How do I find out what to do on various island?

Question

Im going on a caribbean cruise to 5 islands next spring. Do most people take cruise ship excursions when they go there? How do I find out about what's to do on each island if I want to just get off the ship and explore? Things like diving, shopping, bars, local transportation are important to me.

Which approach is better and why?

Answer 1

Go to your library and get a book on cruising or on Caribbean ports of call.  That will give you an idea of what's available on the different islands.

When cruising, you can purchase excursions from the cruise line.  The advantages are that they make all the arrangements, the ship will wait for you if your tour runs late and there can be a feeling of "safety in numbers" for some people.  Disadvantages are that you will be one of the "herd" on many of the excursions [unless they are limited to a small number of people], they are more expensive than those your arrange on your own, and they don't always do/go exactly where and when you want to go.

You can arrange your own excursions on any of the islands.  However, some of them are safer and easier [e.g. Grand Cayman, Cozumel] than others [e.g. Jamaica - don't go it alone unless you're very brave].  The advantages are, you'll go when/where you want, the tour group will be small, the tour will cost less.  Disadvantages are, you could get left behind by the ship if you don't get back at the required time, you have to do some research to discover which activities fit what you want, you have to make all the arrangements [including transportation, for some tours].

If you do plenty of research, aren't the type to get anxious about "every little thing", and can keep track of time and still relax, then you may be a good candidate to do your own arrangements.  I wouldn't suggest this for a first-time cruiser, however, unless you are completely comfortable with the concept.

For lots of reliable, up-to-date info from experienced cruisers, go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards" at the top of the page, then go to "Ports of Call" and find your ports.  If you're going to the Virgin Islands, try vinow.com.  Caribbeanonline.com can also be helpful [especially with maps].  The islands will all have web pages with lots of helpful info, too.

Good luck - hope you have a great cruise.

Answer 2

I have personally found, the best way to see an island in the little time you have there, is to take an excerssion. They are safe and completely worry free. All you have to do is relax and take pictures. Transportation, the best tour guides, and sometimes even your meals are all complete safe and provided for you. You won't be sorry if you book any excerssion offered by your cruise line.

If your not interested in any of the shore excerssions, or would rather do some exploring on your own, go to (what is usally refered to on an ship as) the excerssion office (sometimes they have different names, but everyone will know what you want). They'll have tons of helpful stuff for you there. They can make personal suggestions about safe places to visit, where to steer clear from, where to shop, free stuff you can do, and the best places to eat (if you want something other then steak and lobster, lol). And, if your still interested if you decide later that you may want to take an excerssion after all, they can help you book one there, too. So really, it's a nice idea to check in with these guys before you get off the ship at a port your not sure about.

Also, some ships offer little seminars about different ports on the sea days before arriving there. Check the daily schedules for these, but be warned. Some of these are just trying to sell you diamonds and won't be of much help when it comes to actual stuff to do.

Happy cruising, and don't worry. You won't be left in the dark when it comes to stuff to see. There are tons of people who are there just for that purpose.

It'll be great :)

Answer 3

There are several people who like to be adventurous and do take excursions at every port of call. There are also people who just like to look around and shop at the ports. Since I don't know the exact places that you are going to, I very much reccomend cruisecritic.com. It has EVERYTHING you could possibly want to know about every port of call. There are specific threads where people post questions,pictures,suggestions, etc about every single port of call. If you have a question or would just like to see what others have suggested about a certain island or port of call, cruisecritic is the place to go.  I'm not exactly sure what you can access on the site without having an account, so you may have to make one. It is free and let's you access the entire site.  Here is a link to the site itself

http://www.cruisecritic.com/

And the overall boards

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

And the port of call section

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisp...

If you have any further questions, feel free to send me a message, I'd be glad to help!

Hope this helps and have a ton of fun! (:

Answer 4

First read about the shore excursion from your cruise ship and make decisions there. If you change your mind, no problem, you can cancel. It is best to do this first as many of the shore excursions fill up way before the cruise. The other thing I do is to join up on cruise critic, become a member(it's free) and then any question you may have about both your cruise and shore excursions can be put before many many people who have been there, done that.. Just so you know, you usually have to wait between 120 days or less before you actually book a shore excursion with your cruise company, but you can check out each port and what they will offer anytime.