Navigating from the Navigator

[joedi]

We're on the RSSC Navigator Caribbean cruise April 27 -- San Juan, St. Thomas, Roseau, St. Barts, St. Maarten, Tortola, Grand Turk. From others who've done this voyage, we'd much appreciate suggestions for excursions, sights, on-shore activities other than those offered by the ship.

 

Joe and Dottie

[Catspaw]

Hi!

 

I was hoping for some input as well....Is anyone out there who has done some of the excursions through the ship? :p

 

Thanks,

Jennifer

[Marylis]

We did swimming with Stingrays in Grand Turk. I thought it was great fun, though there was only one stingray.

 

In St. Thomas and San Juan, we just walked around. Haven't been to the other ports. We've posted pretty detailed descriptions at our web site, http://www.marylisphotos.com

[greygypsy]

We did a pretty thorough review of a very similar itinerary from early this year that you should find by indexing with our screenname. Briefly - here are some ideas: San Juan - typically the ship docks right in Old San Juan and you can walk off the ship and spend many enjoyable hours in OSJ, shopping, nibbling and sight-seeing. And if you get tired, just hail a cab. You'll have much better beaches on other islands. St. Thomas: way overcrowded last time we were there - if more than 3 ships in port, we recommend staying on the ship. Otherwise, you can cab it to many nice beaches (cabs just off the ship) or if you want to really explore, go over to St. Johns. Roseau - the ship seems to line up the best tour operators here, who are few and far between. If you want to go on your own, you will find cab drivers waiting for you and for a very reasonable fare, take you to most of the sights reachable by 2 wd vehicles. Some of the best sights can only be reached by 4wd. St. Barts - about the only affordable thing here are the cabs because the island is so small. We spent the day at a beautiful beach just across from the main city. The main city is good for a nice stroll and cafe and some selective shopping. St. Maarten - we usually rent a car and go exploring on the French side and shopping on the Dutch side (better shopping here than on St. Thomas). On Tortola, we used the ship's excursion for a wonderful and inexpensive sail and snorkel trip that I don't think you can do better on your own. Grand Turk - well, we didn't get it - the snorkeling and beach were poor and the island was not pretty. We heard the diving is good and there are private dive operators available if you are into that. Have a great time! Jeff

[Charsie]

We were on the Diamond recently, and stopped at some of the ports you mentioned. I agree with the above post - St. Maarten has fabulous shopping in the downtown area which is just a $2 cab fare (posted fare) from the port. Much less expensive than St. Thomas, which can be terribly overcrowded. If you're a beach lover, in St. Thomas you can take a $10 cab ride to Magens Bay for the day (long beach with calm waters, beach bar, restaurant etc. all there) or a $5 cab ride to Morningstar Beach (smaller beach, bigger surf). In St. Barth's, once you've strolled through the Vuitton, Cartier etc. stores, there's a VERY interesting beach which is public, called "St. Jean's Beach". If you take a cab, and ask the cabbie specifically to let you off at the public entrance to St. Jean beach at the end of the airport runway........you can swim and sunbathe on a gorgeous beach, and watch the planes take off and land, which is an unbelievable sight. It's a fun thing to do, just something "different" to do, you can practically touch the planes taking off over your head, and watching them land on this tiny little landing strip (they have special licenses to land on this island, it's so difficult) is amazing! I know, it sounds weird, but this is something to do if you want something DIFFERENT to do! There are hotels within crawling distance from this perspective, where you can go to eat and drink. However, be specific about where you want to go, or the driver will take you to "Nikki's Beach" where you can rent a chair to sit in for 20 Euros, and buy a 10 euro Heineken. And that beach isn't nearly as nice.

 

Have a great trip!

[joedi]

We appreciate the tips. In the past, we've had good luck and good times striking out on our own at cruise stops, relying in part on past travelers like you. We leave tomorrow and we're excited.