Need Suggestions for Shore Excursions - Explorer of the Seas

[little miss scraps]

We will be taking the 9 night Eastern Caribbean Explorer of the Seas from Bayonne in June. This will be our second cruise and our first vacation with out kids in a long time. It will also be our only trip in a long time that I will finally not be pregnant (bring on the pina coladas!). I was hoping that I could get some suggestions from the experts here on what are the good excursions and which ones not to waste our time on. We will be visiting St. Thomas, St. Maarten and San Juan. I love sightseeing and historic tours, my DH can take them or leave them. I do not like to snorkel and neither of us scuba dive so those sorts of trips are out. I am curious though what you would recommend for these ports. Thanks in advance for you help!

[Cloudmaster]

The beaches on St. Maarten and St. Thomas are beautiful. My DW and I enjoyed a "walking" tour of Old San Juan. The America's Cup racing on St. Maarten is supposed to be great, and we plan on trying it our next time there.

[Martin and Lindsey]

If you look on line on the Frommer's site, there is a do-it-yourself walking tour. We plan to explore on our own. There is a good walking tour in Frommer's book Caribbean Ports of Call, too. :)

[csbenedict]

little miss scraps--

When in June are you sailing? We're going on the 16th! Make sure you check out the Meet & Mingle board to check out who's sailing with you! We're planning to do a walking tour of Old San Juan--I've been told it's best to take a taxi up the hill to El Morro, tour the fort, and then walk back down the hill through Old San Juan checking out other historical places along the way! On St. Maarten, we are doing the Lord Sheffield Pirates Day Cruise on our own. You can check it out at http://www.lordsheffield.com. We're not sure about St. Thomas yet.

[Sheffie]

In St. Maarten, I suggest that you do the America's Cup Regatta which is rated the top excursion in the Caribbean, and for a very good reason! Each person is assigned a job, from working the lines to being a time-keeper to being the barkeeper. I was a winch wench! You race against cruisers on another boat and it is such fun!

 

Can you imagine the thrill I had when as we were coming back into the harbor, I asked if I could steer the boat, and the let me! I got to steer the Stars and Stripes!!!! It was a thrill of a life time!

 

Here are pictures from our excursion: http://community.webshots.com/album/528943965HpvFnj

[cruisingrightalong]

In San Juan...they are right...print out the Frommers Walking Tour...and step off the ship and off you go. The only thing we didn't like was the restaurant we picked....you might want to get a couple of suggestions before you leave.

 

St. Thomas/St. John=we have done the Godfrey tour for $20 for the day....see and do some of everything...and we have taken the St. Johns Eco Hike....which we enjoyed...and you do hike...not bad though....remember to wear tennis shoes and not sandals....some people came and said oh I didn't know we had to walk!!!

 

St. Maarten-we have done the ships $24 tour...and gotten off back near the ship and eaten lunch at a great hotel/cafe....and done a snorkeling trip also.

 

Just ideas.

Lou

[little miss scraps]

little miss scraps--

When in June are you sailing? We're going on the 16th! Make sure you check out the Meet & Mingle board to check out who's sailing with you! We're planning to do a walking tour of Old San Juan--I've been told it's best to take a taxi up the hill to El Morro, tour the fort, and then walk back down the hill through Old San Juan checking out other historical places along the way! On St. Maarten, we are doing the Lord Sheffield Pirates Day Cruise on our own. You can check it out at www.lordsheffield.com. We're not sure about St. Thomas yet.

 

We are sailing on June 2nd. My sister works for RC and is currently on the Explorer. I will check out the Lord Sheffield site to see if that would be something that we would enjoy. I think I'll also pick up a Frommer;s book for tsome of the ports. Even though I have an "in" on the ship it might be useful to see what we can do on our own. Thanks for your suggestions everyone!