TiffanyS4

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

I did the Shipwreck Cove Snorkeling shore excursion at St. Maarten. The "Shipwrecks" were just downed modern boats with "cannons" that were probably bought and placed near the boats. The snorkeling was fun, but my husband felt cheated. We didn't leave the boat until the shore excursion was going to leave so I didn't see much of this port. The island was picture perfect, gorgeous, beautiful -- pick your adjective. I bought two bottles of the local Guavaberry rum for $17 each and was happy with that purchase.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

I didn't book a shore excursion with the cruise and I'm glad because as soon a you got off the ship there were tour guides that were half the price that the cruise was charging ($20 per person, opposed to $37 per person). I took the tour of New and Old San Juan and was very happy with it. I'm from South Florida and New San Juan reminded me of South Beach, so I wasn't very impressed. Old San Juan was pretty, but surprisingly there was a lot of graffiti. Still, I definitely recommend this tour. I was told that the Bacardi Rum Distillery actually has free admission but the cruise charges $30 per person for this shore excursion. If you have the time (25 minutes each way) just take a taxi. I didnt have the time so I visited the Don Q store instead.

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

Labadee was kind of disappointing to me. My husband's parents are from Haiti and I was looking forward to this port to give him some connection with his... heritage, I guess. This is not real Haiti, which for vacationers is probably a good thing. This is a resort that happens to be on Haiti's side of Hispanola. There was no real local culture. Everything was a white-washed version of the island, which wasn't what I was looking for.