Ryan M asked:
My Girlfriend and I are going on a cruise to the Caribbean in October. These are the islands we will be visiting: Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island); Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Grand Turk Island.
What are some things we should look out for or be sure to check out. Or any precruise planning to make?
You definitely want to do some research, in order to choose what excursions you want to sign up for and whether you can do some excursions on your own.
If it’s your first time in St. Thomas, you’ll probably want to do the “usual” sights there. But St. John is more beautiful and less crowded. If you feel like an adventure, you can do the Lind Point Trail from the National Park Office on St. John down to Honeymoon Beach and Salomon Bay Beach [unreachable except by boat or on foot], then over to Caneel Bay Beach to grab a cab back to Cruz Bay for the ferry back to St. Thomas. You would have to start ASAP after docking [walk across the street to get a cab - not in the dock area], and you need to allow plenty of time to get back to the ship, because they won’t wait for you if you’re late. See VINow.com [or .org?] for lots of info about the USVI.
In St. Maarten people seem to want to go to Orient Beach, which is partly clothing-optional. We went to the next beach over [south or east?], which was almost empty. Had the cab come back for us at a particular time. There’s a little beach bar there, but not much else. Sorry that I can’t remember the name, but it’s the beach down the road from the butterfly farm and horseback riding facility.
Never been to Grand Turk, but from what I’ve read, there’s not much there except for the Margaritaville at the end of the dock.
Go to CruiseCritic.com, click on “Boards”, then go to “Ports of Call” for lots of great info from experienced cruisers.