Southern Caribbean Shore Excursions. Help!

[Getmeouttaher]

My husband and I are cruising at the end of May and stopping at 5 ports which is awesome but gets expensive very quickly! We've never been to any of the locations before and would love some advice on which ports to book excursions and which ports we can find a cheaper option on our own. We're visiting: St Thomas, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados. Also, if you've done an amazing shore excursion on one of these islands let me know which one. There is so much information out there and I'm feeling overwhelmed!

[CntPAcruiser]

We've visited these ports at one time or another, St Thomas multiple times. Lots of information is available on the individual port of call forums, of course. You may know already that trying to do something in each port is a surefire way to wear yourselves out on vacation. We made that mistake some years ago on our first five-stop cruise, and now we know to take a break and have some slow days built in.

 

For us, St. Thomas is a shopping day or slow day. You can walk to the city/shopping area from some of the piers. But it can be a good beach stop, too. St. Thomas tends to be more expensive, like most U.S. territories.

 

On St. Kitts, if you are feeling adventurous, Royston is our go-to tour guide. He has a somewhat rickety older van with the windows popped out and a cooler full of local beer and sodas. He only takes around 6-8 people, so the tour can be customized depending on whether you want to see more beaches, swim, etc., but he goes to the major stops like Brimstone Fortress and Romney Manor/batik factory, as well as some beautiful outlooks. There are also more conventional tours on St. Kitts that are highly recommended, and most are quite reasonable (Royston was $45 including a light lunch).

 

We used Lawrence of Antigua, who was reasonable in price, hit the highlights and then some, and overall did a good job. There are a number of historical sites, if that is your thing, as well as rainforest and beaches. He was $40 (or $50 with beach time).

 

On St. Lucia, we used Serenity Island Tours, which we very much enjoyed. We were made to feel very welcome and were escorted the whole time, including the sulfur springs and waterfall. It was to have been a small group tour and ended up being just two couples, so it was very private. This tour included a buffet lunch and was well worth the $80.

 

[cruising_kelly]

I am booked on this same cruise and am having a hard time narrowing down excursions!

 

Booked with Spencer Ambrose on St. Lucia so we can see the Pitons and mud baths... Island Tour with Sunny Liston for St. Thomas... Buddy Adventure (through the ship) in Antigua, St. Kitts we are still unsure of!