Cruising Round-Up: Automotive Travel, Caribbean-Style

Skip the cruise ship's pre-packaged shore excursions. Joseph Babiasz explains how arrange for a rental car to be waiting for you the next time you sail into a Caribbean port.

While cruising is a great way to sit back and watch the world and the waves roll by, it also presents wonderful opportunities to see parts of the world you might never get to otherwise. Cruise line reps will work hard to sign you up for their varied pre-packaged "shore excursions." Many travelers don't mind being packed into a bus like a sardine and driven to a list of tourist traps for photo ops and "unique" souvenirs. Still, the experience leaves much to be desired. There is a better option.

If you've planned a cruise that includes ports of call in a part of the world you want to explore--and I mean really explore--you owe it to yourself to rent a vehicle other than the one hyped by the cruise line.

Keep in mind that for every rental the cruise line signs up, the company gets a large percentage of the rental price. It's cheaper to do it on your own. If you're a solo cruiser like me, invite your new on-board friends to join your expedition.

Nearly every Caribbean island has car rentals available at a modest cost. Using the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas as an example, these include such well-known companies as Budget Rent A Car and locally owned companies like Dependable Car Rental and Discount Car Rental.

If you telephone these companies directly for your reservation (see sidebar), most will arrange either to pick you up at the dock and take you to the rental office or have the vehicle waiting for you when you disembark. Some Caribbean car rental companies even have Jeeps and 4X4s available for less than $100 per day.

Hard-core island trekkers can thus skip the tour-bus routes in favor of the roads less traveled. With that in mind, I suggest getting in touch with the tourism board of the Caribbean island