Favorite Excursions:Golden - Classic Southern Caribbean

[lovebrits]

Looking ahead to our cruise in February..... Does anyone have suggestions for "not to be missed" excursions? (Barbados, St. Lucia, Antiqua, St. Maarten, St. Thomas) Princess or other? We are definitely beach and water people, not too interested in walking/historical tours . . .

 

Best shopping suggestions?

Thanks.

[chrysalis]

We did the Catamaran trip on Barbados which included swimming/snorkeling with the sea turtles and some time at a beach with snorkeling there, as well. Breakfast and a very good Lunch served on board and a free bar. It was a great day.

 

 

marc

[fraidycats]

from the viewpoint of two families ages 47-12 :). In Antigua we LOVED Eli's eco tour.(Did NOT book thru cruiseline) Eli grew up on Antigua (guessing he lived a rather priveledged life ..lol) toured the islands and beaches via his boat. Great views,lunch swimming etc :). StMaartan did the America's cup 12 meter challenge (hubby did twice in one day!! )and in Barbados we went to Crane's beach. One of the PRETTIEST beaches I've ever seen. Entered at the resort, but beach has chairs and umbrellas and umbrellas to rent. Great body surfing..

[lovebrits]

marc and fraidycats,

Thanks for your suggestions. Any worries about getting back to the ship on time with Eli?

Jan

[fraidycats]

No worries about time with Eli. He accomodated our schedule with the ship. Very repsonsible GREAT guy. In fact I am trying to find an "eli type" in grenada"

[goincrusin]

Hi. Saw your post and would suggest looking in Mandoo on Grenada. If you go through posts by others here at the Princess site you'll find that people have been very pleased with him. (Not through Princess). He is a native of Grenada and is very interested in the Environment. We are going with him early March. Got his name from the Grenada Tourism Office. You can find information at http://www.grenadatours.com. If you e-mail him he is good at getting back to you. We are going to Concord Falls, Douglas Station, Grand Etang Lake, and Grand Anse Beach. He picks up at the Golden at 9:00 AM and will get you back at 1:00 or 1:30. I'm looking forward to going with him. Hope this information will be of help.

Also, have been watching and the Golden has been stopping at Isla Mararita instead of Caracus the last two times. Watch the Web Cam at Princess site on Thursday, Jan. 6th. That's the next time in the area. Princess hasn't changed the information. Keep watching.

Gary H.

[tispwisp]

In St. Lucia we loved the Diamond Falls, Botanical Gardens & Mineral Baths tour. It is a bit pricey, but it is an all day excursion and includes a fantastic lunch! We thought this tour was so great we did it twice! We talked our friends into doing this tour on our Sun Cruise and they said it was their favorite excursion of all time as well. You can see pictures of our excursion at: http://community.webshots.com/user/tispwisp There is a whole album dedicated to our St. Lucia trip! This also includes a one hour swim at beautiful Marigot Bay!!!

 

In Barbados, we did the snorkeling catamaran excursion with the sea turtles. It was wonderful and the private beach was beautiful!

 

St. Maartin - Orient Beach is the most beautiful beach we've ever been to! We're going back there in May!

 

St. Thomas - I would suggest an excursion to St. John. We haven't been there - Yet. But have heard that the beaches are gorgeous.

 

You have a great itinerary and the Golden is a beautiful ship! You're going to have a wonderful time! :)

[nutbrown]

Tispwisp, how much physical activity was there on the St. Lucia catamaran tours? Especially to the Diamond Falls and the Botanical Garden? My husband really wants to do this tour, but I am undergoing chemo and although the week of the cruise will be one of my "healthy" weeks (great timing), I want to make sure I won't get too tired and will have some time to sit and relax.

 

So, I guess my actual question is: In what order do they do the tours? I think the hour at the beach would be a great chance for me to rest...and potentially the mineral baths.

[fraidycats]

I think we may be interested in MAdoo's tour. How much is he charging you?

[Brennivan]

If you want to do an excursion in St. Thomas, you should try an outside company like the SS Winifred. http://www.sailwinifred.com

 

 

This is an excellent excurison. It is a beautiful 43 foot sailing yacht with a maximum of only 6 people on board. We went 2 weeks ago and when we arrived, we were the only two people on the boat.

 

Imagine, a whole sailboat for just the two of us for the day. The 2 man crew was very nice. It was the best excursion we have taken yet. A MUST!

 

http://www.sailwinifred.com

[goincrusin]

Hi! Sorry I forgot to include that. It's $40 per person. You should find his e-mail address at the site which I gave you. If you can't, let me know.

Gary

[tispwisp]

Nutbrown - The itinerary for the St. Lucia excursion is as follows:

 

You get on the catamaran right at the cruise docs. You will sail for about an hour on the catamaran. The scenery is gorgeous! You will debark the catamaran in Soufriere which is at the base of the twin pitons and get on a van for a very short (about 5 minute) drive to the gardens. You will walk through the gardens with a guide. The walk itself is about 45 minutes to an hour, but there is a rest stop halfway through and it is a pretty easy leisurely walk. We had a lot of senior citizens with us on this excursion and they did fine! At the end of the walk you will have an authentic creole lunch at the plantation. Unfortunately, you do not get a chance to go in the mineral baths, you only get to look at them... :( . After eating your lunch you take the van back to the catamaran. The itinerary then goes to a private beach (very pretty - we were at this beach on our first trip on this excursion.) You will then take the catamaran around Marigot bay and back to the ship. The last time we did this excursion (in November), we didn't stop at the private beach because it was raining. Instead, our catamaran captain let us swim in Marigot bay as it wasn't raining there when we got there!

 

If you have any other questions, let me know!!!

[nutbrown]

Thanks Amy. It sounds like something I will be able to handle easily. It also sounds very relaxing.