Independent tours: St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan

[lidorose]

I have been checking out the "Ports of Call" boards for these islands, but the information there is almost too much to sift through. Also, I want to know specifically about this topic in relation to Holland America's excursions.I would like to know if the excursions we are looking at through HAL would be available through other, independent companies. If so, which ones? Can they be booked at the docks/town or must we reserve ahead of time? Are they cheaper, better than HAL?

:confused:

 

The excursions we're looking at right now for our 3/16 cruise on the Rotterdam:

 

St. Thomas: "Ultimate Undersea Exploration" - "Travel by open-air safari bus to Coral World, and board the luxury Nautilus semi-sub explorer to venture out to Shark Island."

 

St. Maarten: "St. Maarten Island Drive" - a tour of both sides of the island.

 

San Juan: "Old San Juan Historic Walking Tour" (limited capacity) or "San Juan City Tour."

 

Any other tour recommendations (independent companies) would be welcome, although we are not "beachy" people, so tours involving getting wet probably wouldn't be of interest to us. Also, if any of these islands would be fine to tour without an excursion, please offer input.

Thanks all!

[cru1s1ng]

It has been my experience that the excursions are much less (15 - 20 %) less expensive when when booked independantly. There are risks however: the ship will not wait for non-HAL tours that do not return on time; no refunds for missing a port; etc. There was a 'missing the boat' thread here somewhere. You also run the risk of the tour being sold-out in advance. I'm sure there are more risks. Its a gamble. On the + side, they are less expensive, greater variety and won't be clogged with 1000s of cruise ship people competing for availability.

 

On my upcoming cruise on the maasdam, I have only booked one excursion through HAL (clamshell on HMC). I've had to do a lot of research to make sure the times mesh but other than I haven't had any problems in the past. I'm allowing plenty of time to get to and return from the excursions I've booked.

[yes2sail]

How adventuresome are you? Was in St. Maarten last month. Did a snorkeling trip in the am (with the cruise line). Returned and had plenty of time to explore the shopping district; hire a cab to take us to both sides of the island and return for some appetizers in the harbor before the tender took us back. The islands are relatively small and you can always hire a cab driver. The driver will review the traditional areas of interest which you can accept or expand or delete.

 

St. Thomas has shuttle service into the main shopping area (not the Havensight Mall). Not familiar with the Nautilus thing but there are plenty of cabs to take you to wherever you want to visit. Allow enough time to get back to the dock as the traffic is quite busy.

 

San Juan had free buses thru the old district that allow you to hop on and off. The rain forest tour (via cruise line) was enjoyable. You can get to the fort and do a self tour with the guides they give you. Enjoy

[lidorose]

Thanks, yes2...

 

I would have liked to have done the rain forest @ San Juan, but the excursion is 5 hours long and we are on San Juan from 3 to 10 p.m., so that's a bit awkward with dining times, being on the island after dark, etc. I hadn't heard about the free hop-on/hop-off buses there so that is a great little piece of information and right up our alley! Thanks!

[wwinfl91]

As far as San Juan goes there really isn't any reason to pay the cruise ship for a tour of the old town. It is perfectly doable on your own. There are free buses that you can jump on and off of that will take you from the port to El Morro, the walk is all uphill so the bus is a better option. El Morro and the other fort both close at 5 PM or earlier so if you are interested in them go to them as soon as you can. We missed them on our first visit to San Juan and we arrived there around 4:30 but they had quit admitting people.

 

Here are a couple of links that may help:

 

http://www.gotopuertorico.com/go_cultureHistory.php?language=english&page=55

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanjuan/0323010008.html

 

http://welcome.topuertorico.org/city/sanjuan.shtml

 

Now if you want to go out of the old city, then you may need a tour guide as the taxi drivers seemed pretty aggressive about wanting to do tours.

 

Have a great next cruise.