Texanniew Posted July 3 #1 Share Posted July 3 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kctwinmommy Posted July 3 #2 Share Posted July 3 Someone just asked about this, so it should be on either this page, or the next one here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CCWineLover Posted July 3 #3 Share Posted July 3 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texanniew Posted July 3 Author #4 Share Posted July 3 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. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CCWineLover Posted July 3 #5 Share Posted July 3 (edited) 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 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texanniew Posted July 3 Author #6 Share Posted July 3 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TayanaLorna Posted July 4 #7 Share Posted July 4 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planning to cruise Posted July 4 #8 Share Posted July 4 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texanniew Posted July 4 Author #9 Share Posted July 4 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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