Barbados: Originally, I had considered doing a tour that stopped at the Mount Gay distillery and Banks Beer brewery. Instead, I took a comprehensive tour that included a stop at Mount Gay, at my request. The tour operator is Scenic Barbados Tours and the cost was only $30 per person. While the tour was supposed to be something like 4 hours, the reality is that he drove us around for the entire day. We saw a great deal of the island, visited Bathsheba, fed green monkeys and ended up at Carlisle Bay Beach. We also stopped at a local restaurant to sample Bajan food such as flying fish and Mac & Cheese. I think this was a much better way to go than just hitting up the distillery and brewery. Mount Gay was worth a quick stop but if I had to do it over, I'd simply grab a drink at the bar behind the gift shop, hit the gift shop & then leave. As it was, I took the tour ($7 per person) and it was too long and not an effective use of my time. They did give samples of their rum, but it's too harsh to drink straight. But if you're going to see the island, then you should really see the entire island. 


Barbados

St. Lucia: St. Lucia is gorgeous and this is one island where using a tour operator is pretty nearly mandatory. We used Cosol Tours and it was party time for sure. It's a bit more pricey than some tours at $65 pp, but food and plenty of booze are included and all of it was quite good. This was a great tour and a great time. My only slight gripe is that I had a deal to ride with Cosol instead I got shuffled to his brother Yellowbird, but he was cool too. Great time, great island, great tour, great liver damage. I got seriously buzzed on St. Lucia with no apologies. 


St. Lucia

Antigua: Antigua started off crummy and ended up to be terrific. I booked Gordon's Tours and did his Tight Budget Tour which is only $25 per person for a full day. It was not supposed to include all of the food and stops as his more expensive tour, but I visited the same places that everyone else did and got the same munchies, only for less money. I can’t say that this will be everyone’s experience, but it was mine. Gordon is a pretty cool guy. He might even sing for you on his PA. When the tour began, we drove through plenty of not-so-scenic parts of the island. I was thinking, “This kind of sucks.” Then we visited an interactive center's multimedia show, but that was boring. But the rest of the tour was great. I especially enjoyed Valley Church Beach and I think that most of the tour operators don't go there. It is gorgeous and completely rocks. There is a nice little bar there, but if you’re hungry, don’t get the coconut shrimp, as you only get 4 small shrimp for a fairly high price. Stick with beer and pizza, or similar. I liked Gordon and thought he was a cool guy. This is not quite the party tour I had in St. Lucia, but it's a great value and a lot of fun nonetheless. Valley Church Beach was my favorite beach during the entire cruise. Photos and videos are available upon request. 


Antigua

St. Kitts: We did an all day tour aka "The Tour" with Thenford Grey. Mr. Grey has to be the most articulate tour operator in the entire Caribbean. His English is nearly perfect and he seems to be a walking Wikipedia with respect to his knowledge of the island. He could probably do professional voice work and sounds a bit like James Earl Jones. His tour is definitely not the party tour. That's partly due to the nature of St. Kitts, where it is illegal to even swear. He told the story of a rapper who was arrested in the middle of a show! We started off by shaking hands with the Governor General of St. Kitts & Nevis, Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian. I believe this gentleman is in his 90s, but doesn't look it. He was apparently quite the athlete in his day and also delivered many of the island's residents as he is a doctor. I think I smeared suntan lotion on the side of his immaculate black Lexus. Sorry! We ended up at Cockleshell Beach at the Reggie Bar & Grill. The beach is quite pretty, but not as nice as many others I had visited. The bar was a nice place to hangout, but was overpriced. Mr. Grey went above and beyond by taking my girlfriend to a pharmacy after the tour ended. It's a different vibe than some of the other tours, but that's probably mostly due to the island's conservative nature. The Tour was $39 per person and is recommended. 


St. Kitts (Port Zante)

St. Maarten: In St. Maarten, we used Bernard’s tours for an all day tour at $40 per person. The price included water, soda and booze including the strongest rum punch I've ever had by a mile. They probably spend a bit too much time at a tidepool sort of place and maybe not enough time at Maho Beach, where the planes land right over your head. Orient Beach was also fun, but be aware that it's a clothing optional beach and most of the bodies present aren't the kind that you'd probably want to see naked. I had some rasta guy named Dread'I approach me on the beach and try sell me his CD. Being somewhat buzzed, I bought one. And you know what? It's terrific. He's there a lot, so if he comes by, buy his CD and he'll even sing for you if you like. Here's a tip: Pay in cash in US Dollars at the Orient Beach bar. All prices are quoted in Euros, but they charge the same if you pay in dollars, which represents a nearly 40% discount. If you pay with a credit card, they'll likely bill you in Euros, so best to pay in cash. 


St. Maarten

St. Thomas: We took the ships tour to St. John. I was somewhat annoyed when my tour was cancelled the night before our stop. Here the cruise lines are trying to take business from the private operators and then they cancel the trip right before you arrive! I ended up doing a shorter St. John trip for more money. St. John is unspoiled and gorgeous. We wanted to do Trunk Bay, but high surf made us detour to Caneel Bay, which was also very nice. This tour was a bit later in the day than the original tour that had been cancelled, so we had time to take a taxi downtown and shop before getting on the ferry to St. John. If you book the tour through the cruise line, the ferry actually stops right next to the ship, which is quite convenient. So this is a good reason to consider booking a St. John tour through Royal Caribbean’s tour desk. 


St. Thomas

Standard inside room.  4th deck, mid-ship.  Perfectly quiet and perfectly fine, although we did have problems with the shower's water temperature.

This tour was a bit later in the day than the original tour that had been cancelled, so we had time to take a taxi downtown and shop before getting on the ferry to St.The ship was great, the prices were quite reasonable, the service first rate, the food was excellent and the tour operators all did a nice job.

Serenade of the Seas Review

My first inside cabin & first trip on Royal Caribbean

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