Va4fam Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 Booked next January for 11 night Southern Caribbean on Anthem from Bayonne. 318 days to go. Our 2nd time on Anthem. St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and San Juan are the ports we are visiting. Never been to any of these ports or on a cruise this long. Might be too early to use Cruise Planner for onboard activities/dining/beverages, but would like some suggestions or advice on shore excursions. We enjoy snorkeling, catamaran sailing, relaxing at a beach (even better if there's a bar), hiking, and exploring. I enjoy taking pictures and my wife enjoys shopping for clothes and jewelry. I've done a little research and read many trip reports and shore excursions but there are so many choices it's hard to narrow down the field. What are your favorite places to go/activities to do at these destinations? Do any of these activities sell out far in advance? Our anniversary coincides with our St. Maarten day if anyone has any crazy romantic ideas to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted March 3, 2020 Report Share Posted March 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Va4fam said: Booked next January for 11 night Southern Caribbean on Anthem from Bayonne. 318 days to go. Our 2nd time on Anthem. St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and San Juan are the ports we are visiting. Never been to any of these ports or on a cruise this long. Might be too early to use Cruise Planner for onboard activities/dining/beverages, but would like some suggestions or advice on shore excursions. We enjoy snorkeling, catamaran sailing, relaxing at a beach (even better if there's a bar), hiking, and exploring. I enjoy taking pictures and my wife enjoys shopping for clothes and jewelry. I've done a little research and read many trip reports and shore excursions but there are so many choices it's hard to narrow down the field. What are your favorite places to go/activities to do at these destinations? Do any of these activities sell out far in advance? Our anniversary coincides with our St. Maarten day if anyone has any crazy romantic ideas to share. Congratulations! This sounds like the perfect cruise for early January ! 11 nights is a great length. Very good choice. Chances are, not much will be available to book quite yet but it is NEVER too early to start planning. I’m so excited for you. The snorkeling in St. Maarten has always been disappointing, to me. I would probably save that for a different port. San Juan is a great “on-your-own” kind of port with so much history and local sightseeing. There’s a lot of time to make decisions but doing your research will make the time pass much more quickly. Hoski and Va4fam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiralqueen Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Oh hey! I’ll be on this sailing too! I’m doing a “girls trip” sailing with my mom and it’s over my birthday which is San Juan day. I admit I haven’t planned a ton for it yet, but I had done some rough research about the ports and potential excursions. If you have never been to St Kitts before, I can’t recommend Thenford Grey’s tour enough. Great deal, super knowledgeable and professional tour guide, and nice comfortable transport. It helps you get a really good feel for the whole island and you can end it with either a couple of hours at the beach or going back to the ship a little early. You can find my recap of the main island tour when I went last May. It starts around halfway down this page. I have no idea what we are doing in St Maarten or Antigua (likely a beach of some sort???), but St Lucia my mom and I are going to do the land and sea tour with Spencer Ambrose because it has great reviews and looks like a ton of bang for your buck. Since I figure it’s unlikely I’ll be back to St Lucia, I want to make sure to see the Pitons and do the volcanic mud baths. It just seems so unique to the island! San Juan will be strolling around sightseeing/shopping/having dinner since it’s a later port of call. Probably going to one of the forts for the sunset because that sounds wonderful. Love San Juan because I can use my data for free (TY, US territory) to use google maps and find places to go so it’s very easy to DIY. Look forward to sailing with you and I hope your anniversary is super memorable! The best part of a vacation is spending time with loved ones. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Va4fam Posted March 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Thank you @WAAAYTOOO for your suggestions. Agree we have plenty of time but it will probably seem like an eternity and then move quickly at the end. Good thing we have a cruise in October to help offset the "waiting" for January. We will probably do a lot of sightseeing and walking around San Juan. Luckily we have San Juan as a port on 3 or our next four cruises so no fear of missing anything since we can just do it the next time. What did you not like about the snorkeling in St. Maarten? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Va4fam Posted March 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Thank you @Spiralqueen for your advice and links. I look forward to checking them out and reading about your trip last May. I should have added that my wife loves a good spa experience, can you tell me more about the mud baths in St. Lucia? Very cool that we will be in San Juan later in day and until 9 or 10 pm (can't remember) at night. Should be fantastic experience. What a nice surprise that we will on the same cruise, and happy pre-birthday to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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