Suggestions please

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

I am taking a cruise in a few months with 4 ports I've never been to so I really need help figuring out what to do at each port since it will be too expensive to book excursions for all the ports through the cruiseline. any information about whether there are things to do within walking distance of getting off the ship or must do excursions would be great.

Antigua

Barbados

St. Kitts

Castries, St. Lucia.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[mac1_131]

In Antigua you dock right in the middle of downtown St John's so a lot of things in walking distance.

 

Problem is it is all the usual touristy stuff. Vendors malls, duty free shops.

 

The best things Antigua has to offer is a ways away from downtown, stunning beaches, rain forest, English harbor (Nelson's dockyard), Shirley heights, devil's bridge.

 

You can grab a cab and DIY if you don't want to do the ship's excursions but there is some travel and time involved.

 

There is an old cathedral in walking distance.

 

 

 

 

[WisconsinFan]

Are you willing to seek out a bit on your own? We just returned for a cruise that took us to Antigua. I love history, and wanted to see Nelson's Dockyard. I had read you could get there on your own, using the local bus for $1.50 US. Entrance to Nelson's is $8.00. That is what we did. The public bus station is not too far from the cruise port. The hardest part of this is walking past the multitude of vendors selling tours. You will want to walk to the West Bus Station, here is the map: Map to West Bus Station look for bus #17. The terminal also has the routes listed by the buses, so you can also look for Nelson's Dock Yard. The buses are more like 15-20 person vans. There really isn't air conditioning. We road with locals going to work, and children going to school. My husband ended up on a jump seat 🙂 Nelson's opened at 8:30, and that is when our ship we arrived in port. We got off the ship ASAP and headed for the bus. I don't recall how long it took us, but it was shorter back as we made fewer stops. We arrived well before the chartered tours. We spent about an hour poking around the Dockyard and checking out the history. When we were ready to leave the cruise ship charters were arriving. We waited about 15 minutes and the #17 arrived. It was a great way to spend the morning. For both of us, it was a $22 day.

Edited May 10, 2019 by WisconsinFan

[existentialtraveler]

On 4/21/2019 at 7:24 AM, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

I am taking a cruise in a few months with 4 ports I've never been to so I really need help figuring out what to do at each port since it will be too expensive to book excursions for all the ports through the cruiseline. any information about whether there are things to do within walking distance of getting off the ship or must do excursions would be great.

Antigua

Barbados

St. Kitts

Castries, St. Lucia.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here are my suggestions:

Antigua... Beach Limerz...here is my very recent (April) youtube video of our time at Beach Limerz.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVwvq2bNGo Wonderful, uncrowded beach and a great bar/restaurant. Contact Gail at info@beachlimerz.com. Tell her Jim and Toni recommended you go there. It will make her smile and she has a great smile!

St Kitts..https://stkittsislandparadisetours.com/st-kitts-tours/rosevelts-special-best-of-st-kitts-panoramic-tour/ we have done this tour a couple times over the years. It is great.

 

 

Barbados...http://www.actioncharters.org/ to snorkel with turtles OR Harrison Caves Tour through your ship..OR just cab it to Carlyle Bay, walk all the way down the beach to the left and snorkel the wrecks and with turtles right there

St Lucia..Viggie Beach is close to where the ship dockshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYc7StBhkn8...cheap day at the beach!  OR a day at Pigeon Island OR Sugar Beach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYFuvJ_DPQA with Spencer Ambrosehttp://spencerambrose.com/

I hope this helps!

 

[cruisr4fun]

On 5/14/2019 at 12:14 PM, existentialtraveler said:

Here are my suggestions:

Antigua... Beach Limerz...here is my very recent (April) youtube video of our time at Beach Limerz.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVwvq2bNGo Wonderful, uncrowded beach and a great bar/restaurant. Contact Gail at info@beachlimerz.com. Tell her Jim and Toni recommended you go there. It will make her smile and she has a great smile!

St Kitts..https://stkittsislandparadisetours.com/st-kitts-tours/rosevelts-special-best-of-st-kitts-panoramic-tour/ we have done this tour a couple times over the years. It is great.

 

 

Barbados...http://www.actioncharters.org/ to snorkel with turtles OR Harrison Caves Tour through your ship..OR just cab it to Carlyle Bay, walk all the way down the beach to the left and snorkel the wrecks and with turtles right there

St Lucia..Viggie Beach is close to where the ship dockshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYc7StBhkn8...cheap day at the beach!  OR a day at Pigeon Island OR Sugar Beach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYFuvJ_DPQA with Spencer Ambrosehttp://spencerambrose.com/

I hope this helps!

 

These are helpful suggestions - we are already booked with Spencer in St. Lucia and can't wait.  We also saw Limerz, but have some folks in our group that would like an island tour and beach, so still considering what to do in Antigua.  What more can you tell me about your experience with Paradise Tours in St. Kitts.  It looks like they will drop you at Friars Beach afterwards - have you done that and if so, is it easy to catch a cab back to the ship?  

[existentialtraveler]

6 hours ago, cruisr4fun said:

These are helpful suggestions - we are already booked with Spencer in St. Lucia and can't wait.  We also saw Limerz, but have some folks in our group that would like an island tour and beach, so still considering what to do in Antigua.  What more can you tell me about your experience with Paradise Tours in St. Kitts.  It looks like they will drop you at Friars Beach afterwards - have you done that and if so, is it easy to catch a cab back to the ship?  

Yes...it is very easy to get cabs back to the ship. They line up! I believe Paradise Tours will take you to Carambola Beach resort, which is a bit expensive. You can walk up the beach to the left a few hundred yards to a less expensive and better beach bar. There are lots of cabs there too. If you like you can view a youtube video of the last time we were on an excursion with Paradise Tours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y04UaV0lOn0&list=PLTY8CPGV3T9ecRsANvPSBZLx7zBt6xKfP&index=9

You do not have to watch the whole thing. The St Kitts portion starts at 16:34.

Also, we just took the Spencer Ambrose trip once again in March. Here is our youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aJi0WhQV1U

The St Lucia portion starts at 53:33.

Edited July 11, 2019 by existentialtraveler

[TT1992]

How did you get to Limerz beach?

Thanks

[existentialtraveler]

15 hours ago, TT1992 said:

How did you get to Limerz beach?

Thanks

You can contact Gail at   info@beachlimerz.com  and she will arrange a cab, or you can just grab a cab in St John. 

[poss]

I'm following this thread with interest, as we'll be first-time visitors to St Kitts (I've read that Nevis is nicer?) and Antigua and St Lucia.  Our ship (Regent) has included excursions and there are a lot of dandy-sounding ones, but I'm having trouble choosing.    River tubing sounds like fun, but we're in our 80's and I'm thinking maybe it's not a good idea.   Main thing we're interested in is snorkeling, but I've read none of those islands is very good in that department?   A couple of the excursions are "helmet-snorkeling."  Don't have any real interest since we like getting wet — head and all — when we snorkel.

In short, I'm also interested in hearing about must-do excursions.

Thanks!  

[mitsugirly]

On 7/19/2019 at 4:14 PM, poss said:

I'm following this thread with interest, as we'll be first-time visitors to St Kitts (I've read that Nevis is nicer?) and Antigua and St Lucia.  Our ship (Regent) has included excursions and there are a lot of dandy-sounding ones, but I'm having trouble choosing.    River tubing sounds like fun, but we're in our 80's and I'm thinking maybe it's not a good idea.   Main thing we're interested in is snorkeling, but I've read none of those islands is very good in that department?   A couple of the excursions are "helmet-snorkeling."  Don't have any real interest since we like getting wet — head and all — when we snorkel.

In short, I'm also interested in hearing about must-do excursions.

Thanks!  

 

If you like snorkeling, you HAVE to do the Spencer Ambrose tour in St Lucia to the Pitons on Jalousie beach. The snorkeling is probably one of the best I've ever seen! Look in my signature line and you'll find links to my website and also my reviews. There's TONS of pictures from there (we've been twice, so there are 2).

 

St Kitts, I have yet to find decent snorkeling. I did take a tour last time with James Javin (it went for a hike in the rainforest, seeing the sites, then to the beach and they took us to a spot for snorkeling...it wasn't my definition of anything great but his monkey did snorkel with us and there were TONS of starfish there).

 

Antigua, we did a tour that took us beach hopping. I would say the only place we really found snorkeling between all the beaches we went to was at Long Bay Beach. 

 

As for the helmet snorkeling...have you ever tried it? We are avid snorkelers and go quite often and usually every port we are in on a cruise. We absolutely love it. We also do scuba diving as well. I got the chance to do the helmet diving in Aruba (on a land vacation last year) and thought it was going to be cheesy since I'm use to diving and snorkeling...but we absolutely LOVED it! Maybe it was because they had all kinds of neat things in the water to see and they took pictures with you around these things. There was a sunken plane, a bus, a dinner table where you sit down and act like you are eating and drinking with the cups, and there was also a jeep. We got in the jeep and acted like we were driving it and they took pictures. It was such a fun day and not at all what I was expecting. I'm not sure if they are all like this but I'll definitely do it again given the chance. :)

[poss]

mistsugirly:   Thank you ever so much for your good, detailed response.  

I can't imagine doing the Spencer Ambrose tour, simply because there are so many excursions included on these Regent cruises.    But I will try to choose an excursion that goes to the Pitons.   And it interests me what you say about the helmet snorkeling.   It somehow seems more restrictive than just plain old snorkeling.    (We've never dived.)   But I think I may give it a try.   My only concern is that I tend to be claustrophobic, so I wonder whether I could feel panicky with the thing over my head.

[thunter1224]

On 7/22/2019 at 3:42 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

If you like snorkeling, you HAVE to do the Spencer Ambrose tour in St Lucia to the Pitons on Jalousie beach. The snorkeling is probably one of the best I've ever seen! Look in my signature line and you'll find links to my website and also my reviews. There's TONS of pictures from there (we've been twice, so there are 2).

 

St Kitts, I have yet to find decent snorkeling. I did take a tour last time with James Javin (it went for a hike in the rainforest, seeing the sites, then to the beach and they took us to a spot for snorkeling...it wasn't my definition of anything great but his monkey did snorkel with us and there were TONS of starfish there).

 

Antigua, we did a tour that took us beach hopping. I would say the only place we really found snorkeling between all the beaches we went to was at Long Bay Beach. 

 

As for the helmet snorkeling...have you ever tried it? We are avid snorkelers and go quite often and usually every port we are in on a cruise. We absolutely love it. We also do scuba diving as well. I got the chance to do the helmet diving in Aruba (on a land vacation last year) and thought it was going to be cheesy since I'm use to diving and snorkeling...but we absolutely LOVED it! Maybe it was because they had all kinds of neat things in the water to see and they took pictures with you around these things. There was a sunken plane, a bus, a dinner table where you sit down and act like you are eating and drinking with the cups, and there was also a jeep. We got in the jeep and acted like we were driving it and they took pictures. It was such a fun day and not at all what I was expecting. I'm not sure if they are all like this but I'll definitely do it again given the chance. 🙂

 

  I would love to see your pictures of St. Lucia snorkeling .. but I can't seem to find your web page ?   and before I see the pictures .. did you use a go pro camera for underwater ?

[mitsugirly]

6 hours ago, thunter1224 said:

 

  I would love to see your pictures of St. Lucia snorkeling .. but I can't seem to find your web page ?   and before I see the pictures .. did you use a go pro camera for underwater ?

 

There are links in my signature line....can you see them? There's one that goes to my website and one that goes to a google doc list that will direct you to the review portions (although port reviews are also listed on my website too).

 

I have several Olympus Tough cameras. No go pros.

[thunter1224]

3 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

There are links in my signature line....can you see them? There's one that goes to my website and one that goes to a google doc list that will direct you to the review portions (although port reviews are also listed on my website too).

 

I have several Olympus Tough cameras. No go pros.

 

I found the web page right after I asked you ..but to late to take it down 🙂

 

[NateUpNorth]

On 7/11/2019 at 4:48 PM, existentialtraveler said:

Yes...it is very easy to get cabs back to the ship. They line up! I believe Paradise Tours will take you to Carambola Beach resort, which is a bit expensive. You can walk up the beach to the left a few hundred yards to a less expensive and better beach bar. There are lots of cabs there too. If you like you can view a youtube video of the last time we were on an excursion with Paradise Tours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y04UaV0lOn0&list=PLTY8CPGV3T9ecRsANvPSBZLx7zBt6xKfP&index=9

You do not have to watch the whole thing. The St Kitts portion starts at 16:34.

Also, we just took the Spencer Ambrose trip once again in March. Here is our youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aJi0WhQV1U

The St Lucia portion starts at 53:33.

 

Not looking to hijack the Antigua thread, but do you mind if I ask which Spencer Ambrose trip you took? 3hr Snorkel or the 6hr Eco-Adventure?

Your video was great, was that a chartered speedboat, or was it a "join the group" tour?

 

Thanks in advance!!

[existentialtraveler]

On 7/26/2019 at 11:33 AM, NateUpNorth said:

 

Not looking to hijack the Antigua thread, but do you mind if I ask which Spencer Ambrose trip you took? 3hr Snorkel or the 6hr Eco-Adventure?

Your video was great, was that a chartered speedboat, or was it a "join the group" tour?

 

Thanks in advance!!

I am glad you enjoyed the video. We took neither of the tours you referred to. We took the Sugar Beach tour and we joined a group from the UK...they were extremely nice!

Edited August 1, 2019 by existentialtraveler