Cruising the Eastern Caribbean: A Passenger's Guide to the Ports of Call, 4th Edition (Hunter Travel Guides)

334 Pages·2004·5.31 MB·English

by  Laura Rapp, Diane Rapp

Eastern
4th Edition
Eastern
4th Edition
Laura & Diane Rapp
HUNTER
HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC,
130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818
732-225-1900; 800-255-0343; fax [phone]
www.hunterpublishing.com
Ulysses Travel Publications
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Windsor Books
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ISBN 1-58843-407-9
© 2005 Hunter Publishing, Inc.
Printed in the United States
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disclaim, liability for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions,
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Lissa K Dailey © 2005 Hunter Publishing, Inc.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our publisher, Michael Hunter, for his contin-
uing support of our project. Special acknowledgment is also given to
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tion, assistance and invaluable help.
About the Authors
Laura Rapp grew up in Santa Barbara, California. Upon graduating
from Florida International University with a degree in Hospitality
Management, Laura began work in the cruise industry, moving
through the ranks to her most recent position as a Shore Excursion
Manager. Making sure passengers enjoy tours in ports throughout
the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Alaska has provided Laura with
special insight that she shares with readers in this book.
Diane Rapp collaborated with her daughter, Laura, in writing this
book. She has cruised throughout the Caribbean, and especially
enjoyed writing the history, culture and unique shopping sections on
each island. Diane is currently traveling the United States with her
husband writing travel articles and a mystery novel.
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Cruising the Caribbean, c/o Hunter Publishing, 130 Campus Drive,
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Contents
INTRODUCTION
What to Expect From Your Cruise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Staterooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Special Rates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Life Aboard Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Absent-Minded Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Nautical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Authors’ Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
The Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Poisonous Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Marine Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Indians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
European Invasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
What You’ll Find in Each Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Web Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Pier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Pier Phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
In Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Money Matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Valuables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Historical Walking Tours, Museums & Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Taxis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Local Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Rental Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Organized Tours & Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Island Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
One-Day Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
PUERTO RICO
Island Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Island People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Useful Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
viii l Cruising the Eastern Caribbean
The Pier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
In Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Historical Walking Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Transportation & Excursions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Self-Guided Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Bacardí Rum Factory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Organized Tours & Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Island Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
On Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Horseback Riding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
In The Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Kayaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Scuba Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
One-Day Itineraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Río Camuy Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Arecibo Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
El Yunque Rain Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
ST. THOMAS
Island Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
About Nearby St. John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Island People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Useful Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The Pier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
In Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Historical Walking Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Transportation & Excursions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Self-Guided Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Coral World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Day-Trip to St. John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Island Tours by Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Blackbeard’s Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Organized Tours & Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Submarine Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Day Sails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Island Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
On Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Tennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
In The Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Windsurfing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Contents l ix
Parasailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Sailing/Power Boats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Scuba Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
One-Day Itinerary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
An Island Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
SINT MAARTEN/SAINT MARTIN
Island Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Island People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Useful Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
The Pier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
In Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Museums & Historical Sites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Transportation & Excursions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Self-Guided Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Marigot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Island Tour by Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Anguilla Day-Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Organized Tours & Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Serious Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Guided Wave Runner Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Off-Shore Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Mountain Biking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Island Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
On Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Horseback Riding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Butterfly Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
In The Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Windsurfing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Parasailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Personal Watercraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Scuba Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Sailing & Motor Cruises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
One-Day Itinerary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
An Island Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
ANTIGUA
Island Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Island People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Island Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Useful Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
The Pier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
In Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Museums & Historical Sites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128