Magpies

We will be visiting the following ports at the end of the December.
Please let me know your must sees / dos and any other suggestions for these ports.
We have full days in all ports so that is great.
( I have also posted on cruise forum )
Thanks in advance
Donna
We will be visiting:
Oranjestad, Aruba
Willemstad, Curacao
St Georges Grenada
Bridgetown Barbados
Castries St Lucia,
St Johns Antigua

diann24

How do you like to spend your free time in ports? Beaches, or tours of the island? It would help if you could offer more info on your interests.

Magpies

We like to do a combination. We usually do a morning tour of the main sights and surrounds and have the rest of the day to look at shops, go to beach, have lunch, drinks etc. at the port.
We prefer half day tours and more often than not we will just take a taxi or do something from the port.
Are any of these ports where it is a little dangerous to be off on your own?
Thanks
Donna

RoamsAround

You are asking for lots of general information about 6 different islands and almost all of the information is readily available in great detail on various websites. A simple google search using topics like "Things to do on NAME OF ISLAND)" will bring uplinks for all the Points of Interest on every one of those islands.

Another hint: Go to the Caribbean Forums on TripAdvisor, click on the islands you'll be visiting. Use the "Things to Do" dropdown menu on each page. You be directed to a list of the activities and points of interest on that island - all will be sorted by "rating" and all will have scores if not hundreds of reviews so you can read all about the pros/cons of each place.

schmerl

When visiting the island you mentioned while cruising we usually just figure out where we want to go and grab a taxi.
We did book an excursion on St. Lucia which was part on land and then on a catamaran. It was great.

eastenderusvi

Grenada and St Lucia are more eco-destinations- Nutmeg business on Grenada, hiking at the Pitons on St Lucia.

Antigua is very historic- Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour...They have plenty of beaches, too.

When we went to Barbados on a cruise, we asked the taxi dispatcher for a small taxi rather than a van. We had a great island tour, local lunch and saw the highlights of the island.

Magpies

Thanks again everyone for your suggestions.
Where possible, we like to do our own thing as opposed to a tour but there are some places where one needs to be booked. I will have a closer look at the things suggested.
Thanks in advance

diann24

I would also suggest looking at the ships tour suggestion at each island and this should give you an idea. I have been to all of those islands with the exception of Curacao. St. Lucia has wonderful open jeep tours that are a blast to go on and will take you places where a car cannot go. Barabados is easy to just wing it--when you leave the terminal there are taxis everywhere, and you can just arrange your own tour sometimes with others to decrease the cost. Cranes Beach is nice there with a bar, umbrella and chair rentals.

I would also suggest you signing up on cruise critic.com and finding there "roll call" for your particular cruise/date. You will find people on there going on your specific cruise who may be putting together tours and seeking others to join them. You will save a ton of money this way and meet others with similar interests. Then you will meet and greet on the cruise one p.m. prior to your trips.

Magpies

Thanks diann24 for your tips and suggestions.
I will also check into cruise critic.
Barbados and Cranes Beach sounds nice.
Thanks again
Donna