6 ports what to do? Carnival Fascination Cruise May 2019

[Matlily]

Hi Everyone,

 

Looking for those that have done this cruise its the 7 day from San Juan on Carnival Fascination. we are going in May and its port intensive!

San Juan Puerto Rico

St Thomas (do we stay here or go to St John?)

St Maarten

St Kitts

St Lucia

Barbados

Looking for beach days and not to complicated we would like to relax but also take in some of each island we need to know the must sees and the blah its ok to miss.  We don't necessarily want to do excursions every day, some days take a cab to a beach/town? we snorkel but are not zipliners or hikers etc, we do like seeing animals and stuff like that we are in our mid 50's.

 

Thank you in advance for any replies.

[MeganGC1983]

We did this itinerary in Sept. 

San Juan- walking fort tour on our own

St. Thomas- can Tovar’s Sapphire Beach. Beautiful place. Decent snorkeling. Not busy. 

Barbados- The Boatyard. Beautiful beach!! They take you out Tovar’s snorkel the shipwreck and with the turtles. 

St. Kitts- We took a cab to Shipwreck beach bar. Nice black sand beach, great food with cold beer. 

St. Lucia- We did land and sea with Spencer Ambrose. We really wanted to go to Sugar beach by boat and it was well worth it!!

St. Maarten- Island tour with Bernard’s tours. French market was ok. French bakeries were AMAZING. Beaches are GORGOUS. Maho is neat to see the planes. 

Enjoy your trip. It’s the best itinerary!!

[scpirate]

14 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

We did this itinerary in Sept. 

San Juan- walking fort tour on our own

St. Thomas- can Tovar’s Sapphire Beach. Beautiful place. Decent snorkeling. Not busy. 

Barbados- The Boatyard. Beautiful beach!! They take you out Tovar’s snorkel the shipwreck and with the turtles. 

St. Kitts- We took a cab to Shipwreck beach bar. Nice black sand beach, great food with cold beer. 

St. Lucia- We did land and sea with Spencer Ambrose. We really wanted to go to Sugar beach by boat and it was well worth it!!

St. Maarten- Island tour with Bernard’s tours. French market was ok. French bakeries were AMAZING. Beaches are GORGOUS. Maho is neat to see the planes. 

Enjoy your trip. It’s the best itinerary!!

It is the best itinerary.san Juan take the free trolley and get on and off as you please.the rest we caught tours from those selling them when you get off the ship.2-3 hours about 30-35 a head.still plenty of time to shop or go to beach if beach is your thing.

[LittleYiaYia]

We have done this itinerary many times and will be doing it again this February.  OSJ is a very walkable area with much to see.

The forts are interesting, the view from both forts are amazing. The architecture of the city is also worth noting. The food is very good and the people are friendly.  Probably our favorite port of all.

While on St. Thomas you can do Megan's Bay or Sapphire Beach easily.  St. John's is not difficult, just takes more planning and time.

Barbados can be toured from the cruise port.  Lot's to see.  If you just want the beach, I agree with The Boatyard.

On St. Kitts we have done the train ride, and most recently, a catamaran to Nevis.

On St. Lucia, I think a must see are the Pitons.  The best way to do this is by a boat.  We used Spencer Ambrose last year and did the beach break to Sugar Beach by speed boat. This beach is right between the Pitons.  I highly recommend.

On St. Maarten, you have a choice of many beaches.  Orient is coming back after the hurricane, and you can do the market in Marigot. Maho is a very touristy crowded beach.  We like Divi Little Bay Beach. 

I recommend you do some research by checking out the various ports on the Ports of Call Boards. 

 

 

 

.

[BoDidly]

Op you're getting really good advice here. Like others We also have done this many times.

I just wanted to add for those that have been there done that.   In San Juan we pulled a redneck thingy . We hopped the free shuttle to Walmart . Which believe it or not was rather cool .  Walmart is rather huge with shopping upstairs and downstairs.  We found quite a few items that we didn't see at the port area and some that were . Better priced that's for sure.  

 

Here's your sign !  

 

Edited January 25, 2019 by BoDidly

[LittleYiaYia]

Bo, you made me smile.  Where did you catch that shuttle?

[Willwork4cruises]

Here is link to my quick review of a similar cruise (we also stopped in Antigua) in May 2018. It was our best cruise so far.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2549488-ayrin-amber-and-maddie-on-a-fascinating-cruise-may-27-2018/?tab=comments#comment-54951471

[BoDidly]

5 hours ago, LittleYiaYia said:

Bo, you made me smile.  Where did you catch that shuttle?

 

There's a parking area for all the shuttles right around where the ships dock at. Usually there will be a few Walmart employees with  blue vest walking around with a sign near the CVS.  Any of the shuttle drivers can point you right to them. Your wanting to find that person as the shuttles have a rotation system every twenty minutes or so Have fun !

Edited January 26, 2019 by BoDidly

[Hillbillygram]

We did that same itinerary in September but with Dominica added. Very busy cruise.

 

St. Thomas--Magen's Bay or Sapphire 🌴

Dominica--we did an island botanical tour

Barbados--we did the Atlantis Submarine

St. Lucia--Deep Sea Fishing

St. Kitts--We did Thenford Grey's Island Tour. It included a couple of hours at Shipwreck Beach

St. Maarten--Maho Beach

[Joebucks]

Here's what we did

 

St Thomas - Took to ferry over to St John and Trunk Bay. A little costly and quite a hike, but one of the nicest beaches I have ever been to.

 

St Kitts - Went to Cockleshell. Beautiful ride there. That island is stunning. The beach had some nice views. Water is a little choppy and seaweedy.

 

St Lucia - Sandals day pass at the Grande St Lucian. A little pricey, but a great time. Some excellent food and drink

 

St Maarten - Maho beach. At first, I was extremely disappointed. In the end, it was an outstanding experience. It was our 7th and last beach of the vacation. It kept everything fresh!

 

Barbados - Went to Harbor lights, which I believe is close to the boatyard. $20pp for chair, umbrella, and snorkeling around the shipwreck, turtles, and sting rays. You can't beat that price.

[shellindc]

We did this itinerary in June 2018. LOVED IT. The fact that there was a port every day was awesome--lots to do and experience. 

 

San Juan--we arrived in PR two days before we sailed. Did the forts & OSJ one day and the Barcardi tour the other day. 

St. Thomas--Trunk Bay excursion for snorkling in St. John. Beautiful. 

St. Lucia--catamaran trip for Snorkling. Sailed along the coast, reminded me of Hawaii. 

St. Kitts--train tour through the countryside, beautiful. It was nice to have a non-water excursion. 

Barbados--Atlantis submarine excursion--so cool and different. 

Antigua--swimming with stingrays, the only part I didn't like was that it was on a sand bar far out from the shore, so you either had to get out there with them, or you got back on the boat, there wasn't really any in between

St. Maarten--no excursion, we took a taxi to the French side for lunch, our driver gave us a great tour, lots of information. We also hung out on the pier for drinks and shopping and went to the Star Wars museum.

[beshears]

We are planning on doing this cruise the 31st of March. I don't have time to read all the responses, but here are a couple suggestions from me.

 

St. Thomas, buying jewelry (save a lot of money this way).  Also Magic Ice is a place that everyone should check out at least once.  In case you believe you will get cold, don't worry, they give you plenty of cover to wear, that you might get too warm while wearing it.

 

St. Lucia, this is my 3rd time back.  If I could I would go back every year, but being from Missouri, it is very expensive to travel that far.  I am booking Cosol tours (you can Google them and it tells everything they do, and even more that it doesn't tell).  I do not work for them, but I would pay MORE than $75 to go on their tours.

 

[LittleYiaYia]

19 hours ago, BoDidly said:

 

There's a parking area for all the shuttles right around where the ships dock at. Usually there will be a few Walmart employees with  blue vest walking around with a sign near the CVS.  Any of the shuttle drivers can point you right to them. Your wanting to find that person as the shuttles have a rotation system every twenty minutes or so Have fun !

 

Thanks,  I have never noticed them before.  May try it this time as an alternative to CVS and Walgreens.

[BoDidly]

18 minutes ago, LittleYiaYia said:

 

Thanks,  I have never noticed them before.  May try it this time as an alternative to CVS and Walgreens.

 

 

You cant be talking about those long, long  lines that go up and down the isles before you reach the checkout can you .😂   It worked for us even found a small six pack of lemon lime drink  (Twist Up /$ 2 Dollars ) as we don't like the larger 12 oz cans.

 

[CruzinKristin]

What time will the rooms be ready for us lowly folk that do not have priority status?

 

[rainy812]

St. Thomas we did Caribbean Historical Tours.  We booked it ourselves.  When we were done we went to Coral World Ocean Park and the driver dropped us off and picked us up for an additional $20.  Grade - B

 

In Barbados, we were scheduled for 4x4 Safari and Shipwreck Snorkel (Carnival tour).  The weather was bad so the cancelled the snorkel and we just did the 4x4 and a slightly reduced rate.  Grade C+

 

St. Lucia was our favorite - we did Cosol Tours.  We booked it ourselves.  It was an island tour with a snorkel near the Pitons. Grade - A+

 

In St. Maarten we booked one Carnival tour but it did not make so we rebooked on a 3 stop snorkel on a speed boat.  Grade - A+

 

St. Kitts - We booked a carnival tour Deluxe Catamaran Sail and Snorkel with Open Bar.  Grade - A.

 

We also did 3 days in San Juan.  We did a walking food tour, toured the forts on our own, a bio luminescent kayak tour at night and a private tour to El Yunque the day that we go back to San Juan after the cruise.  

 

Dominica was also on our itinerary and it was AWESOME!

[WIFamily]

Did the Fascination in April of 2018.

 

In San Juan we flew in the day before.  In the evening we took a bus from our hotel to Old San Juan and walked to Punta de Vista for dinner.  Classic dishes, and the mofonogo is delicious!   The cocktails are very good as well.

 

We did all our excursions through Carnival.

 

• St Thomas we did the St John tour.  Enjoyed it very much.
• Barbados we did the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel.  Tiami was the company, and our experience was soo good, I contacted the company after we returned and complimented each crew member on our ship.
• St Lucia we did the Ultimate Zip Line / Rain Forest adventure.  Only one in our group had been zip lining before, we all had a blast.
• St Kitts we did another Catamaran and Snorkel.  Was good, nothing exceptional and nothing to complain about.
• St Maarten we did a bus tour.  About half way through the AC stopped working.  They got us a new bus and it was fine.  The driver was very good, but spoke poor English so was a little hard to understand (nothing against him or the company). 

 

My wife and I will be doing this cruise again.  So much fun!

Edited January 27, 2019 by WIFamily

[Athankfulheart]

We did this itin on the Valor after a week in PR. Our fav trip by far! Highly recommend Calabaza Sailing for Barbados. Beautiful relaxing day on an uncrowded catamaran with amazing food and attentive service. Snorkled and even saw sea turtles. 

 

At St Kitts we took Thenford Grey's grand tour. It was a pleasant day which ended with some beach time. He is a very knowledgable gentleman and an excellent host.

 

We went to St John on our own from St Thomas.

 

We spent the day at Jalousie beach in St Lucia. We took a speed boat there which included a fun tour and gave us more time on the beach. This beach has the best off beach snorkeling ever! We used Spencer Ambrose Tours.

Edited January 27, 2019 by Athankfulheart

[kdawg954]

On 1/25/2019 at 2:05 PM, Matlily said:

Hi Everyone,

 

Looking for those that have done this cruise its the 7 day from San Juan on Carnival Fascination. we are going in May and its port intensive!

San Juan Puerto Rico

St Thomas (do we stay here or go to St John?)

St Maarten

St Kitts

St Lucia

Barbados

Looking for beach days and not to complicated we would like to relax but also take in some of each island we need to know the must sees and the blah its ok to miss.  We don't necessarily want to do excursions every day, some days take a cab to a beach/town? we snorkel but are not zipliners or hikers etc, we do like seeing animals and stuff like that we are in our mid 50's.

 

Thank you in advance for any replies.

 

I am going under the assumption that you have not done these ports.

 

San Juan (Pre cruise and embarkation day) - Fly in early on Saturday, stay in Old San Juan and enjoy this area.  Great food and nightlife.  

 

St. Thomas - Beach day.  After partying, nightlife and a walking the forts in San Juan, kick off day 2 with a beach day.  You don’t need to go to Trunk Bay . . . .tons of gorgeous beaches in St. Thomas that won’t bring the added stress of getting to St. Johns.  Ideal Beach day.

 

St. Maartens - Bernards tour . . . .excellent operation with visits to a beach on the French side and a trip to Maho beach.  Its a very relaxing tour IMO

 

St. Kitts - Another Beach day to Shipwrecked.  Take a cab and spend the day here.  Good food and drink . . .service is very “island time” but a relaxing day.

 

St. Lucia - Make this your one “long tour action” day . . . .but you have to take a tour that goes to Jalousie Beach as the snorkeling is the best you will get on this trip IMO.  Cosol tours will give you about an hour . . . .you can splurge with Spencer Ambrose and get a little more time. The beach area isn’t all that but the snorkeling is . . . .so don’t worry about needing to spend the day here . . . .the island is worth doing a tour for.

 

Barbados - Catamaran.  Best value is probably Calypso as you get 6 hours with epic service

 

Day 7 - At sea . . . .relax.

 

Day 8 - Debarkation - Stay an extra night in Isla Verde or Condado and just make it a final beach day.  Use AirBnB to find cheap but solid accomodations.

 

 

 

 

 

[Matlily]

Thank you all for your responses and I am meeting soon with my fellow passengers to discuss our plans so far in the running

San Juan -  2 days Forts, Old town, rain forest, bio luminescent kayak tour

St Thomas either catamaran over to st John or taxi to Magens bay for the day

St Maarten island tour and beach break to Orient Beach or taxi to Maho beach to see the planes?

St Kitts Cockleshell beach day taxi to and from or Carambola South Friars bay beach or Shipwreck beach, taking in the atlantic/caribbean sea

St Lucia - defintely a cruise tour due to some troubles over there. Pitons catamaran cruise tour

Barbados - Boatyard or Rockley Beach

San Juan - dock at 7am and flight is at 4:45pm trying to decide what to do? when is the latest you can get off?

 

We go on lots of cruises but I wanted to make this one about beaches because I heard they are beautiful in all these islands, this is first of three cruises this year and our 13th cruise overall.  Thank you so much for your input.

[pghsteelerfan]

On 1/26/2019 at 11:03 AM, shellindc said:

We did this itinerary in June 2018. LOVED IT. The fact that there was a port every day was awesome--lots to do and experience. 

 

San Juan--we arrived in PR two days before we sailed. Did the forts & OSJ one day and the Barcardi tour the other day. 

St. Thomas--Trunk Bay excursion for snorkling in St. John. Beautiful. 

St. Lucia--catamaran trip for Snorkling. Sailed along the coast, reminded me of Hawaii. 

St. Kitts--train tour through the countryside, beautiful. It was nice to have a non-water excursion. 

Barbados--Atlantis submarine excursion--so cool and different. 

Antigua--swimming with stingrays, the only part I didn't like was that it was on a sand bar far out from the shore, so you either had to get out there with them, or you got back on the boat, there wasn't really any in between

St. Maarten--no excursion, we took a taxi to the French side for lunch, our driver gave us a great tour, lots of information. We also hung out on the pier for drinks and shopping and went to the Star Wars museum.

Not to hijack, but so happy you posted this (St. Lucia reminding you of Hawaii).  We were there in 2013 (Valor) and again in 2015 (Liberty) on cruises out of San Juan.  At the time, I had not been to Hawaii but other people on our tour said the same thing and a few we were chatting as we were sailing out of St. Lucia said the same thing.  We did get to Hawaii (Oahu, Kauai, and Maui) in 2017 and I could definitely see similarities in Kauai.  I posted that on another thread (similarities between St. Lucia/Kauai) and someone told me I needed glasses and there was no comparison.  Lol!!!

OP, you've gotten great advice from the others (we've done some of the same things suggested) but I just have to comment that this is our favorite regular itinerary that Carnival offers.  So the only advice I can really offer is to make sure you have plenty of memory cards and if you can and if possible, try to be up on the outer decks for the views as you sail in or when sailing out. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by pghsteelerfan

[estillcrew]

We have taken the exact cruise, and it was hand's down, the best cruise we have ever been on. It is so port intensive, so you are smart to relax on the beaches most of the time.

San Juan - I would do the forts. You can easily walk there. You can get some fabulous pictures while walking around the fort. If you want, bring a kite, and fly it with dozens of other people.

St. Thomas: I would do Megan's Bay or Sapphire Beach. Neither one are that great, but you get more beach time there than if you go to St. John's. Most of your St. John's time would be spent traveling back and forth.

St. Kitts: We did the zip line. It was the highest, longest zip line ever ( a total of 5 different ones as you make your way down the mountain) I was terrified. It is 500 feet above sea level.

St. Lucia: BEST EXCURSION EVER: We did the segway excursion. We rode through the mountains and along the coast. We also went snorkeling and hiking (or if you prefer, you can chill out on the beach instead), and tasted local food and drinks, etc. It was a jam packed excursion, and we enjoyed every second of it.

St. Maartan: We went to Orient Beach. Not sure if it's open after the hurricane. There is a clothing optional part if you want to partake

Barbados: We took a catamaran sail and snorkel trip and fed the giant sea turtles. It was really cool and laid back.

Hope this helps!