Hi mell, welcome to Cruise-Chat. It's a little hard to answer your question, since you don't let us know what you're interested in. We usually do the Tiami catamaran sail/snorkel in Barbados, but have done the salt mine tour and the city tour that was interesting. There is a place to shop right where you dock. On our next visit to Barbados in December, we're going to check out Folkstone Underwater Park. We've only been to Antigua once, we took a catamaran sail/snorkel. The snorkel wasn't a whole lot of fun because there were way too many jelly fish in the water, but the beach they took us to was very nice. We did a little shopping, but couldn't do as much as I would have liked because my hubby had too much rum punch on the catamaran. Scott Taylor posted about Pineapple Beach, they spent the day there and had a great time. If you'll let us know what your interested in, maybe we could be a bit more help. Best wishes for a wonderful cruise, and once again, welcome aboard!
Hi Penny. Well this is going to be our first cruise so we're really excited. We doing the Southern Caribbean cruise in January. We'll be visiting St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. We really enjoy water activities, shopping, beach fun. Not looking so much for city tours. We really would also like to zip line somehwere and parasail. There are a few places that offer that but not sure where the best place would be. So far I think at St. Thomas we plan to visit Trunk bay, Maybe shopping at St. Maarten and either visit the volcano or waterfalls at St. Lucia. Since this is our first cruise do you have any suggestions for us? Thanks again!
Great choice for Trunk Bay, it is awesome!!! You might want to do your parasailing in St. Maarten as the snorkeling is only so-so. Orient Beach is a favorite among first timers. It is a clothing optional beach on one end, however, the ones that should only be clothed usually partake. They do walk up and down the entire beach, just in case you have children going. They will charge you for chairs and restrooms. The best thing to do is get an excursion or buy a drink coupon at one of the many bars along the beach, it will include a potty pass. Maho beach on St. Maarten is where the jets land a couple of feet over your head, it is very impressive. If I went back to Antigua, I'd probably check out Pineapple Beach. From Scott Taylor's post, it sounded great. The last time we went to St. Lucia we went to Pigeon Island, it was a beautiful setting. There was a self-guided tour through the old fort areas, really nice beach area, a place to get drinks and food. I would recommend getting an excursion for that as well. They charged is $60/pp for cab fare, then I think it was $5/pp entrance fee. Some of the people we had met on our cruise did the pirate ship over, they spent 1 1/2 hours at Pigeon Island, didn't have to pay to get into the park, and had unlimited rum punch. We've also done some great sail/snorkels there, a tour of the pitons or a snorkel trip to the pitons is great. Tiami catamaran sail/snorkel in Barbados, is my favorite, but like I said we're going to try Folkstone next time. If you like spicy sauces, try the bajan pepper sauce. I've only been able to find it in Barbados. It is wonderful, but hot, it's made with habaneros. It is a mustard base with mango, habaneros, and brown sugar. It is wonderful on fish, chicken, salad, just about anything. If they offer a zip line in St. Lucia, that would probably be a great place. It's a beautiful island, one of my favorites. Congratulations on your first cruise, it's a great itinerary. Be warned, cruising is addictive
In Antigua, I highly recommend an island tour. The view from Shirley Heights is amazing. You should go there, and Nelson's dockyard. Hire a cab to take you around. Also, ask to go the place on the island which has "Devil" in its name. Amazingly picturesque view. Have fun!
