lauraodonnell86

See you guys onboard! Celebrating my bday!

Hello from a fellow Kansascitian! We are leaving from San Juan on January 6th for the 9 night sailing! We originally had this booked but recently the 9 night was lower in price than this one so we decided we'd like a longer cruise! We have done the Southern Caribbean many times as we sail every year from San Juan for our anniversary in January. Here are a few of my recommendations! I will preface this by saying we are mainly beach people so they will be pretty beachy St. Croix - We always go down to Rainbow Beach which is a beautiful beach with a nice restaurant as well with delicious food! It's a very short/cheap taxi ride from the port and has always been our go-to for St. Croix. It's been several years since we've been here but we've always loved it in the past. They do have water activities for rent there on the beach but nothing pushy which is nice! St. Thomas - This is where we got married 14 years ago on Serenade of the Seas! We usually take a taxi to Meghan's Bay which is gorgeous as I'm sure you've heard but I will say the taxi is quite expensive and there is an entry fee to the beach ($5/person if I remember right). It was worth it for us though and a beautiful area! We recently walked around the port area and found a restaurant called Tickles which had beautiful views and great food! St. Maarten - Recently, we have been walking to Great Bay beach which is about 20 mins depending on how quickly you walk. It's a nice walk but you can also take a water taxi or regular taxi over there if you prefer not to walk. We used to book this excursion every year though Shore Excursioneer https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/st-maarten/beach-bum-orient-maho.html It is such a great tour and you get to see 2 different beaches including Orient Beach and Maho Beach (which is awesome to see the planes). Drinks are also included in the $45/per person price. I just don't think you can beat that price for everything this tour includes! Another fun day we had was renting a kayak through this website https://www.caribbeanpaddling.com/ and using it to get over to Pinel Island. It's a gorgeous island to hike around and see hermit crabs, huge turtles, and iguanas in the wild! There are also 2 restaurants on the island. There is a ferry to the island if you wish to not kayak or paddleboard. St. Lucia - If we aren't going to the beach (usually Rodney Bay), we love doing this zipline tour https://adventuretoursstlucia.com/zipline-tours-in-st-lucia/treetop-canopy-adventure/ The guides are so amazing and will take pictures of you with your phone as you come down the zipline and are just so fun! We haven't done this tour for several years but it was such a good time! St. Kitts - We love taking a taxi to Carambola Beach Club. It's a gorgeous beach and lots of good spots for great snorkeling on your own. The taxi is fairly cheap from the port and it's a beautiful place to spend the day. There is a charge for the chairs/umbrella but I can't remember how much. You can take a stroll down to the left of the beach and find yourself on a black sand beach which is really neat! There is also a restaurant on site where food/drinks can be purchased. Barbados - Our FAVORITE spot! We never do anything else when we go to Barbados but go to Boatyard Beach Club. It is a short taxi ride there and only about $5/person. https://www.theboatyard.com/adventure-beach That is the link that will tell about it but with the $35 entry fee (used to be $25), you get a welcome drink, chairs and umbrella, access to all of the water activities including a water trampoline and rope swing, a snorkeling tour to see a boat wreck and sea turtles, and transportation back to the ship when you are done! Even with the increase in price, I really feel like it's still a great deal. The food from the restaurant is delicious and the sand is POWDER soft. Such a great place! Sorry this was a little long winded but I am passionate about the southern Caribbean I have pictures of all things I mentioned here and would be glad to post them if you are interested in anything particular, just let me know! I hope this helps you out a little bit with ideas and I KNOW you will have an amazing time no matter what you decide to do! Laura

Thanks for the amazing blog! I will 2nd what everyone else said! You were funny and kept my attention as I read through all 16 pages! I'm excited to meet you on the Freedom GC!

I hope you guys have a great time! It's so fun to get away with friends every now and again! I'm looking forward to following along. I'll hold down the 911 calls while you all are cruising ?

I love this whole blog so much! Sometimes I get bored reading through live blogs but your posts are fun and easy to read! So excited to be on board soon! Can't wait to check out those little overlooks! Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Excited to follow along as I am boarding Oasis December 8th! Have a great time!

If you like beaches, we love going to the Boatyard which is about 3-5 mins taxi ride from the port. The entry fee is $25/pp and that includes a beach chair and umbrella, ocean trampolines, a slide and rope swing, and a free boat ride to a shipwreck and swimming/snorkeling with sea turtles. Included in the price is your return taxi back to the ship! The water and sand is absolutely perfect and it's our one of our favorite islands in the Caribbean! Here is the link for more information https://www.theboatyard.com/adventure-beach Have a great time whatever you decide to do!

Have you already visited Honfleur and how was it? We are headed to La Havre next August and looking for ideas.

Oh you know it! ? I'm still holding out hope that Hillary will be with us!! ?

Sounds great! We are easy! I just wanted to walk around a bit since I've never been there before.

@twangster Thank you so much for all of the information and pictures! This will be great for my sister and I to do a little exploring! Yep, I am on Jarvis's cruise! The price was too good to pass up! I look forward to cruising with you again!

I am visiting Labadee for the first time in December. Recently I found a map (which I have attached) that shows a few "paths" that are marked leisure, moderate, and strenuous. Does anyone know if these are hiking trails? Along with having a beach day, we would like to do some hiking/exploring around the island and I just wanted to see if anyone had been on these paths and also find out where they lead. Thank you for any help you can give! ?

I'm glad the others here let you know the difference between the 2 companies. I used https://www.caribbeanpaddling.com/ not Caribbean Paddle. Hopefully you got everything worked out. This is a great company and I wouldn't want anyone thinking badly about them.

@AshleyDillo You are so awesome! Thanks for recommending that! I can't wait to go back in December!

We enjoyed doing the RC excursion to Blue Water Beach. It was a nice beach and the one we bought had lunch included which was jerk chicken. It was delicious!!!