Hi,

My hubby and I will be taking our first cruise on January 24th.  Soooooo very excited.  Loving this forum as well.  We'll be on the Splendor, and headed for Puerto Rico, La Dominica, St. Thomas, and Nassau. 

Anway, I was wondering if anyone could suggest some fun/nice things to do in those ports, other than the shore excursions.  We are planning on doing maybe one shore excursion at some point, but would love to hear what others would suggest to do in these ports.

Thanks for your help.

You can take a tour of the Island

There are a lot of different island tours that you can take.  We did one (not through cruise line), the man charged us $10 a piece took us, along with about 8 others in an open vehicle  up in the mountains and all over.  It was one of the best tours we have ever taken!  Also, in St. Thomas, there is a LOT of good shopping!  Have a great time!

Hi,

In St Thomas we rode the cable car to the top of the mountain and had lunch and a "few" bushwackers. Great spot up there for some very good pictures. When we were done on the mountain we did the shopping thing across from where the ship docks.

In Nassau we just did Black Beards Beach Break because we had the kids and their friends with us. It's a 1/2 hour bat ride to the beach and then you have 3 hours to do whatever you want.

 Thanks so much for all your input. I appreciate it!

If you have long hair be careful in Nassau they want to braid your hair I said ok I  said 2 briads she would not stop or let me get up she charged me $60 I gave her 40.00 and ran back to the ship I looked like a white Whoopie goldberg it took me 4 hours to get it out. I thought Mexico was bad about begging Nassau is worst. I am glad I walked around first and saw the town it is beautiful I want to go back again I will wear a hat next time. Have fun.

LOL at white Whoopi Goldberg! That is too funny! And you're absolutely right. I was approached at least 20 times by women wanting to braid my hair. It gets to be a real nuisance!

 San Juan has a beautiful fort, casinos & the tour of the Barcardi Rum Factory- free samples!

I always like to do searches online.  There are so many 3rd party tour places that offer a wide variety of tours.  Most of these tours you could do yourself by walking or renting a taxi, but they are great for ideas and to see what is available in each place!!

You can pretty much do anything you want to while in port, whether it be taking a Carnival contracted excursion, a 3rd party excursion, or just trekking out on your own.  Only one very important thing to remember.  Should you run late (go beyond the passenger return time/ship departure time) the ship will ONLY wait for you if you are part of a Carnival contracted excursion.  Carnival has no obligation to wait around for stragglers who go off on their own, or who take 3rd party tours. 

So.....go out and have FUN, regardless of what you do.....just remember to be back on time!!!! 

Each vessel will vary slightly as to what activities they will offer while in port.  Your vessel's version of the Carnival Capers (ships paper) will list what activities will be going on for a given port day.  One thing to remember.....while in port the Casino will be closed, the shops will be closed as will most of the inner bar areas.  The Lido deck will still be open for food service as will other food service areas throughout the day. 

Oh don't stay on the Ship!! Even if you just get off for a bit and walk around by the docking area. The ports you are going to are all wonderful!! Nassau can be a bit pushy, but just so no thank you and keep walking. We went to Atlantis and just walked around, the aquarium is fantastic!! St. Thomas is a beautiful Island, and you can do a private 3rd party tour. We did Sunny Liston's tour last month in St. Thomas and had a blast. If you want to check it out visit sunnylistontours dot com Also Godfrey tours does the same tour as Sunny, but you have to prepay for Sunny tour, but don't for Godfrey tours. You could also take a cab to the beach. Megens Bay is beautiful, as is Saphire beach (where we went on Sunny's tour and spent 2 hours). San Juan is nice, I just hope you aren't there at night...I hated being there at night. The police were very prevelant after dark and I didn't feel safe, so we ended up back on the ship. Whatever you do, go and have a wonderful time.