We are taking a 7 night cruise out of San Juan that has 4 port stops. We are considering at two port calls to do a morning and afternoon excursion booked thru the cruise line. I am curious if we should do that or plan on being able to explore on our own. It just seems the time is so limited at each port. This is our first cruise and any comments are appreciated on what you do.

We don't care for the ship's shore excursions--I always feel like I'm being herded around, and it seems like they don't spend enough time at the places that interest me, but there's always lots of time for shopping.

I research the ports, select what we want to do, and engage a cab driver when we get off the ship to take us around. It's much cheaper than the ship's shore excursion, and personalized to our interests.

Other people book excursions through private companies, and seem quite happy with that.

The Ports of Call boards at www.cruisecritic.com are a good place to start gathering information.

In the five cruises I have taken, only once did we take a ship shore excursion, and that was for off shore snorkling.

Ships shore excursions are way over priced and yes, always include more time for shopping where the tour guide gets kickbacks rather then enough time seeing and doing stuff.

Do a bit of research on each port of call, find out what you want to do, they find out best way to do it on your own. Often just grabbing a taxi and going on your own saves time and money... plus you are on your own schedule. Some ports and some sites are better suited for doing on your own,, some less so..

Check out cruisecritics.com great website , same with cruisemates.com Ask about each port of call and whether your ships shore excurision offered are worth doing. Some are, most aren't .

I agree that most cruise line sponsered tours are overpriced and the participants are exploited by someone - lots of time for shopping at isolated tourist traps that would fold without the captive audience. It is not hard too find private tours or cabs on the islands, but be aware that a lot of these also involve shopping times. If you want to shop, most ports have good shopping a short walk from the ship. Some advance planning on the recommended web sites and guidebooks would help. Try to find an itenerary that suits you. This may be difficult to do in advance.

What are the port stops? we just cruised out of San Jaun last May/June and I can recommend some excellent guides for St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Maarten. Going out on your own is easy really. we did this on our first cruise too and this was the western Med. where the port stops are much more involved. For the Caribbean its really easy. The ports aren't that complicated. Definitely do the tours on your own. Its much better than using the ships tours. As Abram said look into the ports for attractions and there will be plenty of cabbies in port for you to choose from. Or if you like let me know if you want guide recommendations. The fellows I used are all well reviewed on cruise critic. Cheers, Larry

We do a little of both. On our most recent cruises to Alaska and the Panama Canal, I booked a whale watch in Juneau and the train ride in Skagway. We just roamed around on our own in Sitka and hired a van and driver in Victoria. All worked out well for us.

I booked an all-day trip in Costa Rica through the cruiseline and we enjoyed it--no complaints (except the cost LOL). I also booked transportation to Antigua, Guatemala through the cruiseline and we hired a wonderful guide when we got off the bus. The other ports we were on our own. Found a taxi driver in Aruba and he took us around the island and to the California Lighthouse which we specifically wanted to see.

We'll continue to pick and choose with each new cruise. Works well for us.

Thanks for all the great advice. We will be stopping at San Juan, Puerto Rico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. I have been on cruise critic looking around to for ideas. We are really interested in snorkling and great beaches. Shopping once would be ok but not at every stop. Larry, I would love to know who you used. Thanks!

In St. Thomas, we took the ferry to St. John, did a jitney tour of the island, and had the driver drop us off at Trunk Bay for snorkeling--the underwater trail was fun. There were lots of cabs at Trunk Bay to take us back to the ferry dock.

In Aruba, we did take a ship's snorkel excursion. We had a narrated tour of the harbor, snorkel stops at a coral reef and a ship wreck, and rum punch on the way back. It was a great afternoon.

St Marten, ,take a taxi to the French side and go to Orient Beach.. we enjoyed the beach bars and the incredible beach.
When we went another time with out children we went to Dawn beach, shorter taxi ride, rented a two man sail boat and had our 15 yr old take us out one by one( lessons at home finally paid off, lol ) .
On St Thomas we took a taxi to Sapphire beach,, lovely day.. beautiful beach. We return early to town( around 2:30-3 or so , and spend the last hour or so shopping( not our fave thing to do,but fun to get a few souvenirs) the either walk or taxi to pier.

One place that is better on a tour. Jamaica. We walked into town( Ocho Rios) MISTAKE , never been offered so much pot on way in,, and we took a taxi to Dunns River Falls( that was fun) . Jamaica is not a place I would do too much on my own,, I would rather walk down a dark alley in Paris then walk down a daylit street in Kinston any day,, LOL

On St. Maarten there is a well known tour operator named Bernard. He was booked for the day we arrived but try him first:
shoreadventures.com | Server location: United States
We contacted the following who did hook us up and all was well with her driver.
joyceprince.com | Server location: United States
You will love St. Maarten. Its a beautiful island..

Thanks for ideas on which beaches to hit and also for the web site for the shore excursions. I have learned a lot by reading thru everyone's comments on cruises and everyone is so helpful. I will probably be back.....lol

Bozama
Were there chair/umbrellas to rent at Sapphire ? Any facilities?
Might be interested in going there
in Feb..
Sherri

Yes Sherri,
As I recall there were umbrellas, chairs, and beach concession( bar).
In fact , I don't think there is a beach anywhere in the Caribbean where someone isn't willing to rent you a chair.. my advise is walk farther down any beach to get best prices.. .LOL