Suggestions for shore excursions!!! Need help! Cruise is in May!!

[Alley Hoops]

Hey everyone!

 

We just booked Carnival Liberty out of Puerto Rico, it was a surprise gift from my husband and I am so excited!! This is our third cruise, but we have never been to these ports.

 

We love all sorts of excursions(any activity level).. Snorkeling, zip lining, touring cities, and just laying on the beach.

 

We would love some suggestions for shore excursions- what you loved/hated, what company to use/not use. In the past we have booked both thru carnival and privately.

 

Would also like to know what great beaches at these ports not to miss. So pretty much.... What should I not miss seeing/experiencing at the following ports!!!

 

Puerto Rico

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Lucia

St. Kitts

St. Maarten

 

Thanks!!!

[chrislo]

I suggest you go to the ports of call boards for each of your stops. I have always found the best information there.

[seechiken]

in st kitts take a cab to shipwreck beach bar - beach is great, great food and drink but best of all are the monkeys that come out of the jungle behind the bar..lots of them :-)

[Taylor95]

In St. Maarten make sure you go to Maho Beach and watch the airplanes come in.

[cb at sea]

You don't need excursions for beaches or shopping! But, you do need to know something about where you're going. Check a guidebook out of your library, read it, and decide what you want to do...then you can decide HOW to do it!

[SMSACE6]

Hey everyone!

 

We just booked Carnival Liberty out of Puerto Rico, it was a surprise gift from my husband and I am so excited!! This is our third cruise, but we have never been to these ports.

 

We love all sorts of excursions(any activity level).. Snorkeling, zip lining, touring cities, and just laying on the beach.

 

We would love some suggestions for shore excursions- what you loved/hated, what company to use/not use. In the past we have booked both thru carnival and privately.

 

Would also like to know what great beaches at these ports not to miss. So pretty much.... What should I not miss seeing/experiencing at the following ports!!!

 

Puerto Rico

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Lucia

St. Kitts

St. Maarten

 

Thanks!!!

 

Congratulations! I love the Liberty and this itinerary is my dream!

 

I have been to most of these places, but not all on a cruise, so I am not a good person to give the advice that you look for. What I can advise is to head on over to the Ports of Call board/section and look under Caribbean, and there you will find all your islands listed separately. The info there comes from many cruisers, and you will find a wealth of info there.

 

Enjoy your cruise:)

[jrzygurl]

Hi Alley,

 

Welcome to cruise critic and congratulations on your upcoming sailing! I am also doing this itenerary on May 3rd. Have you joined the roll call yet for your sail date? Through the roll call you can find others on your specific sail date that you may be able to share excursions with.

 

Have a fantastic time on your cruise!

[3kids1dog]

These are all great ports. You will have a great time. As someone said, you can find a wealth of information on the ports of call boards. We just got back from some of these islands and here are my ideas.

 

In St. Thomas, I would go to either Secret Harbor or Saphirre Beach. Both have excellent snorkeling and beautiful beaches. You can do this on your own in a cab.

 

In St. Kitt's, we ended up on cockleshell beach at Regge Bar. The snorkeling was okay, they ran out of most of the beer we wanted (and it wasn't very cold) by around 11 am, they also didn't have much available for food. (Except the 20$ fish plate, which they had plenty of:rolleyes:) We were going to stay there until 2 but left around 12. I would probably look into a catamaran/snorkel tour to Nevis

 

Barbados- a lot of people rave about Callablazza tour, but it is kind of late, it is probably full. We took a cab to Accra beach, that day it was very rough and we couldn't snorkel. DH had a good time boogie boarding though. Accra had great food, good drinks. On the way back, we drove past Carlisle, which looked really calm, kinda wish we had gone there.

 

St. Martin-We took a tour with soualiga destinations. It was an awesome speed boat tour, it was with Capt. Bob Cass. Lots of information on the ports of Call board.

 

Have a great time! These are great ports!

[manmachine]

Hey everyone!

 

We just booked Carnival Liberty out of Puerto Rico, it was a surprise gift from my husband and I am so excited!! This is our third cruise, but we have never been to these ports.

 

We love all sorts of excursions(any activity level).. Snorkeling, zip lining, touring cities, and just laying on the beach.

 

We would love some suggestions for shore excursions- what you loved/hated, what company to use/not use. In the past we have booked both thru carnival and privately.

 

Would also like to know what great beaches at these ports not to miss. So pretty much.... What should I not miss seeing/experiencing at the following ports!!!

 

Puerto Rico

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Lucia

St. Kitts

St. Maarten

 

Thanks!!!

 

Nice cruise. San Juan is a great walking city. Sandals does a day pass in St Lucia... Grand St Lucian is farther, but really nice. Day pass at Marriott St Kitts-- fab. Divi Little Bay in St Maarten.

[kmarie10531]

When are you going alley hoops ? I'm going on the liberty may 31st

[Surrealistic]

San Juan- walking tour, forts

St Thomas- Paradise point

Barbados- the Boatyard

St Lucia-Island tour with COSOL

St Kitts- Shipwreck bar, beach & snorkel

St Maarten- Island tour with stops at Marigot, Orient & Maho Beach

Whatever you do..........Enjoy your cruise!

[hirent]

We would love some suggestions for shore excursions- what you loved/hated, what company to use/not use. In the past we have booked both thru carnival and privately.

 

What are your sail dates?

We did the same itinerary on the Valor.

Here's what we did (from one of my older posts):

 

On our Valor cruise, it was our first visit to these islands so we did an island tour everywhere.

 

Barbados: Go to Bathsheba and see the Mushroom Rocks; this is not on any excursion list nor is visited by most cruisers.

Bathsheba is on the other side of the island (doesn't take that long, ship is there for 8 hours). The mushroom rocks out in the Atlantic ocean are worth the trip. A typical tour of places near the port is $35/person, the guy offered us a nice Camry and driver to go anywhere we wanted for the day. So we ended up with a taxi for $150 for 4 people (would have been $140 for a normal tour).

 

St. Maarten: We got a taxi from the pier and did the longest available island tour (standardized tours from the pier). Driver will take you anywhere along the route, including the French side with some time in the capital, Orient beach and the Maho beach airport.

Don't miss the plane landings at Maho beach. St. Maarten is famous for its Maho Beach airplane landings.

KLM is the only airline that brings a '747 Jumbo Jet' to the island anymore.

And the flights are only on Sunday, Tuesday & Friday @ 12:40 p.m. local time.

 

St. Lucia: Land and Sea tour with Herod's tours. Picks you up from the pier, goes through the town of Castries, through the mountains. Stops at a banana plantation, at a village bakery for some creole bread, to a water fall, then to the volcano and sulfur springs mud bath. Authentic creole lunch cooked by his mom and served at their home. Then a speedboat takes you to a beach between the Pitons where you have 1 hour of snorkeling time. Then the speedboat takes you via the ocean straight to the ship though a small 'tunnel' rock formation (Pirates of the Carribean). And unlimited drinks along the way.

Fun packed tour of the island. Fantastic way to see the most of St. Lucia in one day. And all of this costs just $85!

 

 

Here's what I posted in a different thread a few months ago:

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

My wife and I were on the Valor in Dec.

Since we did an all day island tour at every port, we didn't really have a lot of time on the ship.

 

Here are some suggestions though -

[1] Hit the steam room & the sauna.

[2] Do the water slide.

[3] Relax in Serenity.

[4] View a few sunsets from one of the hot tubs (front of the ship) as well as your balcony.

[5] Go to the not-so-secret balconies and experience a ship docking.

[6] Hammocks!

[7] Behind-The Fun tour (though to tell the truth, we didn't enjoy it much). It takes place on the Sea Day from 8 or 9:00 a.m. and lasts about 4 hours.

[8] Food (goes without saying), try the Taste Bar, Mongolian Wok and Fish & Chips.

[9] Try different combinations of items: for instance someone posted that they take a few brownies and mix them with the softserve icecream to create a milkshake. There is a thread on here dedicated to creative recipes that cruisers have tried out on board Carnival ships.

[10] Try something on the menu that you have not had before, especially from the 'Didja' section. And if you like it, order double!

 

Off-shore:

St. Thomas: Go with Luen's Taxi service for an island tour.

Barbados: Get together with some people, hire a car and go to Bathsheba. Its on the other side of the island but the mushroom rocks are worth it.

St. Lucia: Herod Stanislas of Herod's Tours; you get an authentic Creole lunch cooked by his mother at their home.

St. Kitts: Island tour with any taxi driver.

St. Maarten: Island tour from the pier.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited April 10, 2015 by hirent

[bjinouno]

In St Lucia, we used Serenity tours,,, had a fantastic tour of the entire island, But best part of the day we went Zip lining,,,, What a great time we had and a fantastic course! Had a wonderful buffett lunch, went to the mud baths, We saw it all even had time for a swim Check them out either on FB or through their own web site, they will Do and go what ever you want and put the entire day together for you, There was just 3 of us, So we had private car, a Honda Accord think it was a 2011,,,, Really great time

St Kitts, shopped and took a taxi over to the beach so much cheaper than doing a tour

[mousey]

Hey everyone!

 

We just booked Carnival Liberty out of Puerto Rico, it was a surprise gift from my husband and I am so excited!! This is our third cruise, but we have never been to these ports.

 

We love all sorts of excursions(any activity level).. Snorkeling, zip lining, touring cities, and just laying on the beach.

 

We would love some suggestions bfor shore excursions- what you loved/hated, what company to use/not use. In the past we have booked both thru carnival and privately.

 

Would also like to know what great beaches at these ports not to miss. So pretty much.... What should I not miss seeing/experiencing at the following ports!!!

 

Puerto Rico great local food & shopping

St. Thomas great beaches

Barbados great snorkeling

St. Lucia great snorkeling

St. Kitts

St. Maarten

 

 

Each port offers a variety of things to do, places to eat. Lot's of fun.

I loved all these islands and would love to go back to all of them someday.

[Bonnie J.]

In St. Lucia go with Cosol tours!! We have been on close to 100 cruises and this was probably the best tour we've ever been on. The tour is 5-5 1/2 hour but ours was 6 1/2. The driver/tour guide, Baptist, was very aware of the time and when we had to get back to the ship. There are a number of stops for the view and at every one there was free water, soda or rum punch. There were also 2 or 3 vendors. There is a breakfast stop with so much local food there is no way anyone could even try half of what they had. I had never seen a bunch of bananas that were the size of a baseball at the banana plantaion. There is a boat ride, we were there about an hour, going to a beach below the Pitons. The twists and turns of the roads are something. A horn is blown going into all the turns- the only straightaway is about the width across a football field. Google Cosol and read about the tour and reviews.

[janetz]

Hey everyone!

 

We just booked Carnival Liberty out of Puerto Rico, it was a surprise gift from my husband and I am so excited!! This is our third cruise, but we have never been to these ports.

 

We love all sorts of excursions(any activity level).. Snorkeling, zip lining, touring cities, and just laying on the beach.

 

We would love some suggestions for shore excursions- what you loved/hated, what company to use/not use. In the past we have booked both thru carnival and privately.

 

Would also like to know what great beaches at these ports not to miss. So pretty much.... What should I not miss seeing/experiencing at the following ports!!!

 

Puerto Rico

St. Thomas

Barbados

St. Lucia

St. Kitts

St. Maarten

 

Thanks!!!

 

In St Thomas, FuryCharters. Excellent turtle snorkel. Book on your own. Just google fury charters St Thomas

[ozarkmama]

Each of these ports of call has its own forum with lots of information and advice

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[Alley Hoops]

Thanks everyone for y'all suggestions!!

 

We will be cruising on May 3. We don't have much time ..ahhhh! We will be deciding this weekend hopefully!!!

 

I will check out the roll call and port of call boards.

 

Thanks!!!

[Suzanne123]

Just got back from the Caribbean, and if you want something different, look at the Coral World web site in St. Thomas. We did the Sea Lion Swim, and it was just amazing.

Coki Beach, adjacent to Coral World, was really crowded, so I'm glad we didn't waste time there.

[cruiseapril]

Have a great cruise. Let us know about your excursions on the Port Forums.

[tessar]

We're headed out of San Juan on the RC Adventure of the Sea on May 3. Are there more shore excursion options once you board the ship? The published shore excursions guide does not have what we are looking forward to doing. So, I'm wondering if there will be more options once we board the ship? We want to do a catamaran tour to the Pitons at St. Lucia and the only one listed in the guide is a french-speaking tour.

Thanks

[sykimball1498]

I have been to all these places and can recommend some excursions that we have done on each island:

 

Puerto Rico--I would recommend either the rain forest or the Bacardi Factory tour. We stayed about a week longer on our honeymoon and did the Barcardi tour through the ship and the rain forest on our own a few days later.

St. Thomas--we usually go to Megan's Bay beach and shop in town as well.

Barbados--the only thing we did here was a rum factory tour (do you see a pattern here...lol)

St. Lucia--I would get an excursion here that takes you on a catamaran to the Pitons if at all possible

St. Kitts--we did the fort and it was nice, but it get's rainy up there on the mountain so be prepared for drizzle and maybe some rain.

St. Maarten--we have done several things but last time we went horseback riding and also swam with the horses as well. It was pretty fun. This coming time on the Carnival Dream we want to go to Maho Beach and watch the planes comes in.

Edited April 15, 2015 by sykimball1498

[SuiteTraveler]

Puerto Rico - Rain Forest ziplining(day) and/or Bioluminescence bay (night)

 

St. Thomas - Go to St. John to snorkel Trunk Bay (underwater snorkeling path and gorgeous beach day.)

 

Barbados - either swim with turtles or go on a photography tour.

 

St. Lucia - either go snorkeling at Anse Chastanet beach (reached easily via a boat excursion) or do a land tour where you drive through the volcano.

 

St. Kitts - Rail and Sail excursion

http://www.stkittsscenicrailway.com/rail-and-sail.html

 

St. Maarten - walk off the ship and once you reach the end of the pier turn to the left and by a ticket for the water taxi (your ticket is a bracelet that you will wear all day). Take the water taxi to the town. Go inland 1 block for lots and lots of shopping. Come back to the beach for lunch and hang out at the beach. Take the water taxi back to the cruise pier.

 

Maho Beach is where planes come into the airport and blow the heck out of the people holding onto the fence. Some people love this, some people get injured and some people could care less about seeing planes land close up. Only you know which category you fit into.

[murenick]

Just came back from the southern Caribbean cruise for 14 days, and I can highly recommend Bernard Tours in St Martin. Look up there web page and you give $5 deposit and the remainder at the pier. You will never have. Another like it. Free drinks, water, beer or rum and see everything in four hours, including the beach. Mailman the driver was superb and very informative, it was like traveling with family. The excursions from. The ship are too expensive.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I agree with the post about going to your library and checking out a guide book on the area (I do this, but return the book to the library as any lost book from my library costs way too much). Sometimes I'll even get the latest edition (Amazon will ship pretty quickly) to bring with.

 

Also, I google each port as there's many tourism sites with great info.