shore excursions for Southern Caribbean

[Steppenwulf]

My wife and I, and my mother-in-law are going on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean in a week.

We like snorkelling, history, and adventure. We will sometimes take the MIL for non-energetic excursions, and sometimes go on something a little more energetic just by ourselves.

I would appreciate any suggestions for interesting excursions or tours/tour operators. Our ports are:

1. San Juan Puerto Rico - we will be here for a few days before the cruise, so we can do a few things. I would also be interested in good restaurants/shows.

2. St. Thomas US Virgin Islands

3. Dominica

4. Barbados

5. St. Lucia

6. Antigua

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.

The Steppenwulf

[Chef Ken]

Originally posted by Steppenwulf:
My wife and I, and my mother-in-law are going on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean in a week.

We like snorkelling, history, and adventure. We will sometimes take the MIL for non-energetic excursions, and sometimes go on something a little more energetic just by ourselves.

I would appreciate any suggestions for interesting excursions or tours/tour operators. Our ports are:

1. San Juan Puerto Rico - we will be here for a few days before the cruise, so we can do a few things. I would also be interested in good restaurants/shows.

2. St. Thomas US Virgin Islands

3. Dominica

4. Barbados

5. St. Lucia

6. Antigua

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.

The Steppenwulf

Steppenwulf,

Welcome to Cruise Chat! I have to say, I like you already because you are travelling with your mother-in-law.

Check out the posts in the "Caribbean Ports" part of the forum. Just about everything you mentioned is covered here.

While in San Juan, if you want a real Puerto Rican lunch, take of on foot into Old San Juan and ask where you can find "EL Meson". Venturing out, if you want typical food, there is a place called Metropol near the airport in Isla Verde. About 15 minutes from Old San Juan and the cruise ship terminals.

Otherwise, fine dining can be found at some of the larger hotels and in the business district called, Hato Rey.

Ken

[penny3333]

Welcome to cruise chat, what a great itinerary.
2. St. Thomas-take a ferry to St. John and a cab to Trunk Bay. It is one of the top 10 beaches in the world with a self-guided snorkel trail about 50 yards from the beach.
3. Dominica-take a catamaran sail/snorkel to Champagne reef. Awesome snorkeling, the best snorkel I've been on in the Caribbean.
4. Barbados-take the Tiami sail/snorkel tour, good snorkeling with the turtles plus a stop at a really nice beach. Great rum punch and if you take the one with the lunch, great food. If you like spicy sauces, try the Bajan Pepper sauce. It's wonderful.
5. St. Lucia-last year we went to Pigeon Island, it's a really nice beach and old fort. It would probably be less expensive to book the tour through the ship.
6. Antigua-we took a catamaran sail/snorkel. There were way too many jelly fish for me to enjoy it. There have a few reviews on Long Beach and those have seemed quite favorable.
Hope you have a wonderul cruise!! (I know you will)

[Chef Ken]

I figured you would fill in the rest, Penny. Have you been away from your computer? Haven't seen a post in a while.

Ken