Excursion at every port?

[shmoggy]

My husband would like to see as much as possible on our cruise, that's why we chose one with 6 ports. I'm finding that if we do an excursion in every port x 2 adults and 3 kids...well, that's a lotta cash! Are there any islands out of the following list that we could just go it on our own and be just as happy as we would with an expensive excursion. (We're not planning to use any Carnival excursions, so I know that's somewhat of a money saver.)

 

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Kitts

Antigua

St. Lucia

Dominica

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Ginger

[LHP]

I know it is time consuming, but since you have the time before your cruise...you will get better detailed recommendations from the PORT section of this forum.

 

Just click on the port you are interested in and take notes...then repeat!!

[chitown cruisers]

My husband would like to see as much as possible on our cruise, that's why we chose one with 6 ports. I'm finding that if we do an excursion in every port x 2 adults and 3 kids...well, that's a lotta cash! Are there any islands out of the following list that we could just go it on our own and be just as happy as we would with an expensive excursion. (We're not planning to use any Carnival excursions, so I know that's somewhat of a money saver.)

 

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Kitts

Antigua

St. Lucia

Dominica

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Ginger

-Godfreys tour in St Thomas is a full day tour(GREAT DAY) for a decent price $25/person

 

-We just did 3 islands and made Kitts our walk around relax and souvinir stop.....we had a later breakfast and enjoyed the lido deck pools all by ourselves and then went ashore. It's tough doing 3 or 4 islands let alone 6:eek: ........I'm really recommending making one in the middle a relax day.

 

-for Lucia we did Cosol tours....it was good and bad.....long story short.......80% good 20% bad-but to me the bad reasons were irritating enough to the point where I wouldn't do it again.

[Wennfred]

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Kitts

Antigua

St. Lucia

Dominica

 

Ginger

 

The best deal ever is to hire your own personal cab driver at each port, they will take you to all the same spots that the Cruise Ship is going for alot less.

 

 

Fred

[shmoggy]

-

 

-for Lucia we did Cosol tours....it was good and bad.....long story short.......80% good 20% bad-but to me the bad reasons were irritating enough to the point where I wouldn't do it again.

 

Just curious, what was the bad on Cosol's tour? That was one I was seriously considering so I really would like to hear the good and the bad, if you don't mind. =)

 

Thanks!

Ginger

[JLC@SD]

The best deal ever is to hire your own personal cab driver at each port, they will take you to all the same spots that the Cruise Ship is going for alot less.

 

Fred

 

This is what we do with my brother and his wife.....with four of us it is cheaper and we can avoid the bus and the wait at each stop for people to unload and then reload the bus.

 

We just negotiate with one of the many cab drivers that meet the ship...;)

[chitown cruisers]

Just curious, what was the bad on Cosol's tour? That was one I was seriously considering so I really would like to hear the good and the bad, if you don't mind. =)

 

Thanks!

Ginger

I made several comments in my review and condensed them for another thread, so I'll just cut and paste here for ease. Can't say it's an opinion because I quote his site and then post photos........

 

 

 

There's good and bad with Cosol tour....

 

We too did it just last week and we didn't get to swim by the Pitons...it was a rain issue so I'm not holding that issue against him or the tour....there were a few other things....

 

the post from my review:

 

"Cosol and the guys were friendly, he had reliable transportation, there were great views, good amount of refreshments/local cuisene and you see alot of the island. That alone will be worth it to some people. One lady from our cruise said she thought "it was exceptional".

 

If you booked it because of the description off of his website(what I did)........you'll probably be disappointed.

 

This isn't my opinion.....I quoted his website and posted reality photos.

 

I've done driving tours that lived up to their website description......Cosol's fell way short."

 

 

 

 

 

"Now that I've been home I've had time to look at a few things.....I'm a bit more displeased with the Cosol tour. If you read the description of what should be and compare to what you get........it's not good

 

for example the waterfall.....

 

"Visit Soufriere, the second largest town and swim in the Toraille Waterfall and soak in the exotic fragrences of the Botanical Garden. Leaving the Forest, the road decends into Soufriere, St. Lucia’s first capital. View the brightly colored boats of this quaint area. Situated on the outskirts of the town you will find a breathtaking waterfall amidst a botanical garden with various tropical flowers and plants. Surrounding the waterfall is a pool where you can either relax or indulge in refreshing cool swim.

 

the reality.....................

 

Max at "the waterfall" wait a second...that plant might be the gardens

 

"the waterfall"

 

Max in "the waterfall" LOL

 

Where is he supposed to be able to relax and swim???:confused:

 

 

 

This is my 3rd cruise and 3rd arranged tour(1 each cruise)...........The other 2 delivered as promised. Cosol and the guys were friendly, we had some nice views, nice quantity of refreshments and saw much of the island. I'd do the other 2 tours in a heartbeat.........if Cosol was the only choice for St Lucia.....I'd stay on the ship."

[popcorngal]

Personally, I think you're going to need a vacation from your vacation! A six port itinerary can be exhausting if you let it. I would suggest you decide on one or two things at each port that are "must sees" and go from there. There's no way you're going to be able to go everywhere and see every thing in one visit. You don't want to be too pooped to party!:D