Cruise docking at 1pm. Suggestions on what to do?

Explorer of the Seas is docking at 1pm and leaving at 8pm. All of the tours seem to not be operating in the afternoon. Would like to get to a beach for a little while. Any suggestions?

Explorer of the Seas is docking at 1pm and leaving at 8pm. All of the tours seem to not be operating in the afternoon. Would like to get to a beach for a little while. Any suggestions?

Take a look at http://www.karakterbeach.com/

Nice beach, good place to be at sunset and the food is delishious. Oh, the beach chairs and umbrellas are free when you purchase food/beverages.

You might want to consider shore excursions offered by your ship.

LuLu

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Explorer of the Seas is docking at 1pm and leaving at 8pm. All of the tours seem to not be operating in the afternoon. Would like to get to a beach for a little while. Any suggestions?

We will be on Explorer in May and arriving @1pm also, doing Maho Beach with Bernard's Tours. Or you can take a taxi over to Orient Beach.

We will be on Explorer in May and arriving @1pm also, doing Maho Beach with Bernard's Tours. Or you can take a taxi over to Orient Beach.

Orient is on the east side of the island so no sunset view. I also find that the beach bars close early. Karakter would be a better choice in the late afternoon/ early evening IMO because of those two reasons. Another great choice would be Going to Grand Case. Calmos Cafe on Grand Case beach is a beach bar/restaurant which is casual and again if you order food/beverages the chairs/umbrellas are free of choice. Sunset Cafe at the Grand Case Beach Club is another great option. It's on Petite Plage and has a great Happy Hour from 5-6 and it's a wonderful place to view the sunset.

Cab it to orient beach! Plenty of time....best beach ever!

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We've the same issue. We have been to St. Maarten before and had a game plan mapped out. That was based on an early arrival. Getting there at 1pm puts a different spin on the day.

We considering a west coast beach for the sun, knowing we won't be there for sunset. We'd be seriously disappointed if we missed a stop at Sarafina's which puts another twist in the planning. So while something on Simpson Bay is nice as it's a south facing beach with food and amenaties sounds good, it's not exactly a quick ride up the road to get to Marigot. Which makes something at Grand Case interesting.

I'm enjoying the conversation. Some good options have been mentioned - Karakter and Calmos both sound good and fit in one of the plans.

We're also looking at Friar's Bay and Baie Rouge and still looking for info on both. It would be great for us to stop at Marigot for a couple of hours then head to one of the two for the rest of the port time. Then cab back to the ship for the 8pm departure.

We've the same issue. We have been to St. Maarten before and had a game plan mapped out. That was based on an early arrival. Getting there at 1pm puts a different spin on the day.

We considering a west coast beach for the sun, knowing we won't be there for sunset. We'd be seriously disappointed if we missed a stop at Sarafina's which puts another twist in the planning. So while something on Simpson Bay is nice as it's a south facing beach with food and amenaties sounds good, it's not exactly a quick ride up the road to get to Marigot. Which makes something at Grand Case interesting.

I'm enjoying the conversation. Some good options have been mentioned - Karakter and Calmos both sound good and fit in one of the plans.

We're also looking at Friar's Bay and Baie Rouge and still looking for info on both. It would be great for us to stop at Marigot for a couple of hours then head to one of the two for the rest of the port time. Then cab back to the ship for the 8pm departure.

Friars bay is down a long, bad road, past a bad-smelling swampy area (think: sewage), and is not that great a beach anyway. Baie Rouge is beautiful - somewhat limited facilities and at times quite rough, but one of the best beaches anywhere..

We've the same issue. We have been to St. Maarten before and had a game plan mapped out. That was based on an early arrival. Getting there at 1pm puts a different spin on the day.

We considering a west coast beach for the sun, knowing we won't be there for sunset. We'd be seriously disappointed if we missed a stop at Sarafina's which puts another twist in the planning. So while something on Simpson Bay is nice as it's a south facing beach with food and amenaties sounds good, it's not exactly a quick ride up the road to get to Marigot. Which makes something at Grand Case interesting.

I'm enjoying the conversation. Some good options have been mentioned - Karakter and Calmos both sound good and fit in one of the plans.

We're also looking at Friar's Bay and Baie Rouge and still looking for info on both. It would be great for us to stop at Marigot for a couple of hours then head to one of the two for the rest of the port time. Then cab back to the ship for the 8pm departure.

The sunset over toward Maho from Simpson bay is nice but I love the sunset fro Sunset Cafe at the Grand Case Beach Club. Great happy hour as well! You will get a nice sunset from Calmos as well.

For Friars and Bay Rouge I would recommend a car but for the others I would feel comfortable relying on taxis's.

How early do the bars/restaurants on Orient Beach close? We are in the same predicament with a 1 pm docking. I will be there with two 19 year old boys so basically all they want to do is go to the beach and bars. :cool: Truthfully that is fine with me since my idea of vacation is relaxing at the beach!

You might want to consider shore excursions offered by your ship.

LuLu

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I agree. If you are worried about time, this would take care of that concern. We have similar timing on our cruise, albeit for a different port of call (St. Thomas) with a noon arrival. We booked an excursion offered by the ship for that day.

We will be on Explorer in May and arriving @1pm also, doing Maho Beach with Bernard's Tours. Or you can take a taxi over to Orient Beach.

I thought Bernard's Tours only offered morning tours. What tour are you taking and what time are you leaving and coming back to ship?

I thought Bernard's Tours only offered morning tours. What tour are you taking and what time are you leaving and coming back to ship?

Bernard will coincides his tours with all ship's arrival times, his tours are not just in the mornings. So Tour 1 and Tour 2 can be taken in the afternoon, provided your ship arrives in the afternoon. If your ship arrives at 1 pm, Bernards Tour will depart from the Information Booth, 30 mins. after your ship docks, which would be at 1:30 pm. Back in May our meet up time with Bernards tour was at 1:30 pm only because our ship arrived at 1 pm. At that time we did a private tour with them.

We have scheduled Bernards Tour again for our September cruise this year. We selected Tour 2, our ship arrives again at 1 pm in Philipsburg, our reservation has been confirmed to meet at 1:30 pm at the Info Booth. We should be returning back to the port anytime between 5:30-6:30 pm.

I do prefer when we arrive early in the morning as their tours will give you close to 6 hours with them. For a later arrival in the afternoon, people want to get back to the ship early so their tour will last at least 4- 4 1/2 hours.

Bernard will coincides his tours with all ship's arrival times, his tours are not just in the mornings. So Tour 1 and Tour 2 can be taken in the afternoon, provided your ship arrives in the afternoon. If your ship arrives at 1 pm, Bernards Tour will depart from the Information Booth, 30 mins. after your ship docks, which would be at 1:30 pm. Back in May our meet up time with Bernards tour was at 1:30 pm only because our ship arrived at 1 pm. At that time we did a private tour with them.

 

We have scheduled Bernards Tour again for our September cruise this year. We selected Tour 2, our ship arrives again at 1 pm in Philipsburg, our reservation has been confirmed to meet at 1:30 pm at the Info Booth. We should be returning back to the port anytime between 5:30-6:30 pm.

 

I do prefer when we arrive early in the morning as their tours will give you close to 6 hours with them. For a later arrival in the afternoon, people want to get back to the ship early so their tour will last at least 4- 4 1/2 hours.

Ok - thanks. Going with two 19 year old boys so I think I will just take a taxi to Orient Beach since that is really all they want to do which is find with me.