shore excursions
 

I posted this exact message in the cruise forum. I'm just trying to reach as many people as possible.

My family of 5 will be cruising this late July on the Adventure of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. We will be stopping at these islands: St. Croix (Frederiksted), St. Maarten (Philipsburg), Antigua (St. Johns), St. Lucia (Castries), and Barbados (Bridgetown). By the way, our port city is San Juan, Puerto Rico. We will be there for one week prior to our cruise!! There are so many options for excursions. Are there any places on these islands that we shouldn't miss? The oldest is 42 and the youngest is 7.5. We love adventure and the ocean!!! We are thinking of booking through Royal Caribbean. Any suggestions would be great!! We are also open to not booking anything on one or two islands and just winging it :)

Thank you :)

I am going on this exact same cruise on 7/25 (!) and have found the Cruise Critic forums to be really helpful for advice on excursions. This is our first cruise, and our learning curve is pretty steep.

I wouldn't book anything through the ship. Book your excursions on your own, and you will save $$. Plus the ship excursions can be packed with too many people, where as the private tours will be more personal, and not just another "cattle boat".

If you are stopping in St Croix, I would highly recommend a snorkel charter out to Buck Island, you will not regret it.

If you are in St. Lucia I suggest www.jungletoursst.lucia it is an awesome tour off the beaten path. The staff are wonderful. Check out the web site. Go to cruise critic. Go to "roll call." Sign up and there are usually people who are putting together tours for your cruise independently. We did this in 2010 for a cruise to the Meds. We saved a lot of money and knew people before we went. We went with people who had done the cruise many times and signed up for the tours they suggested. Don't do the ship tours. In Barbados when you get off the ship there are many taxis offering you tours of the island. Quite often you can go with others, and share the cost.

Oh in Antigua you can go to Dickenson Bay. I thought it was a great beach, and just relax for the day if you like. We were there twice on cruise ships. You can rent jet ski's if you like.

http://www.jungletoursstlucia.com/ This is the site for St.Lucia. When I clicked on the above link it did not come up--?

In Barbados I'd recommend getting a look at the new Harrison's Cave where you can tour by trolley or walk through and do a nature hike. Aerial Trek is a good ziplining experience. If you've got time then I recommend you spend some time at the beach. Better to go West Coast to avoid some of the sargassum we've been experiencing but if it's cleared up by July then Enterprise, Dover and Carlisle Bay/Boatyard offer good beaches. The owner of the complex by The Boatyard is notoriously confrontational when it comes to his facilities though.

You could check out www.caribbeantraveller.com for info on all the destinations you've listed including Restaurants & Bars and Fun Things to do.

If you don't book through the cruise and decide to wing it, make sure not to take the first taxi you approach. It's better to ask different persons their price to get a good deal.