jedivader

Just looking for helpful hints at each of my stops. Should I do any of the excursions? What is a must see/do? Should I try and book a tour or activity locally instead of off the ship?

Give me anything and everything you have if you have visited these stops.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Basseterre, St. Kitts
St. Johns, Antigua
Castries, St. Lucia
Bridgetown, Barbados
Margarita Island, Venezuela
Willemstad, Curacao
Oranjestad, Aruba

Thanks~

richsun

Here's a list of my must-do's: St.Maarten go to Maho Beach it's at the end of a runway, amazing to see airplanes right over your head. There is also an ice cream place right across the beach. St.Lucia do an island day tour to Soufriere, I would recommend Phillip Tours St.Lucia, seeing the Pitons twin peak mountains was just wonderful ! the drive in volcano is interesting and the botanical garden was lovely. Beautiful scenic island. Have heard good things about Lawrence of Antigua from someone who was recently in Antigua. Have not personally used him before. www.lawrenceofantigua.com
www.philliptoursstlucia.com they now have a website.
Have a wonderful time.

diann

I think you posted this on the caribbean board as well. This depends a lot on your interests and if you are a family,have kids etc. Difficult to say when we don't know this info. For my husband and I we love the beaches. We went to Dickensons Bay in antigua. This is where the Sandals Property is and we rented jet skis. A gorgeous stretch of beach. We also had drinks in a tiki hut at the end of the beach. St. lucia jungletoursst.lucia is a great tour group in an open 4X4 jeep. This was awesome and fun. Puerto Rico the rain forest is interesting. Walk around old San Juan. Walk around the fort. Barbados do not book a cruise tour. When you get off the ship there are millions of island tour guides more than willing to take you wherever you want for much less $$$. Just depends on what you want to see. We did half tour of the island, then Paynes beach I believe it was. Another awesome beach. I haven't been to the rest of the islands you mention. You need to research and see what there is to see or do, then when you get off the ship there will me many tour guides to take you where you want. Just have to be back in time. Most important!!

jedivader

Thanks for the info!

Me, my wife, some parents and parent's friends.

All of us are into outdoors, adventure, sight-seeing. My wife and I are 30 and 29 years old. We do not care about shopping or museums.

triathlete

For $20, you can get a video with detailed info. on 12 ports--what to see, what to do. Probably worth the investment...

See http://www.cruisecompete.com/cruise_port_videos.php

LPOWMACBACK

Of those islands, we've only been to several... On Puerto Rico, we didn't have much time, as it was the embarkation port... there were also elections going on at the time, and we were told that it could be dangerous. In any event, after checking in at the ship, we took a cab through Old San Juan (very picturesque city) to the Castle at El Morro... very lovely old ruin... very nice views... glad we did that! On Antigua, we took an off-road jeep trip all over the island - it was great!! It was well worth the expense - it was a very personalized journey (just our family & the driver, Ira) in a loose caravan - a very interesting trip - many interesting stops and sites on a very beautiful and interesting island! When we were in Barbados, it was a VERY RAINY DAY! Our family and a few other couples got a van-taxi and had the driver take us all over the island. It was okay. The island didn't do too much for me (I don't think it was due to the rain either)... it was very overbuilt... nothing really striking... although their beaches were supposed to be nice. St. Lucia is a MAGNIFICENT ISLAND!!! We took the whole day tour where we were driven up to a point by bus - with a fantastic guide! Oh my - what roads they have!!! The climb up mountains in the bus was more scarey (I'm a wuss) than a rollercoaster to me... at times, I could not look! But, while my eyes were closed, I did manage to hear the guide who was so informative... we stopped at the volcano and the botanical gardens and made stops at some other local places. Lunch was included and we at a lovely and interesting open-air place - forget where and what it was called..but it was authentic native cuisine and quite delicious!! Our journey back was on a huge catermaran - and spectacular! The Pitons, oh my goodness - they are probably one of the most beauiful sites!!! We stopped off near where they'd filmed the original Dr. Doolittle so we could swim... then back to the ship... that day was a true adventure worth EVERY PENNY!!!

Enjoy your adventure!

jedivader

Richsun,

Phillip Tours

Which tour did you take, the main or the short?

Were you able to get off and walk around at the stops or did you just drive by them?

LLindaC

St Lucia is a nightmare on the roads, LOL! We took a catamaran trip down to the Pitons and that was a LOT more relaxing! Check out cruisecritic.com and get info about independant tour operators. They are so much better than the packed ship excursions. This time in St Martin, we took a cab to Marigot and rode the 25 min ferry over to Anguilla. It's like a different world over there. Friendly, safe, unspoiled, gorgeous. Taxi driver gave us a "tour" and we spent some time on Shoal Bay which was great. Had lunch at a little island bar at the left hand part of the beach- very good!

richsun

Jedivader, yes definetly we were able to get out and walk we even had time to enjoy a nice swim. We did the Soufriere tour, the main tour, lots of photo stops along the way as well.

SUNSHINE1223

We just did the 11 day cruise on the Adventure of the Seas. Our second year on that ship at Christmas.

St Maarten - Orient Beach ( bikini beach is where we sat)

Antigua - We went to St James beach. great waves

Barbados - Go to The Boatyard. They charge admission but you get a chair/umbrella and a free drink. There is a new activity.. You can hang onto a rope and jump off the pier. Nieces and nephews loved it. Go early otherwise it gets crowded by 11.

Curacao - Our cabbie took us to an awesome beach where the water was so clear you could see the coral at the bottom.

Aruba - Palm Beach or someone from work recommended Baby Beach.

jedivader

Thanks for the additional info

jedivader

Are any of these islands ideal for renting a car and just driving around without purchasing an excursion.

I've rented a car in Aruba before and had no problem getting around.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Basseterre, St. Kitts
St. Johns, Antigua
Castries, St. Lucia
Bridgetown, Barbados
Margarita Island, Venezuela
Willemstad, Curacao