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St Maarten and St Thomas

CruisingQueen11

By CruisingQueen11,
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big al

big al

Posted
Posted
Looking for something exciting to do onSt Maarten and St Thomas while cruising on Regal Princess

 

First, you should go to the "ports of call" section on the message boards and click "caribbean" and then go to St. Thomas & St. Maarten...there you will find EVERYTHING imaginable on what to do on both islands...

 

On St. Thomas: GREAT shopping especially for liquor ( absolute vodka $9 vs $18-20 here..Bailey's $14 vs. $28 here, etc..), jewelry, leather, watches...also for beaches, Megan's is popular, but can be crowded or Dawn Beach or Sapphire Beach if you like beaches..also you can take the ferry ( 15 min, nice ride) at the dock and go to St. John's and visit Trunk Bay- BEAUTIFUL and great snorkeling..also Paradise Point has amazing views of Charlotte Amalie harbor up 500 ft on a mountain..you take a cable car up & there are shops & bars up there..if if it's a nice day, it is STUNNING from up there- you can see all the cruise ships & beaches, towns, etc..Bluebeards's Castle interesting ( I like Pirate stuff) as well..

 

On St. Maarten- Ditto on Maho beach...amazing to see the jets land right over your head on the beach- try & get a seat at the cafe on the side & have drinks...for a nice beach, Orient Bch is famous, BUT:beware, there is a nude side ON THE RIGHT as you go in..it's quite a ways down and honestly mostly senior Europeans hang out there..there are 2 areas in SM: the Dutch side ( Phillipsburg) and the French side, Marigot...they are different, so go on those sites & research .....you may want to opt for a tour of these islands..best way to go IMO...you can either use Princess OR many use locals ( they are much cheaper and most are reputable)..you can read about them on the respective boards...you MUST contact them via e-mail OR call them directly and see if your dates are available for when you're there ( make sure you have the dates you will be in ST & SM available!!)...anymore questions, give a shout..I have been to both 6 or 7 times...

 

Big Al

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FTLcruisers

FTLcruisers

Posted
Posted

Not sure it is 'exciting' but I'd recommend Bernard's Tour in St Martin - he does take you to the nude beach on the other side of the island, to Maho Beach to watch the planes plus a few other places. bernardstours.com

 

Marianne

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whataboutport

whataboutport

Posted
Posted
First, you should go to the "ports of call" section on the message boards and click "caribbean" and then go to St. Thomas & St. Maarten...there you will find EVERYTHING imaginable on what to do on both islands...

 

On St. Thomas: GREAT shopping especially for liquor ( absolute vodka $9 vs $18-20 here..Bailey's $14 vs. $28 here, etc..), jewelry, leather, watches...also for beaches, Megan's is popular, but can be crowded or Dawn Beach or Sapphire Beach if you like beaches..also you can take the ferry ( 15 min, nice ride) at the dock and go to St. John's and visit Trunk Bay- BEAUTIFUL and great snorkeling..also Paradise Point has amazing views of Charlotte Amalie harbor up 500 ft on a mountain..you take a cable car up & there are shops & bars up there..if if it's a nice day, it is STUNNING from up there- you can see all the cruise ships & beaches, towns, etc..Bluebeards's Castle interesting ( I like Pirate stuff) as well..

 

On St. Maarten- Ditto on Maho beach...amazing to see the jets land right over your head on the beach- try & get a seat at the cafe on the side & have drinks...for a nice beach, Orient Bch is famous, BUT:beware, there is a nude side ON THE RIGHT as you go in..it's quite a ways down and honestly mostly senior Europeans hang out there..there are 2 areas in SM: the Dutch side ( Phillipsburg) and the French side, Marigot...they are different, so go on those sites & research .....you may want to opt for a tour of these islands..best way to go IMO...you can either use Princess OR many use locals ( they are much cheaper and most are reputable)..you can read about them on the respective boards...you MUST contact them via e-mail OR call them directly and see if your dates are available for when you're there ( make sure you have the dates you will be in ST & SM available!!)...anymore questions, give a shout..I have been to both 6 or 7 times...

 

Big Al

 

Just wanted to specify that the ferry to St John is only 15 mins IF you first take a taxi to the Red Hook Bay ferry. If you take a ferry directly from the cruise terminal it's more like 40 mins. Most people say the 40 min ferry is rough and people get seasick. I didn't find it rough at all. Plus you have to pay for a taxi to get to Red Hook, and there's only one main road, so we preferred to take the longer one. but yes, we LOVED Trunk Bay. Gorgeous there.

 

But for exciting, another vote for Maho! Just be aware that the planes are the major draw at this beach. The sand part is tiny, there are like zero trees/shade, otherwise you have to rent a chair and umbrella (all were rented out when we went), or seek shade at the bar. Fun for a few hours.

 

I hated Orient Beach. So boring. And I don't care for the French style sunbathing. Even though the right side is full nude, the rest of it is still topless. We were stuck on Bernard's tour so we couldn't leave. Hated it so much we contemplated hiring a taxi and going back to the port. There's also vendors that bug you non stop to buy their wares. If you do Bernard's tour, they drop you off at a gift shop (Rima) afterwards where you can buy anything offered you by the vendors at this shop for cheaper. They give you more time at Rima's than they do at Marigot. Shame.

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nat9511

nat9511

Posted
Posted

I did a tour with Bernard's Tours in February. It was $40 and great. We saw both sides of the island plus Maho Beach. We did not go to Orient Beach. I highly recommend them.

 

I think they have a couple of tours to choose from.

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DonnaK

DonnaK

Posted
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Has anyone been on the Freedom recently and where did you dock in St. Thomas?

 

Freedom of the Seas, or Carnival Freedom?

 

Both of these generally docks at Havensight, unless there is not enough space there and one gets diverted to Crown Bay. You don't usually know in advance if that's going to happen.

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OCruisers

OCruisers

Posted
Posted
For those of you who have done the America's Cup race. How long is the excursion? Is there time to do other stuff on the island afterwards? I think I may want to do this next time I am over there. Really does sound exciting!

 

The excursion is about 3 Hours.

LuLu

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cruiseapril

cruiseapril

Posted
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The last time we were in St. Thomas, we were glad to have a planned excursion as the traffic was crowded due to many ships in at once. It was more difficult for people to get taxis on the day.

 

St. Maarten has many good excursions. Orient Beach was ok, but just ok.

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