Not sure how to get the most from Barbados

[Bombaysapphire]

Any advice please? We'd love to get a taste of the island but my son is a turtle freak and it would be the experience of a lifetime for him to swim with them. Is Barbados the best place to do this? I have read mixed reviews about the organized cruise line excursions and would welcome feedback please. As we are limited for time I guess seeing island highlights and turtle swimming is unrealistic. Is this the case?

[Mango Mike]

Getting "the most" you can in one day probably won't be easy.

 

Regarding ship sponsored excursions - we generally stay away from them. I think we've always found much better (and cheaper) excursions by researching and booking on our own via internet. IMO, ship sponsored excursions tend to be quite organized most of the time and you won't have to worry about missing the ship if the excursion runs late, but, some of them tend to be crowded, don't allow enough time at each stop, don't take you to some of the more "out of the way" places and sometimes cater to places that give the cruise line a kickback (again, IMO)

 

My suggestion - to see/swim with the turtles, book a catamaran tour with Calabaza tours (book early, sells out fast), or any of the other catamaran tours that only take a limited number of guests (12-18). You'll usually leave at 9:00 - 9:30 in the morning for a 4-5 hour sail that lets you snorkel/swim with turtles, then have lunch on the catamaran. Once back on shore, you might still have time to explore a few things close to the pier.

 

This wouldn't get you into the "interior" of Barbados to see monkeys or allow you to do a beach day, but it would satisfy your sons turtle fascination plus give mom and dad some relaxation time (Calabaza --> class act operation).

[lolavix]

I know this is the Barbados board, but if you are going to St. Thomas, I noticed that there is a Turtle Encounter at Coral World. It's obviously not in the turtles' natural environment, but it would free up your time on Barbardos.

[cruiseapril]

For a tour of the island, find out about the destinations before booking as there are so many.

 

We did a tour of Barbados which included- Bathsheba, Andromeda Gardens, St. John Church, and Francia Plantation. There are other places like Sunbury Plantation, Orchid World, and The Wildlife area which are also good.

Edited February 24, 2016 by cruiseapril

[pghsteelerfan]

Any advice please? We'd love to get a taste of the island but my son is a turtle freak and it would be the experience of a lifetime for him to swim with them. Is Barbados the best place to do this? I have read mixed reviews about the organized cruise line excursions and would welcome feedback please. As we are limited for time I guess seeing island highlights and turtle swimming is unrealistic. Is this the case?

 

Before our last cruise, I also thought seeing island highlights and turtle swimming/beach time was unrealistic too. I read a review of the same itinerary we would be on and they did both. Beach & turtle swim for a couple of hours in the morning, then a bit of an island tour in the afternoon. I inquired in a comment in the review about the service they used. They replied that it was a private taxi company that does tours and they gear the tour to what you want to see and do and when I asked for the contact information, they passed it along. We corresponded then ended up booked through that same private taxi service and were very happy we did. We did the turtle swim in the morning then starting at noon we had the island tour to sights we were interested in along Barbados' east coast. We were back at the ship with at least an hour to spare and our driver was very watchful of time, knowing we had to be back by a certain time. It's a busy day, but not unrealistic to do both. If it's any help, we were in Barbados from 8AM-5PM.

[1stcruiser1]

Look at Glory Tours, they have a bunch of different tours offered. We have used them in the past, and will use them again in April. They were very good.

[glentally]

Getting "the most" you can in one day probably won't be easy.

Once back on shore, you might still have time to explore a few things close to the pier.

 

(Calabaza --> class act operation).

 

Hey Mango Mike, I am going to book Calabaza and what would you suggest to do "new the pier" when we get back?

[Mango Mike]

Hey Mango Mike, I am going to book Calabaza and what would you suggest to do "new the pier" when we get back?

 

That will be hard for me to answer but I will provide a public service announcement.

 

The last time we were in Barbados, my wife and I did a similar catamaran tour (not Calabaza) and didn't heed to the precautionary words of others to wear plenty of sunscreen and a hat. Long story short, a nasty sunburn on that catamaran ended up causing skin cancer on the top of my head that I had to have surgically removed last November. Wore plenty of sunscreen on this tour but unfortunately, my hat blew off and sure enough, sunburn on the scalp again. Looks like surgery is in my future one more time. PLEASE WEAR SUNSCREEN AND A HAT!

 

Back to your question. Since I had "sun issues" again, we thought it was best that we go back to the ship and nurse my war wounds. There is a building right next to the pier that has a number of shops if you want to do some shopping (typical souvenir stuff) and I think there are a couple of bars if you want to continue your rhum consumption. Other than that, I really can't help you, sorry.

 

I will guarantee you'll have a great time with Gina and her crew.

[Kristianmom3x]

Before our last cruise, I also thought seeing island highlights and turtle swimming/beach time was unrealistic too. I read a review of the same itinerary we would be on and they did both. Beach & turtle swim for a couple of hours in the morning, then a bit of an island tour in the afternoon. I inquired in a comment in the review about the service they used. They replied that it was a private taxi company that does tours and they gear the tour to what you want to see and do and when I asked for the contact information, they passed it along. We corresponded then ended up booked through that same private taxi service and were very happy we did. We did the turtle swim in the morning then starting at noon we had the island tour to sights we were interested in along Barbados' east coast. We were back at the ship with at least an hour to spare and our driver was very watchful of time, knowing we had to be back by a certain time. It's a busy day, but not unrealistic to do both. If it's any help, we were in Barbados from 8AM-5PM.

 

 

 

We will be in Barbados from 8-5 also, and were also trying to figure out if it was possible to snorkel with turtles and see some of the island (my daughter wants to see monkeys).... Would you have the contact info for the private taxi service that took you on your tour?

[OCruisers]

Any advice please? We'd love to get a taste of the island but my son is a turtle freak and it would be the experience of a lifetime for him to swim with them. Is Barbados the best place to do this? I have read mixed reviews about the organized cruise line excursions and would welcome feedback please. As we are limited for time I guess seeing island highlights and turtle swimming is unrealistic. Is this the case?

 

Please forget about everything else and make sure your son gets to swim with the sea turtles! Barbados is a fantastic place to do this and he'll be so happy!

 

LuLu

[pghsteelerfan]

We will be in Barbados from 8-5 also, and were also trying to figure out if it was possible to snorkel with turtles and see some of the island (my daughter wants to see monkeys).... Would you have the contact info for the private taxi service that took you on your tour?

 

We used JP's Taxi Service and Patsie Nurse is the main contact and she was our driver and "tour guide". Patsie's email is Patsietaxi@hotmail.com. Her cell numbers are 246-264-7413 or 264-571-8291. I used the email for contact and Patsie was great with the communication and we really enjoyed being able to get the most out of our day in Barbados. I never tried to call, so I can't give you any feedback on that.

 

Since you'd also like to see more of Barbados and your daughter wants to see monkeys, in addition to swimming with turtles, there is the "Barbados Wildlife Reserve" that has monkeys, in addition to other wildlife. We didn't go there but that is definitely possible. I'll attach a link to a review in which they swam with turtles in the morning then saw more of the island, including the Barbados Wildlife Reserve (and they have pictures of monkeys), in the afternoon.

 

I'm hoping to attach the link so it opens on Page 6, where the section on their day in Barbados begins on post #103 and the section on the Barbados Wildlife Reserve starts with post #108.

I actually commented on this review to inquire about their day in Barbados since we wanted to swim with turtles and see more of Barbados, especially the east coast, and they replied that it was possible to do both. They mentioned using Patsie/JP's Taxi Service in the review, but I asked for the contact information, which they were happy to provide. Since what they did sounds very similar to what you'd like to do, I'm sure if you have any questions about their day or the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, he'd be very happy to answer you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2173623&highlight=valor&page=6

Edited March 1, 2016 by pghsteelerfan

[Kristianmom3x]

We used JP's Taxi Service and Patsie Nurse is the main contact and she was our driver and "tour guide". Patsie's email is Patsietaxi@hotmail.com. Her cell numbers are 246-264-7413 or 264-571-8291. I used the email for contact and Patsie was great with the communication and we really enjoyed being able to get the most out of our day in Barbados. I never tried to call, so I can't give you any feedback on that.

 

Since you'd also like to see more of Barbados and your daughter wants to see monkeys, in addition to swimming with turtles, there is the "Barbados Wildlife Reserve" that has monkeys, in addition to other wildlife. We didn't go there but that is definitely possible. I'll attach a link to a review in which they swam with turtles in the morning then saw more of the island, including the Barbados Wildlife Reserve (and they have pictures of monkeys), in the afternoon.

 

I'm hoping to attach the link so it opens on Page 6, where the section on their day in Barbados begins on post #103 and the section on the Barbados Wildlife Reserve starts with post #108.

I actually commented on this review to inquire about their day in Barbados since we wanted to swim with turtles and see more of Barbados, especially the east coast, and they replied that it was possible to do both. They mentioned using Patsie/JP's Taxi Service in the review, but I asked for the contact information, which they were happy to provide. Since what they did sounds very similar to what you'd like to do, I'm sure if you have any questions about their day or the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, he'd be very happy to answer you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2173623&highlight=valor&page=6

 

Thank you SO MUCH!! Very helpful :-)