jmebgiv

On 5/13/2019 at 11:59 PM, Mikial said:

I was just looking for a sense of what activities are offered, and how they structure them timing-wise.  The more you are willing to post the better.

 

Thank you!

Hope those help!!  Sorry for the long delay!

Day 3 - Nassau

Day 2 - Great Stirrup Cay

Hi!  Are you looking for anything specific on them?  I saved them because I had seen your post.  I was on the Sun out of port canaveral to Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau last weekend. I can take pictures

but didn’t know if you wanted details of certain sections!

Craft beer place was Pirate Republic, right on the Main Street. You can see it from the ship and everyone there was super nice. Conch fritter place is on the next corner and is literally a window opening in the wall; look for the line of locals😊 Not sure if these's even a name on the place! If you're leaving the craft beer place go to your left toward Senor Frogs; it's on the next corner. Have a fun time! We did😜

Perfect! Thanks so much!

Found a craft beer bar and a literal hole in the wall down the block with the BEST couch fritters! Just use common sense and stay in well traveled areas and you will be fine.

Highly recommend Mullet Bay, but I don't really have any other beaches in St. Maarten to compare the snorkeling to (St. Lucia's Jalousie Beach was the best snorkeling of our itinerary in my opinion). The beach at Mullet Bay is beautiful and the water is very clear. It is absolutely a great beach for relaxing. And, as noted above, Rosie's has great food and drink - they grill the food right there on the beach and the drinks are super tasty!! We split our day between Mullet Bay and Maho Beach - easy walk between the two. Hope that helps!

I've been on 6 cruises before (all out of Galveston or New Orleans) and never have I felt so stressed about a cruise before this one! Trying to figure out what to do at 5 ports is stressing me out (that and the fact I'm the only veteran cruiser out of my group of 6)

 

My question is any advice what to do at the ports and which port would be the best for just walking around and seeing what you could get yourself into?...no formal excursion

 

Ports are Barbados, st marten, st kitts, st Lucia, st.. Thomas

I just got back from this itinerary (with a group of 8) earlier this month. Here is what we did (I planned it out after reading various reviews on Cruise Critic).

St. Thomas - taxi to Sapphire Beach and then Paradise Point. I think you might be able to walk around and see what to get into at this port. We enjoyed Sapphire Beach, though. It was very low key and relaxed.

Barbados - HIGHLY recommend Calabaza catamaran tour. They only allow 12 people on the boat, so it almost feels like a private tour. Drinks (alcoholic and non), lunch, and several snacks included in the price. It's only $10 pp more than the Carnival, but it feels like you paid a lot more than that on it! Favorite day of the trip.

St. Lucia - did Spencer Ambrose Land, Sea, and Beach tour. Loved the views and the snorkeling at Jalousie Beach (best snorkeling of the trip) and the boat tour portion was great (possibly contributed by the free flowing rum punch ;)). If I went again, I would just do the Beach tour. From what I read on here before the trip, you should have a planned excursion at this port.

St. Kitts - transfer to Cockleshell Beach (Reggae Beach Bar) with Pereira tours, including a stop at Timothy Hill. Enjoyed Cockleshell Beach - get there early if you can! It's probably very possible at this port to walk and see what to do - lots of taxi drivers and tour operators around offering trips at the port.

St. Maarten - taxi to Mullet Bay and then walked over to Maho Beach to experience the planes. Mullet Bay was gorgeous (the most clear water I have seen) and the bar and food stand, Rosie's, makes incredible frozen drinks and freshly grilled food right there. Some excursions (as mentioned above) make a stop here. This is probably a port you could see what to get into also. This was the nicest port in my opinion. There is a water taxi from the port that goes to a very nice shopping area (high end stores) and also beach access. That being said, I still recommend Mullet Bay!

Hope that helps! Enjoy your trip!

Finishing up from yesterday the guys from Calabaza were Sean, Codie and Andrew. They were amazing and a ton of fun. I wouldn't hesitate to come see them again and we agreed we would consider doing this cruise again just to go with them again.

Hey, cinsu! It was nice to meet you and your wife on the Calabaza trip! Our group all agreed that was our best day all around! We went to Cockleshell in St. Kitts - looked like you had great views at Shipwreck too. Enjoying reading your review! - Jamie

Following along - on the Liberty with this itinerary next month!

Following, less than a month to go until our trip on Liberty!!

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to my turn on the Liberty in July! I have a question for you - was tea time listed on the Fun Times? We enjoyed tea time on our last cruise on Elation and I hope to attend tea time again. Thanks for your work in a great review!!

I also booked Gina, partially due to this review. I saw in the roll call you will be on the same sailing as us. Sounds like you have a fun group! Just the 2 of us.

Maybe we will end up on the same boat! I am very excited about this excursion, the first we have booked! Planning to taxi to the beach in St. Thomas & St. Maarten. DH is booking scuba for St. Lucia & St. Kitts. Considering Spencer Ambrose for the rest of us in St. Lucia; no idea for St. Kitts. Can't wait for the cruise!

This day, we had a private catamaran/snorkeling with turtles planned with Calabaza. To sum it up before I get started= AWESOME! Hands down my favorite excursion/day.

Thanks to your recommendation, I just booked an excursion for our group of 8 30 something's with Calabaza for our July trip on Liberty. We can't wait! I am still working on figuring out the other days of our trip, definitely influenced by your report. Your whole review has been great and so helpful. Thanks for all of the time that you spent on it! - Jamie

Holly,

I am new to the CC boards and looking forward to our trip on Liberty in July on the Southern Caribbean itinerary that you did on Valor. This will be our second Carnival Cruise (and third overall cruise), and I think we are hooked! We took our first on Elation in December with family (took my husband's grandmother and aunt on their first cruise) and are looking forward to this trip with friends! Getting ready to delve into your Valor review next to get your perspective on our ports.

Thanks again for a great and thorough review!!

Jamie