Short Stays in Port on Southern Caribbean Crown

[Olwyn]

Just wondering how those of you who have sailed the Crown, out of San Juan to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba, found your Port stays? They seem very short to me...leaving Grenada at 2pm??? Yikes!

I would like to try and do a tour of the Plantation Inns on Nevis from St. Kitts...but we are sailing at 3pm!!!

Any of you run into problems with this itinerary??

Thanks so much!

Olwyn

[AliceJ]

The stops on this itinerary are short, no doubt. We booked our excursions through the ship mostly (withthe exception of St. Kitt's) and were happy with our choices.

 

Greneda is a short stop. We did the Spice Island tour which we liked (3 hours). The tour takes you to a spice processing building (far too small for the amount of people taking the tour), to an herb and spice garden (this was great!) and to a local juice factory (very yummy!). Along the way we got a history of the island and got a feel for the end of the island we were on. From what we heard from other passengers, although the stop was short, it was the right amount of time for this port.

 

St. Kitts - took a taxi to one of the beaches. I don't know that you'd have time to do both Nevis and St. Kitts.

 

Overall we liked the itinerary very much. We didn't want to spend a lot of time in ports, so it worked for us. It is something to consider!

 

Whatever you decide - enjoy!!

[Colo Cruiser]

Just wondering how those of you who have sailed the Crown, out of San Juan to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba, found your Port stays? They seem very short to me...leaving Grenada at 2pm??? Yikes!

I would like to try and do a tour of the Plantation Inns on Nevis from St. Kitts...but we are sailing at 3pm!!!

Any of you run into problems with this itinerary??

Thanks so much!

Olwyn

 

 

From what I have heard (negative comments on this board) Grenada is not really a factor, guess you have to get out of the town area? Having not been there I really don't know.

 

But Aruba and Bonaire being within 75 miles of each other this has always irked me to no end. I am sure it has to do with costs to stay tied up to the pier for a longer period, but I still think they should stay alot longer. :)

 

On the Crown we stayed in St Kitts for the whole day and went to Nevis on the Princess tour. It was great.

[soccerstar1288]

we were on the Crown 3/31 and we had a blast. We booked our tours through Princess. Yes I know the port stays were short but it did not bother my family and I. We just made the best of it! I hope this helps!!!!

 

Happy Sailing!

-Joe

[Stevesan]

I've booked Cown for a B2B. Of the ten port days, not counting San Juan, sailaway is 5PM or later on eight of those days. We're in St Thomas both weeks from 7am-6pm. We're in Grenada for only five hours, but St Kitts eight.

 

Nearly every S. Caribbean cruise has one or two early sailaways. I think 5PM for eight out of ten is great and is one reason I booked. Great ports and port times.

[Olwyn]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am most concerned about St. Kitts which departs at 3pm and Grenada, which leaves at 2pm...yikes! These do seem short!

Actually overall, Grenada is supposed to be a gorgeous island, once you get away from the port.

Which tour has St. Kitts for eight hours?? The crown usually leaves early from this port.

Thanks again!

Olwyn

[CruisinChris]

The reward for the early sailaway from St Kitts is the beauty of passing islands...one of the prettiest afternoon sails in the Caribbean - I think.

[neptune18]

Time on St. Kitts and Grenada was short. We didn't do excursions there, just went to beach for few hours. Frigate Bay on St. Kitts was great-would have liked to hve stayed a little longer. On Grenada took water taxi to Grande Anse Beach. Great beach with tubing and banana boats. I wouldn't bother going into town in Grenada. I would do this itinerary again.

[SaylorGirl]

To me the lenght of time in port is the most important aspect of any cruise. I personally would not book that particular cruise.

[A Sixth?]

To me the lenght of time in port is the most important aspect of any cruise. I personally would not book that particular cruise.

 

At first I felt the same way, but since the Crown was a new ship and the itinerary so interesting we did a B2B last January and would say of the 13 - 14 cruises we've done, it was one of the best despite the shorter stay at two ports. At least the ship docks right in town for both St Kitts and Grenada.

[cruzinchris]

Greneda is a short stop. We did the Spice Island tour which we liked (3 hours). The tour takes you to a spice processing building (far too small for the amount of people taking the tour), to an herb and spice garden (this was great!) and to a local juice factory (very yummy!). Along the way we got a history of the island and got a feel for the end of the island we were on.

 

Thank you for your comments about the "Spice Island" tour. DH and I plan to do this when we're on the Emerald next February. We were scheduled to stop at Grenada on a cruise in 1997 but the itinerary was changed due to civil unrest on the island.

Chris

[bobbycruiser]

yea ill be in grand turk next week and were only there for 5 hours:(

[cruze610]

yea ill be in grand turk next week and were only there for 5 hours:(

 

I was in Grand Turk for 6 hours and fount it to be plenty. We rented scooters and went all over the island. It was great. after that, we even had time to stop at Jimmy Buffets resteraunt for a few drinks. The ship docks right there at the beach. you will save time not having to get a taxi to the beach.

[AliceJ]

Thank you for your comments about the "Spice Island" tour. DH and I plan to do this when we're on the Emerald next February. We were scheduled to stop at Grenada on a cruise in 1997 but the itinerary was changed due to civil unrest on the island.

Chris

 

Chris:

 

We had a great driver - he'd stop along the road, grab a handful of leaves off a tree, then pass them back and ask us to identify what they were - some were cinnamon, allspice, etc. At the Spice Garden, we were able to smell/taste all sorts of things - including fresh cinnamon (it really is tree bark!!) We bought a couple of containers of juice at the juice factory, and had them in our cabin while on board.

 

Enjoy!!!

[ucsbgirl]

I was on the Crown last December , and was also worried about the short time in port. My husband and I ended up not minding the short times b/c there is only one sea day. We ended up using the short stays as sea days. We did an island tour on Grenada, long, but we literally saw the entire island. Going to Bonaire was completely worth the short times in Grenada/St. Kitts. All stops on this cruise are AMAZING! Beautiful places. I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat.