Southern Caribbean
Jan 23rd, 2003, 04:04 AM
#1
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Southern Caribbean
Dear fellow travellers! We are planning to go on Southern Caribbean cruise in early April on Norwegian Sky. I am very excited about the itinerary itself: St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados, Dominica, St. Thomas. Now, I'd truly appreciate an advice from more experienced cruisers: what island should we explore, and what island will be "useful" just for a lasy morning on the beach? Almost forgot to add: it's not just my huseband and me - we also have a moody teenager with us 
Thank you in advance.
Thank you in advance.
Jan 23rd, 2003, 07:34 AM
#3
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We sailed the S. Carrib. last year on Celebrity and there were two excursions that we absolutely loved. One was a 5 hour excursion we booked ourselves in Barbados with Tiami Catamarans or Tall Ships. They have a web site. It was excellent. The cataran was in excellent condition, uncrowded, clean and the crew was pleasant and friendly. On arrival we were greeted with champaign mimosas and it was an open bar all day long. The lunch was served buffet style on china, again, excellent. The snorkel was fine too but I would have had a wonderful time just laying on the front hammock of the cat. Price, $65 pp. The other excursion was in St. Thomas. Sail and Snorkel to Buck Island. There were six total on a beautiful sail boat. The snorkeling was excellent and for $35 pp, it was well worth the sail alone. St. Kitts is a beautiful island but we made the mistake of signing up for the Kayak and Snorkel excursion. The snorkeling was awful, no fins and strong ocean currents, and nothing to see except fire coral. The kayak and beach part was okay but having kayaked in Hawaii, it was just okay. I wished we had taken a tour of the rain forest because the island is gorgeous and there are monkeys everywhere. Sorry, can't help you with the others. We also went with a teen.
Jan 23rd, 2003, 11:07 AM
#4
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Hi: We have visited all these islands but ST.Kitts on cruises. St. Kitts is not noted for its beaches or snorkling so the previous posters idea of going to gardens/forest sounds good. Dominica though is a real rainforest island and has beautiful excursions to see waterfalls ect. The shopping is not good and there is very little near the pier. They have all kinds of tour operators set up outside the pier area and others used them and had a great day cheaper than us. St. Thomas has great shopping and Magens Beach is a short taxi ride away. There a plenty of other things to do there also but it would be a good kick back and beach place and save excursion money for other islands. We have gone on the ferry to St. John also and to Trunk Bay which is also beautiful. In Barbadoes We have done the Tiami catamaran ride which was wonderful but my suggestion would be to rent a car at the pier or ahead of time. For three of you it will be less expensive than excursions and it is an easy island to drive around. Takes awhile to get used to the steering wheel location, but the roads are easy to navigate. We stopped all over, beaches, Farley Hill, Bathesheba, Codrington College, Crane Beach, the list goes on. We ended the day with a sunset drink at the Hilton, beautiful day. Chance to take a swim see the real Barbados. We were in port late so after returning the car we went out on the town. Also good shopping in Bridgetown. The best excursion we have taken was the cruise up to Soufriere in St Lucia, It was costly but included lunch and was 6 hrs long. It was a combination of a natural gardens tour, Diamond Falls, swim at Anse couchon, sulphur volcano, and cruise to Marigot where the original Dr. Doolittle filmed and the ride back was a bit like booze cruise but not out of control just dancing and fun. It was exceptional and worth every penny. Since St. Lucia is not really a beach destination and the roads are hard to navigate I highly recommend a tour here. As far as the moody teenager last year we used this tactic. Everyone got one island to pick what we did. If you expect someone else not to wreck your day then give them the same respect. Worked for us on the cruise and when we did the Disney thing. Have a wonderful time. Karen
Jan 24th, 2003, 06:17 AM
#5
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I have been to most of the ports you'll be visiting. Here's what we did and how well we liked each.<BR><BR>St Lucia - Jeep tour and hike to waterfall. Fun and informative but not a much hiking as we'd hoped for. The jeep portion was mostly on paved roads, so no true baja-ing like we did once in Mexico.<BR><BR>Barbados - Kayak and snorkel tour. This one was a total blast. Easy kayaking that hugged the coastline with informative talks along the way. Then we took a boat over to a snorkel site where lots of sea turtles hang out. Got some great underwater pictures of the turtles. Open bar (beer and rum drinks) on the boat ride back. Loved this excursion!<BR><BR>Dominica - Champagne Snorkel and a tour that included a hike to Trafalgar Falls. Both of these tours were awesome. Do NOT miss the champagne reef snorkel. We could have spent a week on this island....it is so beautiful, lush and loaded the natural wonders such as waterfalls, volcanic mountains, rivers etc. <BR><BR>St Thomas - Trunk Bay snorkel on St John's is a sure winner. We've also done a sailboat and snorkel over on Buck Island. It was good too, but Trunk Bay is the best. Everyone loves to shop in St Thomas, but if you're not looking for jewelry or T-shirts you may be disappointed.<BR><BR>Will be going to St Kitts on our next cruise, so I cannot comment yet! Enjoy!
