Recent Southern Caribbean Cruisers: Please share must do's/don'ts

[jenny_nichole]

We booked 2 connecting cat 9c's on opening day for the January 10, 2016 Southern Caribbean sailing out of San Juan. I know that it's very early for planning, but I figured that now would be the best time to ask those of you who are fresh off your 2014 Southern Caribbean cruises for advice:

Could you please share your must do's and don'ts?

I would love to hear about your favorite port excursions. We prefer to book excursions on our own, but please post both DCL/non-DCL excursions. What did you love? hate?

Any tips on staying in San Juan? We would like to fly in a few days early to see San Juan too. Is it easy enough to rent a car or would taxis work better?
hotel recommendations? things to do?

(Background: We are a family of 5: dh, myself, and our triplets will be 11 at the time of cruising.)

Thanks so much!

 

[MAJPLO]

Use bug spray. Especially in Grenada. Get insurance. Best excursion was Calabaza Sailing Cruises in Barbados. Loved Valley Church Beach in Antigua -go early to avoid the crowds. Have a Piña Colada at Barranchinas in Old San Juan.

 

[jenny_nichole]

Use bug spray. Especially in Grenada. Get insurance. Best excursion was Calabaza Sailing Cruises in Barbados. Loved Valley Church Beach in Antigua -go early to avoid the crowds. Have a Piña Colada at Barranchinas in Old San Juan.

Thanks Majplo! I'm going to check out Calabaza and Valley Church beach. Thanks for the tip about the bug spray too...we'll be sure to pack something strong w/deet. Love the tip about the Pina Colada too!

 

[jedijill]

San Juan

I stayed at the Sheraton San Juan and it was a great place to use as a base to explore Old San Juan. Do a Bio Bay tour! Easy to rent a car and drive to Fajardo. Ferry from OSJ to the Bacardi factory. I enjoyed the Segway tour and I did a walking food tour through Flavors of San Juan.

Jill in CO

 

[gdulaney]

We stayed at the Embassy Suites near the airport. The renovated rooms are very nice.

We ate at Mojitos in Old San Juan -- yum!

One of my favorite tours - Barbados. We stopped at St. Nicholas Abbey and yes, I bought a bottle of rum.

Grenada -- bug spray!!!

We fell in love with Puerto Rico and can't wait to go back. We didn't get to see nearly enought.

Ginny

 

[TiszBear]

bug spray for sure: I found Deep Woods Off wipes and they were perfect, one application and it was easy to pack.

Barbados: it is against the law for anyone regardless if male or female or age to wear any type of camouflage. You can be arrested.

Be careful of those around you when taking pictures: you might find yourself in a situation where the person will demand payment. And for those who are wondering, it happened to me on Antigua. I am always careful when taking photos and when I took a photo a local wandered into my shot and even when I offered to delete the photo he still wanted payment. I ended up paying him $5 and he left. It's not a lot of money but it could have escalated into something.

 

[jenny_nichole]

Excellent info! Thanks TiszBear, gdulaney, and jedijill.

Jedijill - I am very interested in the bioluminescent bay in PR. Do you recommend the tour co. that you used?

Jennifer

 

[jedijill]

You can do kayak or boat. We did boat and were very glad we did. It did not look fun paddling against the tide! We used BioIsland. They were great and very professional. I would book them again.

Jill in CO

 

[jjgarv]

We also did a bioluminescent bay tour in Puerto Rico. We used 'kayakingpuertorico'. http://www.kayakingpuertorico.com/ They picked us up at our hotel in San Juan. The paddling was not difficult, and I am not in good shape. The tour was amazing...so cool! The other thing we enjoy in Puerto Rico is walking around Old San Juan on foot.

In Grenada, we did a private tour with a gentleman named Clemente. He took us to the Seven Sisters Falls. Not a 'paved path' hike, and I was tired by the end, but well worth it. So beautiful!

In Barbados, we took a cab to a beach and were able to swim out from the beach to swim with sea turtles and snorkel a popular wreck for snorkeling.

In Antigua, we went zip-lining and then to a lovely beach.

Not sure what other ports are on your southern itinerary...

 

[geffric]

In St Kitts we did a tour with http://www.thenfordgreytours.com/ with Thenford Gray. We did The Tour! It was incredible and I would do it again!

 

[Melissa S]

The best excursion we have ever done is the lobster and champagne catamaran tour in Antigua. Open bar, smooth sailing, and the chance to see the island and visit two beaches. The rainforest tour in St Lucia was okay, one of those things you do once to check off a list. Aquamarine beach is Grenada was beautiful, next time I will not book through DCL and just cab it over. In Barbados we walked to Carlisle Bay, great beach. In Barbados all the taxi prices are posted on a giant board so you know you won't get ripped off. It costs $4 a person to Carlisle Bay by taxi. The prices DCL was charging was ridiculous. Inside the terminal there is an information office and they are super helpful and will provide maps and directions. St Kitts really nothing to do. DD held a baby monkey for $5 and loved it.

Definitely bring cash! Even the ones that take credit card give you a hard time. In St Kitts I had to point to the sign in the window before the cashier reluctantly accepted my credit card. In Puerto Rico the cab fare was ten dollars less to the airport if you use cash.

We stayed at the Sheraton across from the port, it was ok. We spent the day post cruise at the Caribe Hilton and the pools were far more beautiful. Both were same distance from port.

 

[TFrye]

Do not spend all your time in a bus(rum/chocolate tour) in Grenada(our least favorite).

Do spend time on beaches in Barbados(also did cave tour) and Antigua(our Top Choice), and do a snorkel/booze cruise in St. Kitts.

 

[jenny_nichole]

Wow, these suggestions are awesome! Thanks everyone!

Jennifer

 

[MAJPLO]

Barbados: it is against the law for anyone regardless if male or female or age to wear any type of camouflage. You can be arrested.

PP mentions this applies to any age, but I wanted to reiterate that this applies to children as well.

And to emphasize the bug spray in Grenada... I ended up in the ship's infirmary because of the bug bites. No joke. It was absurd.

ETA delicious coffee at Cuatro Sombras in Old San Juan.

 

[Ofinn]

If you want to do an Island tour or go to a beach don't book an excursion. You can negotiate with taxi drivers and tour group operators for about 1/3 the price that DCL asks.

 

[ScubaMama]

Where most of the ports tender or about an even split?

 

[MAJPLO]

Where most of the ports tender or about an even split?

No tenders. But we did St Lucia which I think is being replaced by Martinique and I do not know about tendering there.

 

[jrabbit]

San Juan

I stayed at the Sheraton San Juan and it was a great place to use as a base to explore Old San Juan. Do a Bio Bay tour! Easy to rent a car and drive to Fajardo. Ferry from OSJ to the Bacardi factory. I enjoyed the Segway tour and I did a walking food tour through Flavors of San Juan.

Jill in CO

We did the Bio Bay - pretty freaking AMAZING!!! And we also did the Walking Food Tour - was AWESOME!!!

Stayed at Sheraton OSJ too. Great base of operations for the few days we had before the cruise!!

 

[jrabbit]

Antigua Paddles was great - Boat, Hike, Snorkel, Beach, Boat, Kayak. DCL booked their entire capacity - so we had to go through DCL - don't remember the name of the tour.

We did one of the Turtle Snorkel trips in Barbados - took a "rocket" boat out around the Magic and snorkeled off of it in 2 locations and then had some beach time - lots of fun!!

River Tubing in Grenada - was a long "bus" ride (crowded) there and back again. The time in the river was not long enough - but again, it was a lot of FUN! The guides were great.

St. Kitts we did a city tour and went to Romney Estates - the Batik artwork was awesome and the grounds were very nice.

 

[disneymommy1979]

Following..... Any recommendations for excursions with little ones?