Heading to the Caribbean, touristy advice on things to do...

[reaubideux]

My wife & I are leaving this Friday on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean w/stops at Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.

None of our family/friends have ever been to any of these locales so I just wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions/advice on things to do, places to see (and avoid). We've booked a few excursions - one at each stop - and it seems like we'll have the most time to do our own exploring at St. Thomas as the one excursion we booked is at the end of our stay in that POC. We'd thought about renting a scooter and doing some exploring but after looking into it I found it was an ill-advised idea as there's a lot of hills and if you're not familiar with traffic and the roads it can be a bit dangerous on such a small vehicle. We're still contemplating renting a car for a few hours just to get around.

I've looked online and most of the stuff I've seen is tourism sites - who will tell you how wonderfully everything is - so I'm looking for real-people advice from average folk who've been to any of these places.

This is going to be the longest 4 days of my life.

[caps]

honestly the best advise I can give you is don't go exploring

[reaubideux]

Speaking from experience?

St. Thomas is only 31 sq. miles; St. Maarten is only 38 sq. miles. Not looking to delve into anything too exciting but I'd rather pay 30-40$ for the 2 of us to be able to drive around where we want to go for a few hours than pay 90$ for one of those tourist bus rides that just takes you from point to point where you get like 10 minutes to see the site and then they drop you off at a shopping plaza where people try to get you to buy there cheap "local" crap made in Taiwan.

[caps]

Yes, also if you are taking a cruise tip everyone the first day atleast $5, especially the Maitre D. It will make the whole cruise more enjoyable. Also, if you don't book excursions ahead you can still follow the group that did and pay less in cash if they aren't fully booked.



and don't be afraid to haggle

[DaBlue1]

I found that a cruise is the best vacation for the money. The 4 day cruise to the Caribbean will go by so fast. Everything is laid out for you and there is so much to do at least 20 hour a day. Not unless you're just a home body, never do anything different, have never traveled outside the state you live in and don't enjoy sun, sight seeing, meeting new people, new places, new experiences and overall fun, then a cruise is not for you. However if you are open to new things and different cultures, it can be a very nice vacation for you and you'll want to do it again.

The best thing to do is sign up for your tours or activities before you leave the ship. There will be some kind of activity scheduled at every port you stop in. They may have local tours, jet skiing, snorkeling, fishing, banana boat rides, swimming with the dolphins & para sailing. They all will cost a little extra, but if you enjoy those things, then it's well worth it. The local tour is usually the cheapest thing to do. Outside the local tourist area, the rest of the islands are very poor and primitive looking. There may be a few things of interest to see like old Forts, historic sites or island waterfalls or scenic areas. Most people enjoy walking the the local shops and areas around the port and doing a little shopping. Most everybody eats on the ship. The ship has free food 24/7, so no need to spend money there not unless you just want to sample the local fare. Depending on the cruise line you go on the shops aboard the ship have a nice selection of things to buy, but some local items like t-shirts, and other souvenirs, you'll have to get off ship. Most prices are reasonable. Just find the best deals.

Not unless you've had a chance to look at the local roads or have driven or ridden abroad in other countries, it is not advisable to rent anything and go riding around. Driving abroad without prior knowledge of the local driving habits, laws, signs or roads can be very hazardous. Most places drive on the left hand side of the road and locals pay no attention to lines, signs (when they have them) or right of way. Outside of the tourist areas the roads suck and they honk the horn all the time especially the bikes. Stay close to the ship not unless you know where you are going. The local tour of Nassau is OK. It take you around a small part of the island up to Fort Charlotte, where you can see all the ships in the port. There is also a pirate museum that's pretty cool too.

You will be briefed on the ship prior to entering the port of everything. You'll be able to review all they have available by video in your Stateroom as well. I think between the ships activities, like swimming, rock wall climbing, shuffleboard, the casino, the shows, the games, clubs at night, skeet shooting, the dinners, ship tours, spa, and just chilli'n (& watching all the fine ass honeys with tight bodies in 2-pieces, while your roommate is at the spa) you'll have a great time. You'll be actually tired at the end of the day, especially if you're the romantic type and you want to put your lady to sleep or wake her you in the morning Everything is on a tight schedule so there is long lapse between activities. You'll be busy from the time you get on the ship with orientation to the time you hit the next port. You have an opportunity to do a formal dinner, take pictures and a whole lot more. Honestly you can't do all they have. By the time you get up eat breakfast, you're pulling into a port. Same with the evening, by the time you eat dinner go to a show or club and go to bed you're leaving a port.

BTW Royal Caribbean is the best hands down!

[reaubideux]

Thanks for the info Blue... probably should've specified in my OP that this is our 3rd cruise, we're accustomed to that side of things, I was mainly just looking for info regarding the Ports of Call we'll be visiting. Luckily, it's only 4 days till the cruise but the cruise itself is a 7-night cruise.

I'm looking forward to trying RCC in the future, we narrowed down our cruise to RCC and Carnival and ended up going w/Carnival simply b/c this trip is to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary so we kinda wanted to splurge on nicer accommodations but unfortunately the accommodations we wanted were too far out of our price range on RCC but we got a good deal with CCL b/c we're return guests. The wife and I are definitely sold on cruises as our favorite form of vacation. I want to get overseas and see Europe and possibly Asia before I shuffle off but that won't be for awhile. For a budget vacation, cruises are just a good value considering you get to see multiple places, food/drink is included and you don't have to worry about getting lost during the trip.

We already got our excursions booked - Nassau is a snorkeling (first time for both of us) trip w/stop off at a couple of beaches and then the lunch/beach break thing at the last stop. St. Thomas we're doing a sunset catamaran cruise, and St. Maarten we're doing a boat tour/shopping trip. At St. Thomas is when we'll have the most time to just do what we want before our sunset cruise so that's where I'm primarily focusing on finding stuff to do besides sitting on a beach which really doesn't do much for me.

[CynicalC]

Don't overcomplicate it. Go to the beach. Find one on your own, don't do the ships beach excursion unless you want to get annoyed every 2 minutes by some local trying to sell you somethig. Rent jet skis, have fun. Don't fall into the whole duty free craze and spend all your time buying jewelry and booze.

What line are you taking? Royal used to do that cruise with a stop at San Juan. Shame if they cut it out.

[reaubideux]

Going on Carnival; was a toss up between RCCL & Carnival and we got more for the money w/Carnival.

Good idea on finding our own thing to do. We love the jet skis but they were ridiculous to rent when we looked into doing it through the cruise line. Want to say it was like $150/person for 1 hour.

[CynicalC]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

Going on Carnival; was a toss up between RCCL & Carnival and we got more for the money w/Carnival.

Good idea on finding our own thing to do. We love the jet skis but they were ridiculous to rent when we looked into doing it through the cruise line. Want to say it was like $150/person for 1 hour.

Oh it's not even close to that if you just rent them off the beach. At least last time I went, but that was a few years back.

[CynicalC]

Also, use sunblock. I don't normally burn in the sun, but I got cooked down there. Use it or you'll regret it.

[reaubideux]

Hellz yes on sunblock. I just got back from picking up a few odds and ends and got SPF 50 sunblock. I never have my shirt off so I'm sure I'll burn exceptionally quick.

[gfloyd2002]

Jason,

I used to live in Nassau. Off the top of my head, I'd recommend the Rose Island trip. Just off the mainland (a good thing as Nassau itself can be a bit nasty), nice snorkelling there, includes lunch at private beach club, very relaxing sort of Caribbean beach day.

Which specific excursion did you get for Nassau, and what are the beach stops? How much time you have on land? You need a restaurant recommendation? Other free time left? What interests you? If you give me more details, I can give you some more specific recommendations.

[kyrider]

I have taken and had friends and family members take the taxi tour but you have to get Perry McPhee! You will get a grand tour of Nassau and Atlantis. Get to taste some conch and see how the locals live. Nice Rum Cake as well! 3hr tour about $30 per person and then taken to the beach or back to your ship. http://www.localyte.com/services/402...Travel-Service

[mrlmd]

Nassau has some nice beaches but real nice big hotels with gambling, if you want to walk around in the casinos and play.
Most of the time in St. Thomas will be spent in town walking down the streets going into one store after another - jewelry, booze, "stuff". more jewelry, more booze, etc, etc, one right after the other, down multiple streets. Some of the prices are pretty good, for bringing stuff home from a duty free port, but how much booze can you carry? Buy a bottle or two so you can drink it on the ship and not pay those exorbitant drink prices they charge on the cruise.
St. Thomas is not the safest place to be walking around in after dark in spots outside of where all the tourists are. If you do want to walk around, it's much better in a group instead of just the two of you.
St. Maarten has a Dutch and a French side, also a lot of shopping in the main town (Fredricksburg?) but after you've seen 2 or 3 stores, they're basically all the same, like in St. T. On the French side is a great beach called Marigot Bay, which also happens to be a nude beach, and there is a small nudist hotel there. You can gawk at everyone on the beach if you want, although you will be the ones out of place, but you have to go into the thatched roof restaurant/bar there. Hardly anything as funny or strange as seeing all kinds of naked people, young and old, sitting around drinking beer or eating a cheeseburger in their birthday suits. A really nice beach though, short cab ride away from where the boats drop you off in town on the other side of the island.
Bring along a shitload of sunblock and don't go outside without it. It is also going to be HOT.
Have a great time and don't eat yourself to death on the ship - breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, ice cream, pizza whenever, dinner, evening snack, late night snack, beer, wine, and booze. Then repeat the next day, and so on.

[reaubideux]

Originally Posted by gfloyd2002

Jason,

I used to live in Nassau. Off the top of my head, I'd recommend the Rose Island trip. Just off the mainland (a good thing as Nassau itself can be a bit nasty), nice snorkelling there, includes lunch at private beach club, very relaxing sort of Caribbean beach day.

Which specific excursion did you get for Nassau, and what are the beach stops? How much time you have on land? You need a restaurant recommendation? Other free time left? What interests you? If you give me more details, I can give you some more specific recommendations.

Floyd, thanks a bunch for the recommendations, nice to have a former "local." Unfortunately the excursion we've already booked doesn't list the actual beaches; it's called "Blackbeard's Treasure Island Escape" (Jeez... sounds like a theme park ride) just mentions going to an offshore island and then later on we go to do snorkeling w/stingrays.

Unfortunately, I just checked and we're only in Nassau from 8:30a to 2p and our excursion is for 4 hours or so (starts @ 8:45a), so we may not have enough time to do anything else.

[reaubideux]

Thanks Marc, yeah my wife already told me we're not doing the nude beach, in terms of being participants (not really sure why she'd think I'd want to do that) but she didn't rule out the possibility of being spectators, although I'm not entirely sure I'd want to do that either... just thinking of all the wrinkly, saggy, droopy..... yeah.

[mrlmd]

It's worth the little trip over there, if nothing else than to see how the rest of the world goes to the beach, topless and uninhibited, young and old alike, a total mix of all ages. You can recognize the tourists and visitors who just got there, they're the ones with the flaming red sunburned asses. And it's a really nice beach if you want to go for a long stroll in the sand, and the water's great. Go take a look, you don't have to go join in their attire (or lack of). The French side of the island has a totally different flair than the Dutch side where the boats drop you off on shore.
We want to see some of your pics when you get back.

[kyrider]

While on the cruise don't forget to check out the marriage game where they take three couples and separate them and ask some great questions. Usually the older couple is a blast.

Have fun!

My wife and I are going on a cruise in late Nov to the western Caribbean. Seven days but at least we will have a balcony this time.

[reaubideux]

Will do, Marc... hopefully I can get to the photos and get them online in a reasonable time once we're back. I've still got photos from over a year ago to go through.

KY, we've seen that game a once or twice on our past cruises. Always fun to see the oldest couple's responses. I may have to try and see if my wife wants to try and participate this time. We opted for the balcony this time around as well, normally we just do the interior rooms b/c we're not in there all that much anyway.

[kyrider]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

KY, we've seen that game a once or twice on our past cruises. Always fun to see the oldest couple's responses. I may have to try and see if my wife wants to try and participate this time. We opted for the balcony this time around as well, normally we just do the interior rooms b/c we're not in there all that much anyway.

That is what we usually do but with this being a seven day cruise we opted for the balcony.

Something that is always fun is I take my digital SLR and when the cruise ship photographers want to take our pic I always get one of them too...They actually enjoy me doing that and I get some great pics.

[reaubideux]

I do that crap every time with the ship's photographers, although usually just w/my wife's P'n'S camera. I don't walk around too much w/my dSLR. Got a few posed shots of the photographer w/my wife in front of their backgrounds, the other cruisers always give us that "WTF?" look.

[gfloyd2002]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

Floyd, thanks a bunch for the recommendations, nice to have a former "local." Unfortunately the excursion we've already booked doesn't list the actual beaches; it's called "Blackbeard's Treasure Island Escape" (Jeez... sounds like a theme park ride) just mentions going to an offshore island and then later on we go to do snorkeling w/stingrays.

Unfortunately, I just checked and we're only in Nassau from 8:30a to 2p and our excursion is for 4 hours or so (starts @ 8:45a), so we may not have enough time to do anything else.

Cool. I know the place and the company that does the tour. You'll be at Blackbeard's Cay, a little island just off Cable Beach where I used to live! You'll enjoy it. They have a stingray pen, a beach bar, nice white sand beaches (and share the island with Sandals, which operates a private beach on the back 1/2 of the island). Very calm water, great for kids, not for boogie boarding. Snorkeling isn't good at all (except for stingray pens just off the docs where they let you swim with the rays - pretty cool), but the good news that is because it is all sandy bottom and sea grass which is nice to relax in. Warning that the beach there can get heavy with a bug locals call "noseeums" which are basically biting sand flies, and mosquitos. They spray regularly for them, but just in case, in addition to sunscreen, I recommend you bring bug repellent. This is why I like Rose Island better, more reefs and fewer bugs, but Blackbeard's Cay people are great and you'll still have a very relaxing time at a very nice beach.

If you have time for a lunch before getting back on board the boat, you may want to head to Atlantis Resort, which has some world class restaurants. My favorite restaurant, anywhere in the world, is Nobu at Atlantis. (The Black Cod Miso is what they'll be serving me in heaven.) If you want local food, goto the "Fish Fry" at Arawak Cay. There are a whole row of seafood places backed up the water so they can get fresh catch of the day. It isn't far from the boat dock and any cab driver will know how to get there. Twin Brothers is my recommendation among the many choices at Arawak.

[reaubideux]

Thanks Floyd. I'll make sure to toss a can of bug repellant in our suit case.

[ally99]

Lucky! My advice, relax for me too! Next week will be the first day back to school for me (I teach), so I'll forget what it means to relax. Just when you think you're finished relaxing, do it 30 more minutes and think, "This one's for Ally." Oh, and have a margarita during that 30 minutes. lol!

[reaubideux]

I think I can squeeze in a drink or 2 for ya while I'm lounging around, Ally.

Anyone else want me to have a drink or 2 for them? How could I say 'no' to my extended Ninjette family?

[kyrider]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

I think I can squeeze in a drink or 2 for ya while I'm lounging around, Ally.

Anyone else want me to have a drink or 2 for them? How could I say 'no' to my extended Ninjette family?

Yeah, have one for me will you?

None of that fruity crap Have the bartender make you a strong "Old Fashioned"(make sure it has a quality Kentucky Bourbon) and kick back on the deck and enjoy the breeze at night.

[reaubideux]

Hmmph.. that's a tall order, KY, I admit I'm a froo-froo drinker, I dig the mixed drinks. I don't do straight-up hard liquor (unless Jaegermeister counts). Don't drink beer either, unless the whole point is to just get drunk for as cheap as possible and even then I'll just pound about 4 or 5 in an hour and I'm done for the night.

[ally99]

Originally Posted by reaubideux

I think I can squeeze in a drink or 2 for ya while I'm lounging around, Ally.

Thanks! I'll live vicariously through your lounging with a margarita while I deal with 25 nine-year-olds starting a new school year. You sure we can't trade places?

[reaubideux]

Have you met my wife yet Ally? You may be getting off lucky w/the 9 yr. olds.

I keeeeeed... I keeeeeed.

[ally99]

LOL! Ouch!

[reaubideux]

Have a fun and safe week riding my fellow ninjetters.



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[ally99]

...or working. Or at least riding to work.


LUCKY you! Relax and have a great time!

[gfloyd2002]

Hurricane coming. Now invest 91, hanging off of Barbados heading towards Antigua then onto the Bahamas. Soon to be Hurricane Emily. Hope you miss it!

[reaubideux]

Yeah, "Emily" screwed up our cruise pretty good. Didn't get to St. Thomas or St. Maarten, which sucked b/c we specifically chose this cruise b/c of our desire to see those 2 islands. Went to Turks and then Freeport instead which honestly both kinda sucked but still better than being in my office at work. I'll have photos up eventually.


Posted from the back seat of an over packed and under cooled shuttle bus on our way to the airport.