recommended shore excursions in the Caribbean?

[drcjvh]

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are going on the Amsterdam cruise to the Caribbean on Dec. 27 and would like you advice concerning the shore excursions offered by HAL. The ports are as follows:

Philipsburg (St. Maarten)

Castries, St. Lucia

Bridgetown, Barbados

Fort-de-France, Martinique

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

 

Thanks very much!

[tcook052]

:confused: Wouldn't those questions be better asked on the individual port of call forums for each destination? Many of the tour companies in each destination supply more than one cruise line so you can get answers from more than HAL cruisers on those forums.

[Oviedo32765]

Here's the link to the Caribbean boards.

[BlackJack2]

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are going on the Amsterdam cruise to the Caribbean on Dec. 27 and would like you advice concerning the shore excursions offered by HAL. The ports are as follows:

Philipsburg (St. Maarten)

Castries, St. Lucia

Bridgetown, Barbados

Fort-de-France, Martinique

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

 

Thanks very much!

 

We are on the same cruise as you. We can't wait!! We currently have a roll call going "20 Dec 2011 - 7 Day, 10 Day and 17 Day EASTERN & WAYFARER HOLIDAY (Combined threads)" on the Amsterdam Roll Call Page. Join us on our roll call!

[cb at sea]

What sort of things do you enjoy? Do you want something very active, or passive? Water or dry land? Shopping? Beaches? What?

[blueguy48]

:confused: Wouldn't those questions be better asked on the individual port of call forums for each destination? Many of the tour companies in each destination supply more than one cruise line so you can get answers from more than HAL cruisers on those forums.

We did a b2b last March and my DW and I tried to do as much on the water as possible. On Barbados I would recommend the Turtle Encounter, on St Maarten, the Americas Cup Regatta, and on St Lucia, the Catamaran to Font Doux Estate,Castries to Soufriere. All were amazing and did not disappoint. That is us, and your mileage may vary.

[artnak]

Like food, excursions are very subjective. So here goes …

Excursions I've done in the past with HAL

St Thomas: Champagne Catamaran Sail & Snorkel to St John (HAL excursion)

We loved everything about this excursion .. snorkeling was very nice .. great crew. Drinks and snacks on our way back to St Thomas. A little pricey.. but we thought it was worth it.

St Maarten: French Marigot & Butterfly Farm

We liked this excursion, but of course it helps if you like butterflies. I was on this excursion with 2 other ladies. I don't think my husband would have appreciated it as much as we did. This excursion took us on a nice tour of the island. I actually liked Marigot (French side) more than Philipsburg.

On our next cruise with DH we have booked the "Under Two Flags Island Drive" (HAL excursion)

 

I've never been to the following islands but this is what we are planning on our next cruise.

St Lucia: Pigeon Island Hike & Swim (HAL excursion)

Barbados: 4 x 4 Island Safari Beach Swim Island Safari Adventure (HAL excursion)

Martinique: we plan to do our own thing.

[catl331]

In Martinique we took the HAL excursion that went to the Balata church and botanical gardens, then to St Pierre. We thought all were interesting, but we didn't get as much time in St Pierre as we would have liked.

[drcjvh]

Thanks so much for all your feedback. We have come to depend on information from people who have been there-done that!

[BlackJack2]

Hello Artnak -

We are on the same cruise as you and we currently have a roll call going "20 Dec 2011 - 7 Day, 10 Day and 17 Day EASTERN & WAYFARER HOLIDAY (Combined threads)" on the Amsterdam Roll Call Page. Join us on our roll call!

[SmokinActuary]

Thanks so much for all your feedback. We have come to depend on information from people who have been there-done that!

 

Barbados I just used as a beach day.

 

St. Lucia - I went snorkeling with a dive company and one of the stops was under the Pitons

 

St. Thomas - I took a sailboat with Captain Max (6 passengers) to Saint Johns for snorkeling.

 

My two private excursions were great and we had a very good beach day on Barbados.

[drcjvh]

We are on the same cruise as you. We can't wait!! We currently have a roll call going "20 Dec 2011 - 7 Day, 10 Day and 17 Day EASTERN & WAYFARER HOLIDAY (Combined threads)" on the Amsterdam Roll Call Page. Join us on our roll call!

 

Thanks - we joined the roll call!

[Himself]

I love the tour in St. Maarten that takes one from the Dutch to the French side of the Island.

[luv2travel06]

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are going on the Amsterdam cruise to the Caribbean on Dec. 27 and would like you advice concerning the shore excursions offered by HAL. The ports are as follows:

Philipsburg (St. Maarten)

Castries, St. Lucia

Bridgetown, Barbados

Fort-de-France, Martinique

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

 

Thanks very much!

We have been to St. Maarten several times (also stayed there for a week). The last time we spent the whole day shopping in town. Another time we did the See and Sea excursion, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We have also gone to different beaches there. Many enjoy the Americas Cup regatta. Many also go to Maho Beach to watch the planes land.

 

In St. Lucia, we did a bus tour of the island.

 

On Barbados, we also did a bus tour of the island.

 

Martinique is on our "to-do" list.

 

Lots of choices on St. Thomas. Of course there is a bus tour. Many beaches. Lots of shopping. The Paradise Point Tramway, but many poor reviews lately on TripAdvisor.

 

Many ports offer zip-lines, snorkeling, kayaking, 4x4 or ATV excursions.

 

If you plan to go on a HAL excursion, download the brochure specific to your cruise and study it. Once you decide which fr the listed excursions might appeal to you, if you have a question about a specific port, go to the Ports Board and post away.

[cruiseapril]

We were at these ports on the Noordam in the Spring. We took these HAL excursions:

 

Philipsburg (St. Maarten)- Orient Beach- beautiful beach, surf can be high, quite a few vendors, expensive food (bring snacks if you go there.)

 

Castries, St. Lucia- Island tour from Castries to Anse la Raye. Interesting, but we thought they could have skipped Anse la Raye- so many vendors.

 

Bridgetown, Barbados- Thoroughly enjoyed going to Harbour Lights Beach Club on Carlisle Bay. Nice beach; good swimming.

 

Previously, we had been on an island tour which went to Bathsheba, Andromeda Gardens, St. John's Church, and Francia Plantation.

 

Fort-de-France, Martinique- Took very good excursion to St. Pierre, through the Rain Forest to Balata Gardens and Balata Church.

 

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands- Took the excursion to Magen's Bay Beach- very good swimming. It was a bit crowded with so many cruise ships in, but we still enjoyed this lovely beach once again.

[cmdchiefthom]

The only port that offers an excursion I would do again and again is Castries in St. Lucia, and its the Pirate cruise. Now this might seem very touristy, but the ship is the Brig Unicorn, used in several of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and it actually gets under sail. It is really fun, and not one of those fake ships that sail around the harbor on a booze cruise.;)

[Willsot]

I second the Champagne Catamaran snorkeling excursion to St. John out of St. Thomas. One of the best Caribbean excursions we have experienced. On both St. Lucia and Barbados, we took excursions that went around the island by bus, with stops at various sites and beaches. I thought those two islands were beautiful.