Please help on TRINIDAD.

[liverpoollad]

The need for information on Trinidad has been asked before with no replies,also there is nothing in the Ports of Call.

I know that Trinidad is new to Princess but surely someone has now visited there and can give some info., We are in Trinidad in 10 days,and not wanting to do a cruise excursion would like to now if the taxis are ok,is Port of Spain worth walking around etc, or any other tips you have on this island. Please help someone. Thanking you.:confused::)

[teach223]

Just visited Port of Spain and would recommend you do a shore excursion provided by the ship. The city is very crowded and the traffic was terrible.

[PescadoAmarillo]

This is copied from a thread I started on our Sea Princess cruise in December.

 

I mentioned that Port of Spain (POS) Trinidad was the surprise of the trip. We really enjoyed our few hours there. We got together with another couple and did a city tour, as we were not interested in driving long distances to get to any of the sites mentioned in the ship's shore excursion booklet. I highly recommend you contact the Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Tranport Service at 1-808-780-4210 and ask for Router #146, the driver's name is Aleem Mohammed. He is 30s-ish, very professional and personable, and seems most interested in showing you Trinidad and especially Port of Spain in a way that will make you want to move to the island, or at least return for Carnival. We saw the usual Row of Seven (magnificent victorian mansions from the turn of the century), the Queens Park Savanah, the zoo and the botanical gardens, where a local rastafarian named Daniel walked us around and told us all about the plants and trees and the history of each, the uses of the seeds and berries, etc. He was quite good...if you go there and see a man on crutches, that's him. He asks for $5 for a tour; we gave him $10. We saw the President's House, a high lookout, tried to make our way in to the US Embassy (but that's a whole other story), stopped at the Hilton (an upside down hotel) for a bathroom break and saw the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Santo Domingo, and a highlight was a visit to Big Mike's Carnival costume store where we met Big Mike himself and were given a tour of the back room where the beautiful costumes are made. The tour was almost 4 hours long, for $70 for 4 of us.... a real deal. We told Aleem we wanted to customize our tour, not just do the typical, and that's how we ended up doing a few "different" things. At the end of the tour, Aleem stopped at a Khemlani's souvenir shop at 60 Independence Square for souvenirs less than half the price of those at the terminal building.

 

The port itself is very industrial, and the city is big and it was HOT so I do recommend that, if you don't want to so a ship's tour (which are generally to places located an hour to and hour and a half away), you do a taxi tour, and ask for Aleem.

[UKLady]

Thanks JMB410, we were considering spending the day at the beach in this port but your post has certainly given us food for thought. Sounds like a wonderful experience - much better than sitting on a beach all day!

[liverpoollad]

Thanks for the replies. JMB410 I think we will get in touch with Aleem if we can and do a short tour of the North & possibly visit Maracas. How far are the shops from the ship & are they walkable??

[PescadoAmarillo]

There are a few vendor stands in the terminal and right outside of it, but the only other shop we saw was the souvenir shop, and, while from a distance perspective it is probably walkable, you'd have to cross a many laned street to get there, and I'm not sure there were sidewalks. It was also very hot and sunny and there was a lot of traffic. Not sure I'd want to walk it.

[daddowdall]

We were there several years ago, and took a ship's excursion to the bird and butterfly sanctuary, which is about an 90 minute air-conditioned bus ride through the center of the island to a beautiful mountain-top forest preserve. Lunch was included at the preserve. We got back to the ship in time to walk around the city, and we weren't impressed. As mentioned above, this is a mainly industrial port, no nice shopping area, no good restaurants that we could see, no beaches. We all agreed that this is one port where a ship's excursion is the way to go.

[cboyle]

We visited Trinidad in 2000 on the Ocean Princess.

In Trinidad, we worked with Wildways Adventure Tours. I am not sure whether they are still in business because their website (http://www.wildways.org/) is no longer there. You might try this e-mail address: wildways@trinidad.net

Anyway, we hiked to the Petite Marianne Waterfall. That tour usually is a full day and includes Asa Wright Nature Center, but we didn't have that much time and Asa Wright was packed with people on the ship's tours. What we arranged came to $70 US/pp and included a lunch of native foods served at the waterfall after a pleasant swim. This also included 2 guides from Wildways and a local man (for whose services the Wildways guide paid, although we tipped him). This essentially included a tour of the area northeast of the capital. We got to see quite a bit of the mountains and the coast, including the beach where the ship's tour went. Also, it was Carnival when we were there and our guides drove us around Port of Spain so we could see some of that. BTW, this tour would have cost more if we had paid by charge card; we used traveler's checks instead.

 

I should mention that the tour in Trinidad was fairly strenuous. However, there are several routes to the falls, so that can be adjusted to the people doing the hiking. There were only 3 of us, and we are all in good shape.

A lot of people have posted comments on are very negative about Trinidad. On our voyage, a lot of people were upset because it was Carnival --- crowded and noisy. However, my husband and I are originally from New Orleans, and it seemed just like Mardi Gras to us. Going out into the mountains gives an entirely different picture of the country.

[balanceok]

We just got back and spent the short time we had in Trinidad walking around the town and exploring the sites. We did it on our own and enjoyed seeing the city. We also met some very friendly people.

 

The city itself is large, crowded and very busy. Not the most beautiful place, but an interesting cultural adventure.

 

:D

[liverpoollad]

Hi Balanceok. Sorry to trouble you, my wife & I also just like walking about & exploring, what would you advise is worth seeing in the town, and is it worth visiting Frederick Street for the shops. We will probably hire a taxi for a short tour, but it would be nice to have a backup in case we change our minds & a town walkabout would be ideal.

Thanks & regards

[balanceok]

As usual, we picked up a map of town and steered our path to the old churches and parks in the city. We didn't bother with the shopping areas.

 

It was interesting, but I wouldn't rate it very high either. In fact, with the short amount of time spent there, I'm not sure the stop was worth it.

 

Bottom line, it wasn't that memorable. Think busy, congested and not real clean. We were there, had never been there before, so off we went to explore.

 

It is not however, a place I would chose to return to.

 

:D

[liverpoollad]

balanceok. Thanks,it does seem a waste of time stopping in Trinidad.

Trinidad does have it crime problems which also puts people off. I'm glad the stop is only a few hours. BTW Its funny how one sometimes reads the tag I have been reading yours as if you were Polish :D:D !!

[UKLady]

Liverpool lad

 

We are in trinadad on our cruise in 3 weeks. If you remember will you post back and tell us what you did

[balanceok]

balanceok. BTW Its funny how one sometimes reads the tag I have been reading yours as if you were Polish :D:D !!

 

Does "balanceok" have a Polish connotation?

 

:D

[liverpoollad]

No, it just that it sounds Polish if you dont read it as Balance O.K. I was reading as Balan'see'uck. This said I am assuming that balanceok is a tag name & is not your surname.:D:confused:

[CruisenOne]

We stopped in Trinadad three years ago, on an Amazon Cruise, aboard the

Royal Princess.

 

We hired a cab, a great driver. Think that we paid about $50.00 for the day.

 

We went to see the Magnificant Seven houses; driver left us off so we

could walk and take pictures. He followed us down the street.

That night at dinner, our tables mates, who took the tour, were irate.

They just drove by the houses and no chance to take pictures.

I took their addresses and mailed them pictures.

 

We also went to a monastary on top of a hill --

Again, he waited until we wre finished.

 

He then took us on a tour of the city;

then, back to the pier.

[cboyle]

As I posted earlier in this thread, on a previous cruise to Trinidad, my family hiked to the Petite Marianne Waterfall with Wildways Adventure Tours.

 

I finally found out that Wildways has indeed gone out of business. However, one of the owners has started a new tour company called "The Pathmaster." He only lists his multi-day tours on his web site, but I e-mailed and got a list of 1-day tours that include hiking, cycling, and kayaking.

 

We are considering the Paria Waterfall Hike on our January 2007 cruise aboard the Golden Princess. (We are in port for over 9 hours.)

[PescadoAmarillo]

If you look through the thread below, you'll see a specific taxi driver recommendation for Port of Spain from last December. Definitely get away from the port area...there is a lot to see (especially the botanical gardens).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=263149

[chrysalis]

We did the Asa Wright excursion...it is listed in the '1000 Things to do Before You Die" book...we enjoyed it up in the rain forest.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Chrysalis,

Would you give a little description of your trip to Asa Wright in detail.

 

Did you do it off a cruise ship...or by taxi? If it was a cruise ship excursion... which ship were you on? Did it include lunch?

How much did you pay per person?

Did you see a lot of unusal birds?

 

Thanks

CaribbeanCrazy

[chrysalis]

Chrysalis,

Would you give a little description of your trip to Asa Wright in detail.

 

Did you do it off a cruise ship...or by taxi? If it was a cruise ship excursion... which ship were you on? Did it include lunch?

How much did you pay per person?

Did you see a lot of unusal birds?

 

Thanks

CaribbeanCrazy

 

We were on the Sea Princess, and yes, the excursion was a ship's excursion. We were given a light snack and drinks at the Asa Wright centre. I am sorry, but I do not remember what we paid for it. We saw many, many exotic birds.....some extremely close up. Large assortment of humming birds....some unusal aminals, and one boa constrictor up close.

 

Asa Wright has a website...check it out for more details.