Justabitoff

Trying to decide between snorkeling on St. Thomas or snorkeling on St. Kitts. We don't want to do it on both places. Which is better?

Some people were saying they were getting back to Tortola and 1pm... If we did that (hypothetically) what would we have time for before returning to the ship at 4:30? 3.5 hrs seems like plenty of time to sit on the beach for a bit.

I guess I need to research more about the Baths since I'm not sure I follow why they take so long to see.

I have been researching. For quite awhile. And I've determined that you can snorkel, hang out on the beach, take an island tour, on every Caribbean island. Obviously some islands, like Dominica, are more obviously unique. I thought this particular board would be helpful in receiving feedback about how the islands compare to each other. Apparently not...

Our port stop is from 8-5, and I was wondering if there's time to do the baths (seems to be high on everyone's list) and something else, maybe the beach for a couple hours. Is that doable? Which beach would make sense?

For our upcoming cruise, we want to keep things pretty varied. Basically, we don't want to spend 5 days snorkeling in 5 different ports, but we also don't want to miss out on snorkeling in the best spot. We're 99% sure we're doing the Celebrity Cruise through the Southern Caribbean, so these are our stops:

Embarking/disembarking from San Juan

Tortola, BVI

Dominica

Martinique

St. Kitts

St. Thomas

What's the don't miss attraction on each of these islands? What's the best of the best?

Our port days seem pretty long at 8-5pm. Our wish list includes: snorkeling, hanging out on the beach, hiking, rum distillery, zip lining and maybe another historical /cultural site or two depending on what's recommended. We don't really want to go shopping. We don't mind making a quick stroll through town after an excursion, but that won't be our main activity.

Thanks in advance!

First time cruiser, first time poster!

My husband (32) and I (30) are planning a Southern Caribbean cruise for next spring, but we're still debating which cruise because we're not sure which ports we want to do. Overall we'd like a mix of activities... some beach/snorkeling, some jungle/hiking/kayaking, some history/sight-seeing. We'd like to go to the best islands and do the activity that is best suited for that island.

My husband says he really wants to go to Martinique because he has his Masters in Volcanology (did his thesis on Montserrat), but I'm having trouble finding a lot of info about it. I've seen good reviews about Barbados and Dominica, but all three of those islands don't seem to be on the same cruise itinerary, which means we'd have to choose.

Here are few itineraries that we're pondering --

RCL Adventure of the Seas:

San Juan

St. Croix

St. Kitts

St. Martin

Dominica

Barbados

RCL Adventure of the Seas:

San Juan

St. Croix

St. Kitts

St. Martin

Martinique

Barbados

(so this would be St. Kitts instead of Grenada)

Celebrity Summit

San Juan

Tortola, BVI

Dominica

Martinique

St. Kitts

St. Thomas

(Tortola instead of St. Croix, and St. Thomas instead of Barbados)

If Barbados is not worth it, we'd probably go with Celebrity, but if Barbados is an island that we shouldn't miss, then we'll have to decide between St. Kitts or Grenada.

As I mentioned, we'd like to do a little of everything... we'd like at least one port to snorkel, one port to do some wilderness/jungle hiking, maybe one port to do zip-lining (I've never done that before). We're purposefully avoiding the private islands of Western and Eastern Caribbean itineraries so that we can hopefully experience some real culture, although understandably if we're on a cruise, it will be more sanitized than if we were backpacking through the jungles. We're not partiers, and I don't think entertainment is a priority either. I imagine we'll be sitting by the pool reading. So if you're looking at our itinerary and thinking, no no no, you're doing it all wrong, please tell us which cruise you think might be better.