Southern Caribbean - what to do?

D

Dream Vacation

Pool Attendant
We just booked our 6th cruise, but our first Southern Caribbean. Ports of call are:

San Juan, Puerto Rico
St. Thomas
Dominica
Barbados
St. Lucia
St. Kitts
St. Maarten

What are some 'must sees' in these ports of call?
 
K

Kadeycat

Junior Assistant Purser
We did the Victory cruise last year. Greatly enjoyed the fort in San Juan. Drop your bags, go see the fort and come back about 2 pm when its less crowded.
Dominica - took tour with Levi Bumping Great sites and activities
Barbados- Island tour was good but the pirate ship is really fun if its still there.
St. Lucia- Shal is really great with Jungle tours. My brother recommended and the tour was very fun.
St. Kitts - we went to the beach at the end of the peninsula-took taxi to see Wilbur the pig. Taxi came back a few hours later. Try and get a group, they don't like to take just 2 people.
St. Maarten- we went on another cruise and did an island tour of both sides.
We made a plan so that we were pretty active one day and a bit more relaxed the next. With so many stops you can get really tired and worn out. Bon Voyage!!!
 
D

Dream Vacation

Pool Attendant
Thanks so much for your advice!! I'm kind of bummed that Carnival removed Dominica from our itinerary, but will look into your other suggestions.

Did the ship sail at 10:00 p.m.? If so, what time could you board?
 
Mbandy

Mbandy

Staff Captain
Dream Vacation said:
Thanks so much for your advice!! I'm kind of bummed that Carnival removed Dominica from our itinerary, but will look into your other suggestions.

Did the ship sail at 10:00 p.m.? If so, what time could you board?
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We were on Carnival Victory last week and had a great time "Down Island"

We spent the night in San Juan before the cruise so we were among the first to arrive at the port. We got there around 10:30 and were checked in by 11. They started boarding at 12:30. We got on board, had some lunch, dropped our bags in our room and got off the ship to explore Old Town San Juan. You can get on and off the ship as you wish while you're in San Juan. If you get there early you might want to do the Bacardi Rum Tour. Walk about two blocks from the ship to pier 2 and catch a water taxi across the harbor for 50 cents each. On the other side take a taxi to Casa Bacardi for $3 each. The tour is free and you get a couple of free drinks after the tour. Pretty cheap tour for $7 per person.


In St. Thomas we found a great company for snorkeling. It was called New Horizons. A full day of snorkeling with lunch and free drinks for $80...good deal!
Snorkel Adventures : New Horizons

I agree about Dominica, it was one of our favorite stops. Kadeycat mentioned Bumpiing Tours with Levi who was an awesome guide. We did it too and it was great so I recommend it highly to anyone going to Dominica.
http://www.bumpiingtours.com/Home_Page.html


We did the three hour snorkel trip with El Tigre in Barbados. The first stop was just off the beach with a couple of shipwrecks and LOTS of fish. The second stop was snorkeling with the sea turtles which was awesome. There is also a five hour trip with lunch. The bartender, "Bear" made some great rum punch!:beach:
Day catamaran cruises on El Tigre - Barbados -


In St. Lucia you'll want to see the Pitons and the drive in Volcano among other sights.
St. Lucia shore excursions

In St. Kitts we were going to take a taxi to White House Bay to snorkel some shipwrecks but the water was choppy and we thought snorkeling might not be too great so we decided to stay with the taxi crew and continue to a beach on the southern tip of the island. On the way we stopped at a scenic overlook where the taxi driver Adonis took our pictures. In the picture you see the pennensula with the Caribbean Sea on one side and The Atlantic Ocean on the other with the island of Nieves in the background. The beach was great but we were correct about the snorkeling the choppy water churned up the sand and made for zero visibility. The swimming was great though. There were some local girls at the beach who did massages on the beach for $1 a minute; much cheaper than the spa on the ship. I have Adonis' contact info if you want it. He was great.

High waves from the reminants of Hurricane Igor made it to dangerous to dock in St Maarten and that port was closed for the day so we spent a day at sea. While we were sad for the people who had never been to St Maarten we were happy for the sea day to relax. As Kadeycat mentioned, the port every day cruise is very ambitious and we were happy to just rest and relax on Saturday.

I know you'll have an awesome time.

Enjoy :spyglass:
 
S

SandyBeach

1st Officer - Navigation
In St. Lucia, we took the Rain Forest Ariel Tram. If you've never done anything like that before you might want to try it, it was awesome and peaceful...and a bit wet - so take a poncho. (Although it was close, we liked St. Lucia a little bit better than Dominica.)

Buy some brown sugar in Barbados. We took the coast to coast tour there. We like to find out about the place we are visiting overall during our first visit. Then subsequent visits we do other things or nothing but walk around the shops.

On St. Maarten, we took the Dutch & French Island Experience excursion.

In San Juan we normally just walk around the pier area or head up to the Fort if there is time - although we've never made it inside yet.

St. Thomas the first time we went to Megan's Bay and the second time we took the excursion to St. John's Trunk Bay and snorkeled. Now we just walk around near the ship and shop at the shops or across the street.
 
Jeanie

Jeanie

Staff Captain
Mbandy said:
Walk about two blocks from the ship to pier 2 and catch a water taxi across the harbor for 50 cents each. On the other side take a taxi to Casa Bacardi for $3 each. The tour is free and you get a couple of free drinks after the tour. Pretty cheap tour for $7 per person.Enjoy :spyglass:
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Sounds like a fun time. Need to keep this in mind
 
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