Questions re: West Indies Explorer Excursions

[Mr Beans]

It is almost time for me to choose excursions for a Jan trip.  My understanding is that some of the included excursions are better than others, we have a couple of optionals in mind and will also plan on at least 2 or 3 days to hit a beach. Considering an island tour in  What I'm looking for feedback on is this:  Any recommendations for which included tours/islands to take vs skip when planning our beach days.  I've read that after a while these island overviews all seem to blend together.  We've been to San Juan and St Martin before so St Martin will definitely be a beach outing.  Considering a private tour in St Lucia but we dock at 8am and the tour meets at 8:20, not sure if we'd make it in time.  Thanks for any advice

[SquatsandChampagne]

I've only been to St. Lucia and St. Kitts.

St. Lucia I think a tour would be a good idea, there is a beach that is a 30 minute walk or 10 minute cab ride from port, it is right by the airport but I was not very impressed with it. Some people take a cab to Marigot Bay, but I know there are some good tours of St. Lucia.

St. Kitts is great for a beach day IMO, grab a cab right from port, 15 minutes to South Friars Bay, skip Carambolla Beach club and walk down the the beach to get to Discovery Beach Bar, nice swimming good lounge chairs and cheap beer!

 

[Cyber Kat]

We did mostly optional tours and with one exception - Guadeloupe - they were fantastic!  

 

We did the St Kitts Railway and it was great fun and a different way to see the island. We also did the included excursion which went to Fairview Great House. The views were fabulous. 

 

In St Lucia we did the catamaran cruise to the Pitons, Marigot Bay and the Morne Cabril Estate - which was really interesting and the Creole lunch was great!

 

in Barbados we did the Photography tour. This was one of the best - even if you aren’t interested in photography. It was a small group in a van with a locally well-known photographer who took us to off the beaten path places and ended up with rum punch in a lovely old hotel. 

 

We also enjoyed an island tour that ended with a catamaran sail out to a reef for snorkeling and a great barbecue lunch on the boat.