Just booked our first 7 day since 2006, don't know anything about the Eastern?

[Jillpie]

Where do I start, I'm so excited! My husband and I are going next June and cannot wait. We did the Western before and a couple of four day DCL's, but never Eastern. Any tips?

 

[Dug720]

Which ports? There are a few different Eastern itineraries.

 

[KashasMom]

If you like beaches you can get a taxi from the pier in any port. They'll either arrange to pick you back up or you can get a taxi from the beach. Most taxis are either open air vehicles/vans that take multiple people. Fares are usually (depending on distance) under $10pp each way. I'm thinking of Tortola and St. Thomas, specifically.

In St. Thomas if you want to see more and/or shop I'd recommend going with Godfrey (https://www.godfreytours.com/). You can combine island tour/beach/shopping - any /all combinations. There are also plenty of excursions - snorkeling, etc. and you can book on your own or through the cruise line. We almost always book our own excursions.

In Tortola you can take an island tour (get the taxi from the pier) and/or head to the beach. The Baths is the "big" thing to see/do. After 3 trips to Tortola we are finally going to the Baths in a few weeks.

On Castaway Cay, we usually just get some lounge chairs and hang out on the beach. You can join the 5K, rent bicycles, and do various excursions as well (fishing, swimming with stingrays, etc.).

I'm guessing those are the ports? They happen to be the ones we're heading to next!

 

[Shanti]

Where do I start, I'm so excited! My husband and I are going next June and cannot wait. We did the Western before and a couple of four day DCL's, but never Eastern. Any tips?

We did the Tortola Island Tour & Beach Break excursion via DCL this past December and found it to be unimpressive, fyi. I'd strongly recommend visiting the Baths instead (which is listed as "Day at the Baths" or "Tour to Virgin Gorda" in the DCL excursions menu- there are 2 versions). We had originally booked the Baths tour, but it was cancelled due to the ship arriving late. So we went on the island tour & beach break excursion, which wasn't great as Tortola is small & run-down, and the beach wasn't impressive, either. It also didn't help that the tour guides started evrything off by taking all 3 buses on the wrong tour...

On St. Thomas, we did the Skyride to Paradise Point, which was nice, and we took a taxi to and from Magen's Bay to swim, which was also nice. Just taking the taxi to and from the beach (very easy to do as St. Thomas has an organized dispatch system both at the pier and at Magen's Bay- they are shared, open-air taxis, so bring cash- I think it was about $8 per person each way) was much nicer than doing the excursion on Tortola.

 

[Jillpie]

Which ports? There are a few different Eastern itineraries.

Tortola and St. Thomas are the islands. Thank you everyone, much appreciated. I would love to see St John's beaches while at St Thomas, but not sure if its worth almost 100.00 for both of us and that doesn't include lunch. Would it be easy to go on our own?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I would definitely go to Virgin Island National Park for snorkeling in the park. It's an underwater trail, and a beautiful beach. We go with DCL port adventures, but people do it on their own.

We have been to St Thomas many times, from cruise ships and staying on the island. Megan's bay is beautiful, and just a taxicab ride from the port if you want to do it on your own.