Island Tours for Tortola, St. Maarten, St.Kitts, Guadeloupe, and Barbados.

[poputchik]

My husband, our ten year old daughter and I will be leaving for the South Caribbean cruise on Brilliance of the Seas on December 15. We'll visit the following islands: Tortola, St. Maarten, St.Kitts, Guadeloupe, and Barbados.

 

Can anyone recommend which islands are more suitable for sightseeing and which ones are less interesting so we can just stay on a beach and do some snorkeling?

 

We'd like to do shore excursions on two or three islands to visit interesting historic sites (fortresses, churches), see beautiful scenery, and try some local food.

 

The ship's shore excursions all seem to be much too expensive. Can anyone recommend a good, reliable tour company for each of recommended islands?

[NorbertsNiece]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Have you joined your roll call?

 

On St Maarten we did a tour with Bernard which included Maho. This trip we will be cabbing there on our own. Maho is the area where the planes land right next to the beach. There is a bar where meals can be purchased.

 

St Kitts can highly recommend Royston for a fun tour; we visited the fort. This trip I am taking a RCCL tour to visit Nevis.

 

On Barbados, this trip I am trying out Calabaza Catamaran tours to see the turtles..... will report back.

[printingchick]

If you're interested in historical sites, St. Kitts was made for you. An island tour (available from several reputable tour guides - check out the port of call boards), would include a visit to Romney Manor/Batik factory (gorgeous!), Brimstone Fortress (interesting fort with incredible views), a stop at the black rocks (volcanic formations) and finally a visit to the beach.

 

I haven't yet visited Tortola, but am researching that port for my own upcoming cruise. My plan is to ferry over to Virgin Gorda and visit the Baths and the Copper Mine.

 

Barbados is a good beach day. The island is PACKED with beach resorts and the beaches are stereotypical Caribbean - white powdery sand, turquoise blue water, interesting sea life.

 

I've never been to Guadeloupe. I was happy to see RCL return to visiting Dominica instead. Few excursions available in Guadeloupe and everything appeared to be incredibly expensive. I read that locals are not used to dealing with US currency and converting to Euros might be necessary there. Probably another good day to go to the beach.

 

So many options in St. Maartin. Be aware that beaches on the French side of the island would be more European-style, meaning you may see topless or even nude sunbathers on some beaches.

 

ENJOY!!

[snogrrl]

A couple of years ago I did the Thenford Grey tour which was excellent. Much cheaper than the one offered by the ship.

[erniesband]

Tortola - take Smith's Ferry to Virgin Gorda and go to the Baths, or make it a beach day at Cane Bay.

St Martin is good for shopping, get the all-day pass for the water taxi and hang out on Great Bay ( don't swim there - polluted from runoff ) Don't know you're feeling about topless or nekked people but Orient is one of the nicest beaches around but you will see some sights you may not want to see.

St Kitts - Brimstone Fortress is a must see, we recommend "The Tour" by Thenford Grey. Looking for something different try Tours by Javin, a trip to BlackRock , a hike in the rainforest, some snorkeling and some beach time all in one tour.

Barbados - any of the catamarans to swim with the turtles, Silver Moon and Calabaza are the 2 we like.

 

You can check out more info on the port of call boards for each island.

[ValerieJo]

Bernard Tour in St. Maartin was excellent.

 

Go to The Baths on Virgin Gorda when you are in Tortola. This is not to be missed. (Also, be sure to have a 'Pain Killer' - not for children) at the Bar/Restaurant and the top of the Baths.

 

Sorry, haven't been to the other ports, but as others have said check out the Ports of Call boards.

[Let'sGo!]

You are going to awesome ports! We were just there at each of them earlier this year.

 

I think St. Kitts is the best for sightseeing. We went with Rosevelt Taylor (Island Paradise tours) to Romney Manor, which is now home to Caribelle Batik... you can watch how they make those colorful Batik fabrics. We went to Brimstone Ford - great views of the island. Timothy Hill (or something like that) where you can see the resort side of the island and nearby Nevis. Definitely one of our favorite tours.

 

In St. Maarten we did a tour with Bernard's Tours. We went over to the French side of the island for some beach time (careful, they let you off right next to the nude side of the beach!), a stop at the French Market, and ended with a stop at Maho Beach, where you can watch the planes land practically on top of you.

 

I think the big attraction in Tortolla is the Virgin Gorda baths. However we were one of about 5 cruise ships there, so we opted to skip the crowds at the baths. We actually boarded another boat there and went to Jost Van Dyke for the day. It's a pretty secluded island, lined with beach bars. We had a great day parked outside the Soggy Dollar Bar with our Painkillers (signature drink) and some Mahi-Mahi sandwiches. I definitely recommend this if you are looking to choose one port as a beach day.

 

Finally in Barbados, we opted for a day of sailing and snorkeling with Calabaza. We were on a giant catamaran with only 10 people. I think they take 12 max. We had the most delicious lunch served on board, then sailed passed some beautiful coastline. We snorkled with turtles, near a shipwreck and near the popular beach spot Carlysle (sp?) Cove. The service on Calabaza is nothing short of top notch.

 

I think you will love your cruise -- the Southern Caribbean itinerary is fabulous!

 

Ann

[Littlebrookfarm]

I think the big attraction in Tortolla is the Virgin Gorda baths. However we were one of about 5 cruise ships there, so we opted to skip the crowds at the baths. We actually boarded another boat there and went to Jost Van Dyke for the day. It's a pretty secluded island, lined with beach bars. We had a great day parked outside the Soggy Dollar Bar with our Painkillers (signature drink) and some Mahi-Mahi sandwiches. I definitely recommend this if you are looking to choose one port as a beach day.

 

 

Ann

Question - was the boat you mentioned to Jost Van Dyke readily available at the port or was this something that was booked in advance? How much was it and do you have any contact information? Thanks for any info you can provide!

[batas]

We will be doing the same itinerary a month before you 11/17 and we will post a review with pics as soon as we come back. It is a great itinerary with new islands for us too. We have planned:

 

Tortola: Virgin Gorda with the ship ( Sunday with limited service provided by the island ferry)

St Marteen: Bernard tour

St kitts: Royston tour

Barbados: Glory tours

Guadeloupe: did some research and we plan to go to Fort Napoleon, Madison du Cacao ( yummy treats) and beach with a local cab maybe with some folks from the cruise. We will take some euros for this. The ship excursions are too expensive and do not cover these.

 

You can google the tours, they have great websites and info about how you can book. All the tours mentioned above responded immediately by email, very professional and all have great reviews on cruise critic bords.

 

We love taking pics so we should have a nice review when we come back after 11/24.

[td33boys]

Pinel Island is paradise! A cab driver will be happy to take you there, come pick you up and take you to the key spots in St. Maarten. Pinel Island is on French side, but we did not see any nude bathers. Lots of Banana Hammocks, but no nudity.

 

Wish I could be on Pinel Island right now.

 

I describe in more details in the review I posted this morning.