Excursions vs. Wandering Around

[USCcruisecrazy]

40 minutes ago, Unicorn and Rainbows said:

If you can get yourselves to Champagne beach in Dominica, and you like to snorkel, you'll love it. Definitely a cab ride away. My favorite out of the five islands I visited at Christmastime. A great selection of fish, and coral, and the warm gas bubbles coming for the volcanic seabed were so fun. It's a somewhat rocky entrance into the (beautiful) water so water shoes, if you have them.

Thanks.  My beautiful bride does not like to snorkel off a boat...one too many bad experiences, so off the beach is a must...and so are water shoes! 🙂 

[USCcruisecrazy]

14 hours ago, sunsetme said:

Bonaire has a ferry to Little Bonaire where there is walk in snorkeling, very easy to get there.

That sounds interesting.  Do you know if Princess actually does an excursion to there, just in case we have to do a ship excursion?  Appreciate the words.

[chrysalis]

11 minutes ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

That sounds interesting.  Do you know if Princess actually does an excursion to there, just in case we have to do a ship excursion?  Appreciate the words.

yes....Princess does have an excursion go Little Bonaire (Klein Bonaire)....it is a shuttle boat that takes you right from the pier, and to the beach on the island (marine reserve). We have probably taken it over 15 times. The shuttle staff set up a tent on the beach with guide books about fish and birds, and give you water or rum punch. The snorkeling is right from the beach (staff will explain to you where and how) but the current drifts you right past the coral and the tons of various fish.

[USCcruisecrazy]

3 minutes ago, chrysalis said:

yes....Princess does have an excursion go Little Bonaire (Klein Bonaire)....it is a shuttle boat that takes you right from the pier, and to the beach on the island (marine reserve). We have probably taken it over 15 times. The shuttle staff set up a tent on the beach with guide books about fish and birds, and give you water or rum punch. The snorkeling is right from the beach (staff will explain to you where and how) but the current drifts you right past the coral and the tons of various fish.

Awesome!!!  Much appreciated.

[luv2travel06]

On 2/2/2022 at 10:58 AM, USCcruisecrazy said:

We are going on our first Southern Caribbean cruise so we have 4 new ports to explore.  We really don't want to do Excursions for all 4 locations, so I'm trying to get feedback from folks that have been to all 4 locations.  The stops are:  Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire, and Curacao.  Which are best for Excursions and which are good for wandering around the port to shop, eat, drink, or take in sites near the port?  If you recommend that port for an Excursion please provide one of your favorites.  Thanks in advance.

You can walk to Fort George in Grenada,  also walk through the tunnel over to Wharf Rd and walk along the inner harbor there. One time we did a beach trip to the Radisson, I believe.

 

There are walking tours for Willemstad, Curacao online. If you look at the maps there, you will get the lay of the land. Once, we did an inexpensive harbor tour through the Maritime Museum. Not sure if they still offer that, but you can check out the museum either way.

 

Our first time to Bonaire we did a tour with Bonaire Vista Tours: https://m.b-productions.vpweb.com/Island-Tour.html    Wonderful people!! You can also rent a golf cart on Bonaire. Or do a day pass at Plaza Beach Resort.

 

If it is your first time to Dominica, you may want to do a tour there.

Edited February 5, 2022 by luv2travel06
spelling

[555]

On 2/3/2022 at 7:58 PM, ontheweb said:

a reasonable price.

I've to quite a few churches and have never been asked to pay an entrance fee. Donations yes, but not a fee to enter.

It seems like a ripoff, especially when you can view most of the synagogue photo's online. 

I didn't see people lining up to get in. 😄

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, 555 said:

I've to quite a few churches and have never been asked to pay an entrance fee. Donations yes, but not a fee to enter.

It seems like a ripoff, especially when you can view most of the synagogue photo's online. 

I didn't see people lining up to get in. 😄

I will agree that free is more common and better than paying. But $10 is not unreasonable, and you can vote with your feet not to pay it if you do think it is unreasonable.

 

There are other examples of charging a fee. On our first cruise (2002) our last stop was in Valletta, Malta. There was a church there that charged a fee because of a famous painting there, The Beheading of St. John the Baptist by Caravaggio. My art teacher DW insisted we go there. I had nightmares after seeing that painting.😒

[Potstech]

In December, Dominica only allowed ships excursions in order to leave the pier.

[MountainEER74]

On 2/2/2022 at 12:05 PM, beach_fever_4ever said:

Bonaire - the best snorkeling/diving in the Caribbean, IMHO - we booked snorkeling with Woodwind, a 1st class tour company.

 

I agree on Woodwind. We had a great time with that outfit.

[Thrak]

In Curacao we just wandered around. While we failed to sample the local liqueur we did sample the local beer. Apparently Montana is the name of the owner and, despite the mountain images, has nothing to do with the state in the US. (At least that's what the guy serving the beer told us. He was actually a bit "snippy" about it.)

 

 

[Potstech]

We took the tour to the curaçao distillery and got to sample some of their product.  Did not know it was made from a specific type of orange. 

[back to the islands]

The snorkeling on Dominica was just ok to me except for the champagne bubbles which is only a very small part of the reef. The reef was much healthier in Bonaire and there were lots more fish. We did take a princess tour on a boat in Bonaire due to my covid fears in December, but lots of people rave about the drift snorkel on Klein Bonaire from its beach or the golf carts. In Dominica we had to do a ship's tour. I snorkel everywhere I get the chance and signed up for the champagne snorkel. It was canceled so I went with the all day tour with wacky rollers through the ship. It was a very long day, but I loved seeing so much of the island. It is gorgeous from high on the mountains looking out to sea. We visited Trafalgar Falls (my husband said it was the widow maker hike and I was trying to kill him after his hip surgery 90 days prior 😂), Titou Gorge (very cool, swim in a cold water river in a cave where part of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed), Emerald Falls (just ok), lunch at a small B&B, and snorkeling the champagne reef. I do not like all day tours, but I did enjoy it. There are other tours there and English is their primary language if you decide to walk around AND covid restrictions are removed.