We don't scuba or snorkel, BEST excursions for the ABC islands itinerary??

[Pier290]

We are first timers....taking Equinox in September....looking for best beach/fun excursions that don't involve scuba or snorkel!!??  3 fun female adults.....ANYONE?? 🤔🍹🏝️👙😎

[1025cruise]

Have you checked the ports of call forums?

[panoramaofthepast]

Look for a food tour. They usually cover five or more eateries and give you a taste of the local cuisine. 

[cruisestitch]

What do you like to do? Shopping? Hiking? beach days? History? Photography? Cooking? Art galleries? It’s hard to tell you what the best excursion is without knowing more of what you are looking for.....

[Chardo]

Trikes Aruba. 

 

Best excursion I have done on any island.

[Pier290]

Beach, bars, souvenir shops, pools, 

[clarky213]

4 minutes ago, Chardo said:

Trikes Aruba. 

 

Best excursion I have done on any island.

I'll second that!!

[micheleata]

I think we are going to do the Stingray/ Calico Jacks beach excursion in Grand Cayman.  We have a lot of OBC to use up.   I have not booked this yet,  as I am still deciding,  but definitely one with the stingrays.  
We did the ABC itinerary last September but did not do any excursions,  just played it by ear.    Keep in mind that it is HOT.  I wouldn't book anything without air conditioned transportation.   Just riding the free trolley in Aruba was miserable, even with the breeze.

[Briggs99]

In Bonaire we rented golf carts and drove around the island. Go to trip advisor and search for Bonaire Cruisers Golf Cart rental. I want to say it was $99 for the entire day. They give you a map to follow with sightseeing places marked. Flamingos, salt mines etc. BEST excursion in many years. We will definitely be doing it again. 

Edited February 2, 2019 by Briggs99

[Pier290]

2 minutes ago, Briggs99 said:

In Bonaire we rented golf carts and drove around the island. Go to trip advisor and search for Bonaire Cruisers Golf Cart rental. I want to say it was $99 for the entire day. The give you a map to follow with sightseeing places marked. Flamingos, salt mines etc. BEST excursion in many years. I definitely be doing it again. 

Yes!!!! I heard about this elsewhere!!! Definitely will do this....sounds amazing!! Thank u!!!!!

[Albertabound]

We booked a golf cart thru Bonaire Cruisers as well. Probably our favorite activity when we did the ABC islands in December. Definitely recommend.

[jsf]

Last time on Barbados we did the submarine tour, not sure it's still there.but was a lot of fun. We also rented cars on Aruba and went all over the island, just a tip, take small bills if using USD hard to get change in remote area's of island.

J.

[Carried_Away]

My friend and I went to the ABC islands and Grand Cayman on the Silhouette in December.

 

In Aruba, we spent the day on our own. We strolled around and shopped near the port, and then we took a taxi to Eagle Beach, which was cheap and easy. The driver dropped us off at a beach bar where we could rent chairs and an umbrella.

 

In Curacao, we took a trolley tour of historic Willemstad, booked through Celebrity, and then walked around and shopped in the morning. We had another island tour with a beach stop booked for the afternoon, but we decided to skip it and stay on the ship because we were hot and tired.

 

In Bonaire, we did two excursions booked through Celebrity. One was Bonaire Highlights, which was an island tour that covered Rincon, Lake Gotomeer, flamingoes, the salt flats, and the slave huts. The second was a glass-bottom boat tour. I also don’t dive or snorkel, so I chose the glass-bottom boat to see the marine life Bonaire is famous for.

 

i was happy with everything we did and would recommend any of it. I loved this itinerary. The biggest downside to our choices was that our time was tight in Bonaire because we did two excursions and had to be on board at 3:30. That left us little time to squeeze in shopping, and we actually enjoyed the shopping in Bonaire. There was no Diamonds International or the chain stores the Caribbean is known for, but the small shopping area had a lot of local stores and vendors with nicer merchandise than the usual port trinkets. Bonaire is where I bought most of the souvenirs and gifts I brought home, and I wish we had another hour or two there.

 

[DENIE]

We did the ABC Islands and Grand Cayman in early December 2018.  In Grand Cayman, we did the Celebrity Stingray City and Calico Jack's tour - it was awesome.  The water is only about 3' deep, so no worries there, and you don't have to go below water.

 

In Aruba, we had a very long stay (till midnight!), so we did the Sunset Cocktail cruise - booked through Celebrity.  It was also fantastic!  The catamaran was within walking distance of the dock, and it was not overcrowded. The sunset was special! We had plenty of time during the day to just get off the ship and wander around Orangestad.

 

In Curacao, we had a tour arranged ahead of time, which I found by doing internet research of all the popular travel sights.  If you Google "Around Curacao", you will find this wonderful company - only Andy and Sharmond.  We booked a private (3 people) tour (Sharmond was our driver) for 6 hours.  He asked us what we would like to do, and we basically just asked him to take us to the places that we should see as first time visitors.  We saw the east and west side of the island, and Willemstad.  Lots of sights, lots of good discussion.  They are 5-star, and their ratings on-line reflect that!

[Caribbean Chris]

In Curaçao, there is an excellent anthropology museum called Kara Hulanda that opened in 2001. I visited in 2007 while on a business trip and spent a long time walking through the exhibits, many focusing on slavery.

It’s centrally located in Willemstad, I think on Otrabanda side, and probably an easy walk from the ship.

http://www.kurahulanda.com/en/museumx

[DiamondDiva]

In Bonaire, we have done a great small group island tour with Bonaire Vista Tours.  We are going again with them in March, as we are coming with friends who have never been to Bonaire and we want them to see as much of the island as possible. 

 

The local vendor market near the cruise pier is very good for crafts and souvenirs, I agree.

[PAsailors2]

On 2/2/2019 at 1:35 PM, Albertabound said:

We booked a golf cart thru Bonaire Cruisers as well. Probably our favorite activity when we did the ABC islands in December. Definitely recommend.

Have to agree with this 100%!  They have an easy-up set up at the pier where they check you in and give you directions to the actual location of the shop. Don’t worry, it’s an easy walk to get there. Would suggest you take pool towels from the ship and some bottles of water, as the seat gets hot in the sun and you will no doubt get thirsty along the way.  It was a fabulous way to see a lot of the island and we are looking forward to doing it again January 2020. They do tend to sell out, so you should book early. 

[bigdogag]

Just returned from the A B C islands. My wife and I are not snorkelers or divers.  I will be the third to vote for Trikes Aruba. Excellent four hour tour and got to see a lot of the developed side of the island. People everywhere stopped and took pictures of this unique vehicle.

 

After reading many reviews we rented a golf cart on Bonaire from Bonaire Cruisers. Very good way to see the island and easily stop to investigate further. As others have said, they do sell out so you need to book early.

 

We were not as impressed by Curacao. There, we rented a car from Advance Carrental Curacao - again, after reading many comments on CC. 

 

As others have said, do what I did and read hundreds, if not thousands, of comments and reviews on the individual islands (ports) boards. There is an abundance of great information there.

[printingchick]

We loved our ABC jeep tour on Aruba. It's a full day, but shows you all the natural wonders. 

[ghstudio]

+ 1 on the golf carts and any of the stingray city tours but don't take any offered by celebrity which have just too many people.  Even if you aren't swimmers you should go to stingray city.  The water is generally only about 4' deep so you walk around (actually, you shuffle around...you don't want to step directly on top of a stingray, even in GC.)

 

Note: Don't expect any shopping bargains in the ABC islands....surprisingly expensive in the shops....for example liquor is cheaper at home.

Edited February 5, 2019 by ghstudio

[budcann]

We stopped in Curacao several weeks ago, got a day pass at Hilton for $60, which included $25 food drink credit. Really enjoyed it, water crystal clear. We walked around the main beach area towards the dive shop, less crowded, lots of shade.

[Pier290]

2 hours ago, budcann said:

We stopped in Curacao several weeks ago, got a day pass at Hilton for $60, which included $25 food drink credit. Really enjoyed it, water crystal clear. We walked around the main beach area towards the dive shop, less crowded, lots of shade.

We decided to do the day pass at Santa Barbara Beach resort in Curacao....hoping it's good!