Help Needed for the Caribbean Ports.

[suespud]

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Its been a good few years since we have been to the Caribbean,as I have very poor memory, I need some help and tips about the ports and trips and what we can do on our own, or should we go with organised P&O tours.

I do remember we went to a fab beach in Tortola, on an organised tour with P&O, but have no idea where it was, just remember a beach bar, warm sea, white sand and an island in front of us in the sea..lol


I am restricted a bit on mobility, I can walk a good way as long as its fairly flat.
We dont want to do sting rays again, nor the dolphin boat trip at St Lucia.
We will be staying on board on 22nd feb at Martinique, thats my 60th birthday and I want to laze around and drink fizzy ALL DAY and be pampered...before Dinner.

I do worry about the ship leaving without us, so tours do have to be as risk free as possible..lolol

Sooo ..please help me with ideas.
I DO need recommendations for the best jewellery shops on which islands

[Quizzical Bob]

Tortola would have been Cane Garden Bay. You can get a taxi from the quayside and don't go for the first person renting beach umbrellas who will pounce on you when the taxi stops.

[Ray Scully]

Is it beaches Sue and do you want the quieter experience away from the thousands of blue towels?

Ray

[CaroleF]

We've just come back from the Caribbean and can recommend two trips in particular. One is on Tortola - unless you just want to go and lie on a beach - and it's the Beautiful BVI trip. This starts off with a trip on a large catamaran which has seating in a downstairs air conditioned saloon - very plush - or up on top. It's a large vessel and managed to get all the passengers on board - probably about 50 or so. The Captain stops off at various places around the British Virgin islands, you don't go ashore anywhere but he then tells you a lot about the history of each venue. Rum punch is served. The Captain is very knowledgeable and very friendly. At the end of the Catamaran trip - about an hour or so - you then get dropped off at Pussers Landing where you can have a drink or coffee before joining the buses for a trip around the island - lots of very hairy bends but beautiful views of the island. Incidentally Tortola now has a very smart new Cruise Terminal. It had not long been opened when we were there in February and some of the units were still to open.
The other excursion we did was on St. Kitts. It was Caribbean Cooking. I can't walk very far and I found this one suited me. It starts off with being taken to a restored Plantation House which has its own restaurant. You are shown round the house - I didn't do this bit as there was a lot of up and down stairs but the guide kindly took me into the restaurant, gave me an ice cold bottle of water and I sat by an opened window looking out onto the gardens, while the most of the others looked round the house, a couple of other people joined me too. Then when everyone was in the restaurant - sat at tables for 4, laid for lunch - early lunch in our case - the Chef appeared. He was a very jolly guy who talked to us about Caribbean cuisine. He then cooked 5 different dishes - 4 savoury and one pudding. He did a jerk pork dish, a rice and beans one, a fish dish and a vegetable dish. The pudding was a simply scrumptious Rum and Raisin Coconut Bread and Butter pudding with a rum toffee sauce. All the food was lovely. There were 18 of us in the group and there was enough food for all of us with seconds if people wanted it. It was a really interesting excursion and everyone in the group said how good they thought it was.
Of course in St. Kitts there is also the Sugar Train tour which we have done twice previously as we really enjoyed it the first time. I don't know if you've done that one. Anyway there's a couple of ideas.

[suespud]

Thank You for your replies.
Bob I will remember that..lol
Yes Ray, quiet beaches, but with shade(im a redhead) and toilets( I am a woman..lol), although not beaches every day.


Carol, I had already read out your review to Alex about the Caribbean Cooking, Alex would love that !!
Whilst this is my birthday treat cruise and Alex said he will go with whatever I chose to to do,I have to consider him a little..lol
Did you book these with P&O ?

[Ray Scully]

Tortola Brewers Bay, a lot quieter than Cane Garden, plenty of shade from the trees at the back of the beach
Grenada Mourne Rouge a lot quieter than Grand Anse, plenty of shade from the trees at the back of the beach
St Kitts Carambola Beach Club Nice bar and Restaurant, posh loos.

[suespud]

Thank You Ray.
x

[Quizzical Bob]

Some more thoughts...
Bardbados - next time there we shall hire a car. It's cheap, much cheaper than a taxi, and easy to get around the island and you can choose where to go and how long to stay. The East coast is spectacular but not for swimming! ok for riding a horse through the surf if you like that sort of thing.

Grenada - We have only been there the once and because we have often thought of a stay there we took a taxi to the Rex Grenadian and bought two all-inclusive day passes which included breakfast, lunch and drinks. Food ok-ish, beach lovely, worth consideration.

St Lucia - we have been there for a land holiday and a couple of cruise visits. Not our favourite island and if you don't fancy a boat trip then a day at one of the resorts on Rodney Bay might be worth looking at.

St Kitts - we booked the train/catamaran tour but when we got on the train we were told that the catamaran part had been cancelled which was a disappointment. If we'd known we would probably have gone to one of the hotels. I did pick up an 11-carat tanzanite ring for $90 in one of the shops on the quayside. We think it's genuine.

St Maarten - If you like shopping then a stroll up the main street with lunch in a beach restaurant is nothing to complain about. Last time I insisted that we take a taxi to Mayo Beach to feel the planes landing but it was pouring with rain and the planes were landing some distance up the runway. The taxi trip there was a bit tedious but some advise getting a local bus. Lunch was good at Sunset Bar www.sunsetsxm.com
A trip to the French part at Marigot is interesting. We bought a Morganite ring from Majesty Jewellers in the dockside shop and got a good price after a lot of haggling. If you go there don't mention my name or else they might try to get some of their profit back from you!

Anitgua- Our favourite of all the islands and we have been their to stay a few times. On the last two occasions that we have visited by cruise we have got all-inclusive day-passes at the Rex Halcyon Cove which we know well from our previous stays. The beach (Dickenson Bay) is one of the best on the island and a lot of the cruisers go there but in the hotel section there is much more space and shade under the beach 'coconuts'. I did hear that this hotel was going to be bought by Sandals and turned into one of their 'Beaches' resorts whcih would spoil all the lovely memories that we have. If you want an island tour then you cold do worse than asking for Marcus Crump www.mycaiman.com/tours/

I'm really jealous

[suespud]

Some more thoughts...
Bardbados - next time there we shall hire a car. It's cheap, much cheaper than a taxi, and easy to get around the island and you can choose where to go and how long to stay. The East coast is spectacular but not for swimming! ok for riding a horse through the surf if you like that sort of thing.

Grenada - We have only been there the once and because we have often thought of a stay there we took a taxi to the Rex Grenadian and bought two all-inclusive day passes which included breakfast, lunch and drinks. Food ok-ish, beach lovely, worth consideration.

St Lucia - we have been there for a land holiday and a couple of cruise visits. Not our favourite island and if you don't fancy a boat trip then a day at one of the resorts on Rodney Bay might be worth looking at.

St Kitts - we booked the train/catamaran tour but when we got on the train we were told that the catamaran part had been cancelled which was a disappointment. If we'd known we would probably have gone to one of the hotels. I did pick up an 11-carat tanzanite ring for $90 in one of the shops on the quayside. We think it's genuine.

St Maarten - If you like shopping then a stroll up the main street with lunch in a beach restaurant is nothing to complain about. Last time I insisted that we take a taxi to Mayo Beach to feel the planes landing but it was pouring with rain and the planes were landing some distance up the runway. The taxi trip there was a bit tedious but some advise getting a local bus. Lunch was good at Sunset Bar http://www.sunsetsxm.com
A trip to the French part at Marigot is interesting. We bought a Morganite ring from Majesty Jewellers in the dockside shop and got a good price after a lot of haggling. If you go there don't mention my name or else they might try to get some of their profit back from you!

Anitgua- Our favourite of all the islands and we have been their to stay a few times. On the last two occasions that we have visited by cruise we have got all-inclusive day-passes at the Rex Halcyon Cove which we know well from our previous stays. The beach (Dickenson Bay) is one of the best on the island and a lot of the cruisers go there but in the hotel section there is much more space and shade under the beach 'coconuts'. I did hear that this hotel was going to be bought by Sandals and turned into one of their 'Beaches' resorts whcih would spoil all the lovely memories that we have. If you want an island tour then you cold do worse than asking for Marcus Crump http://www.mycaiman.com/tours/

I'm really jealous

Thank you Bob !!
You still have tme to save up and join us....its not till feb 17th next year !!!

[allatc]

St Maarten is an easy DIY port. You get a boat from the harbour to Phillipsburg. The ticket is multi-ride so you can go back and forth as often as you like. Phillipsburg is flat and has the usual assortment of bars, tourist shops and jewellery stores.

You can get the local bus to Marigot, the french capital, and it does have a more "french" air about it - 4 Euro or USD each way. Interestingly mobile phone calls from Marigot cost 9p per minute "european rate" whereas call from Phiilipsburg cost £1.29 / minute "international rate".

Trying to interest some friends in doing your cruise.

[qbman1]

We've just come back from the Caribbean and can recommend two trips in particular. One is on Tortola - unless you just want to go and lie on a beach - and it's the Beautiful BVI trip. This starts off with a trip on a large catamaran which has seating in a downstairs air conditioned saloon - very plush - or up on top. It's a large vessel and managed to get all the passengers on board - probably about 50 or so. The Captain stops off at various places around the British Virgin islands, you don't go ashore anywhere but he then tells you a lot about the history of each venue. Rum punch is served. The Captain is very knowledgeable and very friendly. At the end of the Catamaran trip - about an hour or so - you then get dropped off at Pussers Landing where you can have a drink or coffee before joining the buses for a trip around the island - lots of very hairy bends but beautiful views of the island.

We did this one, but the other way round and I agree, one I could highly recommend. QBob was on it too, but he may not remember much do to the free-flowing rum punch !!

This year, we also did the aerial tram over the rainforest in St Lucia. Not too much arduous walking involved and an interesting, different experience

[qbman1]

St Maarten is an easy DIY port. You get a boat from the harbour to Phillipsburg. The ticket is multi-ride so you can go back and forth as often as you like. Phillipsburg is flat and has the usual assortment of bars, tourist shops and jewellery stores.

You can get the local bus to Marigot, the french capital, and it does have a more "french" air about it - 4 Euro or USD each way. Interestingly mobile phone calls from Marigot cost 9p per minute "european rate" whereas call from Phiilipsburg cost £1.29 / minute "international rate".

Trying to interest some friends in doing your cruise.

We have done a lovely boat trip across the lagoon in the middle of the island to Marigot, with some free time there and then a charabanc trip back to the port.

[Quizzical Bob]

We've just come back from the Caribbean and can recommend two trips in particular. One is on Tortola - unless you just want to go and lie on a beach - and it's the Beautiful BVI trip. This starts off with a trip on a large catamaran which has seating in a downstairs air conditioned saloon - very plush - or up on top. It's a large vessel and managed to get all the passengers on board - probably about 50 or so. The Captain stops off at various places around the British Virgin islands, you don't go ashore anywhere but he then tells you a lot about the history of each venue. Rum punch is served. The Captain is very knowledgeable and very friendly. At the end of the Catamaran trip - about an hour or so - you then get dropped off at Pussers Landing where you can have a drink or coffee before joining the buses for a trip around the island - lots of very hairy bends but beautiful views of the island.

We did this one, but the other way round and I agree, one I could highly recommend. QBob was on it too, but he may not remember much do to the free-flowing rum punch !!

This year, we also did the aerial tram over the rainforest in St Lucia. Not too much arduous walking involved and an interesting, different experience

I remember it well. I couldn't see a thing on account of the sun shining off your head.

Or was that someone else?

[qbman1]

I had a hat on !!

[Quizzical Bob]

I had a hat on !!

I thought that was the captain. It must have been the air of calm authority.

[CaroleF]

Sue, yes we booked both trips before we left via the Cruise Personaliser. The cooking one especially can only take 18 people due to the size of the restaurant so once that one's full it's full.

[suespud]

Thanks again, everyone...I have saved all the info..
Sue
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