Booked 7-night Eastern on Fantasy but now having some doubts (vs Western)

[Tulip2796]

2 years ago we sailed on the Fantasy on a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary. We had a blast and even though my boys were only 6 and 2, we did fun excursions at every port (except Falmouth for the 2 year old and me.)

We recently booked a 7-night Eastern that sails in 2 months. We considered the Western again but thought it'd be nice to try something new and I've read comments where people really enjoyed the Eastern. But, today, when I went on to look at port adventures, I was underwhelmed to say the least. St. Thomas was particularly disappointing. We consider Castaway Cay to be our beach day so we don't look for excursions to beaches, plus we live 10 minutes from the beach. Other port activities include tours that don't sound so exciting. I guess I'm just worried that we made a mistake in booking the Eastern and that it'll be, well, boring.

Looking for excursion advice, reassurance from those who love the Eastern itinerary, and wondering whether I should look at non-DCL excursions in St. Thomas and which ones.

Don't get me wrong, we are super excited to be crusing DCL again and to be giving our children a vacation they've been requesting at least once a week for the past 2 years. Just would like to do more than the beach. TIA!

 

[Stacieseestheworld]

In St. Thomas we took a tram to the mountain top. In St. Martaan, we had a private driver take us around the island on a tour. We ate at a local fish shack for lunch that was awesome!

I've never cruised the eastern itinerary with DCL, so I can't speak about the port adventures. I can say that I much before the Eastern itinerary than the Western for the beauty of the islands.

 

[lklgoodman]

How about Coral World at St. Thomas? We will going on an Eastern cruise next Jan and that's what we plan on doing.

 

[starvenger]

I went to Coral World using an independent operator (http://stthomascruiseexcursions.com/). The trip there had some great views, but Coral World itself was disappointing.

To answer the OP, I think that looking at the independent operators is a good idea if you’re not into the beaches or DCL’s non-beach offerings. Just be cognizant of the duration so you don’t miss the boat.

 

[tigger2002]

Check out https://brenda-n-frankosfuntours.com


Very good tour of st Thomas. Nice people and reasonably priced. Highly rated on trip advisor.

We really enjoyed them.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

With a 4-5 year old, most of even the non-DCL tours will have a beach focus. Your younger is going to be considered too young for kayaking and most snorkel trips. The zip line is closed (and child would be too small).

I don't recall the age range for the St. John Eco Tour, but that's a good one with kids.

 

[Jenlynn3]

We did the Dubloon turtle cove sail and snorkel (we had a blast), Coral World when kids were 8,9...my brother did Sugar and Ice on their own in St Thomas. Tortola went to the baths in Virgin Gorda (beautiful) and San Juan just the beach on our own (I personally thought San Juan was dirty), the few excursions we liked were too expensive for us. Castaway Cay speaks for itself, we use that as our beach day too

 

[lizzyb]

We love the Eastern itinerary, St. Thomas being our favourite stop. We have booked a private tour which takes you shopping, a tour around the island and then a visit to a beach. We really enjoyed it and it was very reasonably priced.

 

[amiskell28]

We love the Eastern itinerary, St. Thomas being our favourite stop. We have booked a private tour which takes you shopping, a tour around the island and then a visit to a beach. We really enjoyed it and it was very reasonably priced.

Would you mind sharing the tour name? We, too, are looking for a good private tour. TIA!

 

[SonyaShay]

Would you mind sharing the tour name? We, too, are looking for a good private tour. TIA!

I am not the person you quoted but want to share who we used. We sailed June 2017 and used http://islandtoursvi.com/index.html. The owner James Dowe was one of the best tour operators we have ever had (he is a very close 2nd to our guy in Jamaica). He is former military and is an active member of SWAT team on St Thomas. He had so many stories to tell!

One quick story from our trip- we were exiting his van at Fort Christian for a tour (it was closed that day but he was able to get us in) and there was a man walking down the street acting a little edgy and yelling. By the time we realized what was going on, and beginning to locate all the kids that had already ran ahead to the entrance to the fort, James had strategically placed himself between us and this man and was staring him down. Don't think the crazy guy meant any harm but James was making sure he didn't come anywhere close to us.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

2 years ago we sailed on the Fantasy on a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary. We had a blast and even though my boys were only 6 and 2, we did fun excursions at every port (except Falmouth for the 2 year old and me.)

We recently booked a 7-night Eastern that sails in 2 months. We considered the Western again but thought it'd be nice to try something new and I've read comments where people really enjoyed the Eastern. But, today, when I went on to look at port adventures, I was underwhelmed to say the least. St. Thomas was particularly disappointing. We consider Castaway Cay to be our beach day so we don't look for excursions to beaches, plus we live 10 minutes from the beach. Other port activities include tours that don't sound so exciting. I guess I'm just worried that we made a mistake in booking the Eastern and that it'll be, well, boring.

Looking for excursion advice, reassurance from those who love the Eastern itinerary, and wondering whether I should look at non-DCL excursions in St. Thomas and which ones.

Don't get me wrong, we are super excited to be crusing DCL again and to be giving our children a vacation they've been requesting at least once a week for the past 2 years. Just would like to do more than the beach. TIA!

For us the Eastern just had a much more relaxed and tranquil vibe to it, the whole cruise, not just the ports. The western definitely felt more adventurous. We used the eastern as a nice calming week of relaxation and it truly was the most stress free week of my life. For excursions we just did a tour on St Maarten and the beach on St Thomas.

 

[amiskell28]

I am not the person you quoted but want to share who we used. We sailed June 2017 and used http://islandtoursvi.com/index.html. The owner James Dowe was one of the best tour operators we have ever had (he is a very close 2nd to our guy in Jamaica). He is former military and is an active member of SWAT team on St Thomas. He had so many stories to tell!

One quick story from our trip- we were exiting his van at Fort Christian for a tour (it was closed that day but he was able to get us in) and there was a man walking down the street acting a little edgy and yelling. By the time we realized what was going on, and beginning to locate all the kids that had already ran ahead to the entrance to the fort, James had strategically placed himself between us and this man and was staring him down. Don't think the crazy guy meant any harm but James was making sure he didn't come anywhere close to us.

What a great story, thank you for sharing! And thank you for the info. Our cruise isn't until February, but I'm gathering all the info I can to make it fabulous lol! First cruise ever..... So excited!

 

[lizzyb]

Would you mind sharing the tour name? We, too, are looking for a good private tour. TIA!

We used Godfrey Tours. Highly recommend.
https://www.godfreytours.com

 

[DoubleDown7]

2 years ago we sailed on the Fantasy on a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary. We had a blast and even though my boys were only 6 and 2, we did fun excursions at every port (except Falmouth for the 2 year old and me.)

We recently booked a 7-night Eastern that sails in 2 months. We considered the Western again but thought it'd be nice to try something new and I've read comments where people really enjoyed the Eastern. But, today, when I went on to look at port adventures, I was underwhelmed to say the least. St. Thomas was particularly disappointing. We consider Castaway Cay to be our beach day so we don't look for excursions to beaches, plus we live 10 minutes from the beach. Other port activities include tours that don't sound so exciting. I guess I'm just worried that we made a mistake in booking the Eastern and that it'll be, well, boring.

Looking for excursion advice, reassurance from those who love the Eastern itinerary, and wondering whether I should look at non-DCL excursions in St. Thomas and which ones.

Don't get me wrong, we are super excited to be crusing DCL again and to be giving our children a vacation they've been requesting at least once a week for the past 2 years. Just would like to do more than the beach. TIA!

Are you going to St Maarten or Tortola? I just booked the Soualiga Boat Tour in St Maarten because it looks awesome and has great reviews. We're sailing on 4/21 and I'd be happy to pass our thoughts along when we get back.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

St. Thomas has some of the best non- cruise line shore excursions available. Check trip advisor!!!! We found a compny (St Thomas scuba and snorkel adventures) that was far and away the best excursion we've ever had in the Caribbean on 8 cruises.

https://www.stthomasadventures.com/


We live 20 min from the beach, too, and we loved our time with them.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

Are you going to St Maarten or Tortola? I just booked the Soualiga Boat Tour in St Maarten because it looks awesome and has great reviews. We're sailing on 4/21 and I'd be happy to pass our thoughts along when we get back.

We've done Soualiga before and it was awesome!!! We had a blast! Our son was five when we went and he loved it, too.

 

[Travel60]

2 years ago we sailed on the Fantasy on a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary. We had a blast and even though my boys were only 6 and 2, we did fun excursions at every port (except Falmouth for the 2 year old and me.)

We recently booked a 7-night Eastern that sails in 2 months. We considered the Western again but thought it'd be nice to try something new and I've read comments where people really enjoyed the Eastern. But, today, when I went on to look at port adventures, I was underwhelmed to say the least. St. Thomas was particularly disappointing. We consider Castaway Cay to be our beach day so we don't look for excursions to beaches, plus we live 10 minutes from the beach. Other port activities include tours that don't sound so exciting. I guess I'm just worried that we made a mistake in booking the Eastern and that it'll be, well, boring.

Looking for excursion advice, reassurance from those who love the Eastern itinerary, and wondering whether I should look at non-DCL excursions in St. Thomas and which ones.

Don't get me wrong, we are super excited to be crusing DCL again and to be giving our children a vacation they've been requesting at least once a week for the past 2 years. Just would like to do more than the beach. TIA!

 

[Travel60]

Eastern has a couple of different itineraries so I can't comment other than most seem to include Nassau and St. Thomas. Nassau is much like Falmouth - I don't get off the ship there. We were in St. Thomas in February (DCL) and it is still recovering from Irma and Maria. We did the excursion to St. John and the ride around the island. This was our third time on this excursion and it was shortened, we believe because parts of the National Park are still not ready for prime time. It was interesting (and sad) seeing some of the formerly beautiful resorts that had been totally destroyed. The open-air bus stops frequently so you can see things and get photos but your younger one might get bored. On St. Thomas itself, Megans Bay is beautiful. When we were there the ride to the top of the hill was still not operating. Downtown Charlotte Amalie is a typical Caribbean cruise town - lots of jewelry stores, vendors hawking their wares. We did that once years ago and that was enough. Port days are often great times to be on the ship.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

St. Thomas has some of the best non- cruise line shore excursions available. Check trip advisor!!!! We found a compny (St Thomas scuba and snorkel adventures) that was far and away the best excursion we've ever had in the Caribbean on 8 cruises.

https://www.stthomasadventures.com/


We live 20 min from the beach, too, and we loved our time with them.

We used this company too and loved it. Webb, the owner, was awesome. And depending on when you go, St. Thomas is so much better as a beach destination than castaway cay. The water was warm and clear and super salinated so floating and snorkeling were amazing.

But if you prefer a more adventurous, non beach cruise, western may be a better fit. Personally, I’m a huge beach person and can’t get enough :-D.

 

[lovingeire]

I'm intrigued by this as well. We are sailing for my parents 50th anniversary and chose Eastern due to dates, but I would have liked to not have all of our port excursions be beaches, which is what appears to be an option when my youngest will be 5. But my kids love the beach (we recently moved away from the beach so they ask daily about it) so even though I may prefer a little more adventure I'm sure it will be wonderful. I'm going to buy stock in sunscreen though and will miss seeing old ruins. A hike and some ruins sounds great to me!