St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, will send you into a fainting spell if you are a shopaholic. Particularly if you are a jewelry shopper. I am fairly sure that every single jewelry shop in the entire world was magically transported to St. Thomas just before we arrived, because I cannot imagine any reason why so many would congregate in one place year round...but there it is. 
At one point we were walking down the main shopping street and as the various vendors called out the wonders of their shops, one enterprising fellow said, "Just what you were looking for! Yet ANOTHER jewelry shop! and I have it right here! Aren't you lucky!" Points for acknowledging your place in the world, I guess. 
I wasn't interested in shopping for jewelry, so this was annoying to me, but I fully acknowledge that there are those who go on these cruises in large part to do this. All the shopping is duty free. Electronics, too, which I now wish I had thought about a bit more, as there are a couple of items I need...but too late... 
We were not on a shore excursion here and quickly fled the jewelry corridors and found our way to Blackbeard's Castle. As cheesy as it sounds, this is actually a must see if you're interested in history and beautiful views. The blackbeard part is sort of campy but the ticket into blackbeard's castle includes several gorgeous historical homes, a little working rum factory, and the amber museum, all $12. Get there from the main shopping street by setting your sights on a prominent castle-like turret up on the hill, and heading there. You will probably hike up the famous 99 steps on your way. Don't attempt to enter the amber museum or any of the homes until you get to the top and get your ticket. It was sunny that day, and every time we turned around, a beautiful view. Local docents, knowledgable and friendly, provide information on the various historical sites. One of the rum factory managers showed us how they make the rum, and you can take a whiff from the vats. 
If you do all this on your own, then you aren't squashed into a big tour group, and you can linger as you please. Local people here are very friendly, and St. Thomas is very safe. 
We also went up the sky tram which is literally across the street from the ship. We reserved our ticket from the Carnival shore excursion folks for $12 - when we go there, we saw that if we had paid cash it would have been a few dollars more, so the Carnival folks are the way to go on that one. 
Note on cabs: between downtown and cruise port is flat rate $4. You can catch cabs from the cruise port or the sky tram as well. That $4 doesn't get you a private cab, though. On the way back we found a cab, and then she spent about 10 minutes recruiting other people to join the cab. 
Overall, St. Thomas does feel a bit overrun - the traffic is terrible - but the two attractions we saw were nice enough to be worth it. If we went back I would want to see St. John's, where the national park is, for a more relaxed, natural experience. 


St. Thomas

First let me say this port isn't for everyone. Those who like the more tony beaches and shopping may be a bit lost here, and that's fair enough. But if you love nature, and finding local culture, this place is incredible. 
Dominica has resisted the big hotels and heavy development that have had mixed results on other islands. Cruise ships represent the biggest tourist impact here, and because cruise passengers don't stay in hotels, there are very few - and pulling into the main port you feel like you have reached the ends of the earth - a small, very modest West indies town, dominated by a cricket stadium and ramshackle buildings. There is a strong sense of community here. Local people are quite friendly as long as you are polite, of course. It's important to treat local people as equals - I did observe a few "ugly tourists" treating locals like small children, and they don't react well to that (would you?). 
This island has many, many extensive and nature-oriented shore excursions. I really wanted to do one of the longer hikes, but dad was a bit past that age, so we opted for the river tubing excursion instead. 
The river tubing excursion involves a 1.5 hour drive deep into the interior of this jungle island. Stunning views the whole way. Very winding, narrow road that requires an experienced driver, which we fortunately had. You really get to see this place, and it is spectacular and wild. If you get carsick, Dominica may pose issues for you, as most excursions do involve drives like this. 
The river tubing was on a relatively shallow river (they have 365 of them!) and was one of the most pleasant, leisurely things I can think of to ever do. The river guides were young men, 18-22 in age, who seemed to genuinely enjoy their jobs, one-upping each other diving off of rocks, etc. The tourists are basically just dropped into these tubes and float down through mini-rapids, etc. This isn't remotely dangerous but is pleasant and fun and the river is wild and undeveloped. 
At the beginning of this tour we were treated to a performance by the Carib indian people - the only survivors of a vast range of tribes that once occupied most of the Caribbean. As someone who has studied spanish colonial history I can tell you the fact that these people still exist is a miracle. The Conquistadors and the Brits and the French left no survivors anywhere else. Leave a tip. 
Our guide was very good, by the way. Overall I was impressed by the high quality of the local guides on most of the shore excursions on this cruise, but this on in particular. 
After the river tubing another 45 minute drive in the mountains led to Jaco Falls, a small (30 foot?) waterfall near a small vendor area. Beautiful waterfall, but if waterfalls are what you are after, there are much bigger ones on Dominica, and other excursions do go to those. 
I still can't get over the image of the massive, mountainous island, clouds hanging over the peaks, and its tiny single dock...I'll remember that one for a long time. 




Dominica

If you love beaches with powder white sand that feels like soft pillows on your feet, and with that turquoise water, Barbados is for you. There are probably also some good activities there. Unfortunately for us we went on a shore excursion that disappointed and perhaps my view of the island is colored by that. 
The Carnival ship docks, along with the other ships, near a little cruise shopping center. Shoppers will find some of the usual stuff as well as a local rum cake shop (I am eating some of that right now) and a local pottery shop. 
Nearby - within walking distance of the ship - is Carlisle beach. It has that sand, that water. Go there. It is on the right in relation to the town when coming from the ship (I think that is east, but I could be wrong). 
Our shore excursion was titled "4x4 Adventure and Paradise Beach". Paradise Beach was washed out due to storms so we went to Carlisle, and Carlisle was excellent. However, by the time we go there, the tour guide only gave us 50 minutes. Many people just abandoned the tour at that point and I don't blame them. 
Earlier, our supposed 4x4 trip involved no actual offroad activity - to the degree that the trip description was actually false. It said "roads otherwise inaccessible". Not so - all roads we were on were ordinary paved roads. Dominica's roads were far more adventurous. I complained about this to Carnival, and i think they may do something about it as the excursion manager seemed quite concerned, but I would avoid these tours on Barbados regardless. We did see Bethsheba, the Atlantic coast town, which was very picturesque, but otherwise, we just spent time toodling through main city, including taking a pass by bungalows previously rented by Tiger Woods. Not what I imagined when I bought a "4x4 adventure". 
I now wish I had done the cave tour (Harrison's Cave is apparently something to see). 
Anyhow, the beach was lovely. And the rum cake is good. 
Geographic note: Barbados is a coral reef based island, and has no mountains, no jungles. Essentially, the opposite of Dominica in almost every possible way. 



Barbados

They don't call it the most picturesque island in the Caribbean for nothing. Stunning place. St. Lucia is somewhat developed, but not overrun by traffic and hotels in the way St. Thomas and St. Maarten have become; it has its exclusive resorts, but it also has many authentic West Indies towns. There are some beaches, though this is a volcanic island and you will not find powder white sand here. 
The harbor itself is fascinating with peninsulas sticking out and an airstrip between two bays, steep mountainsides, etc. The main city is relatively modern (relative to St. Kitts or Dominica) but is still very locally oriented, catering mainly to the local people, their government, their needs. 
There is a nice little cruise passenger shopping area here, but a word of warning - if you are looking for local crafts or even the common west indies souveniers, you will find them cheaper in the outlying towns, and many of the shore excursions go to those towns. I found a doll in Anse La Raye, for instance, for $7 that cost $13 at the cruise port shopping area. 
We took the Land and Sea Combo from Soufriere shore excursion and it was fantastic - full driving tour along the coast from the port of Castries down to Soufriere, including the volcano park and the botanical gardens, then a long, leisurely catamaran ride back up to Castries, dropping us off a few yards from the ship. We had an hour's swim in a protected cove near a resort on the way back up. Highly recommended. The drive was spectacular - this place is gifted with geography. The viewpoint for the Pitons (the two signature mountains of the island) alone was a jaw dropper. Winding, but not as bad as Dominica because there are more stops, at least along this tour. There are generally vendors at each stop. If you see something you like, grab it, as you may not see it down near the ship, and the people in these small towns do appreciate your business far more than any bigger vendors down by the ship. 
Watch out for "free trinket" scam artists here, one hung around our bus at one stop. They offer you a "free" flower made of palm leaves or something like that, and then harass you for money afterwords. Didn't happen to me but I read about it before I arrived, and what do you know, there it was. also know that palm leaves that are not dried cannot be brought into the United States. 
Be polite to people that might seem to be "poorly" dressed and unshaven - this is the west indies, people are more casual about their dress, and one fellow that I honestly thought was homeless turned out to be a docent at the Anse La Raye Catholic church. Very nice fellow who had approached me asking how I liked my trip. Because I was polite, I had a nice conversation with him and he was very proud of that beautiful old church - with Mahogony beams. Leave a tip in their box if you want the restoration to continue. 
Loved the sound of schoolchildren reciting their lessons in a beachside elementary school in Anse La Raye. 
The people of St. Lucia are still trying to figure out whether they like this whole tourism thing to a certain degree. Tip generously, be generous with your words and your smiles, consider buying from smaller local vendors, and long term this island will remain a great destination. 
Only negative - we had the behemoth Caribbean Princess in dock with us, along with another ship. The botanical gardens were completely clogged with tour groups, as were a couple of the viewpoints. Hang to the back of the group, relax, and it isn't so bad, but this island is well-loved and you will not be alone. 
If you do decide to hire your own cab (negotiate carefully) I suggest the following stops: Anse La Raye, Canaries, viewpoints in between, the drive in volcano, the botanical gardens, the viewpoint of the Pitons, and Soufriere. 



St. Lucia

We saw St. Kitts on a most unusual day - Nomination Day for their contentious local parliamentary elections. This resulted in an unexpected trip around the entire island due to traffic, with all the towns decked out in political flags and colors. 
The boat docks at a brand new port with a little bit of nearby shopping (you diamond fanatics will find opportunities here once again, though St. Maarten comes next so why would you?). We were the only ones in port. 
We took the rainforest walk and batik factory tour. Best souvenir on the trip was the batik squares from Caribelle Batik, which are inexpensive and stunningly beautiful. Artists demonstrate their trade on site. They will decorate my wall for years to come. Our tour was first of the day and we had the place to ourselves. 
Afterword we went through the forest with a very knowledgeable local guide. The zip line adventures are also in this same forest, so there is the odd experience of walking through a lovely patch of nature, and then seeing some fat tourist flying a hundred feet overhead (usually silently, too afraid to scream). Even so, it was a wonderful walk. There are green monkeys here and though we did not see them, they threw almond pods at us. The remains of the old sugar mill at the Romney plantation are also quite picturesque. 
For those of you interested in the ziplining, the facilities looked very recently built and modern. They have all the safety equipment though some of the lines are quite high. 
After the tour we tried to drive back to the dock but were blocked by the massive traffic of the Nomination Day activities - as well as an accident on the single road that rings the island. So we went around the back of the island instead. The towns here have a strong feeling of a coherent culture, even if the island itself is a bit troubled, with high crime and significant outmigration. Crime is unlikely to affect cruise passengers at this time but those staying on the island have been affected in the past. The Atlantic coast has bigger waves, lots of wind, and some starkly beautiful landscapes of abandoned coconut and sugar plantation. Our detour was about an hour to go around the island, giving some perspective on how small the place really is. Beautiful views of St. Eustacia and Saba (dutch islands) to the north. 
Once again, people are friendly if you are friendly and if you feel you've had a good tour, don't forget to tip. 





St. Kitts (Port Zante)

Overrun with cars is the first thing that I would use to describe St. Maarten...also overrun with ugly sprawl, particularly home improvement related stores. but there are some nice spots that make up for some of that, and the water taxi from the cruise port can take you to the waterfront beach in Philipsburg while avoiding the ugliness behind it entirely. Round Trip is $6 and worth it.. 
The beach at Philipsburg fronts the upscale shops (yes! more jewelry!) in the town and is white with that lovely turquoise water. The beach, though, is grittier than Barbados, with some sharper shell and coral fragments, so it's not that powder sand. Still plenty good for bathing and enjoying, though, and lots of vendors to rent you a chair with an umbrella all along. 
Behind this the shopping areas spread out on either side of a historic courthouse framed by royal palms. 
We did not do a shore excursion here - we canceled ours after our bad experience in Barbados. St. Maarten is quite safe and has good taxi service (flat rates, agree up front with your driver) so it isn't necessary to have one. We went straight to Marigot on the French side (this is actually France, not just a territory). We hiked up the hill to Ft. Louis, the remains of the old French fortress. History is written by the victors and the French waste no opportunity in glorifying their triumph on the helpful historical signs. Stunning views. There was a Windjammer ship in port over there and the sun on the water with that sailing ship was quite a sight. The fort is free. There's public bathrooms right on the main street next to the harbor if you need them, or extra-fancy pay toilets in the upscale shopping mall next to the harbor. 
All prices we saw seemed to be in US dollars, though a local currency is valid on the Dutch side and the Euro is valid on the French side. 
We lingered for a while at the vendor market - nothing too interesting there, sadly - and then had a nice french coffee and quiche at a local french cafe. Excellent. 
We taxied back to the ship, cleaned up a bit, and went back out to the Philipsburg beach via water taxi. It was so convenient we could really maximize our time there and came back to the ship quickly when the time came. 



St. Maarten

Perfect view, large size, no noise issues at all. This is the lowest class of balcony cabin but I honestly don't know why you would pay more.

In addition to Lido buffet in the afternoons there's extra food on deck in a couple of other locations, usually quite good, one day they had Caribbean food for example.We only ate in the dining room one night, as we hate that whole dining room thing, but I had a vegetarian indian dinner that was very good, and the Indian-Canadian couple next to us loved it so much they sent compliments to the chef.

Carnival Victory Review

Cruising the Lesser Antilles, Carnival Victory Jan 2010

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