Excursions - Eastern Carriebean Where/How/What

[AnthonyF]

Pretty much same itinery as 2004. Going to San Juan, St. Thomas, DR, Nassau... All are full days but Nassau (5 Hours)

 

Last time we just went to beaches on our own. Looking to do an excursion or 2 but want to know which and do it on my own. Prices on Celebrities Web looks expensive especially when you add 2 kids.

 

Any not to be missed? Is it easy to organize your own on the fly and negotiate?:o

 

Thanks,

[geoherb]

Be sure to check out the Ports of Call boards for each port you'll be going to. There are a lot of posts with good suggestions on them.

 

For San Juan, I recommend walking to El Morro if you haven't been there. It's a nice walk through Old San Juan. A couple of years ago we took a taxi to the botanical gardens near the university. They were very nice, but I was glad we had a fluent Spanish speaker with us to communicate with the driver and the people at the gardens who called him for us after we had finished our tour of the gardens.

 

In St. Thomas, we've taken a taxi and the ferry to St. John on our own. We've also done snorkeling and sail boat excursions through the cruise lines. Their prices have increased a lot--probably doubling in the past 10 years.

[wvufan]

Second the motion for walking around old San Juan to the fort and back.

 

Coki beach and Coral world in St. Thomas are very nice.

 

Happy Sails to you

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[CaribbeanBound]

You're in luck. Here is my detailed information to assist you in preparing for your Eastern Caribbean cruise. Includes lots of info on the ports.

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/easterncaribbean.html

 

Also check out http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

These are our very detailed personal reviews, hints, and tips for ports of call that you will be visiting.

[frugal one]

Hubby and I are currently struggling to get private excursions in these ports. I'll start with the toughest.

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 itineraries offered thru Millie. None look good to us. The Rain Forest would be good if the tour wasn't 3 hours of driving and 1.5 at the actual forest.

Currently doing research on the following:

Private Guides to take us around to historical/environmental stuff:

http://www.puertorico-tours.com/

http://www.elyunque.com/consult.html

Private Snorkeling Excursions:

http://www.eastwindcats.com/pages/powercat_excursion1.html

http://www.castillotours.com/snorkeling.htm

http://www.caribbeanedge.com/puerto_rico/activities/snorkeling/

 

St. Thomas

This one was easy. We wanted a small private boat to take us snorkeling. We did extensive research and read plenty of reviews before selecting.

This one looks to have some of the best crew and food and customer service. All I've read were rave reviews. No complaints at all.

http://www.rumbabacharters.com/cruises.htm

The only problem is the we are 2 and the boat is 6. So that means that the other 4 people have to want to snorkel too. So we've put down our credit card to hold our spots. We've posted on our ship's roll call asking for 4 other snorkelers. I will contact Captain Bobby a couple of weeks prior to ensure that we are going SNORKELING. If not...

http://www.captainnautica.com/snorkeltour.html

http://www.bonesusvi.com/index.html

 

Casa De Campo, Dominican Republic

I've read positive about the Water Eco Adventure but am concerned about the time spend managing the group between bus, speedboat, native boat, motorboat, bus. For a tour of 3.5 hours, my guess is a lot of time is spent getting the group on and off of each.

Catarmaran Sail & Snorkel - I'm concerned that this is a party boat with loud music and lots of drunks.

So again... gonna look for a private excursion or private guide.

 

Nassau:

Haven't even touched this one yet. Celebbrity didn't have their excursions listed on this until yesterday so... that's ususally where I start and then look for private equivalents.

[frugal one]

Totally forgot this one too. Rave reviews all over the Port of Call forum.

 

http://www.*****.com