Question re: Our 1st Caribbean Cruise & Snorkeling

[Rene McDaniel]

We are planning to take our first cruise this winter and are looking at a 14-day Celebrity cruise. The reviews on cruise critic & everything look pretty good, so we are almost ready to book. But I do have some questions for those of you with cruise and/or experience with some of these Caribbean ports of call:

The ports of call are: (1) St. Maarten, (2) Antigua, (3) St. Lucia, (4) Barbados, (5) Bonaire, (6) Curacao, and (7) Aruba

I am really looking forward to snorkelling, but snorkelling every single port day would be too much. Which are the ports with the great reefs with the "must do" snorkeling? Also, how can I figure out which places I should book excursions with 2-snorkel stops, verses places where the reef is close to the shore and you can taxi to the beach and hop right in -- Bonaire?

I have been to Antigua and Barbados already on land vacations 25+ years ago, so already know those 2 islands fairly well. But my husband has not seen those. Any recommendations for best things to do there? St. Maaten being both french and dutch might be a port day that would be better spent touring the island?

Also, I have this crazy idea. Since our very last port is Aruba, is it possible to disembark there instead of making the 2-day trip back to Florida. I am thinking that possibly we could add a timeshare week (or a hotel week) in Aruba to extend our vacation to 3 weeks. I checked and we could fly home from Aruba for only $100 more than flying home from Florida.

Timeframe-wise we are looking at mid-February, finishing up the 1st week of March to avoid the Spring-breakers. Does that sound about right? Any other suggestions for us in planning our first Caribbean cruise?

Thanks,
Rene M.

 

[ibcnu]

Out of all of the islands yo mentioned, we cruised to St. Maarten, St. Lucia and Barbados. We have never been to Antigua, Bonaire, Curacao or Aruba.

In Barbados, we snorkeled with sea turtles. We took a boat tour for a few hours, but I believe you can, if you are a strong swimmer, also swim out from the beach to where boats moor to swim with turtles.

In St. Lucia, we took a boat trip to a beach between The Pitons and snorkeled the reef there.

In St. Maarten, I don't recall it being a place for great snorkeling. On this island, since it was our last, we did not want to do another all day island tour so we just took a taxi to Maho Beach, rented 2 chairs, and umbrella, a bucket of beer and some lunch and swam and watched the planes land at he airport behind us.

Try going over to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/, an excellent forum for cruisers looking for ideas or join your cruises' roll call and meet others also going on this cruise. who may have other ideas or put together excursions and meet-and-greets.

 

[melissy123]

Bonaire will have absolutely the best snorkeling out of all your locations.

Contact Woodwind Snorkel. https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/

They are rated number 1 on tripadvisor, and I had the best snorkeling excursion with them (and I have done a LOT of snorkeling excursions) I have NO affiliation with them, but honestly, they are the best. Run by a husband and wife team. Their spaces fill up fast and we were only able to get on because of a cancellation. You can walk to their office/embarkation point from the cruise ship port.

Be aware that some of the snorkel operators will not take cruise ship guests. Like Aruba Bob in Aruba.

I would think you have to check with the cruise line about disembarking in Aruba. In a completely different situation, a friend had to leave a cruise ship early because his wife was ill. Had to pay a heavy penalty, but had something to do with not hitting a foreign port and it was a violation of customs laws.

 

[pedro47]

I do believe you cannot disembarked on the last port without causing some problems for the cruise line.

 

[Rene McDaniel]

IBCNU -- thanks for the suggestion. I went online and signed up for cruise critic and the roll call. Also Melissy123 thanks for your help. I didn't realize some tour operators would not take cruise ship passengers. Interesting.

 

[ibcnu]

IBCNU -- thanks for the suggestion. I went online and signed up for cruise critic and the roll call. Also Melissy123 thanks for your help. I didn't realize some tour operators would not take cruise ship passengers. Interesting.

I think the reason is, and I've seen this on other islands, is that the hours the ship is in port may be at or less than then time it takes for the tour to start and end.

I'm glad you joined the roll call, have a great time!

 

[Passepartout]

Re: disembarking early. I've seen many passengers leaving various cruises at intermediate ports. Now, that said, you MUST go through the cruise line. (call customer service with your reservation information in hand) You cannot just roll your bags off the ship on your own. I don't know if there is a reduction in your fare for doing so.

Jim

 

[ibcnu]

Disembarking early:

Here are instructions from Royal Caribbean on how to disembark early. The key is to advise the cruise line as early as possible, get the approval in writing, and alerting the staff on the ship once you embark:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/custo...ly_asked_questions&faqId=623&faqSubjectId=322

 

[Karen G]

In St. Maarten, I don't recall it being a place for great snorkeling. On this island, since it was our last, we did not want to do another all day island tour so we just took a taxi to Maho Beach, rented 2 chairs, and umbrella, a bucket of beer and some lunch and swam and watched the planes land at he airport behind us.

I second this recommendation for St. Maarten. We really enjoyed the Sunset Bar and watching the planes land & the people on the beach being blown around. Here are reviews from Tripadvisor. As we sat there a guy next to us showed us an app on his phone that would tell you which flights were landing next. We took a taxi from the dock and asked the driver to come back and pick us up at a certain time & he did.