Cruising Norwegian Dawn 12/19-12/30

[jbarboza4]

My family and I are doing the 11 day Southern Carribean Cruise. Any one been on this one. If so, any suggestions for excursions. Went on Disney Cruise a few years back and did our own excursions rather than book through ship because it was cheaper. Any info would be greatly appreciated.:D

[msescada]

We are booked on this trip as well. We haven't done this itinerary with NCL, but we have done it with Cunard several times.

 

So, I can't tell you specifically about the NCL shore excursions. But I can tell you that on most of the islands we will be going to, a shore excursion probably isn't necessary.

 

Tortola, for example, is a great beach place. You probably don't need an excursion there.

 

St. Thomas is shopping and beaches, unless you want to go to St. John. Then you need an excursion to get from one island to the other. You could do a ferry, but doing something like that I'd rather not depend on local timing to get me back to a ship. The snorkeling is, I'm told, MUCH better there. The island and the beaches are beautiful. On the other hand, a place call Cokie Beach on St. Thomas is fabulous. It has all services, good snorkeling and a very gentle sandy beach. It is unusual in that you get a sand beach and good snorkeling in the same place. The taxi drivers all know it and they will come back for you if you arrange it.

 

We've never been to Dominica, so I can't help there.

 

As for Grenada, stay on the ship. Well, that's my opinion after several visits. The beaches aren't that great and the vendors were VERY aggressive. No thanks is not a phrase that they understood. The first time we were there we took a shore excur. from the ship to the interior. Interesting enough, but not great. You see the fort, the spices growing, etc. The second/third time we just took a taxi (you can take a water taxi) to the beach across the harbor. It's only ok.

 

Antigua is also known for great beaches and we took a taxi way across the island to a fabulous beach. Can't remember the name but do remember going through a local festival parade. Interesting, but we clearly were intruding on the residents and that was uncomfortable. The town of St. John's has shops, cafes, bars and is close enough to just walk into. If memory serves, though, it was HOT.

 

Barbados is one of our favorite places in the islands. The port is far from the center of Bridgetown. I actually think the shopping is almost better in Barbados than in St. Maarten. Less kitschy, better prices, especially on jewelry (Diamonds International). There are lots of things to do on Barbados. I'm not sure how long we're there, but a taxi tour around the island is fascinating and tours of the plantation houses are also interesting. The beaches on the west and south coasts are the only safe swimming beaches, while the eastern (atlantic) side are wild and beautiful. If we're there overnight, there are some great restaurants and night life on the south eastern side (I forget the name of the area). We've done that a couple of times. Taxis are plentiful and very civilized. The whole debarkation process there is orderly too.

 

St. Maarten-- if you like sailing, do the Americas Cup Regatta. Otherwise, shopping and beach. (Sounds like a pattern here, right?) We have sometimes gone way out of town to the Le Meridien/Habitation at the extreme northwest corner of the island on the french side. The hotel is set over a very steep mountain and down the other side to a double bay. That makes the water very calm and very warm. Spectacular setting but food at the hotel is VERY expensive (lunch for 4 was $90 and that was several years ago). We usually take a taxi to the french side (Marigot) and traipse around a bit. More interesting shops, pretty marina for lunch. Grand Case has terrific restaurants, I'm told, but we've never been there. There is sometimes a farmer's market right in Marigot at the pier (we'll dock in Phillipsburg). If you really don't want to stray far from the ship, the beach right in town has been just fine for us.

 

Orient Beach is the favorite destination for the ship excursions. The southern part of the beach is top and bottomless. You should expect topless on all the French beaches. The problem I have with Orient Beach is that the current on that side (the east/atlantic side) can be very rough and the beach isn't all that different from other, less dangerous beaches. But, if memory serves, that's where you need to go if you want to do water sports (except that the beach in town has jet skis, etc. too as of the last time we were there).

 

So that's one person's view of the islands and what to do on the itinerary. If you're not comfortable taking taxis (almost all of them take us $ so that's not a worry), then do the excursion. But the truth is that the folks who live in places like St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Barbados are so used to us tourist that THEY have it down to a science, even if we don't.

[jbarboza4]

Thank you for the info.