Saint Lucia (all ports)

As the ship proceeds, local airport Traffic control must clear it because it will block the runway approach.

Most larger cruise ships berth at the Port of Castries, from where the town centre is around 15 minutes away on foot. Government-controlled taxi rates are expensive, so agree the fare with the driver before leaving port.

Castries has two terminals:

Pointe Seraphine cruise terminal: a 20-minute walk to town, or a 5-10 minute taxi ride.

La Place Carenage cruise terminal: directly in the town centre.

Other locations are all tender ports: Pigeon Island, at the most northern point; Rodney Bay, next to Pigeon Island; and Soufriere, south of Castries.

A new port is under construction in Vieux Fort, with a recently developed international airport, and will host turnarounds for European cruise lines that often use charter flights for fly-cruises during the winter Caribbean season.

Saint Lucia cruise calendar: Castries.

Saint Lucia cruise calendar: Pigeon Island.

Saint Lucia cruise calendar: Soufriere.

The capital, Castries, lies attractively in a sheltered bay backed by mountains. Its excellent natural harbour was strategically important from the earliest days of European settlement, and Britain and France fought bitterly for possession of the island for years. A shipping boom at the end of the 19th-century placed Castries 14th among the world's ports for freight handled.

For many locals, water taxis are a main source of income and provide a quicker, convenient and picturesque way to cover short distances to private beaches or coastal towns. In the Town of Soufriere, many water-taxi operators are based at the jetty.

Many operators advertise excursions online, and many can also be found at the pier. A four-hour island tour costs approx. $150 per taxi.

Because the roads are difficult to navigate, hiring a car is not recommended.

Soufriere: here.

Pigeon Island: here.

On Saint Lucia's Southwest coast in the West Indies, Soufrière is both a town and quarter. It served as the island's former capital under French rule and is now a small, sleepy fishing port with an emerging tourism industry. Attractions include a "drive-in" volcano, the Diamond Botanical Gardens and waterfall, briefly featured in the Superman II movie, historic mineral baths, and the nearby black-sand beaches of Anse Chastanet to the north and Malgretout to the south.

Pigeon Island's white-sand beaches offer a range of amenities, including a restaurant, historical museum and water sports.

At Rodney Bay, board the brig Unicorn, used in the film Pirates of the Caribbean, to see the island's west side from her decks.

A marine sanctuary (national park) lies on one side of the island by the Anse Chastenet resort, providing a great place to learn about local marine life & ecology.

Guests travel by the Rainforest Aerial Tram from the lowland heat and bustle up to an ecological park in the high reaches of St. Lucia’s forest reserve.

Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens is a six-acre, multi-award-winning tourism site and an attractive, alluring, peaceful retreat from the outside world. Walk through lush, fertile vegetation in tropical warmth, marvelling at the diverse tropical flowers and plant life. Here, a breathtaking waterfall, hot mineral springs that fill the historical baths with age-old medicinal waters, and abundant flora and fauna create a world of their own.

On St. Lucia's Northwest coast, at popular Reduit Beach, Splash Island is the Caribbean's first open-water sports park. Opened in August 2015, it is near the multi-award-winning Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa in Rodney Bay Village, Gros Islet, St. Lucia.

The port has a shopping complex selling souvenirs, island-made handicrafts and duty-free goods. Among the island's best-known products are hand-screened batik fabrics, pottery and straw articles; duty-free prices require both your passport and cabin key card.

In the centre of the capital, the Castries Market and Vendor's Arcade is Castries, Saint Lucia's largest open-air market, with more than 300 regular vendors and a hundred or more local sellers on market days.

Saint Lucia uses the Eastern Caribbean dollar, while U.S. dollars are widely accepted.

English is official; French patois is also spoken.

A small number of WiFi cafes are available downtown and close to the dock.

Only the open markets operate on Sunday.