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St. Thomas - suitearia's Rating: 5.0
We bought the excursion to Magen's Bay on Monday morning. This was the BEST beach and is rated in the top 10. What is interesting is that this beach marks the point where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean. The water was smooth, clear, and the sand soft and clean. You are nestled between green hills with an ocean in front. We could have done a taxi for a lot less than 70 US dollars but didn't want to risk not getting picked up. One couple paid 8 dollars each way for a taxi to Magen's Bay.
I will tell you, the ride over to the beach was thrilling to say the least and we did get two great photo ops - one of the ship and one of the beach. I'm excited to see how my pictures turn out!
Megan's became the standard by which we judged the other beaches.
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Dominica - suitearia's Rating: 4.0
The poorest island we visited and the most beautiful. We chose not to take any excursions. We walked into town and spent the day on the ship. The minute you are off the pier the taxi drivers are all in your face trying to persuade you to purchase an excursion from them. It wasn't uncommon to have 3 drivers trying to get your business at once. That was a bit irritating.
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Barbados - suitearia's Rating: 4.0
We did the Malibu Beach and Distillery excursion - when we got to the beach we skipped the distillery and went straight to the beach. We rated this beach number 3 because the waves were very choppy and the sand wasn't quite as smooth as Megan's. But the beach was still lovely and we had a great day.
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St. Lucia - suitearia's Rating: 5.0
When the excursion desk opened we asked the staff about which beach seemed to be the most recommended beach and were told that Reduit Beach the best close beach. We picked up a taxi for this beach - it cost us $12 for 2 people each way. We found that the taxi prices were a lot higher for the rest of the trip. We shared a taxi with approximately 15 other people. We liked Reduit beach - it was a very long beach with nice sand and moderate wave action. The only complaint was that the drivers of the motorized boats came right through the swimming areas to try and drum up business.
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Antigua - suitearia's Rating: 4.0
I had read about Dickinson Beach (also the beach that Sandals is on) and so we planned to go there. Once we got off the pier, it took 3 attempts before we could get a taxi to the beach. The biggest thing is that the drivers push waiting for a full taxi before they go; the more people in the taxi the less you have to pay. The first one started towards a taxi then she just disappeared on us. As we were walking back to the pier we saw a group coming toward us. I asked the driver if he was going to Dickinson, he said yes and we could join the group. Well ... I hate to say this but I am. My husband is black and I am white. The group was black. My husband and I were first on the bus. The rest of the group REFUSED to get on the bus. The driver was forced to get on and ask us to leave. The group did NOT WANT TO SHARE THE BUS WITH US!!!!! Can you believe that? So we got off and headed back to the pier a 3rd time. Finally we immediately found a driver to take us to the beach for $12 each way.
This part of Dickinson's wasn't as nice as where Sandals was located but it was still ok. The water was clear, the waves were moderate and we could take a good long walk. However we did see several jelly fish on the shore and in the water (we stills swam and we didn't hear that anyone was stung).
This is also the section where the horseback riding excursion takes place so the odor of manure was strong as well.
I would post a warning here: WE DID SEE A VERY SERIOUS JET SKI ACCIDENT which ended up with a young woman going to the hospital ending her cruise. Please, when the jet ski operators tell you to watch your speed and maintain a safe distance between jet skis listen to them. What happened is that this young man decided to ride too fast and literally ran into the second jet ski. Everyone was thrown into the water and the jet skis ruined. Fortunately they had on life jackets and a motorboat is present, but it took a long time for the ambulance to arrive and transport her to the hospital.
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St. Kitts - suitearia's Rating: 5.0
Another beautiful island - except for Dominica and perhaps Barbados, they all pretty much look the same! We did not do an excursion here partly due to the time constraint. Here we had to be back onboard by 330 for a 400 departure.
We were also warned here about posing with the monkeys as they bite and scratch. Sure enough we saw 2 monkey handlers with cute tiny monkeys in preemie pampers but we did not pose with the animals.
In each island either Diamonds International had a bracelet and island specific charms that were free, or as in St Kitts Kays had emerald topaz gem stones available for free. We ended up getting multiple stones and having them set into a necklace, ring, and earrings - all less than $250. They are absolutely beautiful. EFFY's also has a free necklace with earrings for $10. Unfortunately EFFY's was closed when we got onshore. They fly over from St. Martens just for the cruise ship on Sundays so the locals were incorrect when they said the store was closed for the season.
Lots of great shopping opportunities ... but we spent the rest of the day by the pool just chilling.
We hope you enjoy your cruise ... we wouldn't hesitate to cruise carnival again.
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