I am going on a Cruise to Eastern Caribbean. What shore excursions would you recommend?

Question

The cruise goes to San Juan, ST. Thomas, and British Virgin Islands. Since the excursions can be very pricy I want to get my money worth.

The cruise I have booked is the Carnival Miracle. Leaving from NYC in May. This will also be my very first cruise and do not know what to expect. (I am also taking private swimming lessons to prepare for the cruise in hopes of maximizing my experience.) Thanks in advance for any help anyone may be able to give.

Answer 1

If you want to save money, it is fun to check out the islands on your own as well. Sometimes excursions are not necessary, they are fun and usually well worth the money, but you don't have to do them.

Some of my favorite excursions are glass bottom boats, a unique experience. Sub excursions where you get in a sub and go under water for a period of time to look around at the sea life, coral, etc. really beautiful. They each work a little different, some only go a few feet under, but some go to about 100 feet, most have narrators, etc.

If you are looking to get in the water, sting ray/ dolphin excursions are really amazing, it is definitely something you won't forget and it is well worth the money. There are also a lot of snorkeling excursions and things like that.

At St. Thomas I enjoyed the excurions that goes to Paradise Point. It is really a nice excursion and the tramway is also a ton of fun.

These are just a few ideas for you. It would help if you listed your cruise line so I could give you more specific answers based on your line/ship.

I've also included some links to a site where you can look up some info on San Juan and St. Thomas. It gives a lot of great info and it could help you get some ideas of what to do without an excursion.

Have a great time!

Answer 2

The first thing you need to do is go to the web site for the cruise line you are going on and review the listing of tours offered on your cruise and decide whether you want to pay for a tour or go on your own. On most Caribbean islands you can get a taxi or tour in port for much less than the cruise ship tours. And the taxi drivers know exactly where the places are that the cruise ship tours will take you. HOWEVER, the one big advantage of going on ship sponsored tours is THE SHIP WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU if your ship sponsored tour is late getting back to the ship. If you will be in a port for 12 to 16 hours you are probably safe to go on your own for most anything. But if you are only there for six to eight hours you may want to stay close to the ship or go on the ship tours.

When I went to San Juan we had a tour after our cruise which was a quick stop at the fort (ya seen one fort, ya seen them all) and then a drive through the city and out to the Rain Forest. That was a nice tour if you would like to see huge plants, water falls, a lighthouse tower, and see some interpretive info about the plant life. I had never been to a rain forest so it was OK by me. I don't remember how much it cost but at the end of the tour they dropped us at the airport.

St Thomas is for shopping and going to Megan's Bay beach. Take a ship tour there or a taxi. Its up over the mountain and down the other side, way too far to walk buy maybe a half hour bus/taxi ride. The other option for St Thomas is a ferry boat ride to St John's for a tour of the island and maybe a beach stop. The island tour is much like touring any other island in the Caribbean. The beaches are fabulous. The ferry ride is about half an hour; this is a trip I would only take if it is ship sponsored (you don't wanna miss the ferry and not be able to get back to the ship.

Answer 3

Consider booking your tours outide of your cruise line.

By doing research on the internet, you can find and book your shore excursions on your own to save some money.

Unless your have to tender (take a ferry) from the ship to the dock, there is not benefit to taking the shore excursions offered by the cruise line. The cruise line gets a commission on the shore excursion sales. You can often get the same excursions for less money. For example, through Carnival a dolphin swim cost $120 per person while booking directly, the cost was $90.00.

If you have to tender, the cruise line gives those guests that book excursions with them priority seats on the tenders.

Be sure to take $1, 5 and 10 in USD to pay for taxis and shop in the local markets.

Answer 4

I've been to San Juan.. but see what time your ship arrives in that port.. We arrived at around 6pm, and by then.. everything in San Juan is closed, and dark. It was kind of silly.
The big Fort- El Moro- is closed at 6..
A lot of the people on board our ship were buying the city tours.. but San Juan at night looks like every other city.. DARK and CLOSED.
We got off the ship, and we found an English speaking cab driver, and he drove us all around for the rest of the night for $10 a person.. He took us shopping in Old San Juan, and waited for us.. and then he dropped us off at the Hard Rock Cafe' San Juan, and we ended up sitting in the bar for the rest of the night.. There was a small casino next door to that Hard Rock too, and we spent about a half hour in there.

St. Thomas is beautiful. You're going to enjoy that port so much.. Make sure, whatever you do.. you spend a little bit of time at Magen's Bay.. it's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It's a private beach that costs... $3? to get onto, but it's incredible.. They usually have an excursion there...but we just took a bus to downtown Charlotte Amalie..and spent about 4 hours just shopping and shopping and looking around.. and then took a cab over to Magen's Bay...

I'm not sure which BVI you were heading to.. or else I could help you with that, also..

Have a great time! I'm jealous!

Answer 5

Take a snorkeling trip in the Virgin Islands. We booked ours through Royal Caribbean and went through a group called Captain Nautica. They took us on a speed boat to the snorkeling spots. it was a lot of fun.
http://www.captainnautica.com/

In Old San Juan, we didn't do an excurion. The city is walkable from the port. We paid the small admission fee to see the fort and then just did some shopping. It worked out well. It's a beautiful citty.

Answer 6

obviously this really depends on what you are into. I loved the zip line excursion in Jamaica. I am a diver so I always dive in GC. My wife isn't so she takes a local shuttle bus to Sea Grape Beach and hangs at the beach all day. The beach costs $10 and the shuttle is about $4 or so round trip. You can also rent water toys right at the beach and they have a small (overpriced) bar there.

Answer 7

Check out the new cruise forum on tripadvisor.com... they have some pretty good ideas about the excursions. Also, cruisecritic.com has a specific forum for EVERY port of call imagineable, and you can look through the forums for good advice there as well.

Answer 8

I am going to those places on Carnival Victory in about a week..it's my first cruise too. I'll let you know when i get back.

Answer 9

shopping honey and the beach sweety and take me haha. play the music kiddo i'm playing it now