Stacey779

So how far in advance do people typically book these aft cabins? DH can't get his leave approved more than 30 days in advance, so we always have to book last minute. I'm thinking we'd be out of luck trying to score an aft cabin. Has anyone ever been able to get one within 30 days of sailing?

pretty confusing -- Jewel of the Seas has no excursion to Veragua for some reason. Lucky tours does not list this excusion on their site, either. Waiting for some email replies. The Veragua site says you have to get a cab from the port, and can't enter without a guide, and wants cc info to secure one -- not anything I want to hand out over the net to a Latin American country/entity. Any chance of picking up a tour at the port?

We booked with Charlie Soto of Okey Dokey tours for the reasons you mentioned. He does have the tour listed on his website. I haven't done the tour yet, so I can't give you a review, but I feel better knowing I have it already booked. I'm not sure how easy it would be to just book at the port.

Hi, Stacey779, For the beach with the waves, we drive north on Seminole road in Atlantic Beach and then east on 18th street. There is parking on the street and a public walkover to the beach.

 

However, we take most of the pictures at the St John's river, just west of the Ferry. To get there, drive east over the Wonderwood bridge. Turn left (north) at the first light after the bridge (A1A). About 0.75 miles down that road is a beach on the left. There are always people fishing.

 

Maybe we will see you there sometime. :)

I know exactly where you're talking about. In fact, we just took the car ferry across the river for the first time last week on our way back from Fernandina. Thanks! :)

Here are some new photos from yesterday's departure. It is taken from the beach this time with the ship entering the Atlantic. We had some awesome waves! :D

 

 

Can you tell me what beach you were at when you got these pictures? We'd love to go out there one day and watch the ship depart. Thanks!

If there's not a taxi waiting at the bar (likely), they should be able to call one for you. Most bars have 'relationships' with taxi drivers.

 

The absolute worst case would be to walk out to the hotel/casino complex there on airport road, a few hundred yards.

 

I, personally, wouldn't want to be tied into a pre-arranged time. I might want to leave earlier or stay later than I originally planned.

 

By the way, I would suggest that you check out Guy's Driftwood Boat Bar on the opposite side of the runway from Sunset.

 

gary

Thanks, Gary. That's great information. I don't really want to have a pre-arranged time for a taxi (for the same reasons you mentioned).

I haven't heard of Guy's Driftwood Boat Bar, but I will definitely check it out. I like their $2 beer special, and I'm sure my husband will too!

We're planning on heading over to Maho as well. Is it easy to get a cab back? Are they waiting for you there or do we need to arrange a pick up time?

We've been to St Maarten twice and both times spent a fortune. The shopping there is very good. We've gotten really good deals on cameras and jewelry. Dont accept their first price offer. Everyone will bargain with you for a better deal.

Very true! It also helps to leave the shop and come back later if you're negotiating on a particular item. They'll give you a better deal if they know you've been around comparison shopping.

For those that have been on this cruise before, are there any ports that have things close enough to the port so that you wouldn't have to book an excursion for every port? This is our first cruise, so we would like to maybe do a little shopping and site seeing at one or two of the ports instead of shore excursions. Which of the ports is best suited for this? We have already booked a tour with Cosol and are thinking about booking with Levi Baron.

St. Thomas and St. Martin are easy to do on your own, especially for shopping. Both have shopping that is walking distance or a cheap taxi away from the pier. In St. Martin you can pay $6 per person for an all day unlimited pass on the water taxi. It drops you right off near shopping and a beach (and is located right there at the cruise pier). Dominica and St. Lucia are good islands to book excursions on because it's hard to do on your own (you'll have an awesome time with Cosol). On Barbados, we walked to the bus station and took a bus over to Paynes Bay for the day. Hope that helps! :)

Thanks Stacey 779. Once you get off the ship, can you provide me with directions to get to Paynes Bay beach via the bus? Appreciate your help.

Well it’s been almost a year since we did this, but if I remember correctly, walk straight out of the cruise terminal and walk along the water (there is a sidewalk and the water will be on your right). I think you’ll be walking about 5-10 minutes. After you pass the Pelican Village shopping center you’ll see the bus terminal on your left. We went to a window at the terminal to get the tokens (they take USD). You can ask the person giving you the tokens which bus to get on. It should say Speightstown I believe. When you get on the bus, just ask the driver if it goes to Paynes Bay and to let you know which stop to get off on. Everyone I talked to was friendly and helpful. Oh, it’s a good idea to grab one of those tourist maps when you’re walking through the cruise terminal on the way off the ship. It will give you a good idea of where you are while you’re traveling on the bus.

When you get to the beach, you have two options. You can swim out to see the turtles yourself (look for the catamarans with the huge tour groups) or you can catch a ride from the vendor on the beach (I think he has a glass bottom boat). We just swam out to see them on our own, but we are strong swimmers, so if you’re not I would reconsider. You might want to bring a floatation device. We also brought our own snorkel gear – I don’t think there is anywhere at the beach to rent it.

On the way back, look for the bus that says Bridgetown (and remember they drive on the opposite side of the road, so make sure you’re waiting on the correct side). You can also take a taxi to or from the beach, but of course that will cost you more (I’m not sure how much).

One other thing to remember, there are two types of buses. There are privately-owned mini buses, and then there are the government buses. The government bus is the one you’ll be boarding at the terminal. These buses are primarily blue with yellow stripes. The private ones looked a little bit smaller and I think are primarily yellow. I think you can ride either, but we took the government bus both ways (I don’t know if the private buses will take the tokens).

I hope I’m not making this sound too complicated, because it really wasn’t. I’m just trying to be thorough. I'd also recommend checking out the Barbados board here on CC, and the Barbados transport board website for more info about routes, rates, and to see pictures of the buses: http://www.transportboard.com/index.php

Have a great time! :)

What did you do on Barbados. Still having a hard time trying to plan something for this island. Currently have activities planned for the other islands but just can't seem to nail down what to do on Barbados. So much to choose from.:)

We took a bus over to Paynes Bay Beach and swam out to where the sea turtles are. We brought our own snorkel equipment. The whole day cost us less than $5! I would do it again in a heartbeat. Wish I was there now... :)

do you know if they sell beer at that duty-free?

When we were there last December they didn't sell beer there. Not sure if it's changed recently.

We had a great time on this cruise last December! It's very port intensive but as long as you budget time to relax I don't think that's a problem. Here's a picture of the Victory docked in St. Lucia. I took this while we were on Cosol's island tour:

You will be happy with Papa Bear and Air Force one!!

I second that! We had a great time with Papa Bear in December and would highly recommend him! :D

Here's the link to his website: http://www.havefunwithus.net/

The cruises we have been on, we usually booked through the ship or just wandered around by ourselves.

we used to only book through the ship as well. then i found cruise critic and started booking independently. what a difference! we will never book through the ship again. not only do we save some money, but the quality of the tours is so much better. have fun on your trip! :)

7 days to go for me. You could say I am "on deck." :D

 

The ports of call section is indeed filled with invaluable info. I am not sure what interests you, but based upon what I have read these are popular tours and ones I have actually done:

 

St. Lucia- Cosol's Tour

Barbados- Silver Moon Catamaran snorkle with the turtles (there are a few companies that do this tour

St. Thomas-Airforce 1 (Papa Bear)- island tour and Coki Beach (you actually get your choice of beach)

Antigua- Eli's Circumnav Tour (they also have an Eco Tour which is popular)

Dominica- Bumping Tour

 

All of these you will find in the ports of call section and if you do a google or yahoo search, you should find their actually websites.

 

Happy Cruising

I will definitely second the recommendations for both Cosol's tour on St. Lucia and Papa Bear's tour on St. Thomas. On Dominica we actually did the river tubing, which was awesome! Happy planning! :D

There are two main bus terminals in St. Johns. All of St. Johns is walkable. Online resources indicate that hotels keep bus schedules. Presumably one could obtain one at the main terminal adjacent the city market.

 

Nelson's Dockyard is immediately adjacent and part of English Harbor which is also adjacent the more spread out community of Falmouth (on Falmouth Bay). These two areas make up one of the more significant communities on the island. I would be amazed if regular bus service wasn't available. (I was there two weeks ago and I noted a bus stop with folks waiting in English Harbor; service may be intermittant)

 

Using the bus service and trekking to the market and bus terminal in St. Johns would give you a good view of community life in Antigua as well as a nice drive through the island regardless of which of two route the bus might take (Jolly Harbor-Curtain Bluff - Fig Tree Drive) or (All Saints - Tyrell). The Dockyard is worth the visit, feel free to relax at the Copper and Lumber Store Hotel or buy a drink at the Admiral's Inn within the Dockyard. The locals are nice but often quiet; don't conclude that you're not welcome to enter these places. The historic ambiance is great.

 

If you are a bit adventurous this would be a nice day, but you'd want to get an early start in order to get the proper bus info and have adequate time margins. Be prepared to potentially walk up to 1/2 mile or so at each end. Antiguans are friendly, don't hesitate to ask for directions.

 

If there is bus service to Shirley Heights overlooking English Harbor, this is the island's best view (there's a restaurant there too). Whether you could work this in using public transit or not, English Harbor and the Dockyard are worth the visit and certainly the best day trip for those not obsessed with beaches.

Thanks so much for your detailed response! This is exactly what I was looking for. :)

I know there are several threads on public buses in Antigua on this board, but I haven't seen any that tell you if you can get to Nelson's Dockyard using the bus system. Does anyone know if they have a stop at Nelson's? If so, do you have specific directions on how we would get there (bus # or route)?

I know we could book a tour and go there, but I think we're just going to wing it when we get to Antigua and either go to Nelson's Dockyard or a beach. I know we can get to the beaches using the bus, but I'm just not sure about the dockyard. I've tried to look this up using Google but I haven't had any luck. Thanks in advance! :D

Do you need reservations to do the tour, or do you just show up?