Excursion Suggestions for Caribbean Ports

[hhtravels11]

Hello! I'm going on a 10 day Caribbean cruise in April and it goes to the following ports:

 

• St. John's Antigua
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Castries, St. Lucia
• Basseterre, St. Kitts
• Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

I've been on a cruise once before but it was when I was in high school so I obviously wasn't doing the booking myself, and I'd like to get the best deals I can while still having a great (and safe) time. Does anyone have any experience with booking excursions at these ports who can recommend any? I'm also wondering if I should pay the $20-30 for the cruise-sponsored beach days or just find the beach on my own. Any advice/suggestions you can give would be awesome!

[cb at sea]

For beach days, do it on your own....unless you are simply wanting the transportation....a bit of research on each port, either via a guidebook or a google search, will show you nearby beaches, transportation options, food/drink, safety, etc...

[bonsai3s]

On 1/7/2020 at 10:05 AM, hhtravels11 said:

Hello! I'm going on a 10 day Caribbean cruise in April and it goes to the following ports:

 

• St. John's Antigua
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Castries, St. Lucia
• Basseterre, St. Kitts
• Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

I've been on a cruise once before but it was when I was in high school so I obviously wasn't doing the booking myself, and I'd like to get the best deals I can while still having a great (and safe) time. Does anyone have any experience with booking excursions at these ports who can recommend any? I'm also wondering if I should pay the $20-30 for the cruise-sponsored beach days or just find the beach on my own. Any advice/suggestions you can give would be awesome!

 

We visited all those ports just before the holidays. (A few times, since we were there 6 weeks.)  You have so many options for each port. There will be hundreds of vendors at each port selling you "Around the Island Tours" or taxis to the beach.

 

* St. John's, Antigua: We did a tour around the island, approx. 3 hrs long, in a full size van.  It would've been much nicer had our driver not cramped so many people inside the van...$25/person.  On the second visit, we simply walked up the hill (facing the cruise terminal) and visited the cathedral and walked around town.  The third time, we took a taxi to the nearby Dickenson's Beach...$6/person/one way.

 

* Bridgetown, Barbados: Our ship, Freedom OTS, docked at the farthest point on the dock.  It was so far that a shuttle or a tram was provided just to get to the main terminal...or walk about 1/2 mile.  We went to Brandon's Beach, (with Mt. Gay Distillery right across the street...wink, wink.) and just relaxed.  A quiet, beautiful beach...but be careful of the rocky areas in the water.  The second time and third time, we walked outside the cruise terminal...past all the people hawking taxis...and you'll see a sign for taxis with set prices.  For example, $2 to town or $5 to the beach.  We took the $2 taxi to town.  Walked around town.  We walked towards the oceanfront (you'll see the boardwalk, with the green railings), crossed the bridge, and to Pirate's Cove Beach...wow! plenty of space, powdery sand beach, and absolutely beautiful...yup, that's why we came back twice.  You can take the taxi back to the port or walk back...it took us a leisurely 30 minute walk.

 

* Castries, St. Lucia:  One of our favorite ports.  Disclosure: Having done a truly special day in St. Lucia many years ago...we opted for a quiet beach day.  But we would highly recommend a visit to the volcanic sulfur springs, the Pitons, Marigot Bay. 

 

* Basseterre, St. Kitts: A very nice cruise port with many shops and restaurants.  I'm sounding redundant but all we did here was walk around town and cruise terminal the first week and did an "Around the Island" tour the second week.  We don't remember any beaches near the cruise terminal.

 

* Philipsburg, St. Maarten:  Another wonderful and large cruise port...more shops and restaurants.  3 ways to get to town of Philipsburg.  1. Water taxi: $5 each way or $7 roundtrip.  2. Land taxi: $4 or $5 each way...coming back can be even cheaper depending on the driver.  3. Walking: Walk out the main gate, turn left, follow the sidewalk...leisurely 25 minute walk and you'll be in town or the beach boardwalk.  More shops, restaurants, casinos, government buildings, and the local flea market.  The beach is only a block away with many vendors selling "lounger/umbrella/bucket of beer" combos.  Note: No one will tell you, but if you want to simply put down a towel and use the beach...it's FREE.......and oh! the local restaurants on the main street (not by the beach) sells the local beer for $1each.

There are many other options at St. Maarten...quite popular is Maho Beach...the one where you watch the planes land or take off.

 

Happy Sailing! ☺️

[WAMarathoner]

We loved ThatYodaGuy http://netdwellers.com/mo/yodaguy/index.html

It was something like $10 to go through the little museum.  If you're a Star Wars fan, it's completely worth it.  My then-17 year old spent about an HOUR talking to Nick Maley.  We were, of course, making purchases, and the museum was pretty empty that day.  We visited four or five ports and she said that was her favorite part of the cruise.  She's a nerd and was very fangirly. 

 

In St. John's, the old Cathedral of St. John's is worth a visit, especially if you like photography.  Though they have collected a substantial amount of $ for repairs, most of it apparently made its way into pockets rather than repair.  The graveyard out front is very interesting.  (No charge here.)  Not especially impressed at all with Antigua.

[SRF]

I guess no one has noticed the specific ports of call section of Cruise Critic.

 

Each port has a section where people discuss what to do and how to do it for each port.