St. John Antigua - Excursion Advice Needed

[Beth D]

Hi all!

DH & I are doing a cruise this fall, and are looking for excursion advice in Antigua. First some clarification - I use a mobility scooter for distances, and cannot stand for long periods, so most ship excursions (we are on RCCL) are out. It can fold down into a car trunk & DH can lift it, so local taxis are in play. We are experienced cruisers, have done 4 DCL & one on Princess, so we’re not afraid to go away from ship tours.

We like beach stops, but there must be chairs or loungers for rent as I cannot get down on the sand. There needs to be a place to leave the wheels, I can lock them up though. We also like history, and exploring cities and culture.

We’re doing a beach day in St. Maarten, Casa Bacardi tour in San Juan, and likely a private tour with Grey’s on St. Kitts.

DIS members came through on my last cruise, and are the most knowledgable group, so hoping you have some great ideas again! Thanks in advance!

 

[mtil]

Last summer we did the DCL excursion, Amazing Antigua. We wanted to do a variety of experiences on the cruise and in Antigua we wanted to visit Nelsons Dockyard. It was a very interesting place to visit with lots of history. As with most cruise excursions, it would have been better to have had more time there. Shirley Heights is also worth visiting for the view.

 

[deanimal]

We did Antigua by taxi a couple of years ago and it felt very safe and easy. We just went to the taxi rank near the port exit and asked the price for a couple hours at Nelson's Dockyards and the scenic route back. We ended up with a great driver who spent his summers in Toronto doing construction and winters driving tourists around the island. He did a great job describing the drive and answering questions.

I didn't really look at the dockyards from an access point of view, but as far as I remember most of the area was paved and fairly flat. I think many of the historic buildings do have a few stairs to enter, or raised porches. It was quite hot the day we were there, in March, and it was nice to be able to see a lot of the island from the car on the way back. Seeing our driver waiting for us at the pre-arranged time at the exit while most of the other visitors shuffled into lines for their buses made me glad we had gone that route.

 

[Beth D]

Thanks both for your suggestions! We’re also looking at Darkwood Beach. I know Antigua is famous for their beaches and this one seemed to be less crowded and have the amenities we want. Are both doable in one port day?