St. Thomas, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbados
 

I will be going on a November cruise to these ports. I see a lot of shore excursions offered by Princess that sound great. I would like to know if anyone know the best thing to do at each island. I don't want to waste my time doing one thing on an island, that would have been better at the other.

Which island is best for snorkeling and beaching, which one is better for shopping? Which one has better mountain biking and/or horseback riding? Which one is best suited for touring?

Also, any suggestions as to where I can find other shore excursions/private tour-activity vendors?

Thanks.

Re: St. Thomas, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbados
 

St.Thomas & St.Maarten have the best shopping!

In St.Kitts consider the "St.Kitts-Nevis Sailway". Nevis is "Travel Brochure Pretty" and the catamaran crew is great and very helpful. There's a snorkeling stop on the way to Nevis -- lots of fish.

Antigua has 365 Beaches. Gee, you could go to a different one every day for a year! Seriously, I love the "baby powder" white beaches of Antigua. Just pick one -- you'll like it!

Barbados has good water sports and there are always the tours to the caves and rum factory.

You itinerary is great. You'll have a wonderful time!

Have Fun! WSEA

Re: St. Thomas, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbados
 

Best suited for tour: In my opinion - St Kitt's - specifically a tour that includes Brimstone Hill (World Heritage Site with spectacular views)
Antigua: also well suited for a tour + beach experience. Any tour should include National Historic Park (Nelson's Dockyard, Shirley Heights, Dows Hill Interpretation Centre and Blockhouse). We organized our own tour with Lawrence - who took us to the National Historic Park (about 3 hours to do all the sites), the Natural Bridge (scenic rock formation) and dropped us at a beach for a couple of hours. Then he picked us up at the agreed upon time and returned us to the ship. His website is
www.lawrenceofantigua.com I HIGHLY recommend him.
St Martin: shopping and some good beaches. We liked Orient Beach
St. Thomas: shopping and some good beaches. We have been to Magen's Bay - very pretty but no snorkeling and Coki Beach - not as pretty as Magen's but it has decent snorkeling
Barbados: very scenic island. We did an island tour and enjoyed it.
Whatever you choose to do - these are a great bunch of islands.

Re: Re: St. Thomas, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barb
 

While in St. Kitts I recommend taking a tour with Greg's Safaris. www.gregsafaris.com

Also visit Turtle Beach Bar & Grill. www.turtlebeach1.com

Re: St. Thomas, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbados
 

St. Kitts -- Brimstone Hill definitely. It's really amazing. I don't have her contact info but we took a tour w/ Mrs. Wallace. She was lovely, informative & kind. Her van was clean, comfortable & well stocked. She took us everywhere for a very reasonable price. I think it was $30 pp.

St. Thomas -- shopping, hands down.

I understand the Boatyard in Barabados is nice. We went somewhere else & it wasn't that great.