West Indies Explorer Excursions

[Texanniew]

Has anyone gone on the West Indies Explorer recently? Thoughts on the included excursions? Paid ones not to miss? Paid ones not worth the money?

Thanks so much!!

Edited July 3 by Texanniew
Wanted to include all excursion options

[kctwinmommy]

Someone just asked about this, so it should be on either this page, or the next one here.

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, Texanniew said:

Has anyone gone on the West Indies Explorer recently? Thoughts on the included excursions? Paid ones not to miss? Paid ones not worth the money?

Thanks so much!!

this was asked in a thread not that long ago.  do a search.

[Texanniew]

7 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

this was asked in a thread not that long ago.  do a search.

Thank you for the helpful redirect. I saw that thread. Even asked questions on it. Wanted to know more about the included excursions. 🙂 

[CCWineLover]

8 hours ago, Texanniew said:

Thank you for the helpful redirect. I saw that thread. Even asked questions on it. Wanted to know more about the included excursions. 🙂 

Our experience on the included excursions on our West Indies Explorer trip:

San Juan - Historic Old San Juan by foot. A+

One of the best included's we've had!  Great guide of course.  Don't do it if your are immobile or have walking difficulty though.  The walking was great in that it allowed you to see quite of bit of Old San Juan and get a real feel for it.  Learned a lot as well.  I see they now are offering a more easy included for those that desire it:  San Juan Old & New.

Basseterre, St Kitts - Historic Basseterre & Fairview Great House.  B.

Not a bad tour.  Enjoyed the Great House quite a bit.  Wonderful view.  Good Guide.

Castries, St. Lucia - Panoramic Tour.  B-

Windy bus ride into the mountains.  Not as good a guide.  However, the Stony House was quite interesting, and we had time to walk all around the magnificent gardens and views.

Phillipsburg, St Martin - Scenic St Martin - D

One of the worst included tours.  Not that interesting a drive around the island. In fairness it had a hurricane recently.  Too much free time to shop.  Boring.  Not a good guide.

St. Thomas - Scenic Island & Mountain Top - C

So so tour.  Bus ride to top and the views were great.  Again, way too much time to kill for people to buy trinkets, etc.   Scenery was good though.

 

We missed Antigua due to weather and did not do includeds in Barbados and Dominica.  We did River Tubing in Dominica (A+) and Photography Tour in Barbados (A+).

 

Hope this helps.

 

Edited July 3 by CCWineLover

[Texanniew]

3 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Our experience on the included excursions on our West Indies Explorer trip:

San Juan - Historic Old San Juan by foot. A+

One of the best included's we've had!  Great guide of course.  Don't do it if your are immobile or have walking difficulty though.  The walking was great in that it allowed you to see quite of bit of Old San Juan and get a real feel for it.  Learned a lot as well.  I see they now are offering a more easy included for those that desire it:  San Juan Old & New.

Basseterre, St Kitts - Historic Basseterre & Fairview Great House.  B.

Not a bad tour.  Enjoyed the Great House quite a bit.  Wonderful view.  Good Guide.

Castries, St. Lucia - Panoramic Tour.  B-

Windy bus ride into the mountains.  Not as good a guide.  However, the Stony House was quite interesting, and we had time to walk all around the magnificent gardens and views.

Phillipsburg, St Martin - Scenic St Martin - D

One of the worst included tours.  Not that interesting a drive around the island. In fairness it had a hurricane recently.  Too much free time to shop.  Boring.  Not a good guide.

St. Thomas - Scenic Island & Mountain Top - C

So so tour.  Bus ride to top and the views were great.  Again, way too much time to kill for people to buy trinkets, etc.   Scenery was good though.

 

We missed Antigua due to weather and did not do includeds in Barbados and Dominica.  We did River Tubing in Dominica (A+) and Photography Tour in Barbados (A+).

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you so much! This is perfect.

[TayanaLorna]

16 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Our experience on the included excursions on our West Indies Explorer trip:

San Juan - Historic Old San Juan by foot. A+

One of the best included's we've had!  Great guide of course.  Don't do it if your are immobile or have walking difficulty though.  The walking was great in that it allowed you to see quite of bit of Old San Juan and get a real feel for it.  Learned a lot as well.  I see they now are offering a more easy included for those that desire it:  San Juan Old & New.

Basseterre, St Kitts - Historic Basseterre & Fairview Great House.  B.

Not a bad tour.  Enjoyed the Great House quite a bit.  Wonderful view.  Good Guide.

Castries, St. Lucia - Panoramic Tour.  B-

Windy bus ride into the mountains.  Not as good a guide.  However, the Stony House was quite interesting, and we had time to walk all around the magnificent gardens and views.

Phillipsburg, St Martin - Scenic St Martin - D

One of the worst included tours.  Not that interesting a drive around the island. In fairness it had a hurricane recently.  Too much free time to shop.  Boring.  Not a good guide.

St. Thomas - Scenic Island & Mountain Top - C

So so tour.  Bus ride to top and the views were great.  Again, way too much time to kill for people to buy trinkets, etc.   Scenery was good though.

 

We missed Antigua due to weather and did not do includeds in Barbados and Dominica.  We did River Tubing in Dominica (A+) and Photography Tour in Barbados (A+).

 

Hope this helps.

 

That snorkel tour with 2 stops in St. Martin was pretty good.  Didn't you do that with us on the TA?

[Planning to cruise]

In February 2024 we did:-

 

San Juan     Walking tour on the evening of embarkation day.  Good guide.  A reasonable amount of ground covered and a good overview of the city.  On the full day in port we then walked the city on our own, having prepared a route beforehand and visiting both castles. 

 

Tortola     Included panoramic and beach.  Good to get a feel for the island.  Transport was basic but fun, open sided bench seated mini vans.  Hang on and get shaken!  The beach visit was short and possibly not the best beach on the island.  We are not beach or watersports people, we enjoyed the historic aspects of this cruise itinerary.  If a beach visit is your thing you may be better off making alternative plans.  

 

St Kitts    One of the few paid excursions.  The train.  A great ride through countryside past villages and former sugar plantations.  A rocky ride.  We enjoyed this, thought it was worth paying for.  

 

St Lucia    Included - enjoyed drive around island scenery, though hilly, and a stop at a lovely house and garden in the hills.  

Paid for - coastal cruise to the Pitons.  If like me you want to see the Pitons you do so from the sea.  This disappointed as for me it did not go far enough along the coast to see more.  Possibly there were time constarints.  As I was interested in the natural landscape, the music, free drinks etc were not what I wanted.  Depends on personal preferences. 

 

Barbados    As we had visited a few times and done the main sites we toured on our own.  Went to and from the history museum by taxi. 

 

Roseau Dominica    included   Enjoyed tour of the town.  Saw views, walked through the interesting botanic gardens and visited a crafts workshop for people with physical or mental disabilites.  I was pleased to buy some of the output, gaining some souvenirs and helping the charity.  I know that not everyone cared for this or wanted to walk in the gardens - it is not all by bus.   

Paid for  Panoramic Dominica and Jacko Falls.  We found it disappointing and maybe not worth paying for.  A long drive, not that interesting. Stop at the Falls was a small tourist site at the side of the road.  Falls could be seen - just - if you went down a narrow path buf it wasnt easy. Stop was a bit tedious.  

 

Antigua    Very good tour of the island with a stop to overlook English harbour and visit to Nelsons Dockyard, a historic site with buildings, explanations of the history etc.  A must if you like history.  

 

St Martin    Our least favourite tour.  A bus ride through part of the built up area and an overlong stop at a town with a market. 

 

St Thomas    No tour.  Research suggested that the stop was just a souvenir spot.  We walked the town on our own but it was not as interesting as other islands.  

[Texanniew]

20 minutes ago, Planning to cruise said:

In February 2024 we did:-

 

San Juan     Walking tour on the evening of embarkation day.  Good guide.  A reasonable amount of ground covered and a good overview of the city.  On the full day in port we then walked the city on our own, having prepared a route beforehand and visiting both castles. 

 

Tortola     Included panoramic and beach.  Good to get a feel for the island.  Transport was basic but fun, open sided bench seated mini vans.  Hang on and get shaken!  The beach visit was short and possibly not the best beach on the island.  We are not beach or watersports people, we enjoyed the historic aspects of this cruise itinerary.  If a beach visit is your thing you may be better off making alternative plans.  

 

St Kitts    One of the few paid excursions.  The train.  A great ride through countryside past villages and former sugar plantations.  A rocky ride.  We enjoyed this, thought it was worth paying for.  

 

St Lucia    Included - enjoyed drive around island scenery, though hilly, and a stop at a lovely house and garden in the hills.  

Paid for - coastal cruise to the Pitons.  If like me you want to see the Pitons you do so from the sea.  This disappointed as for me it did not go far enough along the coast to see more.  Possibly there were time constarints.  As I was interested in the natural landscape, the music, free drinks etc were not what I wanted.  Depends on personal preferences. 

 

Barbados    As we had visited a few times and done the main sites we toured on our own.  Went to and from the history museum by taxi. 

 

Roseau Dominica    included   Enjoyed tour of the town.  Saw views, walked through the interesting botanic gardens and visited a crafts workshop for people with physical or mental disabilites.  I was pleased to buy some of the output, gaining some souvenirs and helping the charity.  I know that not everyone cared for this or wanted to walk in the gardens - it is not all by bus.   

Paid for  Panoramic Dominica and Jacko Falls.  We found it disappointing and maybe not worth paying for.  A long drive, not that interesting. Stop at the Falls was a small tourist site at the side of the road.  Falls could be seen - just - if you went down a narrow path buf it wasnt easy. Stop was a bit tedious.  

 

Antigua    Very good tour of the island with a stop to overlook English harbour and visit to Nelsons Dockyard, a historic site with buildings, explanations of the history etc.  A must if you like history.  

 

St Martin    Our least favourite tour.  A bus ride through part of the built up area and an overlong stop at a town with a market. 

 

St Thomas    No tour.  Research suggested that the stop was just a souvenir spot.  We walked the town on our own but it was not as interesting as other islands.  

Thank you so much! This is great info.