Any recent cruise members on ms volendam

[medric56]

We are going on cruise in march 2006 to Southern Caribean any helpful shore excursions to do or avoid. :confused:

[arzz]

We were on the Volendam in October -- I am not sure if you have the same ports as we did -- what we usually do in a Caribbean port is to purchase a taxi or van tour from a provider on the dock. This usually costs less that the tours through HAL and they can be somewhat customized to fit our personal desires. Most of these tours will let you off at a nice beach (and arrange a pick up later), or in town to shop at the conclusion of the tour.

 

Our Volendam ports were HMC, Aruba, Curacao, Tortola and Dominica. The HAL tour we took on Dominica was excellent -- not a port for shopping, but this is a port to see the rain forest and the real Caribbean. On Aruba and Curacao we did tours that we arranged ourselves with a provider on the dock. We had an excellent and very personal tour on Aruba from a taxi driver who was a former government minister. In Tortola we had purchased a tour to the Baths but this was cancelled due to weather. If you stop at Tortola and enjoy sailing, snorkeling and wish to see the baths -- an alternate to the ship's tour that I have done and can highly recommend is through Patouche charters. You can find them on the internet and call them on the phone. They do an incredible day sail to the Baths and beyond with lunch and plenty of snorkeling included.

 

If you wish to do a day sail or snorkeling trip on any of the islands you would do well to book in advance with HAL (or some other recomended provider) as they will get you out and back before the ship sails. Also, there are some trips (like to the Baths in Virgin Gorda from the port in Tortola) that may be better booked through the cruise line if you have limited time in port.

 

What are your ports?