1st RCCL....has anyone done these excursions?

[luv2gonow]

Hi I'm looking for some feedback on these excursions.

 

San Juan

1. Wild & Scenic Rainforest nature walk to River Adventures

2. El Yungue Rainforest Hike

3. Canopy Zipline tour

 

 

St. Martin

1. Loterie Farm Treetop Adventure tour

2. Tiki Hut Relax and Snorkel

3. Kayak and snorkel adventure

 

St. Kitts

1. Caribbean Scenic Railway tour

2. St. Kitts Rainforest Adventure

3. Mount Liamuiga Volcano Hike

3. Nature Kayaking

 

I guess out of St. Kitts and St. Martin...any beach with water toys....ie trampoline etc.

Best island to Hike, Kayak....and Zipline for a NEWBIE:o

Thanks

Kerri

Edited March 21, 2014 by luv2gonow

[KreiderCarter]

We did the Loterie Farm Tree Top tour. It was a lot of fun and compared to the other zip line tours we have done it last a bit longer. The actual zip lines themselves are not as long as other places we've been but they make up for it by variety.

 

We are returning to St Maarten this summer and are considering doing it again, so obviously we enjoyed it.

 

Haven't done any of the others on your list so can't help you there.

[TerpsBball]

We did the Skyline Safari Zipline in St. Kitts. It was fantastic and we'd do it again. There were 5 ziplines of various lengths, the longest was 1350 feet. Skyline Safari has a website, and there are videos on YouTube as well. We thought it was well worth it.

[cdscooby1]

In St Martin I booked Bernards Tours. Was the cheapest tour I have ever booked and the best time. He picks you up in port and takes you out for the entire day. You see the French side, the Dutch side. He brings you to the Iguana farm and maho beach to see the planes. He took us to a wonderful resort beach to realx for 3 hours and shopping. His tours book fast but you can find info on them here on cruise critic and trip advisor. He even gives you cocktails on the bus ride. It was the best excursion my family ever went on. Even the young kids had a blast. Can't wait to go back, if you go we had Sugar as our tour guide he was fabulous

[bigeck]

In St Martin I booked Bernards Tours. Was the cheapest tour I have ever booked and the best time. He picks you up in port and takes you out for the entire day. You see the French side, the Dutch side. He brings you to the Iguana farm and maho beach to see the planes. He took us to a wonderful resort beach to realx for 3 hours and shopping. His tours book fast but you can find info on them here on cruise critic and trip advisor. He even gives you cocktails on the bus ride. It was the best excursion my family ever went on. Even the young kids had a blast. Can't wait to go back, if you go we had Sugar as our tour guide he was fabulous

 

I agree. Bernards is the best tour

[racerxspeedy]

Hello - I did the San Juan rainforest hike. We spent more time on the bus, then at the forest. Would only recommend if your ship is in port for a full day.

 

St martin - you can take a local bus-van to the beach for 2 dollars from back street down town. The beach break is fun, but you can do the same on you own right from the port. Jump on a bus to orient bech. You can rent kayaks and snorkel gear.

 

St Kitts -

Have not done any of those. Rainforest sounds good though. Did a tour

Thru thenford gray that was nice. Beaches are not as good as other islands.

 

Sure any of those would be fun

[luv2gonow]

We did the Loterie Farm Tree Top tour. It was a lot of fun and compared to the other zip line tours we have done it last a bit longer. The actual zip lines themselves are not as long as other places we've been but they make up for it by variety.

 

We are returning to St Maarten this summer and are considering doing it again, so obviously we enjoyed it.

 

Haven't done any of the others on your list so can't help you there.

I think I will try this one.

Thanks

We did the Skyline Safari Zipline in St. Kitts. It was fantastic and we'd do it again. There were 5 ziplines of various lengths, the longest was 1350 feet. Skyline Safari has a website, and there are videos on YouTube as well. We thought it was well worth it.

I will go look at video

Thanks

Kerri

[luv2gonow]

In St Martin I booked Bernards Tours. Was the cheapest tour I have ever booked and the best time. He picks you up in port and takes you out for the entire day. You see the French side, the Dutch side. He brings you to the Iguana farm and maho beach to see the planes. He took us to a wonderful resort beach to realx for 3 hours and shopping. His tours book fast but you can find info on them here on cruise critic and trip advisor. He even gives you cocktails on the bus ride. It was the best excursion my family ever went on. Even the young kids had a blast. Can't wait to go back, if you go we had Sugar as our tour guide he was fabulous

I will look into that....Honestly the cruise line has my number with inflated shore excursions because I am terrified to miss the ship due to unfortunate mishaps:o

Hello - I did the San Juan rainforest hike. We spent more time on the bus, then at the forest. Would only recommend if your ship is in port for a full day.

 

St martin - you can take a local bus-van to the beach for 2 dollars from back street down town. The beach break is fun, but you can do the same on you own right from the port. Jump on a bus to orient bech. You can rent kayaks and snorkel gear.

 

St Kitts -

Have not done any of those. Rainforest sounds good though. Did a tour

Thru thenford gray that was nice. Beaches are not as good as other islands.

 

Sure any of those would be fun

 

We are only in port for a short time in San Juan....I wanna say 7-2??

Wasn't even going to get off the ship but rainforest sounded interesting.

Don't want to spend most time on bus though!

Thanks

Kerri

[knittinggirl]

We second Bernard's in St. Maartens (if you're a big person, be sure to ask for front seating or the van with wider aisles.)

 

We did the Scenic Railroad in St Kitts, and loved it! We'll do it again if we return. But if we don't plan on using Royal since they stop in Labadee w/ their CDC high risk malaria warning.

Edited March 21, 2014 by knittinggirl

[luv2gonow]

We second Bernard's in St. Maartens (if you're a big person, be sure to ask for front seating or the van with wider aisles.)

 

We did the Scenic Railroad in St Kitts, and loved it! We'll do it again if we return. But if we don't plan on using Royal since they stop in Labadee w/ their CDC high risk malaria warning.

 

OMG we are going to Labadee.....was really looking forward to the beach.

Also just read on here St. martin....maybe dengue fever?

[negc]

We second Bernard's in St. Maartens (if you're a big person, be sure to ask for front seating or the van with wider aisles.)

 

We did the Scenic Railroad in St Kitts, and loved it! We'll do it again if we return. But if we don't plan on using Royal since they stop in Labadee w/ their CDC high risk malaria warning.

 

While I understand that persons who stop in Labadee (and other foreign ports) are not permitted to give blood due to a possibility of encountering malaria infecting mosquitos, I question whether anyone has actual statistics indicating the number of cruise passengers have actually contracted malaria after visiting Labadee. Literally thousands of passengers and crew visit Labadee on an almost daily basis and yet I have not seen any indication that those visits have resulted in even a modest number of infections. I have not actually read the "serious" CDC warnings but believe that they may be issued out of an abundance (some might say and overabundance) of caution. If the threat were that serious I doubt that Royal Caribbean or its sister fleets would knowingly expose their crews and their guests to the disease. Does anyone have any statistics that can cite even one case of malaria that has been traced to a visit to Labadee?

[Deeliteful]

I did the Rainforest tour in St Kitts and loved it. Not as much as in Costa Rica but still definitely one to enjoy IMO

Enjoy your cruise

[luv2gonow]

While I understand that persons who stop in Labadee (and other foreign ports) are not permitted to give blood due to a possibility of encountering malaria infecting mosquitos, I question whether anyone has actual statistics indicating the number of cruise passengers have actually contracted malaria after visiting Labadee. Literally thousands of passengers and crew visit Labadee on an almost daily basis and yet I have not seen any indication that those visits have resulted in even a modest number of infections. I have not actually read the "serious" CDC warnings but believe that they may be issued out of an abundance (some might say and overabundance) of caution. If the threat were that serious I doubt that Royal Caribbean or its sister fleets would knowingly expose their crews and their guests to the disease. Does anyone have any statistics that can cite even one case of malaria that has been traced to a visit to Labadee?

I would love to know the stats also

I did the Rainforest tour in St Kitts and loved it. Not as much as in Costa Rica but still definitely one to enjoy IMO

Enjoy your cruise

 

Thanks....this excursion is in the lead right now:D

Kerri

[tidygirl]

When are you going on your cruise? We will be going on ours Apr 19th and are planning on doing the Mt Liamuiaga hike but not through RCI.

We've been to the rainforest in El Yungue but did that before a cruise, you could just take a taxi over to old San Juan check out the forts and take a nice walk along the water. It would be better than staying on the ship all day!

St Martin you can get a taxi to take you on a tour and drop you off at a beach if you want.

I understand being nervous about getting back to the ship but we've been on 10 to 12 cruises and only have done a few RCI excursions and (knock on wood) haven't got left yet! Just make sure you plan on getting back to the port a couple hours early then you can shop around it you want but you know you are able to walk back in time!

[JimAOk1945]

We did the Scenic Railway Tour last December when we were there on Adventure Of The Seas. It was very enjoyable.

[dacsmom]

I know this was not on your list but I also have to recommend Bernards tours in St.Marten. They are a large company and have very good recommendations on the review sites. If a bus had issues they could easily get another one. The tour also ended well before the ship sailed. I am also like you, I worry about missing the ship but I loved Bernards Tours. We did the shopping option and it is really inexpensive and unlimited rum punch too.

[Silverman]

Cant say enough good things about Bernards. They know all the times of the Ships. Dont worry you will be on time. The best part for me was seeing the whole Island. Having never been there before I loved it!! Next time I go there it will be an all day beach day. I loved Orient Beach! A little wavy but it is the ocean. Crystal Clear water. Beautiful colors. There is a lot of WOW moments on the Island. Have fun on your cruise!

[JenLovesToTravel]

We LOVED or Bernard's tour! Our guide was the Mailman and he was great

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[parrotfeathers]

My first zip line was san juan. I think the bus ride was pretty long. Also, there was a long walk uphill to get to the first line. I am very active and was winded somewhat. It was not nearly as fun as the chukka zip line in jamaica, mainly because the operators didn't have much to say--just did their job.

[dmdicato]

I recommend Beulah's Tours in St. Kitts....excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.

[negc]

So far, no one has been able to supply any information about the number of documented cases of malaria among the hundreds of thousands of passengers who have visited Labadee over the past several years. I have to believe that if there were even one or a few such cases they would have been well reported here and elsewhere. Unless or until information to the contrary appears, I will continue to believe that a visit to Labadee is safe from the risk of getting malaria and will continue to include cruises which have it as one of the ports on their itinerary. :)

[Deeliteful]

I would love to know the stats also

 

 

Thanks....this excursion is in the lead right now:D

Kerri

We went with Greg's safaris, enjoyed a great lunch in the forest complete with rum punch. We did Valley of Giants hike and Batik factory tour

 

"Thank you for your interest in using my award winning tour company here on beautiful St. Kitts to do my Rainforest Hiking and Shopping Tour to the Batik Factory, with us, on November 14th, with a party of six, while visiting us on RCI Adventure of the Seas. This would be the least strenuous of the two half day hiking tours that I offer.

 

"The Valley of Giants and Batik Factory Tour" is a half days hiking and shopping tour with all fees and taxes included, of about four hours in length, and I would like to suggest that we should start our tour at 8:30 AM from just in front of the Arrivals Building here at Port Zante Basseterre, where I will be standing holding up a sign with Greg's Safaris on it for easy recognition.

 

After following our scenic Caribbean Coast Road for about 25 minutes, we would turn inland at Old Road Town for our first stop at the World famous, Romney Manor, the home of the Caribbelle Batik Factory. Here in the grounds of what was once a Sugar Plantation Owners home, you can enjoy exceptionally beautiful landscaped gardens, where there is a 350 year old tree that covers more than half an acre and unique shopping at the Batik Factory.

 

Following a 30 minute stop here, we would then take a short walk into the nearby rain forested Wingfield River Valley for a two hour, pest free jungle hike, on a specially designed and looped, rainforest trail that goes for just over two miles following the bank of the Wingfield River and then returning along a ridge line to the starting point.

 

The beautiful Wingfield River Valley gets protection from hurricanes because of its location on the Leeward side of St. Kitts in a deep valley, and as such, has stands of ancient trees that are hundreds of years old as well as a spring fed stream that courses through the thick forest here getting more than 100,000 Gallons of water a day from its source in the mountains.

 

To interpret this rainforested Valley of Giant Trees and teaming wildlife I have created a specially designed looped hiking trail that initially takes you along the banks of the spring fed stream to eventually hike up onto a ridge that overlooks this beautiful valley. After getting to the viewing point on the ridge above the valley we would follow this ridge line back to your starting point, thus completing a giant looped trail that never repeats itself!

 

We will include a delicious island picnic of exotic Caribbean fruits in season, coconut pastries and sweets, tropical juices, with rum and spring water, at the end of our walk before we bring you back to the dock.

 

The hike in the Valley of Giants, remains pest free year round of mosquitoes, snakes, ticks, leeches and poisonous plants, so dress cool and casual with comfortable soft soled walking shoes.

 

We don't require a deposit to hold your bookings, only your word, that should you change your plans, that you will let me know at your earliest convenient time.

 

The packaged cost with all taxes. Including return 4X4 transportation with a specially modified Land Rover from the dock, would be $65 US per person and unfortunately we are not equipped to handle credit cards so payment would have to be with cash or travelers checks please, on the day of our tour. I would like to offer your group of six a 10% discount on my regular price of $65 US each.

 

I hope this is useful information and I look forward to hearing back from you.

 

Best Regards,

Greg Pereira"