Southern Caribbean Shore Excursions...

[doggfan7]

What do you guys recommend doing at the following places that are INEXPENSIVE. Here's where qwe are going and what we are currently planning on doing:

 

San Juan - Plan on doing an independent tour of Old San Juan

 

St. Thomas - Besides St. John's

 

St. Maarten - Hire a taxi at the cab to give us a tour.

 

Antigua - NO IDEA, Help Please

 

St. Lucia - The Pirates of the Caribbean Shore Ex.

 

Barbados - No IDEA

 

Curacao - Taxi Tour

 

Aruba - Advice?

[Guest]

Here's some suggestions to consider:

 

Antigua>>> Has 365 beaches (one for each day of the year), or Nelson's Dockyard for something historic

 

Barbados>>>Stay away from Bridgetown proper, However, maybe a tour of one of the rum factories?? Mount Gay for example

 

Curacao>>>Instead of a taxi tour walk across the floating bridge into the Punda section of the city. Some interesting shops, cafes, markets, etc. Ft. Amsterdam is nothing special however.

[elaineb]

Hello -

We're doing AOS in July. For St. Thomas, we booked Godfrey Tours - www.godfreytoursvi.com. For $20 a person (kids were half), he will take you 2 hours shopping, 2 hours of an island tour (including Mountain Top) and 2 hours will drop you off on beach of your choice - Megan's Bay, Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach.

St. Martin - If you don't mind seeing a little nudity, Orient Beach is fabulous. Have the taxi driver give you a little island tour then drop you at the beach and arrange a pickup time. If you don't like the beach, try the French town of Marigot. The shopping in Fredericksburg is great - some better prices than St. Thomas.

As for the pirate ship tour in Antigua, the one on Barbados gets better ratings on the Ports of Call. Antigua has a Sandals - you can get a day pass for $50 each. Or just take a taxi to one of the fabulous beaches.

Have a great trip.

 

Nordic Empress 3/01

Carnival Triumph 4/02

Fascination 8/03

Adventure of the Seas 7/04

[birdyhunter]

I blieve the day pass to Sandals is now $100, saw that on another post. We're going to go to Pineapple Beach for the day (antigua). I've seen good reviews on the board about it. Here is their web site:

 

http://www.allegroantigua.com/index.php

 

RCL Adventure of the Seas July 4, 2004

 

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Carnival Destiny 7/01

Carnival Pride 7/02

 

[birdyhunter]

I forgot in St Thomas consider going to Trunk Bay on the Island of St. John. It was just on the Travel channel as one of Americas best beaches. It is beautiful. Do it on your own. Catch a cab to Redhook Ferry. Take it to St. John and catch a cab to Trunk Bay (US National Park). There are showers and change facilities. They also rent snorkle gear (very nice there). Also have a snack bar. You will get more time at the beach this way versus the ship excursion. Make sure you arrange for the cab driver to pick you up at Trunk Bay for the return trip.

 

RCL Adventure of the Seas July 4, 2004

 

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Carnival Destiny 7/01

Carnival Pride 7/02

 

[staylor]

The ship's excursion, Kayak Adventure, was a blast in Antigua. It combines kakaking, motor boating, snorkeling and a short hike. It was the Eco tour, fun and educational. The couple that run the tour are awesome!

 

www.antiguapaddles.com

 

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Ecstasy 1996, Fantasy 1997,1998,1999, Imagination 2000, Sovereign 2001, Fantasy 2002, Monarch 2003, Serenade 2004

[FinelyCruising]

The trip to St John's is well worth it but between the taxis to the ferry and the ferry fares and the taxis after the ferry and then do it all in reverse and the entrance fees to Trunk Bay, a bite to eat and who knows what else it can start to add up and is not what I would consider and inexpensive excurion. There was three of us and we ended up spending almost $100.00 for this. But for sure it is a must see and do. There is nothing like it and it was the highlight of our trip.

 

Aruba has so many fish a snorkel trip may be worthwhile. We have been there twice and snorkeled at DePalm this last time. Next time I think I want to snorkel by ther shipwreck Atilla. Have heard that is good. The ebst was the 4x4 Adventure! Not an economy excurion, but great fun and well worth it. You do stop at DePalm at the end for a well needed cool down dip and rinse after all the hot sund and sand the vehicles kick up.

 

Haven't been to Antiqua or Barbados in a while. If I were ot go back I would need to research what is available. Did an eco-tour on Antiqua and it was not good didn't see a darn thing, and did the Caves in Barbados which were just ok, there are better caves in many other places, and a beach stop which was just ok too. So for these two I can't offer much info or help.

 

Have a great trip. Planning is half the fun!

 

St Maarten, if you like to shop this is the place. Jewery stores one after another, some cosmetics, the is a Longchamp store with incredible prices for the fold up bags, very cute beachside bars and eats, magnificent waters. Will cost you nothing except what you want to buy.

 

Curacao is a good walking stop for a bit of exercise if you have been overindulging. (Imagine!) There are a few interesting things to see as you go along, the flotating bridge being the most recongnizable. There is also a portion of the waterway where there is boat after boat after boat of fresh fish which then becomes a bazaar for fresh vegetables, one after another after another of stands filled with produce. Quite an interesting market and a different sight to see. My two cents is take the walk around, get the exercize and go back to the ship and relax.

[skigirl]

We did the taix thing in Anitgua - found a taxi driver in the morning named Christopher John and he took us to Nelson's Dockyard and Shirley Heights in the morning and to a beach in the afternoon. We really enjoyed it all, and he made the visit a wonderful experience for us.There are lots of taxi drivers and they seem willing to customize tours for you if you have some idea of what you want to do.

[Jabbermom]

We did Eli's Adventure Antigua tour which was awesome.

 

In Barbados we did a snorkeling tour with turtles and shipwrecks through Thriller Tours.

 

In St. Lucia we did the Fond Doux Plantation tour.

 

Went to Trunk Bay on St. Johns and Dawn Beach in St. Marten.

[i-m-ed]

How was the snorkeling tour with turtles and shipwrecks? We had it booked but cancelled at the last minute. We didn't have a problem getting a refund because of a huge waiting list for the tour.

[babs275]

Jabbermom

 

Could you tell me about the Thriller Ocean Tours? We have them booked (but not prepaid) and just want to make sure it's a good tour.

 

Barb

 

AOS May 2nd Conga Line Website

 

Adventure of the Seas - 25th Anniversary Cruise!

 

Paradise June 13,2004

 

 Till my baby girl comes home from So. Africa!

 

[OCruisers]

doggfan7 .... If you have not already, you might enjoy going to the ports section The_PORTS_OF_CALL_BOARD and checking under EACH of your port stops.

 

It's always fun to read what other cruisers have done!

 

Happy Sailing!

[Tra4]

Tiami Catamarran in Barbados. Book on your own for the longer tour with lunch. Its a great time.

 

Tracey

 

Until we cruise again. . . . . .

 

Premier Oceanic-Bahamas, 2/89

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Radiance-Hawaii,10/2001

Adventure-South. Car. 7/2002

Brilliance-Panama Canal 12/2003 "Happy New Year!"

Mariner-East. Carib. 6/2004

[Grandma Dazzles]

Barbados and Aruba are both islands where you can hire a cab driver for an island tour. Try looking on line first at their respective tourist office boards to get an idea of what you would like to see.

 

Aruba's high rise hotel area has beautiful beaches (public). It's called Palm Beach. Ask a cab driver or bus to drop you off around Holiday Inn - that's pretty central. Cab fare isn't too much from downtown - around $8 I think. Local buses are excellent and cheap, around $1. Bus terminal is right across from where cruise ship docks. The "far side" of the island is beautiful, well worth seeing, but you need a jeep or similar vehicle. There are tours available. Definitely recommend, if you want to spend the money. Downtown, right where the cruise ship stops, is very pretty, clean, shopping's not the cheapest in the Caribbean, but there's lots of it.

 

Barbados - stay away from the town center, Bridgeport - unless you just want to take some pictures. It's very congested with traffic and people - not particularly interesting. West side of the island has beautiful, flat beaches, calm sea, rows of hotels, condos, etc. South side, St. Lawrence Gap area, beaches also beautiful, ocean is rougher, more restaurants, nightlife, etc. Bathsheba on the other side of the island (east, I think) is very rocky but picturesque. They do not recommend swimming there. Harrison's Caves and the Monkey Zoo are okay, if you want to spend the money.

 

We have visited both islands on cruises and also on extended vacations. Both islands are clean, safe and have great people. Neither one is particularly cheap, if you are used to Jamaica or Mexico. Hope that helps.

[Jabbermom]

We enjoyed the Thriller Tours. We left at noon and first headed to the sea turtles. There were other boats also there, but we saw lots of turtles. Got a picture of my husband touching one. Then we headed for the shipwreck snorkeling spots. There were 2 wrecks to view. Next we headed for a beach where we had about 45 minutes of swimming. The beaches are gorgeous in Barbados. We were back a little after 3. You had to take a shuttle into town, which was only $1.00 in the am. Think we paid $2.00 a piece for a taxi going back to the pier.

[cruiseingjenny]

Hi there

 

My husband and I just came back from a cruise. In Barbados we chose to take an independent tour. We had heard of a company Glory Tours from a friend of ours. WOW was it the best choice we could have made. Not only did we by pass all the long lines of those who had chosen to do cruise ship excursions but we had a wonderful time. Ricky was our tour guide and he kept us entertained all day with some very interesting stories from the Islands History. We visited Harrison’s Cave, Orchids World, St Johns Church (what a view) Bathsheba had a great lunch and then went a reserve and lad a great laugh at the islands green monkeys but there was much more to see at the Wild life reserve and we totally enjoyed ourselves

Glory Tours