pam

We are nearly 1 month away from our Cruise on RCCL. Our cruise ports include, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, Barbados, Antigua, and St. Maarten. Are there any must do excursions that anyone has been on which they recommend? We are interested in beaches, and would like to explore some of the history on some of the Islands. I don't want to do ships excursions on all Islands, because of the prices. Are there any we simply should not miss? We do love the beach, and would like to do some history as well. Thanks for any tips.

Peter

pam - been to all of your stops except Antigua. Try this link for a super excursion in St. Lucia - these people are great and are way cheaper than the ship's excursionl - http://www.jungletoursstlucia.com/bookings.htm<BR><BR>On Barbados, do research on the island and the places you want to see (try cruisecritics.com and go to the ports section and there's a guy named Barbados that gives excellent advice) and then simply hire a taxi for the day - it will be around $100 for up to four people.<BR><BR>St. Thomas is famous for its shopping particularly jewelry. If thats going to be part of your day, take a cab to Coki Beach in the morning and rent a beach chair and umbrella for ten bucks and soak up the sun. Shop downtown in the pm and leave for the ship at least an hour and a half before sailing time as the traffic is unbelievable. The stores downtown will be about 20% cheaper than those same stores in the Havensight Mall right next to the ship.<BR><BR>St. Maarten - take a taxi to Orient Beach and have them drop you at Bikini Beach which is a ways from the nudist beach which will minimize seeing naked bodies that for the most part should be clothed. Spend a little time in Phillipsburg for whatever shopping you didn't get done in St. Thomas. On the French side - Marigot is a quaint little town but you'll find few bargains there.

pam

Thank-you Peter. You have been most helpful. The St. Lucia one looks really great. The cruise critic is also very informative. I appreciate the input.

Peter

Pam - you're welcome. One more thought about St. Thomas. I have been trying to get this done for years and haven't made it yet; but if you don't need to spend time shopping - go over to St. Johns for some awesome snorkeling. I have friends that have snorkeled everywhere in the world and say Cinnamon Bay in St. Johns is among the best. Trunk Bay is the popular beach so Cinnamon would be relatively serene. Take a taxi to Red Hook and catch the ferry over to St. Johns. It leaves every hour on the hour. Once there, get a taxi to Cinnamon. On the return, consider the ferry that goes directly to Charlotte-Amalie. It has less departures times, so you need to plan accordingly. My friends tell me there's a coral reef about twenty five yards off the far right side of the beach with all the colors and fish you'd ever want to see.

pam

Shopping is not a top notch priority for me. Yes we do like to snorkel and my husband is also a Scuba diver. I would like him to go at least once on one of the Islands we are going to visit. That of course will require an excursion with the needed equipment etc. Snorkeling equipment is easy to take along. Again Thanks.

Cathy

Pam,<BR>if your husband is a diver, another option would be to go to Anse Chastenet on St. Lucia. Also good snorkeling and they have a very good dive center there, Scuba St. Lucia. You can find it by doing a search on a search engine. If your ship docks in the morning, they send a boat from Scuba St. Lucia to Castries in the morning. He may be able to do a half day dive. The diving around the Pitons is supposed to be very good. I have snorkeled at Anse Chastenet and found very good fish variety. I second the recommendation for St. John. These will probably be your best islands for snorkeling and diving. St. Maarten is not so good for these, althought the beaches are nice.

pam

Yes since he will more than likely only do the scuba diving only once during the trip I would like to choose the best Island. He has dived in Cozmel, and T&amp;C Provo before which he enjoyed. I think I will do the St. John trip on our own from St. Thomas.