7 Night eastern Caribbean excursions

[ljs7]

Any suggestions for excursions for the 7 night eastern caribbean cruise?

[ducklite]

We took the excursion that took us to Blackbeards Castle and really liked it.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

We also did Blackbeards castle tour and liked it.

Also we liked going to St. Johns n the ferry and doing the Eco hike. That was alot of fun and educational too.

 

Both stops have islands tours we have done and both were quite good and you will have some great scenic views.

 

If you have young kids the butterfly farm is a great tour.

 

Suggestions for any tour:

 

Take your own bottle of water.

water is expensive on the islands and not often but a couple of times I have read where street vendors have found empty bottles, washed them, filled with tap water and sold to tourists for $1 a bottle. As they hand it to you they open it so you wont know it wasnt sealed. So take your own.

 

 

Restrooms:

some are ok, others are not up to our standards. So I always take travel size toilet seat covers, toilet paper and hand sanitizer in my bag. Public restrooms are often out of these items. Casinos have the cleanest restrooms. Some restrooms have an attendant who will want a tip for you to use the bathroom. Mostly in the shopping areas,not on tours.

 

Take small bills for purchases. Many will say they dont have change for 20's or more until you are spending almost the entire 20. Many shops wont take a credit card unless you spend $25 or more.

 

Call your credit card sompany before you cruise and tell them where you might be making purchases or they may decline your purchase until they call them which takes for ever.

[ducklite]

I need to add that there are a number of stairs on the Blackbeards Castle tour, and it's not really suitable if you've got a stroller with you.

[williamson_ja]

We did private tours for our Eastern and found it was a much better deal than going through DCL. For St. Martin, we did a tour with Bernard's tours. It was amazing! We went to Maho beach (where the airplanes come right over your head), toured around the fancy areas of town with the big houses, hung out at one of the nicer beaches for a couple of hours, went shopping, saw some forts, stopped somewhere to hold a sea urchin and starfish, etc. It was only $40 and included soda and some rum punch. The guides are amazing and tell you all kinds of interesting facts about the island. Highly recommended!

 

For St. Thomas, we did a discover scuba dive at Coki beach. You can take a cab there for about $10. Once at the beach, we hired a private company for the scuba. The diving there is just so amazing! We saw thousands of fish the second we entered the water. You can also snorkel here and if you have your own equipment, it would be extremely cheap. I couldn't believe how much we saw there! There was a small octopus, thousands of different fish, eel, a baracuda in the distance, and everything was so colorful! My dh and I agreed that this was the highlight of our trip. If you want information about the company we used, you can email me privately.

[MojitoMrs]

We did the Doubloon in St. Thomas - a "pirate" ship snorkeling adventure. It was awesome. The crew was fabulous, the snorkeling great, and the drinks on the way back were tasty, too! Very fun excursion. We had 2 ten year olds and a five year old along, and all loved it! Just did the Bimini Breeze this past Easter, too - owned by the same company, I believe, and also fun. (Yet the snorkeling was not quite as good.)

 

In St. Martin, we did Orient Beach on our own, which is very easy to do! Lots to do at Orient - boogie boarding, etc... a beautiful beach. (Please note that even though there is a family friendly section, this is a "clothing optional" beach. First cruise stop there, saw only 1 person w/o a suit, this past Easter week, saw several more. Just told the kids that this is a cultural thing and not to make a big deal of it.

[DisneyFamilyof4]

 

In St. Martin, we did Orient Beach on our own, which is very easy to do! Lots to do at Orient - boogie boarding, etc... a beautiful beach. (Please note that even though there is a family friendly section, this is a "clothing optional" beach. First cruise stop there, saw only 1 person w/o a suit, this past Easter week, saw several more. Just told the kids that this is a cultural thing and not to make a big deal of it.

 

Which area did you go to on your own in the "family friendly section"? I have read a lot of opinions about Le String being a great place to get a chair, but didn't know if it was family friendly. Also, do you bring your own towels from the ship or how does that work? Can you tell this is my first cruise?? LOL (well, I was on a princess one 8 years back with just my hubby and I... seems more complicated with kids!! They are 10 and 12). Oh, and where do you put your $ when you are swimming in the ocean or doing fun activities?? I am going to take a bag ashore, of course, so didn't know if I should just stuff it down at the bottom or what to do :confused: Thanks so much and sorry for all the questions!! We are going on the Disney Magic Eastern on Nov. 6 :)

[Tony20]

I LOVED the America's cup regatta in St. Maarten. Not really for small children, but if you like a sailing adventure, it is very cool. We're doing it again this fall.

[RoadTripFanatic]

I LOVED the America's cup regatta in St. Maarten. Not really for small children, but if you like a sailing adventure, it is very cool. We're doing it again this fall.

 

We did this on our honeymoon and loved it!! It's one of my all time favorite excursions! I will agree it is not good for small children (or some larger children). It was a lot of work but fun!

 

I'm a big fan of going to Trunk Bay at St. John. We just take a taxi to the Red Hook Ferry and go over for the day. :)