Do your own thing in Caribbean ports?

[Sandy dot]

My wife and I are going on a 21 night emerald princess cruise to the Caribbean starting 29th November. When going ashore we prefer to do our own thing either just strolling into town or taking taxis, public transport to beaches etc. Is this feasible on the islands? We did this on a recent Alaska cruise and much preferred it to organised excursions. Any advice greatly appreciated.

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Yes, you can do your own thing. You may want to check the Ports of Call section for the islands you will be visiting.

[zacc]

Knowing which ports you will be visiting would make it much easier to answer. Some ports are very easy to explore on your own. Others, because of a number of reasons ranging from accessibily to safety etc, you may want to give some thought to.

[Sandy dot]

Thanks for the replies. We are visiting Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, St Thomas, Nassau, Princess Cays, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba. Any advice on DIY onshore appreciated

[OCruisers]

Hi Sandy dot!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

 

We were on Emerald Princess for 20 days this past January and had a wonderful time -- nice ship!

 

You'll have no problem doing things in all of your ports of call on-your-own if you wish.

You would enjoy going to the Port of Call section and checking under each of your port stops to see what others did at them.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[paul929207]

We have done Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, St Thomas, Dominica, and Aruba on our own

[MommaBear55]

The three islands I would recommend either a planned tour or a taxi directly to a beach are St. Lucia, Grenada and Dominica. We had negative experiences with pan handling and people following us in St. Lucia and Grenada. St. Lucia's taxis are very expensive and we found a boat tour to a beach with loungers, snorkeling and free drinks was about 1/2 the price of taking a cab over.

 

Aruba has a wonderful bus system that even takes US dollars and Aruba is a very easy, safe and friendly island. You could also rent a car as driving is very easy. In Antigua there was enough that I wanted to see as a first timer that we took a private tour. Bonaire we always do a water based activity as we love to dive or snorkel. St. Kitts has great beaches easily accessible by taxi, as does St. Thomas. Antigua, Aruba, Bonaire and St. Thomas all have shopping that is easily accessible (St. Thomas is a short taxi ride) There is also a water taxi in Antigua that is right on the dock shopping area.

 

I haven't been to the other places from a cruise ship so no advice to offer!

 

Have a great trip, it sounds like a wonderful itinerary

[PescadoAmarillo]

We've done DIY in the Caribbean (on the Emerald Princess) for several years. You can check out my blog (see link below) for some ideas. Click on the labels on the right side for the different islands.

 

We often take the local buses, where they exist, for a real taste of island living.

Edited June 16, 2013 by PescadoAmarillo

[OCruisers]

You might also want to check your roll calls.

Sometimes, people on them will be setting up excursions with independents.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Elspethm]

Sorry for the delay in saying thanks for all the advice but have been on holiday with no access to internet. Really appreciate all the replies, will now do some research before we depart in 10 days

[Elspethm]

We've done DIY in the Caribbean (on the Emerald Princess) for several years. You can check out my blog (see link below) for some ideas. Click on the labels on the right side for the different islands.

 

We often take the local buses, where they exist, for a real taste of island living.

Hi there

Thanks for info, can't find the link to your blog, can you give it again

Many thanks

[canadarocks]

Hi there

Thanks for info, can't find the link to your blog, can you give it again

Many thanks

 

Here you go, best blog ever!! :cool:: http://www.pescadoamarillo.blogspot.ca/

[skynight]

We are doing the same itinerary in January.

Have been to all the islands more than once. Here are some past and current things we did/plan to do on shore. Some of these islands have very small towns. Some stops are half day.

Nassau - Self Guided walking tour, maps available on line

St. Thomas - Get off and shop

Dominica - In the past took a Princess tour to the Caribe Indian Reservation, the only population of natives remaining in the islands.

Antigua - We took a local taxi to Nelson's Dockyard

St. Lucia - Will be taking a local tour of the island with other CC posters on the roll call. Have also visited the Pitons in the past.

Barbados - Malibu Beach Club day, 10 min taxi ride from dock.

St. Kitts - There is a mall right at the dock. Not much in the town, all the stores have now moved into the mall. We are booked with Princess to take a boat trip and tour on Nevis. We have never been to Nevis.

Princess Cays - it's a beach day.

Aruba - Eagle Beach(closest) or Palm Beach. Taxis right at the pier or public bus a one block walk. Shopping all along the waterfront. Lots of tours available as you exit the pier.

 

Hope this is helpful as a starting point.

[Jim Avery]

Thanks for the replies. We are visiting Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, St Thomas, Nassau, Princess Cays, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba. Any advice on DIY onshore appreciated

 

Just a thought on Grenada. It is an easy walk to the Spice Market and the old town Inner Harbor area. Be ready for incessant selling attempts in the market. After that, the Rhum Runner boat trip is good fun if you like a bit of party with your boat ride. It stops at a beach area and provides plenty of Rum Punch and music.:D The others we have just done walking tours on our own.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is very easy to do your own thing ..

[texast518]

Thanks for the replies. We are visiting Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts, St Thomas, Nassau, Princess Cays, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba. Any advice on DIY onshore appreciated

 

Last yr we took 15 day Celebrity from Ft Lau, did all ports but P Cays & Dominica and did off the ship private tours in ALL ports, no problems-reasonable, 4-5 hrs enjoyable.

[cruises r us]

We almost always do our own thing and it's very easy to do. I haven't seen any replies about Bonaire. When we were there, we rented a jeep - right near the port - and we drove around the whole island at our leisure.

[Liz54]

If you are interested Bonaire is among the BEST for snorkeling. Woodwind does a highly rated sail and snorkel, and the BEST snorkel I have ever had was with Rene's shore snorkels. She takes you to two or three spots and you simply walk in. She is a biologist and knows all the species. Absolutely wonderful and ideal for beginners and those who are less confident too!:)

[jaceyar]

In St Lucia, we toured with Cosol Tours - excellent - all food and drink provided.

First time in Dominica, jumped in a taxi for an island tour, great. Second time just wandered around the town, nice place.

First time in Antigua, booked a Segway tour which was great and next to a fabulous beach. Second time, jumped on a local bus which stopped at lots of beaches. Only one time in Grenada shamefully, got off ship straight into a water taxi round to the fabulous Grand Anse beach and lay there drinking beer! In Aruba go and have a cocktail in Iguana Joe's.

Love the Caribbean.

 

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Tapatalk 2

Edited November 20, 2013 by jaceyar

[jtcoolk]

Another vote for Grenada - Grand Anse beach! One of the most beautiful beaches. Just take a water taxi there. Easy.

[PunkiC]

We always do our own thing and take public transportation all over the world. To date we have never encountered any issues anywhere and have thoroughly enjoyed all of our ports.

 

It was pretty funny on our first train trip from Rome Civitavecchia. It was Sunday and we were on a local. The train filled up in Rome with cruisers from all over Europe and North America. There was no place to stow the luggage so people stacked it in the empty seats. Along the way, locals boarded and were screaming at the already seated European, American and Canadian passengers, presumably telling them to move their luggage from the seats into the aisles--we aren't really positive that is what they were saying since none of spoke Italian, but that's what we assumed.

 

Of course, there was no room in the aisles as they were crowded with people. It was really quite amusing.

 

On our most recent trip to Civitavecchia we took the train from Florence to Livorno and then from Livorno to Civitavecchia and we were the only ones in our car for much of the way.

 

We always feel that taking local transportation and wandering around by ourselves gives us a better feeling for the place we are visiting. Attending Mass at local churches, taking public transportation, and shopping in local stores really makes us feel immersed.

[thyme2go]

We are independent travelers so on the last trip to the Caribbean we did the same--planned our own adventures. In St Lucia we had planned to pick up a tour at the dock since they were pretty expensive.....when we checked before we left. We ended up taking a princess shore excursion at $65pp along the coast down to the Piton's--Catamaran both ways. The Piton's were impressive, but the snorkeling and going into harbor's as well as sitting at the very front of the Cat with feet hanging over and bouncing on the waves.......priceless. The rum punch didn't hurt either! Still had time to buy spices in the market, but overall the market was a let down from everything we'd read about it. Our table mates had done the whole day tour which involved going down on a CAT and coming back on a bus. They wished they'd ridden a CAT both ways after hours of winding on the roads in a crowded bus! Just something to consider. :)

[jean s]

If you like beaches take the bus to Eagle Beach in Aruba. We left the ship early, found the bus stop and took it to Eagle Beach where we rented chairs and an umbrella. I don't remember the cost but I know it was reasonable. The beach was gorgeous.