Best DCL tour on eastern Caribbean cruise?

[gisele2]

What are the best DCL tour on Eastern Caribbean cruise ?

 

[DWillowBay]

It would be important to know what your ports are. There are several different Eastern Caribbean itineraries. Happy to help, if I can though.

 

[gisele2]

It would be important to know what your ports are. There are several different Eastern Caribbean itineraries. Happy to help, if I can though.

Did not know.... first time cruising with Disney!
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

and Castaway Cay

Thanks

 

[Calantha]

Did not know.... first time cruising with Disney!
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

and Castaway Cay

Thanks

Another question - children and if so, ages?

You don't really need an excursion on Castaway. There is enough to do if you like the beach.
I haven't been to Tortola yet, so I can't comment on that (we are thinking about an independent small group snorkel trip for our October trip).

On St. Thomas, if you want the beach, Magens Bay (you can just catch a cab or do an excursion). I wouldn't recommend snorkeling if you have younger children. The group we were in had almost 70 people on the boat. Could also go over to St. John (again on your own or with DCL) - good beaches and nature activities. On the other hand, if you want shopping, Charlotte Amalie is nice to walk around with some good restaurants + standard cruise shops.

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

What are the best DCL tour on Eastern Caribbean cruise ?

We loved the Jost van dyke beach day when we stopped in tortola

 

[gisele2]

Another question - children and if so, ages?

You don't really need an excursion on Castaway. There is enough to do if you like the beach.
I haven't been to Tortola yet, so I can't comment on that (we are thinking about an independent small group snorkel trip for our October trip).

On St. Thomas, if you want the beach, Magens Bay (you can just catch a cab or do an excursion). I wouldn't recommend snorkeling if you have younger children. The group we were in had almost 70 people on the boat. Could also go over to St. John (again on your own or with DCL) - good beaches and nature activities. On the other hand, if you want shopping, Charlotte Amalie is nice to walk around with some good restaurants + standard cruise shops.

Thanks, cruising with my oldest son (22) for his graduation in engineering.

 

[randumb0]

I would recommend renting a car in Tortola and driving around

 

[bbn1122]

Would love to hear more about Tortola, I have only seen post on The Baths and Jost Van Dyke via a boat.

I would like to get to a beach on Tortola. Has anyone just taken a taxi or bus at the port? I don’t want to do a whole day.

I have looked at DCL excursions, some are of interest, pretty pricey.

I am cruising out of NYC to Bermuda to Tortola and disembarking in San Juan. This is my 9th DCL cruise. I did NYC auto Bermuda back in 2018

Any advice on Tortola would be great. Sorry for hijacking your post.

Thanks everyone!

 

[bbn1122]

Did not know.... first time cruising with Disney!
Tortola, British Virgin Islands
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

and Castaway Cay

Thanks

Welcome to DCL, you can get some great information and advice from these boards.
I hope your son and you have a fantastic cruise.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[SleepyDeb]

we loved the swimming with Dolphins in St Thomas. It’s quite expensive (around $260 pp) but well worth the spurge.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[SleepyDeb]

Was this at Coral World

Yes. The excursion fee included admission to Coral world.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

I loved the land and sea tour in Tortola (no beach time so if you d be looking for that dont book It)

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

We also did a sail and snorkel with sea turtles in St. Thomas. We booked it privately. It was about $120 per person but totally worth it. It’s a smaller group. We had only about 17 and it was a nice sailing yacht. We weren’t in the water with 80 other people so that alone made it more enjoyable.

 

[gisele2]

No matter the cruise line, on Tortola the favorites are a ferry trip to Jost Van Dyke or Virgin Gorda for The Baths.

Jost Van Dyke is known for the Soggy Dollar Bar and beautiful beaches.

The Baths on Virgin Gorda is a walk/hike down to an area with large boulders in the water.

There are some ride-around tours of Tortola; I rarely hear those mentioned.

St Thomas is famous for having lots of beaches. All within a 20-30 minute (roughly) taxi ride. Taxis are usually open-air style, pick-up conversions with padded seats in the truck bed and a roof overhead. They hold about 20 guests.

Magen’s Bay is the big each - about a mile wide, little wave action due to being set back from the ocean. Concessions for drinks, food, loungers, equipment. Bath houses available. $5 pp admission if not on a tour. Tours usually included stops at overlooks: Drake’s Seat to view the Bay and then one overlooking Charlotte Amalie, near the ship port.

Other beaches offer different views across the water, different color of water.

St Thomas has a gondola/tram overlooking the Havensight port (where you dock). If you have no interest in water and beach.

There are some snorkeling + boat excursions. Mixed reviews regarding safety and overcrowding.

Excursions to St John, about 2 miles away by ferry or as a sailing/ catamaran trip combined with snorkeling or time on that island, show a more peaceful island. St John is 1/3 National Park. Many people would list the beaches here as nicer (including me). You can also hike on St John.

Most of the above can be done on your own if they are unavailable through the cruise line - a situation I read a lot about in this forum.

If you cannot reserve what you want, have a back-up plan; no need to miss out.

It really depends on what you (& your son) enjoys.

Wow, thanks for the information, will look into hiking.

 

[I Run Long]

On Tortola we really enjoyed the Forest Hike which finishes with some beach time. Yeah it's kind of basic but we loved learning about the flora on the island.

On St. Thomas we loved, loved, loved the zip line with Tree Limmin'. I see they don't list it as a Port Adventure now which is a bummer but you could still go on it, just not through DCL if you were interested.

 

[BriarBelle]

Would love to hear more about Tortola, I have only seen post on The Baths and Jost Van Dyke via a boat.

I would like to get to a beach on Tortola. Has anyone just taken a taxi or bus at the port? I don’t want to do a whole day.

I have looked at DCL excursions, some are of interest, pretty pricey.

I am cruising out of NYC to Bermuda to Tortola and disembarking in San Juan. This is my 9th DCL cruise. I did NYC auto Bermuda back in 2018

Any advice on Tortola would be great. Sorry for hijacking your post.

Thanks everyone!

We've been to Tortola a few times on DCL and we just get a taxi to Cane Garden Bay. There are always several drivers standing just past the main port waiting to take people to different beaches. We like to be able to go when we want and come back when we want without being on an excursion's timeline. All of our drivers have been super nice and they have all been great about answering questions and pointing out things on the island on the drive. Prices have ranged between $8 (when we went on a larger vehicle with lots of people) and $15 (just two people in a vehicle) per person each way.

There are several beaches to choose from but we like Cane Garden Bay quite a bit. It's pretty and very easy to get chairs/umbrellas and there are multiple bars and restaurants right along the beach.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[bbn1122]

We've been to Tortola a few times on DCL and we just get a taxi to Cane Garden Bay. There are always several drivers standing just past the main port waiting to take people to different beaches. We like to be able to go when we want and come back when we want without being on an excursion's timeline. All of our drivers have been super nice and they have all been great about answering questions and pointing out things on the island on the drive. Prices have ranged between $8 (when we went on a larger vehicle with lots of people) and $15 (just two people in a vehicle) per person each way.

There are several beaches to choose from but we like Cane Garden Bay quite a bit. It's pretty and very easy to get chairs/umbrellas and there are multiple bars and restaurants right along the beach.

Thank you so much for this information. This is exactly what I was looking for. I did see some info on Cane Bay.