Ports

[Yonce81]

Hello sorry of this sounds like a silly question but I’m clueless! I will be doing a solo cruise to Caribbean , when we stop at the ports and do excursions  do p&o also arrange travel back to the ship! I’m so fearful that I will end up getting lost’ no thanks I’m advance!’ I have booked select fare. 

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, Yonce81 said:

Hello sorry of this sounds like a silly question but I’m clueless! I will be doing a solo cruise to Caribbean , when we stop at the ports and do excursions  do p&o also arrange travel back to the ship! I’m so fearful that I will end up getting lost’ no thanks I’m advance!’ I have booked select fare. 

If you do a P&O tour, you will be collected at the ship, and returned to the ship when the tour is over. Why not come on over to the P&O forum and join us there - lots of single cruisers will be able to answer all the questions you have.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forum/22-po-cruises-uk/

Edited April 10, 2021 by wowzz

[Nic6318]

Hi Yonce

 

If you are booked on a cruise line excursion you will most certainly be transported for the return to the ship. On occasion there will be opportunity to make your own way back with appropriate arrangements in place.

 

One thing to consider is that on pretty much all the Caribbean stops, you will never be far from the ship/cruise port. A short taxi or bus ride will get you back where you started. I don't know if you have had the opportunity to research the port-of-call threads on this site, but if you look there, you will find much information on every Caribbean stop. Many people have found that in the Caribbean ports doing it on your own is more convenient, less expensive, and more fun. Read up on those threads, and you will see there are many reliable tour operators for every stop, and if you just want to visit a beach, most often you are only a short walk or taxi ride away.

[John Bull]

Hi Yonce,

 

Since you're travelling solo, pre-booking a tour privately wouldn't be fun and would be expensive, so I suggest that any pre-booking you do should be through the ship.

Yes, you're returned to the ship at the end of the tour.

 

But the Caribbean is the easiest place in the world to DIY. 🙂

At the ports you'll find minibuses lined up, offering tours that are better than ship-organised tours (more personal, more flexible, more fun, & no waiting around while dozens alight & re-board at each stop)  And they're a fraction of ship's prices. Drivers at the port are friendly, helpful & trustworthy, they know their island and they know the importance of back-on-board time. Get off the ship around 9.30 & walk the line of minibuses at the pier - they'll offer similar sights to ships' tours, or sometimes different options. Agree a price (US dollars) & basic itinerary before you board, pay when you get back - it's the norm.

Prices with minibuses at the pier are for transportation only. No food or drink included (nor admission charges but they're few and far between & cost only a few dollars). But the tour price will be 25% to 33% of ship's price. And a lot of time on ships' tours are wasted with overly-long lunch-stops.

Most tours last til around 2pm - 3pm,  &  the driver brings you back to your choice of the ship, or local shops/market, or a handy beach (so take beach gear with you).

 

Since you're travelling solo & you sound like you might be a little nervous, can I suggest that after checking P&O's cancellation policy for tours (usually free cancellation with about 48 hours notice, but do check), you book ships' tours. Get the gist of DIY from seeing your first couple of ports & talking to fellow-passengers & then pluck up the courage to cancel a few ship's tours and DIY.

 

If you can list your ports, or quote your ship & date, we can suggest the best places to experiment with DIY.

 

BTW, if you're on traditional dining (each evening at the same time, same table, same table-mates) P&O usually put singletons together on large tables for about 10 diners. I often envy them - they're usually the last table to leave, and we see them going ashore mob-handed.

 

Great cruise-line, sensible on-board pricing, and if it's a Caribbean-based ship transfers are seamless  

 

JB 🙂

 

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by John Bull

[Yonce81]

Thank you all so much for you replies!!! Glad to know I will be transported back!!!

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Yonce81 said:

Thank you all so much for you replies!!! Glad to know I will be transported back!!!

Thanks for coming back to us.

Join us on the P&O forum. Lots of fun and information on there.

[Host Kat]

18 hours ago, Yonce81 said:

Hello sorry of this sounds like a silly question but I’m clueless! I will be doing a solo cruise to Caribbean , when we stop at the ports and do excursions  do p&o also arrange travel back to the ship! I’m so fearful that I will end up getting lost’ no thanks I’m advance!’ I have booked select fare. 

 

Howdy @Yonce81 and welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards! 

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum. 👍  It is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. However, your thread is off-topic there since your topic concerns a specific cruise line. 

 

To help you out, I have moved your thread to the P&O Cruises ( UK ) forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed P&O frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles here on this forum and l👀k for titles of interest. You will probably find  your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you.

 

Cruise Critic is a great resource for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you found us!   Please feel free to browse the Cruise Critic Community Categories list. Read a few threads in the different forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka Stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in a forum. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

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[Ilovemygarden]

Yonce81 - welcome to the world of cruising!  I have been travelling solo for the last 5 years although cruising for about 25.  The Caribbean is probably the easiest one for you to start - so good choice!   P and 0 have coffee mornings for solos where you will meet others on their own and can arrange to go ashore together - everything John Bull says in his post re DIY tours is true.  Evening dining is a doddle if you choose one of the set times and you’ll probably find your fellow diners will all go the to show or other entertainment of choice together. The mini vans at every port are great and even alone you can just join a queue and set off with them.  I wouldn’t bother with the ship’s excursions.  My favourite ports for a wander on my own are Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts, Antigua and of course shopping heaven St Martin although I haven’t had any problems anywhere really.    Hope this is helpful.  

[Eddie99]

Hello & Welcome

 

Your post is in danger of slipping down the page and getting lost.  It’s a pity because there are a lot of helpful solos here who, I’m sure, would be happy to chat about cruising alone.

 

So, I’ve just chipped in to try to raise its profile.  Good luck.  Happy cruising

[Angel57]

I have done a fair bit of solo cruising with P&O and have always enjoyed every moment.

It is always daunting before getting on board but like on here, most people are extremely friendly.

When I have gone out on tour alone I always try and remember what a few people around me look like so i know I am in the right place and I always double check with the guide the time and location of pick-up. If anxious take a photo of the bus and where it is! I also get back to the bus a bit earlier than required.

Take a mobile phone with you and the daily ship’s newspaper so in the very unlikely event of a problem you can phone the port agent for help.

The solo coffee mornings are a great way to meet people and I would thoroughly recommend going along on the first morning.

You will love it.......

[Yonce81]

Thank you all for replies!!! 

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Yonce81 said:

Thank you all for replies!!! 

I told you we were a friendly bunch on here (most of the time anyway)! 

[emam]

Personally, since it's your first cruise, I would book ships tours. For your first cruise (I'm presuming it's your first), you want to make things as easy as possible. Once you have learnt how ship life works, you can on your next cruise go on your own.

 

On the ships tours, you either meet somewhere like the theatre or outside on the dock. There are lots of people to direct you to the correct coach. On the coach will be an experienced guide, who will be with you on the whole tour (unless it's one with some free time on your own). The guide gives a running commentary throughout the tour. The tours mostly end back at the ship, but occasionally you can be dropped off nearby if it's a short tour.

 

I haven't been to the Caribbean, so can't comment on the ports there, though I have seen it said on here that there are some that you can just walk off the ship. My input is based on the med and the Baltics. As someone earlier said post on here which ports you are going to and more experienced people on here will be able to advise on which places to visit at the port. At least in the Caribbean the people speak English which to my mind is an advantage. 

 

We have done several ship tours and they have been excellent. The only one with a slight complaint was in Barcelona where the guide on returning to the coach went too fast for some of the passengers to keep up with. 

 

If you do go it alone I would aim to be back to the ship an hour before sailing time. That will give you time for any delays. Don't forget the time changes. 

 

Whatever way you decide to do, y ou will have a great time and will be back for more.

 

 

 

 

[wowzz]

Others on here will have visited far more Carribbean ports than me, but iirc, in the vast majority you can just walk into town from the port.

[terrierjohn]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Others on here will have visited far more Carribbean ports than me, but iirc, in the vast majority you can just walk into town from the port.

Has anything been said about going ashore in the Caribbean?  P&O have stated that European cruises will only allow you ashore on ships excursions.  Or is this advice for 2022/3 winter season?

Edited April 13, 2021 by terrierjohn

[wowzz]

The OP said she was doing a solo trip to the Caribbean,  but not when. Information is stil apposite

[Zombatar]

When I started cruising I was single and mostly took ships tours and found they were very good. As others have said there is always a guide who can tell you all about where you are going to, its history where to shop etc.

 

I have been to the Caribbean quite a lot and love it. Again I would take the ships tours although it is perfectly safe to go off on your own with the exception of Jamaica but P&O tend not to go there.

 

The problem when cruising starts again to the Caribbean is that, to the best of my knowledge, you will only be allowed to go on ship arranged tours and will not be allowed off ship on your own. Add to this if you are going to travel this year or the start of next year the the volcano on St Vincent is causing chaos at the the moment with not only St Vincent affected but also Barbados and some of the other islands  all of whom are being polluted with ash.

 

Due to this we have postponed our cruise on Azura in January and are trying to book on Britannia for Feb 23.

 

I am sure you will love cruising the Islands, I hope it all works out for you.

 

Peter

[Yonce81]

 the cruise isn’t until 2023 but im

one of those people who likes to be prepared lol! 
the ports are 

Tenerife (I know not carribean lol)

saint Maarten 

Saint Kitts and Nevis 

Saint Lucia 

last stop barbados 

 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Yonce81 said:

 the cruise isn’t until 2023 but im

one of those people who likes to be prepared lol! 
the ports are 

Tenerife (I know not carribean lol)

saint Maarten 

Saint Kitts and Nevis 

Saint Lucia 

last stop barbados 

 

If you go to the Ports of Call section,  you will find lots of information there, and you can ask specific questions about each port. 

[majortom10]

Have learnt not to plan too much or get excited about future cruises after what has happened to us all with so many cancelled cruises in the last 12 months.

[John Bull]

16 hours ago, Yonce81 said:

 the cruise isn’t until 2023 but im

one of those people who likes to be prepared lol! 
the ports are 

Tenerife (I know not carribean lol)

saint Maarten 

Saint Kitts and Nevis 

Saint Lucia 

last stop barbados 

 

 

So this isn't a fly-cruise.

Because you don't mention a port-of-call somewhere like the Azores on the way back I'll hazard a guess that this is a "re-positioning" cruise at the beginning of the Caribbean season? (The ship sails from Southampton and then remains in Barbados for the season, and you fly back)

Important question, because P&O's smaller ships do 3-week Southampton-Caribbean-Southampton cruises, whereas the larger ships offer 2-week Caribbean cruises from a Caribbean base.

 

For Tenerife, totally ignore advice given for the Caribbean.

Your port is Santa Cruz de Tenerife  - it's more like European ports, with little chance of fixing up a shared tour from the port.

DIY tends to mean booking a rented a car (Cicar - excellent agency, good clean late cars, sensible prices, no scams or unexpected add-on charges) has a depot in the cruise/ferry terminal), but renting a car and driving+navigating would be problematic and expensive for a singleton. And it's a little too early in the cruise to have hooked up with others.

So for Tenerife best to take a P&O tour. They'll probably offer Mount Teide, including cable-car - excellent

 

Sint Maarten. Your port is Philipsburg, in the Dutch half of the island.

It's a short walk or water-bus between port and town centre. A good beach right behind the main shopping street, so you can combine shopping and beach in one cheap and lazy day. 

Or there are minibuses at the port to take you to

- Orient Beach. The island's best beach - long sandy beach, backed by dozens of market stalls.

- or Maho Beach. A big attraction here is the international jets landing at the airport, they fly very low over the beach. I've heard that safety measures have been brought in since our last visit - no more hanging onto the fence against the jet blast of aircraft preparing to take off. There are beach bars at both ends of the beach, where the jets don'tkick up a sandstorm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ozzD7aUL4

- or Marigot. Largest town in the French half of the island, quite chic.

You'll have time to combine two of those places, but would need a taxi ride between them.

 

St Kitts. Your port is Basseterre - excellent facilities at the cruise port (wide range of shops, bars, wifi, etc), but no convenient beach. Minibuses at the port offering inexpensive round-the-island tours. Don't go for the cheapest, choose one which ends with beach time at Frigate Bay - about $12 some years back.

Or the sugar-train experience. It can only be booked as ship's excursion, and it's expensive. The tour covers much the same territory as the minibus tours - and much of it is by minibus!!  . But those who've taken it have mainly been very happy with their choice, because of the party atmosphere on the train with its open carriages.

 

St Lucia. Your port is Castries. It's a freeport, decent facilities in the port but the town of Castries is grubby, uninteresting, and a little unsafe.

Minibus tours at the port - the obvious DIY tour here is a scenic drive to the "drive-in-volcano" at the other end of the island. Route takes you up to Morne Rouge (great views), a quick glance into Marigot Bay (Dr Dolittle), through the rainforest and past the iconic Pitons. The drive-in volcano is just bubbling sulphurous mud pools, stinking of rotten eggs - but hey, it's the world's only drive-in. Route back likely to include a waterfall (nominal fee) and a fishing village. This is quite a long tour, last time it cost up $25 each, expect to pay more now. If time permits, ask the driver to drop you at a beach - either  Choc Beach, a 5 to 10 minute drive from the ship (quiet palm-fringed crescent beach, used more by locals than by tourists, no facilities other than one bar (with toilets), or Reduit Beach in Rodney Bay, a 20 - 25 minute drive from the ship (tourist beach, with all the toys).In either case, arrange for the driver to return for you at a pre-arranged time.

 

Or if you want to push the boat out, the ship will almost certainly offer basically that same trip, but one way by minibus & the other way by catamaran. If you choose it try to book minibus out, catamaran back. Be sat down when you check the price 😉

 

Barbados. Your port is Bridgetown.

Taxis at the port to take you to the golden beaches of the island's west coast (many have a small admission charge).

Not sure about availability of minibus tours, but a wide choice of destinations - rum distilleries, plantations, the wild east coast etc.

Or the town centre is a 10- 15 minute walk.

Or go snorkelling with turtles from a catamaran (no experience needed). Ship's excursion or pre-booked independent excursion.

BUT unless your ship overnites in Barbados, your choices will be very seriously limited by your transfer time from ship to airport, any time between 1pm & 4pm.  P&O usually arrange half-day excursions to suit. Some excursions finish at the airport - be very wary of them, because if yours is one of the later flights you'll be stuck at the airport for a long time. 

 

BTW, if your DIY day screws up & you're late back to the port, the ship may sail without you, whereas if a ship's excursion is delayed (eg catamaran back to Castries), the ship will wait

Cruise lines play heavily on that guarantee to sell their often-overpriced tours, but there is little to fear in your ports. That's only a factor for us where distances are long, public transport is unreliable, time is short, etc.

(A note for the pedantic - yes, very very very rarely the ship won't wait due to tides, availability of pilot, etc  but for ship's tours it's the responsibility of P&O to get you to the next port, including all expenses)

 

JB 🙂

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by John Bull

[tring]

20 hours ago, Yonce81 said:

 the cruise isn’t until 2023 but im

one of those people who likes to be prepared lol! 
the ports are 

Tenerife (I know not carribean lol)

saint Maarten 

Saint Kitts and Nevis 

Saint Lucia 

last stop barbados 

 

 

I agree with Wowzz, you are best going to the ports of call section to get a variety of opinions and ideas.

 

My strong opinion is that with so few ports with a lengthy time at sea, there is not much point in going off to far flung places, especially if you are somewhere that you have not visited previously.  Santa Cruz de Tenerife which we know very well, is a great city in it's own right, though if you want to see somewhere else it is very easy to hop on a modern tram for a half hour ride uphill to the beautiful, small historic city of San Cristobal de La Laguna (often just called La Laguna), but take a jacket if you go there as it is always a fair bit colder than at sea level.  Alternatively you may wish to take a bus a short distance north to a beach area for a morning stroll, then return to Santa Cruz for the afternoon, knowing you are within easy reach of the ship.  The tourist information Kiosk can advise re the transport, but getting some advance info. about how you go about using the ticket machines for the trams is well worth doing - so head to the ports of call section nearer the time to get the latest on that.

 

I would not bother going far from the other ports either, though a P&O excursion that takes your fancy, perhaps just for a morning, may just be what you want to do, then can stroll around in the afternoon near to the port.  You can spend a lot of cash on P&O trips, but start to feel somewhat restricted if you do not give yourself some time for a relaxed outing, and chance to use the local cafes/bars whilst taking in the world as it goes by.  However, the Caribbean has got way busier since we were last there, so you will need to negotiate the crowds and walk a bit to get beyond the immediate port area if you want to see more than the tourist outlets selling burgers, beer, Jewelry and other tourist items which build up around the cruise terminals.  Make sure you do not go ashore with any expensive jewelry/watches though, especially in the Caribbean, as you could easily make yourself a target - there are always stories of people having such items wrenched from them.  We always tend to dress down a bit too if going into the less touristy areas, but that is just common sense.

 

As I said though, get lots of advice then take your choice.  You will also find port guides on both this site and elsewhere which give you lots to ponder over.  You will find the "ports of call" boards just over half way down the main Cruise Critic index page :-  https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/

 

Barbara  

Edited April 20, 2021 by tring

[wowzz]

We did do the Sugar Train trip in St Kitts - one of the very few cruise excursions we have ever done. We actually had a great time - we sat next to the pianist who played onboard ship, so learnt a lot about onboard life, the scenery was lovely, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed her three rum punches, with extra rum!

Otherwise,  in the Caribbean I'd do a little research before the cruise, decide what I want go do, and pick up a taxi or minibus at the port. Just determine the price before you get in!

 

[Son of Anarchy]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

We did do the Sugar Train trip in St Kitts - one of the very few cruise excursions we have ever done. We actually had a great time - we sat next to the pianist who played onboard ship, so learnt a lot about onboard life, the scenery was lovely, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed her three rum punches, with extra rum!

Otherwise,  in the Caribbean I'd do a little research before the cruise, decide what I want go do, and pick up a taxi or minibus at the port. Just determine the price before you get in!

 

We did that trip as well.  Would quite happily do it again.

[Eddie99]

The sugar train is a very nice P&O excursion and, I think, worth the expense for a first/only trip to St Kitts.

The catamaran trip to the pitons from Castries, St Lucia is a similar expensive but enjoyable trip, on an island where you might not feel comfortable going it alone.  If you like swimming/scuba, the swim stop would be very pleasant

Rum punch abounds, on both!