Shore excursions for Easter Caribbean cruise for first timers

[trainingupmy4princes]

We are booked on our first cruise let alone first Disney cruise. Disney Fantasy 7 night East Caribbean (our date is March 18) Problem is we were unable to get the Baths Excursion at Tortola or even Josts Van Dyke. Someone mentioned the Shore Excursions Group. Has anyone heard of them or used them? Just wanting to make sure everything goes ok for our first cruise as I would like to convince the family to give cruising a try for some of our trips. Also the body rafting excursion in San Juan is booked up as well. Has anyone tried the surfs up (SJ35) or canopy zipline tour at Camp Rico (SJ61) ? Thanks for any advice or suggestions on shore excursions for a nervous first time cruiser.

 

[SeanSD]

If you want a full snorkel day I could recommend Aristocat (non Disney excursion) on Tortola. Very good snorkel outing but it’s pretty much all snorkeling, like three spots plus lunch and no beach time.
For St Thomas we did the St John Champagne Catamaran Snorkel (Disney excursion) and we liked it and it’s a mix of as much beach or snorkeling as you like in the two hours or so (rest of trip is safari bus and the sail to and from St John) . It’s a half day so you still have time to hit town and grab lunch, shop, etc.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[auntlynne]

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

PS - you are a traveler - if you have been to Tokyo and Hong Kong, you are going to do great cruising. Yikes to flying that far! (I have done China and New Zealand flights, hats off to you.)

Thank you, I am always nervous with trying things for the first time. Our one son gets carsick but has never been sick on planes so we will see how boats do? Wow China and New Zealand would be awesome. We wanted to do Shanghai Disney with a trip to the Great Wall (had been planning it pre Covid) but it will have to wait a few years as DH just doesn't feel comfortable with the way things have been going in China. We are hoping to do a trip next year to England/Ireland and hop over to EuroDisney for a few days. And we loved Japan and Hong Kong but it was definitely a learning curve. Our first day we were stuck on the phone as our bank had frozen our account on our first out of the country purchase. We both thought the other had notified the bank. Now we have a shared travel to do list so as things get done we both see what is checked off.

We will look into the ferry service as it does seem pretty straightforward so hopefully won't run into any problems.

 

[Keyser]

This is a little old now, but I wrote up a pretty detailed summary of visiting the Baths on our own:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/summary-touring-the-baths-tortola-on-your-own.3740668/

 

[MomOTwins]

We’re on the same cruise as you! I would give it a bit more time if you want the disney excursions and check the app for availability. People cancel all the time and post to the FB group when they do—just yesterday someone cancelled 2 spots for the baths.

For San Juan we do not have an excursion booked on purpose because we are docking in old town walking distance from two forts that are UNESCO world heritage sites, plus the old town itself is full of history and architecture and great food/drinks and very walkable. Just bought a guidebook with a walking tour map and plan to explore on our own.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[auntlynne]

 

[shoegal9]

Not exactly a "shore excursion" but does anyone know if there is a shop where you can buy champagne or wine in Tortola near the port? The online maps aren't very helpful.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[shoegal9]

Did you find info like this? Clicking on the little map expanded it and showed lots of places.

View attachment 736480

Thanks! Maybe I was looking in the wrong place!

 

[auntlynne]

 

[shoegal9]

Hope you find something you like - at a reasonable price. Just saw some Veuve Clicquot at Sam’s for such a decent price (for champagne) and thought how much it would be in a restaurant. Too bad you can’t find a way to transport it with you.

I figure we will overpay, but its our first anniversary trip. We plan to take the 4 bottle max onto the ship with us- but figured by Day 5 we will need to restock.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[shoegal9]

I figured in as much. Congratulations - a nice way to celebrate. Did you get married in Hawaii?

No- we had a Disney Fairy Tale wedding at the Polynesian (one of the last Poly weddings before the demolition of Luau Pointe). But we did honeymoon at Aulani. It was amazing

 

[auntlynne]

 

[shoegal9]

Quite a fun story. It was the ti? leaf lei on your groom that made me say Aloha. Nice travel memories. This cruise should should just continue the happiness. Again, congratulations, and here’s to many more years off adventures.

Thank you so much!

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

We’re on the same cruise as you! I would give it a bit more time if you want the disney excursions and check the app for availability. People cancel all the time and post to the FB group when they do—just yesterday someone cancelled 2 spots for the baths.

For San Juan we do not have an excursion booked on purpose because we are docking in old town walking distance from two forts that are UNESCO world heritage sites, plus the old town itself is full of history and architecture and great food/drinks and very walkable. Just bought a guidebook with a walking tour map and plan to explore on our own.

What is the name of the book? I love history and architecture. One of the highlights of our Japan trip was touring the old castles and tea houses, etc. They get back from ziplining at 12:30 so that should leave us some time to check out some places, thanks.

 

[MomOTwins]

What is the name of the book? I love history and architecture. One of the highlights of our Japan trip was touring the old castles and tea houses, etc. They get back from ziplining at 12:30 so that should leave us some time to check out some places, thanks.

I got the Fodors one but there ate lots of travel guides—lonely planet, frommers etc