St. Kitts info needed

[Wilson]

Okay...the wife talked me out of the April cruise and instead we are spending 5 days in St. Kitts. Remember, happy wife...happy life! Can anyone provide feedback, reviews or suggestions on what we can do or expect on this island? Yes I know, this is a cruise forum, but we have always received reliable info from other posters. Thanx

[KENN101]

WilsonFamilyNRH

 

I may be a little help. I have an office on island, and spend a few months a year in St. Kitts. First of all--the last few years has seen a building boom on island. The Marriott has opened with a full casino. Port Zante has rebuilt after the '98 hurricane, and many ships now are calling on the island.

There is great golf, both on St. Kitts, and Nevis. The airport has been rebuilt and expanded, so International flights now land. The Island has retained it's unspoiled attitude, but is feeling outside pressure to conform to accomadate

the increase in tourists. St. Kitts has not been "spoiled" yet, with the influence of Hard Rock / McDonalds, although Subway has opened, and there is a KFC. It's next to impossable to get a permit to open a mainland type retail location. The island wants to keep its charm and way of life.

If you get the time, a trip out to Spratnet for a fish bake and beer under the stars is a must.

Have a great time.

Ken

[gtaylor]

If you have the time and/or get a chance, hop over to Nevis and visit our friend's new restaurant Coconut Grove.

[Dgonza]

I was in St Kitts on a cruise 2 weeks ago. This was my least favorite port. I will never go to St Kitts again. We went to Frigate bay and spent the day there. In the future I will skip any ship that has a stop here in the intinerary. But that is just my two cents.

[Zeno]

I was in St Kitts on a cruise 2 weeks ago. This was my least favorite port. I will never go to St Kitts again. We went to Frigate bay and spent the day there. In the future I will skip any ship that has a stop here in the intinerary. But that is just my two cents.

 

How odd! Did you have a bad experience at Frigate Bay?

 

For Wilsonfamily:

We have been to St Kitt's on a cruise and then returned to spend a week there. We loved the laid back, real Caribbean atmosphere of the island.

Things not to miss:

Brimstone Hill - UNESCO World Heritage site, a truly impressive restoration of a British fort, spectacular views

Turtle beach: extreme south end of the island, great views of Nevis and some snorkeling. There is a very pleasant,casual beach bar there. The resident monkeys are interesting to watch but keep an eye on your food and drinks (they will steal both and some apparently love alcohol).

[TMull]

I was in St Kitts on a cruise 2 weeks ago. This was my least favorite port. I will never go to St Kitts again. We went to Frigate bay and spent the day there. In the future I will skip any ship that has a stop here in the intinerary. But that is just my two cents.

 

Perhaps this post would be more helpful/useful if it included specific information on exactly what you didn't like. Bad experiences can help folks learn what should be avoided.

[cruisetoscrap]

through princess we did a sail & snorkel excursion and it was very nice. the area right off the boat was a bit disappointing but we didn't have time to really get on the island.

[nutmeggers]

Just wondering if you think the scenic rail trip is worth it?

[gtaylor]

If you have the time and/or get a chance, hop over to Nevis and visit our friend's new restaurant Coconut Grove.

 

Well, we just discovered that our friend's place made the Conde Nast Hot List for Top Tables in the Caribbean. Check it out.

[Northender]

I was on the same sailing as Dgonza. I agree with him. First of our RR tour was cancelled because the "engine broke" Not Princess' fault or anyone that lives in St. Kitts fault either. So a few of us took a tour with the drivers that were available at the dock. I know everyone talks about how beautiful it is, etc. etc. and we were really looking forward to seeing St. Kitts.

We never saw anything beautiful and the driver wanted an extra $5 to show us the big hotels, etc. We all agreed and he took what I would call a drive-by at about 30mph. At that point we told him to take us back to the ship.

[Sayyadina]

The RR broke when we were there at the end of March, too. From what I understand, this is common. I wouldn't go on it.

 

We LOVED St. Kitts. We had decided to go to Brimstone Fortress and a beach. It was raining and about 60 degrees when we were there, so we didn't do the beach.

 

The fortress was spectacular. I can't recommend this highly enough. I cannot imagine trying to fight my way up the sides of that hill to get to the fortress LET ALONE getting into the thing once I got up there. It's amazing. It's a good drive from the pier, but worth it. You go by the bay where Columbus' boats harbored on his 2nd trip this way (which being a history buff kinda moved me) and you get to see some fantastic views.

 

We will definitly go back to St. Kitts.

 

Jody

[Zeno]

I was on the same sailing as Dgonza. I agree with him. First of our RR tour was cancelled because the "engine broke" Not Princess' fault or anyone that lives in St. Kitts fault either. So a few of us took a tour with the drivers that were available at the dock. I know everyone talks about how beautiful it is, etc. etc. and we were really looking forward to seeing St. Kitts.

We never saw anything beautiful and the driver wanted an extra $5 to show us the big hotels, etc. We all agreed and he took what I would call a drive-by at about 30mph. At that point we told him to take us back to the ship.

 

Let's see - you saw - NOTHING beautiful - I can only assume that your driver did NOT take you to Brimstone Hill, Caribelle Batik/Romney Manor or Turtle beach then. I would love to know where he took you.

Also - what big hotels did he take you to? This is VERY odd - since there is only one big hotel on the island. All the others are pretty small.

A few pix of of St. Kitt's

 

http://www.linkdirectory.com/paulillsley/kitts/index.html

[Northender]

Let's see - you saw - NOTHING beautiful - I can only assume that your driver did NOT take you to Brimstone Hill, Caribelle Batik/Romney Manor or Turtle beach then. I would love to know where he took you.

Also - what big hotels did he take you to? This is VERY odd - since there is only one big hotel on the island. All the others are pretty small.

A few pix of of St. Kitt's

 

http://www.linkdirectory.com/paulillsley/kitts/index.html

 

No beach included in the trip. We saw shopping area and he just basically drove around. What big hotels did he take us to - I guess the one you are talking about. Excuse my using the word hotel as a plural, but that was what the driver said he was going to do for the extra $$$$$ each. You are absolutely right - it was ONE hotel and we saw it from a distance.

 

"Let's see - you saw - NOTHING beautiful - ......"

Why are you trying to make me feel like I am making this up. I could not wait to get to St. Kitts. I heard so much about it. I guess it is out there somewhere as shown by your pics. Thank you. That is as close as I will ever get to seeing those nice places, which, by the way, most of the Carib has these "type" of places on the Islands. I guess I am just spoiled by going on excursions that take you places worth seeing. Not people hanging around doorways, passing around a "cigarette", standing in the Street blocking traffic and then running and laughing when the police show up. Nuff said. Too many places to see before repeating an Island. I am sure we will be back one day and get to see YOUR Island.:)

[Zeno]

No beach included in the trip. We saw shopping area and he just basically drove around. What big hotels did he take us to - I guess the one you are talking about. Excuse my using the word hotel as a plural, but that was what the driver said he was going to do for the extra $$$$$ each. You are absolutely right - it was ONE hotel and we saw it from a distance.

 

"Let's see - you saw - NOTHING beautiful - ......"

Why are you trying to make me feel like I am making this up. I could not wait to get to St. Kitts. I heard so much about it. I guess it is out there somewhere as shown by your pics. Thank you. That is as close as I will ever get to seeing those nice places, which, by the way, most of the Carib has these "type" of places on the Islands. I guess I am just spoiled by going on excursions that take you places worth seeing. Not people hanging around doorways, passing around a "cigarette", standing in the Street blocking traffic and then running and laughing when the police show up. Nuff said. Too many places to see before repeating an Island. I am sure we will be back one day and get to see YOUR Island.:)

 

Why would I think you made it up? Frankly I am just amazed that you could not find a tour that would show you the island's beauty spots.

I think you got ripped off BIG TIME by your taxi driver - what you got was in NO way any kind of a St. Kitt's Tour. Next time come to this board or go to a St. Kitt's tourism board and get a list of sites worth seeing. Bring it with you and insist that any tour you take include at least some of those sights.

A short list of my favorites:

Brimstone Hill and Caribelle Batik - easily doable and reasonably priced

Southern Peninsula and Turtle beach with beach time and beach pick-up

To combine the two could be a little pricy - they are at opposite ends of the island.

Out of curiosity - How much did you pay for this "tour" you were given?

[encore]

A short list of my favorites:

Brimstone Hill and Caribelle Batik - easily doable and reasonably priced

Southern Peninsula and Turtle beach with beach time and beach pick-up

To combine the two could be a little pricy - they are at opposite ends of the island.

Out of curiosity - How much did you pay for this "tour" you were given?

 

Could you be so kind to share how much the tour price range would be for each or combined?

 

THanks in advance.

[Zeno]

A tour that includes:

Brimstone Hill - LONG stop (you admission will cost you extra and is WELL worth it) - Minimum 1 hour

Caribelle Batik/Romney Gardens (length of stop depends on your interests - we stopped about 1/2 hour)

the Petroglyphs (brief stop)

Black Rocks (Interesting volcanic rock formations - brief stop for photos)

and basically circles the Northern Peninsula

and should last AT LEAST 3 hours (ours was supposed to be 3 hours and actually lasted nearly 4 hours - we were not charged extra but we were very pleased and tipped extra)

Approximate cost: 80-100 for up to 4 people (more people more expensive ). It could be a little more or a little less. It's been a couple of years since I did this and it was about $60 then.

 

Southeast Peninsula:

Generally most people head to Turtle beach with a couple of stops on the way for photos (There is a GREAT viewpoint on the hill between South Frigate Bay and South Friar's Bay - any good taxi driver will be happy to stop for a few minutes so that you can get some great shots). Your driver will drop you off at Turtle beach and return when you want him to. This will cost about $40-$50 (Per TAXI) RETURN (once again it has been a couple of years - so these prices are approximate). If you want more of a tour, it will cost more (not sure exactly how much since we just went to Turtle beach with a few photo stops).

As you can see combining the two (because they are at opposite ends of the island) can get a bit pricey. The first is a real tour - your driver should give commentary and point out things of interest. The 2nd is more of a simple taxi ride but all the good drivers have no problem stopping for photos and will point out anything of interest as they pass it.

[encore]

Thank you Zeno, this is very helpful! :) :) :)

[Northender]

Zeno, thank you for the tip. The next time we are in St. Kitts we will take your advice. You are right - we did get ripped off. Just remember you said it, I didn't:(

 

I have taken many excursions and remember - I originally was to do the RR tour but ended up in a parking lot with lots of others who were told 45 minutes after our scheduled departure that it was not running.:eek:

 

So, we did what we thought was going to be a tour of St. Kitts, not just the back roads and alleys. These type of places exist everywhere, not just in the Carib but here at home. I just would not pay money to tour them.:rolleyes:

[Cricket63]

Do you know the names of the "GOOD" tour operators? The ones not going to rip you off!!!

I'm sorry that you had a "BAD" experience, hopefully if you ever get back to St. Kitts, you will find a reliable tour company!!