We caught a cab to Chankanaab and spent the day snorkeling, eating ceviche, and drinking Corona. Incredible diversity!

 

Roatan -- found a cab driver at the port who drove us to his favorite snorkeling beach. He stayed up at the bar hanging out with friends while we snorkeled for hours. Then after, he took us on a tour of the island.

 

Interestingly enough, all our faves have been when we did it on our own, but we're not opposed to using the cruiseline's tours. In fact, we're going to do that for Catalina (kayaking) on our next cruise. We're hoping to go to Alaska next summer, and will likely use the cruiseline's excursions for some of those. The one thing I regretted about our Alaska cruise is that we didn't know to book the small boat while the ship cruised Tracy Arm Fjord. The cruise ship couldn't get up close. We won't make that mistake again.

[OCruisers]

Party Boats .... Just for the FUN of It!    

[ABQrobin]

2 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

In no particular order:

 

Juneau -- we did this on our own. We hiked up Mt. Roberts and then took the tram down. The view was stunning! The hike is free obviously, and then if you spend $5 in the gift shop you get the tram ride down for free. Afterwards, we hopped a bus to Mendenhall Glacier. Because we did it on our own instead of an NCL tour, we had time to actually hike out to the glacier. Incredible, and the entire day cost us around $25 for two people.

 

Skagway -- we did this on our own as well. We bought tickets for the White Pass Railroad and got off at the first stop (can't remember what it's called, but the cruise line had an actual tour getting off at the same stop). At that point, we hiked a couple of miles into the forest and came across a glacier at the end. Beautiful! Then we hiked back and caught the train on its return. After, we went for crabs in town and saw the Days of 98 musical revue.

 

Cozumel -- again, on our own. We caught a cab to Chankanaab and spent the day snorkeling, eating ceviche, and drinking Corona. Incredible diversity!

 

Roatan -- found a cab driver at the port who drove us to his favorite snorkeling beach. He stayed up at the bar hanging out with friends while we snorkeled for hours. Then after, he took us on a tour of the island.

 

Interestingly enough, all our faves have been when we did it on our own, but we're not opposed to using the cruiseline's tours. In fact, we're going to do that for Catalina (kayaking) on our next cruise. We're hoping to go to Alaska next summer, and will likely use the cruiseline's excursions for some of those. The one thing I regretted about our Alaska cruise is that we didn't know to book the small boat while the ship cruised Tracy Arm Fjord. The cruise ship couldn't get up close. We won't make that mistake again.

 

We did that small boat thing in Alaska (I have a video) and it was worth it, so close and got to see the glacier calve right in front of us several times.  So awesome.  That's definitely in my Top 10.

[Joebucks]

I don't really do much of the tours and stuff, but here's mine:

 

3.) Driving through St Kitts - It's not often where I'm in a taxi to the beach that the ride there has me in this much awe. My driver (Joseph and the Green Machine) was a very good one. He pointed out the big sights, and stopped for us to enjoy and take pictures. This island is beautiful.

 

2.) Sandals Nassau - One of my earliest cruise memories was being on the private island in Sandals Nassau, with the crystal clear, calm, waters, good food, good drink, and a cigar. It's a little costly for the day pass, but it's hard to beat being able to enjoy such luxury at a decent price. 

 

1.) Trunk Bay / St John - I absolutely love this place. It was a hike, and a little costly. However, the beach was absolutely beautiful. The snorkeling was fun. There were very few people there. The whole island is just very peaceful and laid back. One day, I plan to stay on the island for a few days.

[Joebucks]

7 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

Cozumel -- again, on our own. We caught a cab to Chankanaab and spent the day snorkeling, eating ceviche, and drinking Corona. Incredible diversity!

 

I did a similar day, and that was close to making my list. Those are my favorite types of days. 

[purplephenom]

I can't decide what order they should be in, but here goes:

 

1. Snorkeling at Tabayana beach in Roatan.  We ended up having a guide to ourselves who showed us so much stuff. There were so many fish, and coral everywhere and we had it alllll to ourselves for a good hour.  It really was the best day of my snorkeling life.

 

2. Snuba in St Lucia.  This one was good for a different reason.  There was some stuff to see, but it really wasn't amazing or anything.  But I'm a little clumsy (ok a lot clumsy), definitely not in shape, and a little timid/hesitant at times.  And yet...I was the only one who spent the whole time underwater.  I stuck my head up a couple times to see why everyone else was hanging on to the raft, didn't see a good reason so went back under.  I'm usually the one hanging back, not sure what I'm doing.  So I was pretty darn proud of myself when i was done, but also thinking it was no big deal.  Of all the people in our group, one of the guides (who wasn't even our guide we were broken into groups of 4 and he was leading a different group), came up to me and told me he noticed how comfortable I was in the water, and why I've never considered becoming scuba certified.  Well talk about a major self confidence boost.  And now I'm seriously considering getting certified- i just need to get my bf onboard.  But in the meantime, I definitely want to Snuba more. 

 

3. Swimming with sea lions in St Thomas.  I expected this to be like a dolphin swim- everyone in, everyone take pictures in predecided poses, lets do a trick or 2 and call it good without much time with the animals.  But it was a small group, only 5 of us.  And we had so much time in the water with the sea lion, to do whatever we wanted as long as we followed the rules.  There were a few posed pictures that came out really well.  But they were also personalized for what everyone wanted.  But there were so many more candid pictures taken, that it was the only excursion I've ever bought the photos from.

 

The funny thing is, besides Roatan, I didn't love either one of the other ports.  They were fine, but neither would make my top 5 ports. 

 

I'll add an honorable mention for swimming with sea turtles in Barbados.  Didn't get kicked in the face, got plenty of time with a turtle, and food/drinks on the catamaran were awesome. Only thing that keeps this from being in my top 3 are catamaran excursions never give me enough water time.  I always feel like the time we're anchored to eat could be eating faster and then more swim time. 

[skrufy]

My top three are......

 

1. Whale and bear watch, Alaska

2. Climb Mt. Haliacala, Hawaii

3.  Myan ruiens Chichin Itzel, Mexico

 

[K&RCurt]

Top 3 so far:

 

1) Drift snorkel on SV Woodwind from Bonaire.  Sailed from Bonaire on the Sailing Catamaran Woodwind, the entire trip was under sail.  Went to Klein Bonaire, was dropped off in the water and drifted with the current and we were picked up, then sailed to another location and repeat.  Had great guides in the water and on the boat.  After the snorkeling there was a fantastic lunch and beer / punch / water / soft drinks.  Had a nice sail back to the dock.  It was a great day, the boat was in great shape, the people friendly, felt safe the entire time and exemplary service.

 

2) Private tour of El Yunke in Puerto Rico.  Van ride to  / from, stopped at a funky roadside food stand that was great, visited several sights in the rain forest with short hikes and a lot of history and information on the rain forest.  I wish i could remember the name of the tour company.

 

3) Private beach trip plus whale watch in Samana, DR with Gregory Tours.  Simply fantastic!  Started with a safari Bus ride across the Samana peninsula to a deserted private beach area on the Atlantic side.  Gregory had a huge BBQ lunch set up and unlimited rum drinks.  After several hours on the beach we drove back to the Marina area, got on a boat and went out to observe the Blue Whales with their babies.  Simply incredible, saw many whales right next to the boat and also breaching a short distance away.  The boat returned us right to the tender pier and we made it back with time to spare.  Gregory is THE MAN for a tour in Samana!

[cmukid87]

1. Waterfall jumping in the Dominican Republic - Hiking through the jungle and experiencing beautiful landscapes.

 

2. Snorkeling and Stingray City experience in Grand Cayman - Done it multiple times, seems like everyone has done it.  I love the encounters with wildlife.  

 

3. Swimming with Manatees in Cozumel - Done it twice.  They are such an amazing animal.  Huge, gentle, fun.

 

As soon as I can get to Barbados, swimming with Sea Turtles will be clear #1.

Edited March 26, 2019 by cmukid87

[ontheweb]

In no particular order:

 

Two day private tour with Alla in St. Petersburgh. A wonderful city with so much to see, and a wonderful small group of ten from our roll call.

 

A Carnival tour in Jamaica---the Bob Marley bus. A lot of fun and wonderful, wonderful music. Plus you saw a part of Jamaica you normally would not see.

 

A Princess tour, will not actually a regular tour, but the trip back to the airport. This was from Dover to Heathrow Airport with most of the time in Canterbury. Normally once you are off the ship the cruise is over, however this felt like we were still on the cruise especially since we knew some of the people (from our roll call) on this tour. Yes, it was the hated large bus, but it was way, way under half full.

[alleghator]

2 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean Zip Line in Roatan.

2. Champagne Catamaran in St Thomas.

3. Nachi Cocom in Cozumel. 

 

 

A second vote here for Pirates of the Caribbean zip line. Spectacular!

[lennythenose]

As others have said mine are in no particular order...

 

Whale watching in Alaska - saw so many whales, eagles, etc. Truly awesome in the awestruck sense of the word. 

 

Lamanai ruins in Belize - from fun boat ride, to howler monkeys, to climbing the ruins. It was a very unique day. 

 

Swimming with Stingrays in Grand Cayman - have done this twice and is the one excursion my youngest son has requested to take his friends on for their graduation cruise in 2021. 

[ABCGreys]

Hard to pick just 3!

 

1. Calabaza Catamaran in Barbados. We've done this twice and the second time, chartered the boat for just my family (there were 13 of us, so basically full +1). Amazing service, food, and snorkeling. If we're ever back in Barbados, we'll do it again.

 

2. Helicopter tour in Hilo, Hawaii over the volcano. Gorgeous views especially the lava flow into the ocean.

 

3. Seavis Tours, La Romana DR. Just an all around great day. Speed boat, beach, lunch, mangroves, and starfish. With all the rum punch you can drink!

[mdin]

In no particular order:

 

Orient/Maho Beach tour with Bernard's Tours (2019). It's very well organized with clear instructions of how to find their tent in port. First stop was at Orient Beach where we enjoyed the beautiful waters for 2 hours. Great beach, could have very easily spent all day there. We then took a 30 minute drive to Maho Beach where we spent another 2 hours on the beach watching the planes come in. The surf was rough, but I enjoy it like that and had blast getting tossed around. It was a great experience that I hope to do again someday. 

 

St. Thomas Beach Tour (?) through Carnival (2011). I don't remember the exact name of the excursion, but my wife and I did this tour our first time in St. Thomas and we fell in love with the island. We took an island tour from port on an open air bus up to the top of the mountain overlooking Magen's Bay. Great views and photo op. We descended to Magen's Bay where we spent 2 hours in one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to. After that, we made our way to Blackbeard's castle where at the time was a local rum factory. Several free shots and 4 rum bottle purchases later, we made our way downhill doing a walking tour through different gardens and island homes. We ended up at a bar at the end of our walk where we tried a local cocktail before hopping on the ferry to get back to port. We definitely had a good buzz that day lol. 

 

Grand Turk Snorkel and Beach break also through Carnival (2017 & 2019). We enjoyed it so much the first time we did it again 2 years later. The 3 tour guides do a great job making it a fun, but safe excursion. We never snorkeled before, but it was a great experience. Getting to swim in over beautiful reefs and seeing thousands of colorful fish swimming close by was such a cool experience. 

 

Honorable mention to Thenford Grey's Capitol City Tour and Beach Splash in St. Kitts. Also one of my favorites. 

[ricew001]

4 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

 

 

So NOW.....   What would you rate as your TOP 3 cruise excursions and WHY????

 

 

 

#1 was the Whale Watching in Alaska. Seeing those magnificent creatures jump out of the water touches your soul.

#2 Key West pub crawl - fun way to the see the city

#3 St Kitts Sugar Plantation train - the scenery

 

Close #4 is the Everglades Airboat tour!!!

[DukeASUGirl]

8 minutes ago, ricew001 said:

 

Close #4 is the Everglades Airboat tour!!!

 

I think that one makes my Close #5. It was fun!

[cruizergal70]

#1 has been tour of underground tunnels in Naples, Italy.