Report on Trinidad and Tobago post cruise

[Illinois cruiser]

We returned from our Royal Caribbean cruise Trinidad and Tobago last Saturday.  I was concerned about the stopping in these ports.  It turns out that I enjoyed them.  We stopped at Port of Spain, Trinidad on the 3rd day of our cruise.  We were the only ship in port that day.  The ship docked right at the port.  There are only a few local souvenir shops at the port.  I had booked a shore excursion through the cruise ship, because I was concerned about safety in going on our own.  I booked the trip to the Caroni Swamp Bird Sancturary.  We were led from the ship directly to the buses that were waiting.  It was about a 30 minute ride to the sanctuary.  Once there, we boarded flat bottom boats that motored slowly through the canals of the mangrove swamp.  We saw several birds, most notably the scarlet ibis.  The boat tour guide would stop and back up to make sure all on the boat saw any birds or animals that he spotted.  The tour last a couple hours.  If you decide to go, make sure you have a hat and sunscreen as there are areas of no shade. The buses were waiting to return us safely to the ship at the end of the tour.  I would recommend this tour if you like birds and nature.  My husband chose to stay in port.  He said he made a quick walk around and then enjoyed the quiet ship.  We were told that it was safe to walk on the main roads to town or take a cab.  It just looks like a big city, so I am not sure of shopping there.  We met other passengers that took an excursion to Maracus Beach.  They said the beach was beautiful and they loved it!

 

The next day we were at Scarborough, Tobago.  Once again, I booked a ship excursion because there is very little information about the island.  We took the ship excursion to Pigeon Point beach.  We got off the ship early to use internet and look around.  There were very few shops at the port.  The port has a waiting area for those going on ship excursions.  They did not have many chairs set up in the waiting area, and they only wanted those that were leaving on the next excursion in the building.  There were not bathrooms to use in the waiting area, and I didn't see any in the port area either.  At our scheduled time, the bus took us directly to Pigeon Point Park.  There is an entry fee to the park, that was taken care of by the ship.  The only problem was that we were supposed to get wristbands that they forgot to give us to show that we had use of the beach.  They were able to get them to us, so it worked out.  There were plenty of palm trees for shade.  We rented 2 lounge chairs for $5 each.  No umbrella was needed because of the shade.  The beach was not very crowded.  It was really pretty and we are glad went.  There were public restrooms available at no charge.  There were restaurants there to buy food and drink.  The buses were waiting at the designated time to get us back to the ship in plenty of time.  Overall, it was a great experience and a nice afternoon.  

 

The stops in Trinidad and Tobago turned out to be much better than expected.  

[sunlover2]

Thank you for the review/info, much appreciated.

[chill6x6]

Thank you so much for your comments! We have the Caroni Swamp Bird sanctuary excursion booked as well.  We also have the Birdman of Tobago private excursion booked!

[cruiseguy1016]

I've read some pretty sketchy reports out of Trinidad & Tobago over the last year and I was getting nervous about getting off the ship when we stop there in March. I've since been reading good reports from people that have been there recently and I'm feeling much better about our stops there. Thank you for your input.

[SG65CB]

Thanks for this report. Heading to Trinidad and Tobago in a few weeks and this helps us look forward to our visit.