We're also doing the Southern Caribbean in April (4/30). I have only been to Antigua before for our honeymoon. They are known for their gorgeous beaches, as they should be. Gorgeous!
Since there's not much info on here for Southern Caribbean cruises I'll include what I have planned for our trip AND why we went with these. I hope to write a trip report when I get back, but we'll see.
We're a couple who loves to snorkel & we're traveling with our children will be 2.5 years old & 1 year old. My 2.5 year old hates being dirty so does not enjoy sand. We found this out the hard way...on our beach vacation last year. *sigh* Also, they both are in diapers so will not be allowed in the ship's pools. *double sigh* We will be using the ship's nursery so that we can do some adventurous stuff. We normally book through outside venders vs through the ship, but since we'll be leaving our kids in the nursery during excursions we wanted to be easily tracked down by
DCL staff so we booked through the ship. Not to mention once you factor in cab fares, the excursions we picked weren't that much cheaper than DCL. So here is what we came up with...
Barbados- We got day passes at the Hilton for use of all their facilities, beach & pool for the kids. It's close to the ship & walking distance to Carlisle Bay...the most popular beach for snorkeling & turtles. A lot of the excursions that go to shipwreck sites & to see turtles all go to Carlisle Bay & everything I've read said you can swim out to it pretty easily or there are guys right on the beach that'll take you out on their boats if you want. The day pass can be found through a few websites & is $55 per adult ($27.50 per kid 5-12, under 5 is free) & includes a voucher for lunch. We went through Hilton & got the pass for $40 per adult ($20 per kid 5-12, under 5 is free) since we'd rather play it by ear with food.
St Lucia- We're doing the snorkeling at the base of the pitons through DCL. Again, we found it through outside vendors but those were similar in pricing or were nearly full day trips involving snorkeling, seeing the waterfalls, volcano, etc. We don't want to leave the kids too long, we'd rather DCL know exactly where we are since the kids will be in the nursery, and we really only care about snorkeling since we've seen Hawaii's volcano & waterfalls. The Pitons are an hour boat ride away & even longer by vehicle & I hear the roads are quite nerve-wracking. (my friend honeymooned there)
Martinique- None of DCL's excursions interested us and anything I found outside of DCL's site was all in French. I have also read, not experienced, but READ quite a bit of reports of people not being too friendly. Considering those facts, we're planning to treat this day as a sea day on the ship since we only really have one. We'll probably get off to see the port area but no real plans, just enjoy the ship with the kids.
Antigua- We really wanted to do a day pass at Sandals since that's where we honeymooned but it's adult only & we didn't want to go broke leaving the kids in the nursery for a full day. Plus, my husband grew up on the jersey shore, so he wants a beach with waves. Antigua is not that kind of beach. (Barbados has beaches with waves) So we're doing the "Reef Riders Snorkel" with DCL. It was slightly cheaper going through the actual company but when you add in taxi cost & "hassle" vs DCL arranging it all, plus the kids in the nursery...DCL got us. Reef Riders are little two-seater boats (similar to jet skis) that go up to 30 mph. My husband & I will have our own boat & we follow the tour guide out to snorkeling spots bigger boats can access, snorkel, and then have free time to mess around with the boats doing donuts, etc.
St. Kitts- We're doing a day pass at the Marriott near the ship to use their facilities. They say there is also the option of snorkeling right on their beach. Nothing spectacular but enough to keep my husband busy since there are no waves. Me & the kids will enjoy the pool. It's $35 pp, 12 & under are free. Use of the facilities, three pools, & beach are included. You also get 15% off at their spa and 10% off at restaurants, bars, & shops.
That's our plan. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can get away from the kiddos when I get home to write a TR as there really is a need for more info on this itinerary on here. I also recommend Cruise Critic & Tripadviser. That's where I've done my research.
