St. Kitts- Ship excursion

[BLAMBKY]

I wish that we could get info specifically on ship excursions. I have posted a question in the ports section but have not had much luck specifically on ship sponsored excursions. I am interested in hearing about ROYAL (reason I am posting here too!) ship excursion of St. Kitts island tour. What kind of vehicle? AC in vehicle? How many people? What types of information & sights are covered in tour? Positives, negatives?

Yes, I know that I can book on my own but do not intend to this time. :cool:

[WestCoastCruiser123]

Same issue here. I'm also curious. Not much activity on st kitts board. We will probably choose one of the 3 hr excursions once onboard. Sorry I can't help you because you leave before I return.

[BLAMBKY]

Crossing my fingers for the both of is to get just the right one for our families! Thanks anyways, it is nice to know it is not just me overlooking the info. somewhere. :o

[Elvis1209]

I just came off Jewel last month. We took the St. Kitts Scenic Railway tour. It was very nice and relaxing and showed us a side of the island most people never see. Also, cocktails or soft drinks are served on the tour. Free!!! They also take you on an island tour either before or after the railway tour, depending on your starting point. Jewel is fantastic. I took a cruise on Allure last Sept. It was nice, but you can't beat a smaller ship.

 

Elvis

[watson61]

I did the train tour of St. Kitts and I would not recommend it. It's way overpriced at $99 and kinda long and boring.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ECSB]

Hi - I don't know the name of the excursion, but we went off of Adventure in February and loved it -maybe Essential St. Kitts? We got off the ship and gathered on the pier - it was a little confusing, but we found the right group. We were separated into groups of about 12 to fit in a 15 person van. We had a great driver who gave a wonderful overview of the island - I don't know if it would have been as great without the driver we had. He drove us up to the Brimstone Fortress - which was fantastic! We loved it. Now the group we were with was mostly geriatric - my husband and I are in our 50's and we were 20 years younger than anyone else in our group. You can explore the fort if you are not in great shape, but it is much better if you can climb the stairs to the top of the fort. The views are amazing! We had an hour to explore which is not enough, but leaves you wanting to come back.

 

The driver then takes you to Romney manor to look at the Batik, jungle and gardens. You only have about 40 minutes there. It was way too crowded when we got there - in fact a tour van and an open jeep got in an accident in the parking lot and that was a lot of entertainment in itself - no one got hurt but there was a lot of posturing! I think it could have been better if less crowded, but we still enjoyed it and I bought a few pieces of batik. We then were brought back to the dock shopping area - I think it was 3.5 hours. A really enjoyable time. The driver said that to work for a cruise ship you are timed, rated and have to give the customers a great tour. We loved it and it was worth the money.

 

Can you find it for less off the ship - of course. But we got a great trip with good piece of mind in a nice van with a great driver - highly recommend! We got back in time to have lunch on the ship and then go back out and shop a bit.

[CRUISEBOY305]

Not sure about ship tours. But I do know a private guide in St. Kitts. Thenford Grey. I used him last year on my trip and using him again in January on my cruise on the Independence. He offers different tours. Here's his website if you're interested.

 

thenfordgrey.com

[bup1224]

We did a private excursion in St. Kitts last year through Pereira Tours - guide was Rosie and the tour operator was Liz. Fabulous - took us to Batik first, then Fortress and then Black Rocks. Much cheaper than the ships tour. Liz met us right at the port and we had plenty of time in port after the tour. I highly recommend her.

[willing292]

We did a tour around the island with a friend and then had an incredible lunch (with incredible view) at Serendipity. Great restaurant a short cab ride from the pier.

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[dmdicato]

We did one of Beulah's Tours....fantastic!

[coordinator23]

We have done the Scenic Railway tour twice (Sugar Train) because we liked it so much. Very scenic. First time we returned to the ship via bus (and had a land tour of the area that way). The second time we finished that trip on a catamaran, so we circled the entire island. We also did the Fort tour with the ship. Steep climb up, but well worth it. We went to the Batik factory on this tour also. It was on a plantation owned by Thomas Jefferson's grandfather, I believe. Love St. Kitts!

[tlw440]

Not sure about ship tours. But I do know a private guide in St. Kitts. Thenford Grey. I used him last year on my trip and using him again in January on my cruise on the Independence. He offers different tours. Here's his website if you're interested.

 

thenfordgrey.com

 

Thenford is great, we have used him twice and when we go back to St. Kitts we will use him again, we did "The Tour"

[CRUISEBOY305]

Thenford is great, we have used him twice and when we go back to St. Kitts we will use him again, we did "The Tour"

 

Yes, I did "The Tour" as well. Doing the Volcano Tour in January

[tlw440]

Yes, I did "The Tour" as well. Doing the Volcano Tour in January

 

We did "The Tour" both times, like it so much the first time we had to do it again.

[wassup4565]

To the OP. St Kitts is not a large island and there are not many roadways. A tour all the way to the north end (which would include the Batik factory, the fort and the lava rocks) would only take three or so hours. For that reason, many people feel confident using a local taxi driver. Plus, St Kitts is the kind of place where if your taxi had a flat tire, someone else would take you back to the port at Basseterre.

 

Don't know your reasons for insisting that you will only take a ship excursion. You can be quite safe and confident taking a local taxi for a tour, however.

[JimAOk1945]

We also went on the sugar train ship sponsored excursion. It was a nice way to see the island.

 

My wife took some pictures and made them into a slideshow for her website if you're interested in seeing them.

 

S. Caribbean Adventure Of The Seas Cruise

 

The slideshow will open play by itself when you click on the line, but you can also "click" through the thumbnails one at a time to get through the pictures faster if you want to.

 

Happy Cruising!

Edited March 19, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[LMaxwell]

Hi - I don't know the name of the excursion, but we went off of Adventure in February and loved it -maybe Essential St. Kitts? We got off the ship and gathered on the pier - it was a little confusing, but we found the right group. We were separated into groups of about 12 to fit in a 15 person van. We had a great driver who gave a wonderful overview of the island - I don't know if it would have been as great without the driver we had. He drove us up to the Brimstone Fortress - which was fantastic! We loved it. Now the group we were with was mostly geriatric - my husband and I are in our 50's and we were 20 years younger than anyone else in our group. You can explore the fort if you are not in great shape, but it is much better if you can climb the stairs to the top of the fort. The views are amazing! We had an hour to explore which is not enough, but leaves you wanting to come back.

 

The driver then takes you to Romney manor to look at the Batik, jungle and gardens. You only have about 40 minutes there. It was way too crowded when we got there - in fact a tour van and an open jeep got in an accident in the parking lot and that was a lot of entertainment in itself - no one got hurt but there was a lot of posturing! I think it could have been better if less crowded, but we still enjoyed it and I bought a few pieces of batik. We then were brought back to the dock shopping area - I think it was 3.5 hours. A really enjoyable time. The driver said that to work for a cruise ship you are timed, rated and have to give the customers a great tour. We loved it and it was worth the money.

 

Can you find it for less off the ship - of course. But we got a great trip with good piece of mind in a nice van with a great driver - highly recommend! We got back in time to have lunch on the ship and then go back out and shop a bit.

 

This was pretty much exactly my experience last week. Yes, it is called Essential St.Kitts Tour. It was $49 per person and totally painless to book on the ship (We were undecided what to do and actually booked it at 7PM the night before we docked). The vans/busses are almost all Toyota and Nissan and they are air conditioned. It was well worth the cost. Going to a new place I understand wanting the security of the ship tour. Price and experience were virtually the same as going private, for the relative safety of a ship backed tour it was worth the $10-$15 more total it probably cost versus trying to book privately, especially considering that the actual booking is totally painless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OCruisers]

We also went on the sugar train ship sponsored excursion. It was a nice way to see the island.

 

My wife took some pictures and made them into a slideshow for her website if you're interested in seeing them.

 

S. Caribbean Adventure Of The Seas Cruise

 

The slideshow will open play by itself when you click on the line, but you can also "click" through the thumbnails one at a time to get through the pictures faster if you want to.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

We also thought the Sugar Train excursion was a great way to see many places in St. Kitts we had never seen before. Loved it when the children would come out to wave at us as we passed through their small villages. :)

LuLu

~~~~

Edited March 19, 2014 by OCruisers

[lakelorain]

We've done the Essential St. Kitts, the Train and the St. Kitts/Nevis coastline catamaran tours.

The train gives you an overview of the island and a relaxing train ride through areas that you can't access any other way. Very good for an easy day. You can sit up top in the sun or inside in air conditioning(there are 2 seats for everyone). Loved the free drinks, cookies and local singers.

The Essential tour has stops at some of the highlights of the Island. Interesting but not that different from other islands. Good if you like history.

Our favorite was the Catamaran tour. 78 ft. Catamaran, 12 people. Free drinks and snacks. When we got to Nevis, one crew-member who was from Nevis, gave us a history of the island. You can also do a similar tour that includes snorkeling.

All three tours were good and worthwhile. None were crowded. All were RC tours. I'd suggest you pick the one that suits your personality and interests.

[cb at sea]

You do know the "free" drinks and cookies/food aren't free...you PAID for them in your fare! If you don't partake of those items, you'll actually be paying more for your experience than those who do eat and drink!

[BLAMBKY]

Wow, now these are very helpful responses! Thanks so much, it will help us greatly making a decision that will best suit our family. Poster w/pictures, breath taking shots, shows the beauty of the island....just lovely! :)

[cruizers]

We did the island tour and enjoyed it tremendously. We were in an air-conditioned bus which held about 16 people (it's been a year, so my number could be a little off). Our guide was terrific and knew a tremendous amount of information about the island and Nevis. We enjoy learning the history, geography, culture of the places we visit and felt this excursion fit our needs. We felt it was well worth both the time and the money.