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Old 7 Jun 19, 09:10 AM  
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jocat
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First Caribbean cruise

Hi all,

I’m fairly new to cruising, with only previously having been on one cruise around the Med with NCL about 3 years ago. We’ve just booked a Caribbean cruise for next April for hubby’s 50th birthday. 🎉

The cruise is with Celebrity and the ports we are visiting are:

St Croix, U.S.V.I.
St John’s, Antigua
Castries, St Lucia
Bridgetown, Barbados
St George’s, Grenada
Kingstown, St Vincent
Basseterre, St Kitts Nevis

Has anybody got any recommendations of things to see on any of these days, or local companies to use for any excursions? The only place we have previously visited is St Lucia, so we have already been on an island tour there, so are probably looking for something a little different that day.

I’m also wondering if there’s anywhere walkable from the ship on any of these days. We’re probably looking for a mix of days exploring and relaxing beach days, but not sure if one island might better lend itself to each of those things. I’m also conscious that our only sea days are at the beginning and end of the cruise, so with seven consecutive port days, we want to ensure at least some of them are relaxing.

Also if anyone has any tips or advice for cruising with Celebrity, I’d be very grateful.
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Old 7 Jun 19, 09:26 AM  
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Trouble3
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Jealous...

I had my 3rd Caribbean cruise this year (Feb/Mar), so I'd been to most of the islands already. Due to this I used local "taxi/minibus" tours, rather than the ships expensive excursions.

I was onboard FO's Braemar as a solo traveller. Ended up making 2 fab friends and we did all the trips together. One of the other ladies was fab at haggling with the drivers (I'm totally not). Ended up paying between $15 and $25 for our tours, price dependant on how long they were and what they took in. If you do DIY the trips, ask about extras like entrance fees; that's were a lot of people end up paying quite a bit, so factor that into your haggling with the drivers.
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Old 7 Jun 19, 09:51 AM  
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bonnies mum
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We did an excursion to Nelsons Dockyard & Shirley Heights on Antigua and would recommend it - very interesting and great sightseeing. Trip ended with a beach stop and Antigua has lots of lovely beaches.
St Lucia has The iconic Pitons & a boat trip there was really enjoyable however that ruled out seeing anymore of the island. For us we would have been disappointed not to do the Pitons visit.
St Kitts is quite small - we did mini island tour & beach - relaxing day.
We haven’t been to Grenada or St Vincent but they are on our list.
You have a lovely intinery which will offer lots of relaxing beach days & sightseeing. Check different excursion sites like Viator, Cruising Excursions and look at Cruise Critic reviews.
I’m sure you will have a fantastic cruise.
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Old 7 Jun 19, 10:57 PM  
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SquishTheWhale
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St John’s, Antigua
We did an island tour with Scenic Tours Antigua which was very reasonable and fantastic. Air conditioned mini bus tour round the island, stunning view points, Nelsons Dockyard and a beach. The island is so beautiful and not run down at all like some of the Caribbean.

Castries, St Lucia
Did your island tour last time include Sugar beach? I was amazed by the snorkelling right off shore, stunning. We did a tour by speedboat including the mud baths.

Bridgetown, Barbados
We went to Pirates Cove near the port, the beach was absolutely beautiful. We did a snorkel trip off the beach where they take you over two sunken ships and to find turtles. We did all this as a ship excursion as we had excursion credit to use but so easy to get a cab there from the ship yourself.

Basseterre, St Kitts Nevis
We did the zip lining tour with Sky Safari. Expensive but a great experience! Very safe and we went round with two guides looking after just myself and DH.

This sounds like an amazing itinerary, I'm jealous!
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Old 8 Jun 19, 10:29 AM  
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Originally Posted by Trouble3 View Post
Jealous...

I had my 3rd Caribbean cruise this year (Feb/Mar), so I'd been to most of the islands already. Due to this I used local "taxi/minibus" tours, rather than the ships expensive excursions.

I was onboard FO's Braemar as a solo traveller. Ended up making 2 fab friends and we did all the trips together. One of the other ladies was fab at haggling with the drivers (I'm totally not). Ended up paying between $15 and $25 for our tours, price dependant on how long they were and what they took in. If you do DIY the trips, ask about extras like entrance fees; that's were a lot of people end up paying quite a bit, so factor that into your haggling with the drivers.
Thanks for the advice. I’m not good at haggling either.

Originally Posted by bonnies mum View Post
We did an excursion to Nelsons Dockyard & Shirley Heights on Antigua and would recommend it - very interesting and great sightseeing. Trip ended with a beach stop and Antigua has lots of lovely beaches.
St Lucia has The iconic Pitons & a boat trip there was really enjoyable however that ruled out seeing anymore of the island. For us we would have been disappointed not to do the Pitons visit.
St Kitts is quite small - we did mini island tour & beach - relaxing day.
We haven’t been to Grenada or St Vincent but they are on our list.
You have a lovely intinery which will offer lots of relaxing beach days & sightseeing. Check different excursion sites like Viator, Cruising Excursions and look at Cruise Critic reviews.
I’m sure you will have a fantastic cruise.
Will definitely look at the trips you’ve mentioned. Yes we’ve seen the Pitons before when we visited St Lucia - we did a great trip with a local company for that one, and as we didn’t have to rush to get back to a cruise ship like most of their customers, they tailored it to us, so we had more time to explore the island. Think it only cost about $20 more for a private trip at that time.

I’m glad that you think the itinerary will give us a good mix of sightseeing and relaxing - that’s just what we’re looking for. Will get back on Cruise Critic and check out tour reviews. Think I’ve missed that section.

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale View Post
St John’s, Antigua
We did an island tour with Scenic Tours Antigua which was very reasonable and fantastic. Air conditioned mini bus tour round the island, stunning view points, Nelsons Dockyard and a beach. The island is so beautiful and not run down at all like some of the Caribbean.

Castries, St Lucia
Did your island tour last time include Sugar beach? I was amazed by the snorkelling right off shore, stunning. We did a tour by speedboat including the mud baths.

Bridgetown, Barbados
We went to Pirates Cove near the port, the beach was absolutely beautiful. We did a snorkel trip off the beach where they take you over two sunken ships and to find turtles. We did all this as a ship excursion as we had excursion credit to use but so easy to get a cab there from the ship yourself.

Basseterre, St Kitts Nevis
We did the zip lining tour with Sky Safari. Expensive but a great experience! Very safe and we went round with two guides looking after just myself and DH.

This sounds like an amazing itinerary, I'm jealous!
Yes, we visited Sugar Beach as part of our tour in St Lucia. I agree it’s stunning, although we didn’t have much time there overall.

Thanks so much for the other tips and trip companies to check out. Am off to explore those ideas now.
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Old 8 Jun 19, 11:02 AM  
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No advice on your itinerary but we've cruised the Med a couple of times with Celebrity and it's a fab cruise line. The food is the best cruise food we've had - we've also cruised Princess and DCL.
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Old 8 Jun 19, 02:33 PM  
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We are sailing P&O Azura next March and visiting a few of the islands you are going to. We have booked Harbour Lights in Barbados. Cosol Tours in St, Lucia, Fraser tours in st Vincent, Lenroy Abraham in Antigua and Grays in St Kitts. Only the first one has been paid the others are pay at the end of the tour and they are all in the region of $50\60 pp for a 5/6 hour trip of the islands ending up at a beach and drinks and Wi-fi advertised as being included. We are also going to St Maarten where we plan on renting kayaks to paddle to Pinel island over coral reefs and swimming turtles. We think we are just going to wander around the port towns in Tortola, Granada and Grand Turk. I don’t think I’m allowed to post where I have got all my tips from including a very detailed resort guide one of the posters offers subject to the number of your cruise. Can PM you if you are interested.
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Old 8 Jun 19, 07:06 PM  
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Originally Posted by MrsBC View Post
No advice on your itinerary but we've cruised the Med a couple of times with Celebrity and it's a fab cruise line. The food is the best cruise food we've had - we've also cruised Princess and DCL.
That’s great to hear!

Originally Posted by Bartswife View Post
We are sailing P&O Azura next March and visiting a few of the islands you are going to. We have booked Harbour Lights in Barbados. Cosol Tours in St, Lucia, Fraser tours in st Vincent, Lenroy Abraham in Antigua and Grays in St Kitts. Only the first one has been paid the others are pay at the end of the tour and they are all in the region of $50\60 pp for a 5/6 hour trip of the islands ending up at a beach and drinks and Wi-fi advertised as being included. We are also going to St Maarten where we plan on renting kayaks to paddle to Pinel island over coral reefs and swimming turtles. We think we are just going to wander around the port towns in Tortola, Granada and Grand Turk. I don’t think I’m allowed to post where I have got all my tips from including a very detailed resort guide one of the posters offers subject to the number of your cruise. Can PM you if you are interested.
Cosol Tours were who we used when we were in St Lucia. They were brilliant! Will have a look at the tour companies you’ve mentioned for some of the other islands.

Yes please to the PM giving further information if you don’t mind - the detailed resort guide in particular sounds fab.
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