Choosing excursions for the Southern Carib Ports. Recommendations??

[rc_rosealetta]

Hi everyone, my FH and I just booked the October 25, 2020 Freedom of the Seas 7 night Southern Caribbean Cruise for our honeymoon 😍. Looking for suggestions on excursions at the various ports of call we will be going to. Definitely want a great snorkel trip/tour. He would love to see rainforest/volcanoes/etc. (Nature), Would like a good beach and relax day. Trying to mix active excursions with easy going ones as well. I don't want to book "too much" Any suggestions? Especially with specific tour guides/companies not necessarily booked through the ship? I'm looking for ANY and ALL recommendations for any of these locations. The good, bad, and the ugly as well.

The ports of call are:

Day 1: San Juan. We will be here a day/night early, so we have the first part of the day to do "something" before we board the ship

Day 2: St. Thomas

Day 3: St. Kitts

Day 4: Antigua

Day 5: St. Lucia (Pitons are a must see I've heard)

Day 6: Barbados

Day 7: Cruising

Day 8: San Juan (will be staying here a few days after getting off the ship.) Want to kayak with the bioluminescense as well as visit El Yunque

 

 

[CntPAcruiser]

 

On St. Kitts, if you are feeling adventurous, Royston is our go-to tour guide. He has a somewhat rickety older van with the windows popped out and a cooler full of local beer and sodas. He only takes around 6-8 people, so the tour can be customized depending on whether you want to see more beaches, swim, etc., but he goes to the major stops like Brimstone Fortress and Romney Manor/batik factory, as well as some beautiful outlooks. There are also more conventional tours on St. Kitts that are highly recommended, and most are quite reasonable (Royston was $45 including a light lunch). I believe Royston also does a rainforest tour that is very active--perhaps there is information on his website or a certain website that is a good trip advisor.

 

We used Lawrence of Antigua, who was reasonable in price, hit the highlights and then some, and overall did a good job. There are a number of historical sites, if that is your thing, as well as rainforest and beaches. He was $40 (or $50 with beach time).

 

On St. Lucia, we used Serenity Island Tours, which we very much enjoyed. We were made to feel very welcome and were escorted the whole time, including the sulfur springs and waterfall. It was to have been a small group tour and ended up being just two couples, so it was very private. This tour included a buffet lunch and was well worth the $80.