What to do at our port of calls on a budget!

[meadowlander]

We will be taking our honeymoon on our first cruise leaving out of San Juan in October! Our stops will be St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Lucia and Barbados. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some activities or excursions to do on a budget? We don't mind renting a scooter or something like that and just exploring some and laying on a beach most of the day! Rental company recommendations and beach recommendations would be great! We are open to any and all suggestions. We can be adventurous and laid back! Thanks everyone!!!

 

St. Kitt - Palm Garden is a hotel/resort about 10-15 minute walk from the cruise port. Admission is $12- 15 range. There is an infinity pool with views of the cruise port, hot tub, loungers, umbrellas, bar and restaurant.

 

Barbados - The Boatyard is a 20-25 minute walk from the cruise port. Admission includes a drink, and loungers and a return shuttle ride to the port.

Beautiful beach! Last time I was there they were sold out of loungers, so I walked to another close by beach club. Before I reached it, I found public access to the same beach used by that beach club and the Boatyard. Free entry, no lounger but you did state budget conscious excursions. Taxi ride back to port was only $5.

 

St, Maarten - Easy walk to downtown. Nice variety of stores and good prices. You can get the public bus(it is really a van)$2 to Mullet Bay for swimming or walk over to Maho beach for plane landings - the large jets arrive usually between noon-3 pm. You can swim at Maho but the beach is small, narrow and has many boulders/rocks.

[cdl324]

Thank you all for your help/suggestions! I definitely have a lot of research to do!!

[Cuizer2]

Thank you all for your help/suggestions! I definitely have a lot of research to do!!

 

And when you are done with the ports, don't forget to research the starboards.

[OceansOfTravels]

I'll give quick recommendations!:

 

St.Kitts: I have not been, but I plan on going to the Shipwreck Beach when I go in December. Should only be a couple bucks for chairs and taxis, don't take my word but I think I recall reading that chairs are free!

 

St.Maarten: I LOVED Maho Beach. I also hear Orient Bay is nice. We saved a ton of money in St.maarten by taking the public transportation as recommended by a local. It is $2 each way per person to Maho, and then we bought chairs for $15 each. Great and easy day of sightseeing at Maho!

 

St.Thomas: I took a taxi to Emerald Beach for $8 per person per way, and chairs were $10 each. Easy day. Also, you could take the taxi for $4 to Charlotte Amalie city for some great shopping.

 

St.Lucia: Honestly cannot give something that is "cheap" here. We did an $80 tour with Carnival that was 8 hours long, a whole tour of the south side with the the Sulfur Springs and the Pitons. Loved this tour. I am sure others can give something cheap here.

 

Barbados: Took $4 or $6 (can't fully remember) from the port. They dropped us off at the parking lot near the Copacabana Beach Club. Chairs were $20 for two and an umbrella. Copacabana had bathrooms and free wifi, and food for purchase. The beach was so serene and beautiful, I LOVED it! Certainly my favorite Caribbean beach.

 

Remember with chair prices, you dont have to purchase chairs at most places. Copacabana is on a beach strip and Maho is a public strip as well, so if you can bring your own towel from the ship, you could just lay out on that.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise! :D

[ray98]

That is a great itinerary to start off with. The southern routes have always been my favorites.

 

As mentioned above, Magens Bay and Maho are can't miss in my book. We did a island tour on St. Thomas which ended up stopping on that hill for a photo op and I have virtually that same photo overlooking the bay. We took a taxi in St. Marteen to Maho and hung out on the beach and at the bar. The airplanes landing was truly amazing.

[UUNetBill]

I'll chime in with snorkeling in Barbados - snorkeling with the sea turtles is awesome...but don't mix snorkeling with unlimited rum punch - we signed up for a 'Turtle Snorkle' trip, but after slamming rum on the catamaran on the way out, it somehow turned into the 'Turkle Snortle', which needless to say became the phrase for the rest of the cruise. We'd be having drinks with our friends and someone just had to say 'turkle snortle' and we'd all bust up.

 

Aahhh...good times...

[John Bull]

I'll chime in with snorkeling in Barbados - snorkeling with the sea turtles is awesome...but don't mix snorkeling with unlimited rum punch - we signed up for a 'Turtle Snorkle' trip, but after slamming rum on the catamaran on the way out, it somehow turned into the 'Turkle Snortle', which needless to say became the phrase for the rest of the cruise. We'd be having drinks with our friends and someone just had to say 'turkle snortle' and we'd all bust up.

 

Aahhh...good times...

 

:D

 

We did a similar catamaran snorkelling with turtles in Barbados (excellent) but only soft drinks provided on the way out, & the bottomless rum punch on the way back.

Mebbe not quite so much fun, but a better guarantee that we'd all get back safely ;)

 

JB :)

[UUNetBill]

:D

 

We did a similar catamaran snorkelling with turtles in Barbados (excellent) but only soft drinks provided on the way out, & the bottomless rum punch on the way back.

Mebbe not quite so much fun, but a better guarantee that we'd all get back safely ;)

 

JB :)

 

I think they were trusting us to be responsible. Mmmkay... ;)

[gregg907]

I'll chime in with snorkeling in Barbados - snorkeling with the sea turtles is awesome...but don't mix snorkeling with unlimited rum punch - we signed up for a 'Turtle Snorkle' trip, but after slamming rum on the catamaran on the way out, it somehow turned into the 'Turkle Snortle', which needless to say became the phrase for the rest of the cruise. We'd be having drinks with our friends and someone just had to say 'turkle snortle' and we'd all bust up.

 

 

 

Aahhh...good times...

 

 

We did a great turkle snordle in Barbados. It started pouring down rain as heavy as I have ever seen. So instead of trying to stay dry on the boat we all jumped in the water and giggled like preschoolers in mud. Floating in the ocean in the rain drinking rum punch. What a joy that was.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[janetz]

Ok I will do that! Can anyone tell me the best of those islands to go snorkeling at if we decide to snorkel?

 

Fury Charters in St. Thomas offers a great turtle snorkel.

Here is a link.

http://www.usvisailing.com/daysails.html

Edited July 6, 2016 by janetz

[SMerritt]

We will be taking our honeymoon on our first cruise leaving out of San Juan in October! Our stops will be St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Lucia and Barbados. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some activities or excursions to do on a budget? We don't mind renting a scooter or something like that and just exploring some and laying on a beach most of the day! Rental company recommendations and beach recommendations would be great! We are open to any and all suggestions. We can be adventurous and laid back! Thanks everyone!!!

 

You are going to get a TON of ideas so I will only post my fav.

 

Magen's Bay Beach in St. Thomas!

 

The ride over and back is an adventure in itself.

 

There will be open-air "buses" that run all day when you stop off the ship and plenty when you decide to return to the ship.

 

The ride through town and over the mountain is scenic and full of twists and turns, with a bunch of happy fellow-passengers.

 

Magen's is one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, plus quiet and perfect for swimming or just floating. Also, no "civilization" - houses, hotels, etc.

 

There is a bar, with reasonably priced, and good food, also a shop.

 

It has been about a year but, the bus fare was like $6.00-$7.00 and a $2.00 beach entrance fee. Loungers and umbrellas were inexpensive.

 

For the islands you are visiting, cab fares are very reasonable, and ABUNDANT!:D Browse the forums and try to figure out what you might like to see or do, many of the drivers will even help you decide on an adventure.

 

Just don't over plan......let it happen and have fun!

[JUST TRIPPIN']

My middle name is frugal...aka cheap, but we have still managed to have some great port days.

In Barbados, a cheap taxi ride to Accra Beach with cheap drinks sold there or as someone else mentioned, The Boatyard which is close to port, lively and inexpensive.

St.Lucia has great southern tours but they are upwards of $60+ each. We took Serenity tours fun at the beach tour to Pigeon Island. Great beach, drinks included, for $40 ea ( less than a taxi ).

St.Martin Bernard Tours for a full day full island tour including the planes is a must do. Also inclusive at approx. $45 ea.

St.Thomas...take a shared shuttle to Coki Beach. Beautiful beach AND great snorkelling which is rare. Cheap drinks too.

Sorry can't help with St.Kitts.

Happy Honeymoon!

[Ronnie1a]

Some of these islands get so crowded (like 5-6 ships in at the same time) that it is quite easy to get caught in an afternoon traffic jam with everybody (a few thousand) heading back to the cruise ships at the same time. Plan accordingly.

[BeagleOne]

St. Kitts: Brimstone Hill fortress, Caribelle Batik at Romney Gardens, the sugar train tour, and if you like glass, a visit to Glass Island Designz which used to be and maybe still is on Independence Square. There is also a nice little museum near the port and the town of Basseterre is interesting to walk around.

 

St. Maarten: There is a nice museum downtown, lots of interesting things and a small gift shop. Then Maho Beach to watch the airplanes, it's a lot of fun.

 

St. Lucia: A group of us from our roll call did a private tour by bus and boat, with lunch near the Pitons.

 

St. Thomas: I would avoid Charlotte Amalie shopping if possible. The main street is horribly crowded and the bargains really aren't, in a lot of cases. You can take the ferry to St. John, which is much more unspoiled.

 

Barbados: I rented a mini-moke and had an absolute ball driving around, getting lost, almost running out of gas out in the boonies (thanks to the guys at the bar who gave me directions to the gas station!), trying to read small road signs nailed to palm trees, repeatedly turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal, but managing to stay on the correct side of the road. Saw everything I wanted to see, watched a bit of a cricket match, saw some sights I hadn't planned to see, and met a lot of nice local people too, one of whom was even nice enough to take a detour in his car and have me follow him back toward the port when I got lost in Bridgetown (had plenty of time to spare, too). I would totally do it again. Vroom vroom!

[GUT2407]

Ok I will do that! Can anyone tell me the best of those islands to go snorkeling at if we decide to snorkel?

 

Snirkelling and spending time with your new spouse shouldn't cost you much at all.

[EscapeToTheShore]

On St. Thomas, you can literally walk from the cruise ship down through the markets and to a beach. Unless you find something in the markets you want to buy, that is all free. And the walk is nice. Once you get to the beach, if you want to rent chairs and an umbrellas, that will cost a little but not much. There are waiters than run drinks from the restaurants that line the road behind the beach to you so you never really have to get up. It is a nice way to spend the day and costs very little.

[Gallivanting Souls]

Are your prices per person or taxi full?

 

At all those ports you can share a van from the pier for a quarter to a third of ships excursion prices. Drivers are friendly and trustworthy, they know their island and they know the importance of back-on-board time. They can replicate ships tours (without the regimentation and delays of ships cattle-drives) or suggest alternatives. Go ashore reasonably early, drivers will arrange sharing. Agree itinerary, timescale and price before you board, pay in USD when you get back - it's the norm. Price is for the transport only, not food or drink. Driver can take you back to the ship or drop you at shops or beach (so take your beach stuff). Be wary of taxis and vans further from the port, they might not even be licensed or insured.

 

For St Lucia a trip up into the rainforest, past the Pitons, to the drive-in volcano costs about 25 dollars. Get the driver to drop you at Choc beach , ten minute drive from the ship, idyllic Palm-fringed crescent beach, one bar, a few locals and tourists. Or 10 minutes further to Reduit beach, tourist beach with all the toys. Whichever beach, arrange for the driver to return to collect you at an agreed time.

 

For St Kitts, a circumnavigation of the island - don't choose the cheapest tour at about 10 to 15 dollars, it's not a full tour. About 20 dollars for a good tour including beach time en-route.

 

Barbados is best for snorkelling. Either from a catamaran, or ask a taxi to take you to a suitable west coast beach - they're no more than about 5 miles from your ship.

 

I'll second a van shuttle (about 5 dollars e/w?) to Maho beach on Sint Maarten for "something different".

 

But I'll also add my concerns about scooters - quality and safety is very variable.

 

All very easy to DIY, cheap and fun.

 

JB :)