What to do at Ports of Call

[cdl324]

Hey! I am cruising in October on my honeymoon. I am having a hard time figuring out what to do where on my ports of call. I have gotten great suggestions but everything is getting overwhelming! We are wanting to do a few things in particular but don't know what to do where. Our stops are:

 

St Thomas

Barbados

St Lucia

St Kitts

St Maarten

 

The only thing I know for sure is we want to take a glass bottom boat out to the shipwreck in Barbados and snorkel with the turtle. I have looked at several different companies to go through for this but that is also overwhelming, we are hoping to keep it $40/pp or less! Can anyone recommend a good company to go through?

 

We are also wanting to know which islands have the best beaches, because we want to have 2-3 beach only days! Also, which beaches on which islands, how much taxi/chairs are... etc.

 

We would like to do one island tour... where would be the best to do this at?

 

I hear Barbados has monkeys that you can pet and interact with? Where could we find something like this at?

 

I know I probably sound like a total noob, this is our first cruise and first time going out of the country.

 

I appreciate any and all tips/suggestions! I tried posting under the individual ports of calls but did not get many answers so I am hoping to get more here.

 

Thanks all!!

[Sixtytwo]

Congrats on your wedding and your first cruise! Both are exciting events!

 

As far as your questions go, St Thomas is known for beaches and shopping. It is a fun place. But, the best advice is to look for the Roll Call for your cruise and "join" that thread. You will meet folks who will be on your cruise and would likely have ideas for things to do. Also, check out the ports of call thread for these ports. I know there are lots of posts about each with ideas, likes, and dislikes from those who have been there. You can also check out Trip Advisor for the ports.

 

Read, read, read. Once you have an idea about what each port offers, then you can decide what you want to do at which port. Don't worry, being overwhelmed is a normal rite of passage for cruisers! [emoji2]

 

Have a great cruise and relax, it will all come together!

[ABQrobin]

There are PORTS of CALL forums here on CC. You need to go to each of them to ask about excursions, read others experiences. Lots and lots of good information there.

[Micahs Grandad]

Congrats on your wedding and your first cruise! Both are exciting events!

 

As far as your questions go, St Thomas is known for beaches and shopping. It is a fun place. But, the best advice is to look for the Roll Call for your cruise and "join" that thread. You will meet folks who will be on your cruise and would likely have ideas for things to do. Also, check out the ports of call thread for these ports. I know there are lots of posts about each with ideas, likes, and dislikes from those who have been there. You can also check out Trip Advisor for the ports.

 

Read, read, read. Once you have an idea about what each port offers, then you can decide what you want to do at which port. Don't worry, being overwhelmed is a normal rite of passage for cruisers! [emoji2]

 

Have a great cruise and relax, it will all come together!

 

very good advise

[dacsmom]

Congratulations on your wedding and first cruise. Now stop and breathe. If you don't get to everything you want to do it is just another reason for a 1st anniversary cruise.

 

For Barbados and the turtles I really liked Sail Calabaza, you get up close and personal with the turtles and Gina and her crew pamper you all day long. She only takes 12 people so you have to book early.

 

St. Maarten has Bernard's Tours, you get a sample of both the French and Dutch side. That would be my recommendation for a full island tour.

 

St. Kitts is not a favorite Island for me, but I have ziplined and the Fairview Greathouse / Rum Tour is enjoyable.

 

There are monkeys almost everywhere, several ports have them and you can have your picture taken with them for a few dollars.

 

For your first cruise don't try to over do it, you will come back needing a vacation from your honeymoon.

[poz222]

St Thomas.... Go to beach (there are several choices, see the ports of call section

Barbados, go to beach, you can get a local boat to take you out to turtles and wreck snorkel right from the beach for like $15-$20 just ask... Beach is beautiful

 

St Lucia, take and island tour... We loved Cosol tours is u do private

St. Kitts, taxi to beach (several to choose from) or island tour (will see monkeys on any St Kitts tour)

St. Maarten go to Maho beach for beach and airplanes or just go to the beach... Can't miss...

 

Check out ports of call section

[Florings]

Congratulations on your wedding! And your itinerary sounds wonderful!!

 

Activities are so subjective, depending on your personal interests, so it's tough to give any recommendations. For me, I must have something planned in advance or I find myself wandering aimlessly - then when we sail away from the port, I feel like I wasted an opportunity to experience more of the port of call.

 

At the very least, I will book a tour just to see some of the highlights and get recommendations from the tour guide for shopping or restaurants or other not-to-be-missed stops.

 

Do some research, both on cruise critic and on some travel sites. You will find the perfect things for you and your new spouse to enjoy!

[Jenhem31]

In St. Kitts look into Thedford Grey's tours. He's wonderful. In St. Maarten we like to rent a car and drive to Maho Beach and watch the planes. After that we drive to the French side of the island and eat at this little bar on the beach.

Congrats on your wedding!

[AZ Ocean Lover]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

 

We had a similar itinerary earlier this year and have been to 4 out of 5 of your ports.

 

I would chose Barbados as a beach day. We went to the Tiki Bar (about a $15 cab ride) and had a very relaxing day. Beautiful water, good food and very low key (which we like). There are other beaches along the way that are more upbeat and active if you are looking for this. I also understand that if you go to one of these beaches (the Boatyard I believe) you can pay a vendor on the beach to take you out to snorkel with the turtles. Definitely go to the ports of call board for more information on this.

 

We were not happy with our St Lucia snorkel tour. They take you a beautiful beach but tell you to stay in a very narrow area to snorkel. Too many people in too small of a place to be enjoyable. We also had jellyfish but this was in the spring vs the fall. I would suggest an island tour for this one.

 

St. Thomas does have beautiful beaches and great shopping. The whole island is beautiful for that matter. You can also take a day trip to St. John’s. Lots of beach choices

 

St. Maarten is quite fascinating because of the French and Dutch sides of the island. This would also be a great place to take a tour. A lot of people really like Maho Beach to watch the airliners arrive. Orient beach is also a fun beach with all kinds of restaurants and activities. A lot of people really like Maho Beach to watch the airliners arrive. Be sure to YouTube this to get a feel for it. It has never appealed to us but people really seem to like it. A lot of the tours will take you to all of these sites.

 

I agree with the person that says go to the ports of call board. If you can’t find your answer just post a new question. These are popular ports.

 

My one word of caution – don’t over do it. Our first cruise was a whirlwind of doing something at every port. Now we take a much more relaxed approach. May spend a few hours on the island but make it a quiet afternoon on a nearly deserted ship.

Edited August 3, 2016 by AZ Ocean Lover

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

Great itinerary. Of those islands I can only comment on St. Thomas as I haven't been to the others yet. Both times we've been to St. Thomas we took a taxi to Emerald Beach. It's at a best western hotel and is a lovely beach. They charge you approx. $20 for 2 loungers and an umbrella and you have use of the facilities. There's a great little oceanfront restaurant/bar right at the beach

Taxi is $7 per person and can be found outside of the gates - head toward the shopping area and the taxi lot is just to your right.

[tandemcruzr]

Congratulations!

 

We were in St Lucia this past April and did the Catamaran to the Pitons. It was a Carnival excursion and leaves right from the dock. Amazing scenery and the Pitons are spectacular. Take a camera for sure. The cat sails along the coast of the island and stops for a brief swim or snorkel at a beach. Rum punch is served along with sandwiches and $2 Piton beer. Good music along the way and we had a great crew.

[Jenny in TX]

St Thomas - we took a tax to Sapphire Beach and rented chairs. It is a very quiet beach. It was beautiful and we would go there again. There was a lady walking around that took food & drink orders. The mahi sandwiches are awesome!

 

St. Kitts - we are going here for the first time in November and are doing a private tour with Thenford Grey tours.

 

St. Maarten - we will be going here for the first time in November and we have booked a tour with Joyce Prince tours.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Jenny in TX

[SweetPea0517]

Sometimes it is fun to just wing it at a couple ports. Cruises can wear you out there is so much to do on them! Taking a taxi to Maho beach is fun, there is a restaurant bar on the beach & the water was wonderful when we was there!

We did the snorkel at Buck Island & Honeymoon beach excursion and enjoyed it.

[OCruisers]

Great Itinerary!

Please keep in mind that it cost money to HAVE FUN!

Not too likely you'll find much for less than $40 pp which is a price you've wanted on some of your ports of call posts.

Edited August 4, 2016 by OCruisers

[janetz]

The best turtle snorkel we have done is with this company in St. Thomas

 

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

 

They are very close is the pier. Do the morning snorkel. It will not be crowded like the ships excursions and will cost less. We saw tons of turtles and fish. :)

[Bonnie J.]

Check out Cosol tours in St. Lucia! WE have been on 100+ cruises since 1985 and this was the absolute best tour we have ever been on! You have to Google them to see all you do. This includes taking a boat to a beach below the Pitons as part of the tour, went to a banana plantation, stopping for more local breakfast food than you can believe and driving on all the roads that turn continually (next time I'm counting the turns!), the tour leader blows his horn on many of the turns.

 

We had a lady with us that liked a dress a vendor had at one of our 1st stops but she didn't buy it. Then she decided she wanted it. She told the tour leader this so at the almost end of the tour he stopped at the vender's house as she was walking back. Anyway, she bought the dress!

 

The tour was to be 5-5 1/2 hours but ours was more like 6+. The leader was very aware of the time we had to be back at the ship and we got back in plenty of time.

 

Google this tour and sign up for it!

[cdl324]

Thank you all for the amazing suggestions! This is so very helpful! Keep them coming. :)

[capriccio]

We've been to all those islands and here are my recommendations but I am not sure they fall within your budget. Of course the cheapest 'tour' is a day at the beach.

 

St Thomas - go to St. John's. Most of it is a National Park with beautiful beaches. Trunk Bay has a snorkel trail with underwater markings.

 

Barbados - I'm seconding the earlier recommendation for Calabeza. You'll have a wonderful day snorkeling with the turtles and Gina makes a fabulous lunch.

 

St Lucia - have gone on 3 different tours with Serenity Tours. They are a smaller company with wonderful personnel.

 

St Kitts - the Thenford Grey tour gives you a good feel for the island and its history and (at least when we took it in 2010) drops you off at the beach.

 

St Maarten - if you sail or have ever thought you would like to, take the America's Cup Yacht Race (probably offered through your cruise line). It is a blast.

[pghsteelerfan]

Hey! I am cruising in October on my honeymoon. I am having a hard time figuring out what to do where on my ports of call. I have gotten great suggestions but everything is getting overwhelming! We are wanting to do a few things in particular but don't know what to do where. Our stops are:

 

St Thomas

Barbados

St Lucia

St Kitts

St Maarten

 

We have done this exact same itinerary, twice now, recently. The first was in May 2013 and the second was last September. Can you tell we love it? :) This is, hands down, our favorite itinerary and it's very scenic. There is also so much to see and do in each of the islands and there is something for everyone. We too, love beaches, and on the cruise in May 2013, we went to beaches. I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.

 

The only thing I know for sure is we want to take a glass bottom boat out to the shipwreck in Barbados and snorkel with the turtle. I have looked at several different companies to go through for this but that is also overwhelming, we are hoping to keep it $40/pp or less! Can anyone recommend a good company to go through?

Barbados is known for beautiful beaches as well as swimming with turtles. I know many people will make Barbados their "beach day" at Carlisle Bay (a very short cab ride from the ship) and go to one of the places there, Boatyard being the most popular. From there, there are guys that walk the beach offering tours to go out on the boats (don't know if they have glass bottom or not) to where the turtles are to swim/snorkel with the turtles. I've seen in a lot of reviews where they also take you out to a shipwreck to snorkel. I'm not sure how much they charge, but it's not expensive. Someone else mentioned Calabaza. I personally know others who have done it and loved, loved, loved it! It may be little more than what you wanted to spend, but from what I hear, definitely worth it.

 

We are also wanting to know which islands have the best beaches, because we want to have 2-3 beach only days! Also, which beaches on which islands, how much taxi/chairs are... etc.

 

Many of the islands have nice beaches. Depending on what you are expecting, the only one that may not is St. Kitts. If you're looking for sugar white sand, St. Kitts' beaches may be a disappointment. We've been to Cockleshell Beach and Shipwreck (black sand) and loved both. We're pretty easy to please though. The water and the views from both are beautiful.

 

St. Thomas: We've personally been to Magen's Bay and Sapphire Beach (decent snorkeling), both are beautiful. Magen's is a popular destination, so can get crowded at times, depending on the number of ships in port. There is also Coki Beach (great for snorkeling), Emerald Beach, Lindquist Beach, Secret Harbor...there are a lot of beaches to choose from. Another option that someone else mentioned is St. John. From your itinerary, I'm guessing you'll be on Carnival? If so, they offer a "St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel Getaway" tour. We did that several years ago and really enjoyed it. It's also possible to go to St. John on our own and that's heavily discussed on the St. Thomas "Port of Call" section.

 

Barbados: many beaches along the west coast. Most popular is Carlisle Bay. There are a lot of places to rent loungers, Boatyard being one of the most popular. Possible to do tours to swim/snorkel w/turtles and at a shipwreck for reasonable price. Places to eat and get drinks.

 

St. Lucia: We've only been to one beach there and will go again next time (yes, there will be a next time, eventually) and that is Jalousie/Sugar Beach, the beach between the Pitons. Talk about gorgeous and if you like to snorkel, Jalousie Beach has the best snorkeling I've seen - lots of fish and very colorful coral. Again, if you'll be on Carnival, they have tour called "Snorkel Between the Pitons", which goes to Jalousie/Sugar Beach. The tour is four hours. It takes at least 45 minutes, by speedboat, each way, so I'm not sure exactly how much beach time you get. When we were there in 2013, we did a private tour with a tour company that got a lot of good reviews. This was the first non cruise line tour we ever did. We used Spencer Ambrose and did the "Jalousie/Sugar Beach Break". It did not disappoint. What we liked compared to Carnival's excursion was that we had at least 4 hours at that beautiful beach. Time to snorkel, swim, walk the beach for pictures, and to just kick back in a lounger and enjoy the scenery. This recently came up in the "Port of Call" section under St. Lucia and I replied and so did many others. I'll attach a link to that thread, if it's something you may be interested in: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2352848

 

St. Maarten/St. Martin: many nice beaches here as well.

We would like to do one island tour... where would be the best to do this at?

 

All would be great to do island tours. I'm not quite sure about Barbados though, since it's more popular for the beaches on the west coast and the turtles. You mentioned St. Kitts and I'd definitely recommend that one for an island tour. It's small enough that you can do a tour and still get some beach time in. There are some great island tours, the best are usually private local tour companies, on all of the others.

 

I hear Barbados has monkeys that you can pet and interact with? Where could we find something like this at?

 

I don't know about Barbados, but I know in St. Kitts, right in the cruise center shopping area, there are usually locals who walk around with baby, diapered monkeys that will let you pet, hold, and get pictures with, but they charge (usually $5.00 or $10.00). We saw them but didn't pose with the monkeys. If you find you like cruising and get an opportunity to do a cruise with a stop in Roatan, then there is a private vendor there that has exactly what your looking for. That would be Victor Bodden. We did that in 2014 and those monkeys were cute and funny. My husband wanted one. :D

 

I know I probably sound like a total noob, this is our first cruise and first time going out of the country.

 

Nothing wrong with being a noob, we ALL were at one time. :) Our first cruise was also our honeymoon and out of San Juan. Almost the same itinerary except we went to Dominica and Martinique instead of St. Lucia and St. Kitts. My first time out of the country as well.

I appreciate any and all tips/suggestions! I tried posting under the individual ports of calls but did not get many answers so I am hoping to get more here.

 

Thanks all!!

 

I hope I've been able to help out some. I'm really not one to say "Oh, you HAVE to do this" because everyone is different and has different tastes and interests. But I am happy to answer any questions you may have. I did detailed reviews, with lots of pictures, of both cruises we did on the itinerary you'll be doing. They (well, the links to those reviews) are in my signature. The first is Valor, May 2013 and the other is Liberty, September 2015. There is another Liberty review, but of the western Caribbean itinerary and none of the islands you'll be going to. And if you're interested in seeing them, please just skim through pictures first (they are long reviews) and if you see something your interested in, well, then you may want to read a little. :p

 

There are other reviews of this exact itinerary that I can recommend as well. I'll list them by the CC member name and it's easy to just do a search.

 

CC Member: Valentinebaby1 (Valor, October 2013 with details about Calabaza in Barbados; Liberty, September 2015). They are both in her signature.

 

CC Member: Dirkgun (Valor, January 2015). There are also some Victory reviews (Victory did the itinerary out of San Juan before Valor, but instead of a sea day, they also went to Dominica).

 

CC Member: Stinger-pr (Valor, September 2014 and Liberty, August 2015)

 

CC Member: Trippingpara (Liberty, May/June 2015); also a Victory review in his signature.

 

CC Member: CruiseXLife (Liberty, first cruise on the San Juan itinerary, March or April 2015).

 

CC Member: MegnJoe (Valor, May 2013)

 

I know you are planning for a wedding AND a cruise, so again, just recommend skimming through pictures and reading up when something catches your interest. I have personally read all of these reviews, and more, and they all have great detailed information and beautiful pictures.

 

Congratulations to you on your upcoming wedding and I hope you have a very enjoyable honeymoon cruise. BTW, we did the "Booze Cruise" for an excursion in Barbados on our honeymoon...now THAT was fun. :D

Edited August 6, 2016 by pghsteelerfan

[pghsteelerfan]

I hope I've been able to help out some. I'm really not one to say "Oh, you HAVE to do this" because everyone is different and has different tastes and interests. But I am happy to answer any questions you may have. I did detailed reviews, with lots of pictures, of both cruises we did on the itinerary you'll be doing. They (well, the links to those reviews) are in my signature. The first is Valor, May 2013 and the other is Liberty, September 2015. There is another Liberty review, but of the western Caribbean itinerary and none of the islands you'll be going to. And if you're interested in seeing them, please just skim through pictures first (they are long reviews) and if you see something your interested in, well, then you may want to read a little. :p

 

There are other reviews of this exact itinerary that I can recommend as well. I'll list them by the CC member name and it's easy to just do a search.

 

CC Member: Valentinebaby1 (Valor, October 2013 with details about Calabaza in Barbados; Liberty, September 2015). They are both in her signature.

 

CC Member: Dirkgun (Valor, January 2015). There are also some Victory reviews (Victory did the itinerary out of San Juan before Valor, but instead of a sea day, they also went to Dominica).

 

CC Member: Stinger-pr (Valor, September 2014 and Liberty, August 2015)

 

CC Member: Trippingpara (Liberty, May/June 2015); also a Victory review in his signature.

 

CC Member: CruiseXLife (Liberty, first cruise on the San Juan itinerary, March or April 2015).

 

CC Member: MegnJoe (Valor, May 2013)

 

I know you are planning for a wedding AND a cruise, so again, just recommend skimming through pictures and reading up when something catches your interest. I have personally read all of these reviews, and more, and they all have great detailed information and beautiful pictures.

 

Congratulations to you on your upcoming wedding and I hope you have a very enjoyable honeymoon cruise. BTW, we did the "Booze Cruise" for an excursion in Barbados on our honeymoon...now THAT was fun. :D

 

 

Forgot another great review, by CC Member Deladane (Valor, March 2015). Attaching the link since it's buried now: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2186897