Southern Caribbean Cruisers: please share port reviews & upcoming plans

[jenny_nichole]

Since the Fantasy is sailing the Southern Caribbean this month, I thought this would be a great time to ask if our fellow cruisers would please share their thoughts on the ports of the beautiful Southern Caribbean!

Our family is planning to take our second Southern Caribbean cruise on the Wonder in January and I am trying to plan our port days. In the past, we've planned our own excursions to save on costs and it's worked out well for us. I'd love to hear thoughts on both DCL excursions and what you planned in port on your own.

Here's what we did on our previous Southern Caribbean cruise:

Grenada: snorkeled underwater sculpture park: booked with grenadaseafaris.com. It was a wonderful tour & you are close to the ship the whole time.

Barbados: Calabazza Catamaran Sea turtle snorkel: everyone in our family agrees this was our favorite port day. Swimming with sea turtles=incredible!

St. Kitts: took cab($4/pp each way) to Carambola Beach club. Facilities are nice, you can rent chairs, umbrellas, snorkel gear, jet skis, etc. Excellent snorkeling right off the beach by the rocks. Also, ask cab driver to stop at the scenic overlook-so pretty!

Martinique: walked to the library that was built in France & shipped to Martinique, & returned to the ship. We do not speak French & in hindsight we probably would have enjoyed this port so much more with a tour. I talked with someone who took a Disney excursion to see St Pierre/volcano museum and they loved it.

Antigua: took 20min cab ride to Valley Church beach($8pp each way...kind of a shocker since it cost $90 after tip r/t for our family of 5), rented 2chairs($5 each) & umbrella($10). The beach & water are lovely, but our kids who loved snorkeling in Grenada & St Kitts were disappointed that the water in Antigua is sort of opaque & doesn't make for good snorkeling off the beach. The water is such an amazing color though-it's really a sight to see. If you want a laid back beach day, this is a good bet. (locals are selling stuff & jet ski tours, but are not pushy)

I can't wait to read your reviews and/or upcoming plans!
Jennifer

 

[jenny_nichole]

I can also share our thoughts so far for our January 2018 cruise:

Stay 1-2 nights Embassy Suites San Juan (stayed here before and highly recommend - very close to airport, can walk to Isla Verde beach/restaurants, ES provides chairs/umbrellas on the beach)

Antigua:??? We took a cab to Valley Church beach last time, but it was $90 in cab fare for our family of 5 so probably won't do that again. Considering the Wadadli Cat snorkel catamaran excursion from DCL or cheaper cab ride to Fort James or Dickenson bay beach to just spend a couple hours in the morning. (DH & kids would love it if we called it a "sea day" since they love hanging out on the ship, so this is a possibility too. But I would love to stick my toes in Antiguan sand, even if it's just a quick beach trip-lol!)

St Lucia: snorkel beneath the Pitons(Jalousie Beach) - want to book a boat tour on our own, but haven't decided who yet

Bonaire: Sea Cow or Woodwind Snorkel boat trip, might like to rent a golf cart or truck to see some of the island after the morning snorkel trip

Aruba: p/u rental car from Hertz Renaissance and drive to a couple beach/snorkel spots

 

[mandylovesdisney]

I can also share our thoughts so far for our January 2018 cruise:

Stay 1-2 nights Embassy Suites San Juan (stayed here before and highly recommend - very close to airport, can walk to Isla Verde beach/restaurants, ES provides chairs/umbrellas on the beach)

Antigua:??? We took a cab to Valley Church beach last time, but it was $90 in cab fare for our family of 5 so probably won't do that again. Considering the Wadadli Cat snorkel catamaran excursion from DCL or cheaper cab ride to Fort James or Dickenson bay beach to just spend a couple hours in the morning. (DH & kids would love it if we called it a "sea day" since they love hanging out on the ship, so this is a possibility too. But I would love to stick my toes in Antiguan sand, even if it's just a quick beach trip-lol!)

St Lucia: snorkel beneath the Pitons(Jalousie Beach) - want to book a boat tour on our own, but haven't decided who yet

Bonaire: Sea Cow or Woodwind Snorkel boat trip, might like to rent a golf cart or truck to see some of the island after the morning snorkel trip

Aruba: p/u rental car from Hertz Renaissance and drive to a couple beach/snorkel spots

I'm on this cruise also! I think we might also be staying at the Embassy Suites LOL Gotta love Hilton points!

I plan on making Antigua a sea day for myself, I've decided I need a 3rd sea day. I'm most excited for Bonaire and Aruba!! I like the idea of renting a golf cart to tour the island.

 

[jenny_nichole]

I'm on this cruise also! I think we might also be staying at the Embassy Suites LOL Gotta love Hilton points!

I plan on making Antigua a sea day for myself, I've decided I need a 3rd sea day. I'm most excited for Bonaire and Aruba!! I like the idea of renting a golf cart to tour the island.

Hi Mandy!
I think you will really like the Embassy! It's not beach front, but it has lots of amenities. Free breakfast and evening manager's reception. Super close to the airport & easy 2-3 block walk to the beach(chairs provided).
Great to hear from someone on our cruise. I'm not on facebook, so I'm not in touch w/cruise meets. I can't wait to hear everyone's ideas for port days.
Jennifer

 

[mandylovesdisney]

Hi Mandy!
I think you will really like the Embassy! It's not beach front, but it has lots of amenities. Free breakfast and evening manager's reception. Super close to the airport & easy 2-3 block walk to the beach(chairs provided).
Great to hear from someone on our cruise. I'm not on facebook, so I'm not in touch w/cruise meets. I can't wait to hear everyone's ideas for port days.
Jennifer

Ya! I'm excited! We love San Juan. I think we are going to fly in Friday, that way we have all day Saturday to play. We are traveling with a few of our friends and our friends friends so we have a huge group!

 

[littleaussie]

We've been to several of those islands and this is what we did (and are planning to do in January, 2018):

Grenada: We took an island tour with Stan of J&J tours (Jnjtours.com). It was a great overview of the island and stopped at many of the sites and we even had beach time at the end.

St. Kitts: we went ziplining with Disney on this one. It was ok, not the best zipline we've been on but the views of the ocean between the treetops was gorgeous.

St. Lucia: We took a tour with Joy's Adventure cruise (joysadventure.com). It was via boat to Soufriere and return, since I was afraid of the winding roads and hours spent on a dingy bus to get across the island with a regular land tour. Fantastic trip, wouldn't hesitate to use them again and it included the Mud Baths, drive in volcano, gorgeous piton photo stop, waterfall visit, fantastic beach lunch and snorkeling between the pitons.

Come January, part of our group is ziplining with Treetop Canopy Tour (adventuretoursstlucia.com) - comes highly recommended. My dad is going deep sea fishing. I'm headed to the markets just across the harbor from our cruise docking.

Aruba: in 2008, we walked off the boat and booked a 3 hour island tour with one of the tour vans soliciting business for a decent price.

In 2018, we are booked with Trikes Aruba (trikes-aruba.com). They also get high marks for their island tour on Trip Advisor

Barbados: we booked Silver Moon catamaran trip in 2014. Fantastic day aboard a gorgeous Cat and swimming with the sea turtles. Also a highlight

Antigua: 2014 we had booked a day pass at a local beach resort but it is closed now. It was a gorgeous, private beach resort and we are sorry we can't book it again. Coconut Beach Club was the name.

In 2018, we are booked on an Eco Tour with Adventure Antigua (adventureantigua.com).

Curacao: We have booked a custom tour with Around Curacao Tours (privatecuracaotours.com). He will take us anywhere or give us suggestions on what to see/do.

 

[scootch]

Just starting to look for excursions for our 1/28/18 sailing. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/oranjestad-aruba-best-of-and-beach/ This tour and beach looks fairly cheap and nice. Anyone done it yet?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just returned from the 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise. While I enjoyed the ports of call (history and views), the weather is just not what I like to travel in. 90+ degrees everyday, humidity of 98%. I'm so glad to be home and not wet all the time.

Another good thing - we were the only ship in port the days we were there. A sure sign that not many cruise lines do the Southern Caribbean at this time of year.

 

[quickcat]

Just returned from the 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise. While I enjoyed the ports of call (history and views), the weather is just not what I like to travel in. 90+ degrees everyday, humidity of 98%. I'm so glad to be home and not wet all the time.

Another good thing - we were the only ship in port the days we were there. A sure sign that not many cruise lines do the Southern Caribbean at this time of year.

I really went back and forth on the June 2018 Southern itinerary because I was thinking it would be extremely hot and humid. Thanks for posting, it really helped confirm that itinerary wouldn't be for me. Glad you had a good time, but appreciate your honesty about the heat!

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Just returned from the 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise. While I enjoyed the ports of call (history and views), the weather is just not what I like to travel in. 90+ degrees everyday, humidity of 98%. I'm so glad to be home and not wet all the time.

Another good thing - we were the only ship in port the days we were there. A sure sign that not many cruise lines do the Southern Caribbean at this time of year.

I was on the 11-night Fantasy sailing as well. I never complained about the weather until we started getting further north in Tortola. The weather wasn't as bad as Florida. Many people who I talked to on this cruise thought the same thing. The weather in many places was perfect. Maybe just different opinions?

I have a trip report going about the 11-night Fantasy cruise here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...paradise-june-14-28-2017-updated-7-1.3611057/

Check it out it you want to know more on the special offerings Disney did on this cruise, as well as, see what I did in the beautiful ports of call. I'll be updating off and on for the next 2 weeks.

 

[jujubiee4]

Just returned from the 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise. While I enjoyed the ports of call (history and views), the weather is just not what I like to travel in. 90+ degrees everyday, humidity of 98%. I'm so glad to be home and not wet all the time.

Another good thing - we were the only ship in port the days we were there. A sure sign that not many cruise lines do the Southern Caribbean at this time of year.

We were also on this cruise. I doubt i would take it again. The islands were beautiful but the weather was
a turn off. That humidity was something else. Also couple of our beach days we we were
constantly solicited to buy something. I counted 14 times. I didn't even know about the winter
Southern cruises. They might be better. I researched and knew ahead of time it would be hot
and humid but...... Also i did wonder why we hardly saw any other cruise ships. Now i know.

Again the islands were gorgeous and next time I will go when cooler.

This was our platinum cruise and not my favorite but the Fantasy was as beautiful
as ever

 

[jujubiee4]

Hi Mandy!
I think you will really like the Embassy! It's not beach front, but it has lots of amenities. Free breakfast and evening manager's reception. Super close to the airport & easy 2-3 block walk to the beach(chairs provided).
Great to hear from someone on our cruise. I'm not on facebook, so I'm not in touch w/cruise meets. I can't wait to hear everyone's ideas for port days.
Jennifer

When you went on your first Southern Cruise what month did you go? thanks

 

[lorimay]

I had written up our port adventure reviews from our B2B in April/May on the Magic this year, I will see if I can put the link here.... Not the best with computers sadly.
We had a great time, It was hot but were are from South Florida, so I guess we are just use to it.

WOW I did it shocked! LOL

My reviews down in next post

 

[lorimay]

When I was doing research for our Southern Caribbean cruise in April/May, I couldn't find many excursion reviews, so I thought I would share here with everyone here what we did on ours.

We did a B2B for the first time, April 30th-May 7th and the May 7th- May 13th, so 13 nights total. This was a very port intensive cruise, only 2 sea days total. So it was a go go cruise.
We are a couple in our early 50's and heres what we did:

1. Barbados- Harrisons Cave and Scenic Drive. We really enjoyed this tour, going into the caves was awesome and we had a great tour guide inside the cave. The excursion was about 3 hours total. Its really something to see those caves, its amazing to see nature like this.

2. St. Lucia- Land and Sea to Soufriere- This was a fun 7 hour tour. It starts with a scenic drive through the Island and the first stop is Mud Baths by a volcano. We did not go into the mud bath. The sulphur smell was way too strong for me and I didn't want to emerse myself in that and smell yucky the rest of the day. They had a clean off pool for when you come out, but yuck it looked the same color as the mud bath. Then we went on to Morne Couharil Estate. We were given a tour guide and she walked us through the property and the she took us to see how the cocoa plant is made into chocolate, pretty interesting and enjoyable. We were then taken to a buffet lunch. Chicken fish rice and a salad I believe. It was fine. After that we were taken to a catamaran for a sail to a small Island to swim and snorkel. Loved this, the ocean was beautiful and relaxing. I highly recommend this if you like spend time in the ocean.

3. Martinique- We took a boat ride to a mangrove for kayaking, this was fun. The water where you kayak is very dark not the beautiful ocean water, so you couldn't see much. The guide said he saw a barracuda, that freaked me out a bit, but I put it out of my mind and told my husband not to tip me over lol. We liked this one,but my husband being a tall husky man had a hard time on the kayak. The back rest wasn't comfortable for him like it was for me, but he made the best of it. It bothered his hip after a while. He said he never needed to kayak again!

4. Antigua- See Antigua by Sea. This one was so nice, we did it twice! Yes, we liked it so much we did it at both stops we made to this Island. You board an 82 foot catamaran for a ride all the way around the Island, with 2 stops at 2 different beaches. It was 6.5 hours total. There is a BBQ lunch served and an open bar with soda, juice, water, beer and 2 different rum punches. They were very generous passing out drinks all day. The lunch was good, one of the crew BBQed at the first Island while we swam in the ocean or snorkeled. What I loved is that they had one of the crew walking the beach (he was a certified life guard) and then to snorkel they had guides and a man in a motorized boat following in case anyone needed help while snorkling. The only issue was when your sailing in the beginning and when you leave the first Island, you are on the Eastern part of the Island and the seas are rough, I mean rough. They should have put this on the excursion explanation IMO. If I wasn't on Bonine for the cruise, I would have had a problem I am sure of it. The second visit on the second cruise was worse because it was a cloudy windy day, so the seas were higher. In spite of that, like I said it was great. This is one of the best excursions we have ever done on DCL!

5. St. Kitts- Scenes of St. Kitt. This is a covered open vehicle through the town of St. Kitt. It was so bumpy throughout the excursion, not good if you have a back issue. We stopped at Fairview House and Botanical Garden and were given a short tour, it was a hot day for sure. Then we went to Frigate Bay, where The Atlantic meets the Caribbean Sea, Beautiful to see, the colors of the water and seeing the water hit the big rocks was so nice. Then we drove past the resort area and then back to the pier. It was Ok, but I wished we would have tried something else.

6. This was the start of the second cruise, so our first stop was St. Kitts again, we decided to relax enjoy the ship and Quiet Cove for the day. Good decision for sure!

7. Tortola- Tour to Virgin Gorda (the Baths). I was so excited to see The Baths and they didn't disappoint! We took a boat ride to Virgin Gorda, it was rainy on our way over but thankfully cleared up nicely. There was a lot of people from the ship doing this excursion, we were only docked till 2pm. So when we got off the boat and headed to the open taxi's it was a bit chaotic to keep up with our tour guide. Once we got to the baths, she gave us the name "tigers" to listen for, which was helpful, but as most have read, The Baths get crowded. We went to the first stop Devil's Bay. It was a long walk and it was hot, but the reward when the trek was over was well worth it. We swam there for about 35 minutes. Next for those that wanted to see The Baths, there is a sort of obstacle course through rock and ladders you must do to get there. Some people chose not to do it, but thats why I was there and we went. It wasn't too bad, there were some tight places where you had to bend low and a steep ladder or 2, but I was glad we did it. Well worth it. It was really crowded there and we kept our eye out for the guide to be sure we didn't miss the taxi and boat back to ship, since we were only docked till 2pm. I feel like this is a must do the first time you go to Tortola. Nature's beauty for sure.

8. Castaway Cay- We were lucky enough to score a cabana on SB, it was an awesome day of swimming and relaxing. A great way to end our 30th anniversary vacation! This was the first time we were in CC in summer. We have only ever been in Winter months. Serenity Bay was the most crowded we have ever seen. Everyone soaking up the sun and fun of CC.

For us, this was the only way to see these Southern Islands, we would probably never fly to each Island individually. So this was a great Itinerary choice for us.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer, I have the excursion books from both cruises, so If you want or need more info on another excursion let me know.

 

[RedM94]

Just starting to look for excursions for our 1/28/18 sailing. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/oranjestad-aruba-best-of-and-beach/ This tour and beach looks fairly cheap and nice. Anyone done it yet?

@scootch We are booked on the same cruise. How are you able to see excursions? I am guessing that maybe you are paid in full.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

@scootch We are booked on the same cruise. How are you able to see excursions? I am guessing that maybe you are paid in full.

You can look at the port excursions DCL offers before you can even book them here: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/caribbean/

Just search the ports of call you are going to.

 

[RedM94]

You can look at the port excursions DCL offers before you can even book them here: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/caribbean/

Just search the ports of call you are going to.

Thank you!! That link works for me.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

For those of you who are staying at the Embassy Suites in PR before the January 2018 cruises or who have stayed before- do they have a shuttle from the airport and/or a shuttle to the pier? We will have a 2 yr old with us and I would love to forego the car seat if possible! We just booked two nights before our January '18 southern cruise!

 

[dcassetta]

For those of you who are staying at the Embassy Suites in PR before the January 2018 cruises or who have stayed before- do they have a shuttle from the airport and/or a shuttle to the pier? We will have a 2 yr old with us and I would love to forego the car seat if possible! We just booked two nights before our January '18 southern cruise!

If you are staying at the Embassy Suites and Casino close to the airport, there is no shuttle from the airport or to the cruise port. I do not know if taxis in San Juan require car seats.

 

[kathi]

I read through this thread last night and have been fretting all night about the comments regarding the heat/humidity in June. We are currently booked on the 6/30/18 Southern and I assumed it would be hot but not HOT. I've been to the Bahamas in August (B2B on the Wonder years ago but not any further south). We were very excited about trying new ports but if it's too hot to enjoy being outside, that sort of puts a damper on what will be a very expensive cruise. We are from NJ, so used to hot and humid but there does come a point where it's just not fun.

I'd love to hear more thoughts on the subject.

Kathi