Ports

[tring]

We have also done the sugar train on St Kitts and would highly recommend it.

 

If traveling as a single I would not want to get a taxi to somewhere on my own as I would not feel safe and I also doubt that would be a cost effective thing to do in the Caribbean which we have not found cheap.  I have heard of people going off with other passengers though and did it ourselves once on San Antao, Cape Verde, when we went off in a modern jeep - brilliant day.  I would also be very wary of the vehicle offered, as some can be more road worthy than others, though may be better in the Caribbean compare to some places we have use taxis!

Edited April 21, 2021 by tring

[Yonce81]

On 4/20/2021 at 1:25 PM, John Bull said:

 

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 🙂

 

Thank you very much! Tbh I had t even heard of a repositioning cruise! Yes fly back from Barbados, thank you for your very detailed response 

[purplesea]

We have just booked this today but doing 22 nights and flying home to Antigua, if you fancy meeting up.

[Yonce81]

Most def!!!