Are there any ports on this itinerary that you would skip?

[3redheads]

Southern on the Serenade:

 

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

St. Johns

St. Lucia

Barbados

 

It's very port intensive and I wonder if these are all good ports. BTW, we're celebrating my DD 13th birthday on the day we dock at St. Maarten. ANy ideas of what we can do? Something special for her?

 

Thanks

Kim

[nosnobunny]

I had a bad encounter with a local on St. Lucia during my first cruise that unfortunately coloured my impression of the entire island. Now I have no desire to return.:(

 

Beth

[dyanna72]

I have been to St Thomas, St Maartin & Barbados. At Maartin & St Thomas are great for purchasing jewlery & alcohol. The beaches at Barbados were some of the best. This was my favorite island & hope to return there some day.

[Charlie2na]

I am also doing this itinerary , and a "well seasoned cruiser" friend of mine suggested St Lucia as a good place to stay on board. Very difficult to get anywhere in a timely fashion as road system is poor. When are you going?

[Charlie2na]

OOPS..... we are headed for San Juan 01/25/06 for a couple pre cruise days before our 01/28/06 on Seranade.

[LivingToCruise]

We were finally in St. Lucia in March and after 8 Caribbean cruises it now ranks as one of my favorite islands. It's not referred to as "The Hawaii of the Caribbean" for nothing.

 

My advice would be to hire one of the many available vans for a 4 hour tour...this should cost $25 pp (maybe $10 more pp for a lengthy stop at the beach) and the guy we went with charged us $50 pp and included all of our beverages (water, soda, juice for the kids, local beer, intense rum punch) and all admissions to the various stops.

 

Get out on those roads with an experienced driver and you will find that this is a stunningly gorgeous island...I would not miss it if I were you...waterfalls, fishing villages, quasi-active volcano, beautiful mountains (Pitons), lush forests etc.

[NCTarheelsCruiser]

Southern on the Serenade:

 

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

St. Johns

St. Lucia

Barbados

 

It's very port intensive and I wonder if these are all good ports. BTW, we're celebrating my DD 13th birthday on the day we dock at St. Maarten. ANy ideas of what we can do? Something special for her?

 

Thanks

Kim

 

I have been to all 5 of these locations and I would not skip any of them. I was in St. Maarten last week for the first time. My wife an I do not have kids yet so I am not sure I can suggest something for you, however we went to Orient Beach in the morning and then did the America's Cup excursion in the afternoon which I thought was absolutely great!!

 

I have been to Barbados and St. Lucia just once, however I would like to go back to each of them again. In Barbados we did a kayaking/snorkeling excursion which was great, we swam with turtles while snorkeling. On St. Lucia, we spent the day at the beach, Can't remember the name but it was near Sandals.

 

I like Antigua and St. Thomas as well and have been to both multiple times. On Antigua I have been to several beaches and several snorkeling sites, on St. Thomas shopping is fun and also we have been snorkeling at Trunk Bay(St. John) and at Buck Island.

 

I like all 5 and hope to get back to them all again.

[3redheads]

I guess we will be busy enjoying all of these wonderful islands!!

 

Thanks for the responses! I'm so glad we switched from the Eastern itinerary to the Southern one.

 

Kim

[Aleciajoyful1]

We did the same itinerary this past October and loved it! (although we were really pooped on that last day at sea)

 

St. Thomas - there are shops and restaurants close to the pier. We only spent the morning in port, and went back onto the ship at lunch time, and then I had a massage! Great day for me...

 

St. Maarten - here we shopped, great deals on jewelry. Again, only spent half a day on the island.

 

St. Johns - we hired a taxi driver for several hours to show us the island, very pretty sites to see here.

 

St. Lucia - NOT TO BE MISSED! We did one of the ships excursions, half on a boat, half on land. We saw so much in one day. One of the most beautiful spots.

 

Barbados - We went diving and I did not see any of the island except the drive to the dive shop. Wish I had seen more of the land.

 

It was a very busy cruise, but lots of memories.

[39august]

I love them all! You have listed St. Johns as an island. It is the capital and port of the island of Antigua. I recommend going to aventureantigua.com and signing up for the incredible Eli's Eco Tour. Truly our favorite excursion out of more than a dozen cruises!

[mccasey]

I am going on the same itin on AOS on 28/08/05! Can't wait! We've been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten before so we will probably skip St. Thomas, since we will not be much for shopping there anyway. We may laze by the pool. Or head to the beach.

 

As for ideas for your daughter's b-day. I say go swimming with dolphins in St. Maarten! It's the only stop on the itin that seems to offer that and I can't wait to do it. Seems like something a little girl would really love!

[oldgram1]

The island was beautiful but we also had a bad experience that spoiled our time there. We had a party of 8 that rented a van for the day. The driver dropped us off at a beach to walk (a movie had been filmed there). When we got back to where he dropped us off, he had disappeared. We had no idea where he had gone or if he was coming back. We waited about 45 minutes and he finally returned - he had taken another fare. We learned he was not supposed to do that, but it still had made us very uneasy.

 

We all loved Barbados. It didn't seem as poor as many of the islands. We visited Harrison Caves which was a nice tour. You take a tram ride through the caves and it was interesting. We visited the island of Dominica and that was a real downer. I would not have believed that people still lived like that had I not seen it with my own eyes. The houses were huts and had no doors or windows, the women were washing their clothes in the stream, it made us very sad and made us appreciate the things we take for granted here in the U.S.

 

Have a fun time!

 

Gail

[OCruisers]

Southern on the Serenade:

 

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

St. Johns

St. Lucia

Barbados

 

It's very port intensive and I wonder if these are all good ports. BTW, we're celebrating my DD 13th birthday on the day we dock at St. Maarten. ANy ideas of what we can do? Something special for her?

 

Thanks

Kim

 

Kim .... Know your daughter will have a WONDERFUL 13th Birthday on this cruise! (She will want to do it again on her 14th! :p )

 

Love your itinerary! As some above posters have mentioned, St.Lucia had always been our least favorite of these. FINALLY, on our cruise in January we found something in St.Lucia that we really enjoyed:

 

Review: Reduit Beach "OnOurOwn" (click here)

 

Hope this helps a bit! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[Ocean Boy]

We just got back from this itinerary on Serenade. I was also concerned that this was going to be too port intensive. However, all of the islands have their own special appeal. I would not skip any of them. We had a great time.

[caviargal]

I often skip St. Thomas unless I want to shop. Too Americanized and commercial for me.

 

I also do not care for Barbados. Multiple negative experiences there and I will not bother next time.

 

I go to Orient Beach in St. Maarten, a local beach in St. Lucia, and same for St. John.

[caviargal]

BTW, I did this cruise on Serenade two months ago. She is fabulous! Do not Portofino's! Went twice and next time will be three I am certain.

[CruisinCouple]

We have never done St Lucia, However all the other islands are very good. My favorites are Barbados and St Martin. We do have a time share in St Martin Go there for a week every other year when we are not cruising.

 

You will have a great time

ENJOY!

[3redheads]

Thank you all soooo much for the reviews! I'm so glad we made the change. April can't get here soon enough :D

 

Thanks again!

Kim

[KEG21552]

Second for the America's Cup excursion. It is a working excursion, you actual do task to sail the boat, but it is a race and very exciting. We have done it 3 times and each time we are in St. Marteen, plan on doing it again.

In Barbados, we rented a taxi on our own. I would personally skip Harrison's Cave. All of our party found it kind of boring. Having said that, we live close to Carlsbad Caverns which is waaaaaay deeper than Harrison's cave. If you have never seen anything like that before, you might find it interesting. The one thing I wanted to do but did not have time for, is to go to a lighthouse that is the last point of land until Africa. I just thought it would be neat to be there.

In St. Lucia, we took a tour to the volcanoes. It was a catamaran that left from close to the dock and sailed out by the pitons and then a land tour to the volcanoes, some of which are still active.

In St. Thomas, we always just kind of hang out. Magen's Bay is a beautiful beach, but no water sports.

Have a great time, our next one is not until January of 06.

Karen

[xpcdoojk]

I like ports, and I like all 5 of those ports. I would be careful in St. Lucia and Barbados, but I love both places.

 

jc

[TESSE]

We sailed the serenade March 2005. It was my daughters 11th birthday the last fullday of the cruise. Our server brought a cake and sang happy birthday to her at dinner. It was great. They have nice chains they sell by the inch and a lot of jewelry sales. Just being on the cruise is a good present. You could let her make some of the choices for the day...where to eat lunch, what to do that day. As far as I know, there isn't a swim with the dolphins anymore. We tried to do it in feb and they said it was closed. St Lucia is one of the most beautiful of the islands. We took a tour with Cosol and saw the island that way. Eli's eco tour is supposed to be great too in Antigua. Unfortunately, it was already booked when we went. We did a lot of stuff on our own and rented cars. Driving is very tricky though, usually on the other side of the road and at one island the steering wheel was on the other side too. Have a great time

[island lady]

I loved them all, and especially Barbados. We rented one of the little "mokes" which is like a chop job little geo or something. Kind of like a large golf cart with an engine. Had a fabulous time exploring the entire island. Took our own snorkel gear and a picnic lunch. Just wonderful! :D

 

Ahh...sigh...would love to go back.

 

But wait...I am on a cruise in 2 days!! Doing the western carib this time!

 

 

Cheers!

[magnumcoog]

The last day on the Serenade is a sea day, but you pass very near Montserrat and you can still smell the sulfur from the volcano and see the ash swirling. Also pass very close to St. Kitts and Nevis. There is another island you will go by that has a home on the very top and a airplane landing strip that is placed on the side of a cliff.

 

St. Lucia we took a pirate ship over to the other side of the island, hiked up to a fort. After we departed the port at St. Lucia the captain to the ship right up to the Pitons, stopped the ship and the ship turned 360 degrees so all could see, this was at sunset and got some great shots of the Pitons and the sunset.

 

You will be pooped after this cruise, but was the best one I have been on. You must do late seating for dinner!!!!!!

[lephysteria]

Southern on the Serenade:

 

St. Thomas

St. Maarten

St. Johns

St. Lucia

Barbados

 

It's very port intensive and I wonder if these are all good ports. BTW, we're celebrating my DD 13th birthday on the day we dock at St. Maarten. ANy ideas of what we can do? Something special for her?

 

Thanks

Kim

 

We LOVED St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and St. John! I'm so jealous!!!!

 

I haven't been to St. Lucia or Barbados.

 

If I was going back to St. Maarten, I'd go to Great Bay. It's close to the ship and beautiful. Last time we went, we stayed at Maho beach. It was great fun, and something I'd recommend if you are plane-watching people :D

[zebra36]

Have not read all replies, however, if you have never been to any of these ports before I would suggest at least getting off the ship and have a look around you may be surprised (or disappointed) but you will not know which until get off the ship. Have a great cruise.

 

Frank