2 Weeks in the carribean. What would you do?

[opsman123]

We fly to Barbados on the 17th December for 2 weeks on the Britannia.

If anyone has done this cruise before or visited any of the port's what would be your ideal way to spend the two weeks?

Excursions , places to see. Would love your views and ideas

Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St. Maarten, Barbados, Barbados

[the english lady]

We fly to Barbados on the 17th December for 2 weeks on the Britannia.

If anyone has done this cruise before or visited any of the port's what would be your ideal way to spend the two weeks?

Excursions , places to see. Would love your views and ideas

Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St. Maarten, Barbados, Barbados

 

The main thing is most of the ports are diy, or go on the ports of call section for cc and see the best private tours to book.

Dominica is very poor and is a rain forest island. So there is every chance it will rain while you are there. Not cold, just bursts of liquid sunshine.

You can just get taxis to a beach from the port, but I always thought it was a shame to go all that way, just to sit on a beach...so we did one pando tour..one private tour we booked before going and the rest we picked up transport in the port when we got there.

[ScotchBoy]

Barbados - Turtles - always good fun

Curacao - picked up an island tour dockside, + aquarium, beach side restaurant for lunch

Aruba - never been , but we've booked the Trike Tour for next month - can't wait

Bonaire - Island tour by bicycle, including Goto Lake and flamingoes - lunch at the dockside - fab day - stunning island - would love to return

St Vincent - never been, intend to stay on ship next month

St Lucia - Island tour, especially loved Caribelle Batik and Rum Factory - will pop to Caribelle again next month

Dominica - DIY first time; stayed on ship second time - didn't like

Antigua - picked up an island tour at the dockside, driver got us beer for the tour, finished up on Church Valley beach - great day

St Maartens - Philipsburg by bicycle - easy ride - good fun

 

Whatever you choose to do, you will love the Caribbean. Have a great time!

[LondonTowner]

I agree with the English Lady. In most of the islands we have picked up a tour at the port which on average has cost us 25 USD for about 4 or 5 hours.

 

We don't sit on the beach, but many of the tours can include beach time, but we normally ask to go somewhere else.

 

The best tour by far is Cosol's Tours in St Lucia.

We have done a tour with Lawrence of Antigua and Bernard's Tours in St Maarten. They have all been good and you don't pay until you get there.

 

Barbados is a large port terminal and very well organised, so very easy to get a taxi or tour. You can share or go it alone.

 

In all the other ports we have just got a tour at the port and never been disappointed.

 

No need to book any ship tours as very easy to book with local operators. Have a look on the port's of call for each island and the relevant forums on Tripadvisor.

[jasperado]

Hi

DH and I haven't been yet, we are joining Azura on 21st January, but my plans for the ports of call that we have in common are........

St. Lucia, we have booked Cosol Tours for the all day island tour that is highly recommended on cruise critic and tripadvisor

Antigua, we are going to take the #20 or #22 bus from the port down to Darkwood Beach

St. Maarten, we are going to go skinny dipping at Orient Bay :eek:

Barbados, the full day we will take the bus to Rockley Bay in the south, walk along the boardwalk to Needham Point and either bus or taxi back to the port, and visit Batts Rock and Paradise Beach the day of flying home.

Don't know how its all going to pan out and we might change our minds, but thats the plan for the moment. Whatever you do, have a wonderful time :)

[ChrisPBacon]

We take off to a decent local beach in St Lucia for the morning, and then head to the Rum Therapy Bar at the port, for a great afternoon 'session'. [emoji482][emoji482][emoji482][emoji12]

 

In Barbados, we had a local driver take us on a short trip around, which included a visit to a distillery, where we sampled the local 'rocket fuel'.

 

I wouldn't get off the ship in Dominica. I don't rate the place at all and the ship tends not to dock in town.

 

Curacao. Lovely Dutch town with places to eat and drink.

 

We did the French side of St Maarten on our last trip. That was good.

 

 

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[danielundecided]

We were in St Lucia in 2008 with some family friends and me and my mate went on the zip line - I forget it's name but it was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat!

 

St Lucia also has some beautiful beaches and the water was a glorious temperature; perfect to swim in.

 

Dan

 

 

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[bee-ess]

As others have said there are plenty of taxis at each port to take you to a beach or on a tour which is a cheaper option than P&O. Having said that with the $ rate being so poor currently some of the P&O tours look reasonable value this year.

 

Barbados - Best Beaches are West Coast and best scenery is on the East side (Bathsheba)

Curacao - decent town for a look around or picked up an island tour at dock

Aruba - nice beach at Palm Beach, easy taxi.

Bonaire - best snorkeling/diving island

St Vincent - not much of a town, might be worth taking at boat to Bequai (P&O Escape to Bequai is in fact cheaper than anything I could find independently)

St Lucia - It's been said a 1000 times on here - Cosol's day tour is an excellent tour.

Dominica - Don't like Dominica, we don't get off

Antigua - Great beaches - many taxis available to beaches

St Maartens - Philipsburg town is easy to get to by water taxi near where the ship docks - or if you want an Island tour try Bernards Tour.

 

Also, a good place to look for information, choosing beaches etc is to use the Ports section of this forum - lots of good advice there.

[LondonTowner]

I was very surprised that a couple of people have said they don't like Dominica as it is one of my favourite islands. We did an island tour and it is so green and lush. I also like Nelsno's Dockyard on Antigua.

 

My least favourite islands on this particular itinerary would be St Maarten and Aruba.

 

I suppose it is just as well we all like different things.

[mickey89]

I have two recommendations but maybe too late to organise.

BONAIRE - Go on a drift snorkel with http://www.woodwindbonaire.com - It is the best snorkel trip in the Caribbean, if you are lucky maybe still available.

St.LUCIA - Book a day pass at the Rendezvous Resort - luxury for a day but probably no vacancies - worth a try just google the Resort and email fora reservation.

[yorkshirephil]

I was very surprised that a couple of people have said they don't like Dominica as it is one of my favourite islands. We did an island tour and it is so green and lush. I also like Nelsno's Dockyard on Antigua.

 

My least favourite islands on this particular itinerary would be St Maarten and Aruba.

 

I suppose it is just as well we all like different things.

 

Indeed, we loved Dominica, as you say lush and green, we arranged a private tour which is one of the best ever, snorkelling on Champagne reef, followed by swim up Tito gorge then walked down one of the hot springs. The views in the mountains are spectacular. However we were not impressed with the port itself but that can be the norm for lots of ports.

 

We love St Maarten, you can walk around to the town or take the water taxi across the bay, lovely long beach, we usually walk down the shops side of the main drag to keep her who must be obeyed happy, then walk up the beach and bar side to keep me happy, hic. You can go to Maho beach and get sandblasted by the big jets over the beach if you are so inclined. It is a nice island for touring.

[ChrisPBacon]

I was very surprised that a couple of people have said they don't like Dominica as it is one of my favourite islands. We did an island tour and it is so green and lush. I also like Nelsno's Dockyard on Antigua.

 

 

 

My least favourite islands on this particular itinerary would be St Maarten and Aruba.

 

 

 

I suppose it is just as well we all like different things.

 

 

 

It's green....I'll give you that. But I'm surprised anyone would take Dominica over St Maarten? But that's why they go to different islands. To suit all tastes.

 

 

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[LondonTowner]

ChrisPBacon

 

In St Maarten we did a tour with Bernard's Tours which was very good and also saw the planes landing at Maho Beach, but there were quite a number of ships in that day and the place was busy with loud, brash people.

 

Aruba does have some beautiful beaches, but is a very arid island. We picked up a tour at the cruise terminal and the guide was excellent. What I didn't like there were the casinos and brash shops.

 

On the other hand, I thought Dominica far less touristy, lush and relatively unspoilt.

 

Yes, you are right, it's good the itineraries include varied islands, but that is probably more due to geography. My OH and self have different likes and dislikes regarding the islands.

[Esprit]

For St Maarten I would strongly recommend jet skiing in the harbour.

 

You take the short ferry ride from the ship berth to the beach and there are ski hire places located along it. Me and my son hired one each and we had a blast as the further out you go into the bay the bigger the waves to jump.

 

If that's not for you I'd also recommend the bike ride tour across the border.

 

My only regret was not going to the airport where you can stand on the beach and get jet blasted when the big aircraft take off.

[kruzgal]

Use the ports of call section on this forum to research each island for lots of ideas and information...

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[plumduff68]

Some of these suggestions are great.

 

We dont go until Jan 18 but am already making plans :D

 

Katie x

[Balaena]

We fly to Barbados on the 17th December for 2 weeks on the Britannia.

If anyone has done this cruise before or visited any of the port's what would be your ideal way to spend the two weeks?

 

I know it's tough, we've got 6 weeks to contend with on Azura from February but think we'll manage. Plenty of places to just 'chill'.

 

Bal

[sueandphil]

I have two recommendations but maybe too late to organise.

BONAIRE - Go on a drift snorkel with http://www.woodwindbonaire.com - It is the best snorkel trip in the Caribbean, if you are lucky maybe still available.

St.LUCIA - Book a day pass at the Rendezvous Resort - luxury for a day but probably no vacancies - worth a try just google the Resort and email fora reservation.

 

Certainly agree about Woodwind in Bonaire. Just done a trip with them and a great day out. Well organised and the best snorkelling

[opsman123]

Great advise everyone, thank you.

I will start putting a list together. 4 weeks today, can't wait.

I will post all the details when I get back

[Floflegs]

We always try to do an island tour with a local company if it is our first visit there. We never pay in advance and have always been well pleased with the tours we took. Certainly much cheaper than a ship'S tour and always a smaller group.

[tartanexile81]

I was very surprised that a couple of people have said they don't like Dominica as it is one of my favourite islands. We did an island tour and it is so green and lush. I also like Nelsno's Dockyard on Antigua.

 

My least favourite islands on this particular itinerary would be St Maarten and Aruba.

 

I suppose it is just as well we all like different things.

 

I'm glad that someone else agrees about St Maarten. We've got an overnight there in February and of all the ports in the Caribbean I cannot think why P&O has done that. We've got a day pass at a hotel booked for Day 1 then will probably just hang around town the next day. I like places where you know you're in the Caribbean so I also dislike Aruba. They're both too commercialised for my taste. I will be able to comment about Dominica when I get back this time as I've never been but am very muck looking froward to some amazing scenery I believe

[LondonTowner]

Tartanexile

 

I'll be interested to hear your views when you return from your cruise. I think St Maarten and Aruba are brash.

 

Mind you, I also get slated when I happen to mention I'm not keen on Tallin either. Again, too touristy and over commercialised.

[Magicdi]

In Dominica we have done the Layou River Tubing with the Wacky Rollers and it is great fun. It's only a half day trip and you can do morning or afternoon . We booked with P & O.

[gsjnd]

We normally do our own thing on all the islands and had been to Dominica 3 times and was not very impressed until we booked a private tour with levi at bumpling tours and did the ROSEAU VALLEY TREASURES tour for $50 in 2013. We saw so much of the island that we would not have been able to cover ourselves. It was easily our favourite day on the 2 week cruise. I would highly recommend this tour when in Dominica.

In Antigua go to valley church beach by taxi, excellent beach.

Bonaire get the water taxi to Klein Bonaire where you can snorkle from the shore.

hope that gives you a few ideas.

[OceansOfTravels]

We fly to Barbados on the 17th December for 2 weeks on the Britannia.

If anyone has done this cruise before or visited any of the port's what would be your ideal way to spend the two weeks?

Excursions , places to see. Would love your views and ideas

Barbados, Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St. Maarten, Barbados, Barbados

 

I have not been to all of these ports, but I have been to some. I will illustrate what I did in each:

 

Barbados: I LOVE Barbados! It appears that your cruise will be leaving/arriving from here, so I don't know if you have time to stay and visit, but if you do, I would definitely recommend a day on the Carlisle Bay Beach strip. When I went, we rented chairs at the Copacabana Beach Club for $25USD for 2 chairs and an umbrella, and spent the day on the beach. Very beautiful, clear water, with soft sand. The beach club was nice as well, it was fanned, had affordable food prices, and clean bathrooms. It also offered free wifi. I would certainly return here on my next stop in Barbados! There is also good shopping in the port area, and you could easily stop in Bridgetown on the way to/way back from the beach.

 

St.Lucia: When I went, we were there on a Carnival ship, so we booked an excursion through Carnival called "St.Lucia Top 10 Best", and boy, was it worth it! We spent the day in an air conditioned bus, hopping from place to place all day. We saw the University, a craft center, Anse La Rae, a botanical garden, the Governer's House, the town of Soufriere, at the Hot Springs, and of course, stopped for great views of the Pitons and the cities of Castries and Soufriere. Our guides were great, very knowledgeable, and we enjoyed the whole trip. Some like to go to the beach here, but we had an amazing day of seeing the sights of St.Lucia. It is definitely a huge change from Barbados, certainly an island you do not want to miss.

 

St.Maarten: My all-time favorite island! I love it here! When we went the first time, we spent the day at Maho Beach. It is really cool to see the airplanes fly overhead all day, so low to the ground. We went to the town of Phillipsburg (not to be missed, it has the best shopping in the Caribbean), and got on the public bus to Maho for $2USD per person per way. Much cheaper than a taxi. Of course, we rented chairs (I believe we paid $30 for two chairs and an umbrella, and we bought food from one of the shacks). In a month we will spend the day on an all-day boat tour around the whole island, which I am SO excited for! We stop in Pinel Island, which is a huge deal for me, as everyone I know that has been has continuously raved over and over again about. Orient Bay is another easy alternative, not too far from the ship. It's also quiet.

 

I hope you have a great cruise, the Caribbean is a great region to cruise to! :D