Skip St. Martins or St. Kitts???

We are on the Eastern itinerary which stops at St. Martins and St. Kitts. We plan to do an island tour on one of the islands and then 1/2 a beach day on the other with the other half on what we hope is a quiet ship. Does anyone who has done this itinerary or has experience with these islands have an opinion with suggestions? Thanks!

We have visited both twice and of the two love St Kitts, one of our favourite Islands. We did the island railway trip last time and enjoyed that. The French side of St Martins and Marigots is lovely and worth a ride over, I would combine that with the beach and spend the day in St Kitts if it was me.

Interesting question. They're both interesting in different ways.

St. Kitts has very interesting topography and a fortress that's a World Heritage site, plus some other interesting things to see and do. We took a tour of the island with Rose and Jim. Click here to see our review of the cruise and tour, including links to photos.

Sint Maarten is unique in its dual governance, Dutch on one side and French on the other. Beaches are very nice and the shopping in Marigot offers one of the few places in the islands you can find local crafts. We took a tour of the island with Bernard's tours and you can see photos here - with a review of the tour here.

I think I'd vote for a tour of St. Kitts and beach time on St. Martin. We went to Dawn Beach at Oyster Bay one year (photos here) and liked that. Some people like Orient Beach to get the French flavor but I thought it was too crowded.

j

We are on the Eastern itinerary which stops at St. Martins and St. Kitts. We plan to do an island tour on one of the islands and then 1/2 a beach day on the other with the other half on what we hope is a quiet ship. Does anyone who has done this itinerary or has experience with these islands have an opinion with suggestions? Thanks!

I am not a beach person. But I can say that a nice beach in Ste. Marteen is a close $7 water-taxi ride away or about a 20 minute walk. St Kitts beaches are a bit further from port and IMHO st Kitts is a more interesting place to visit. Take the train or an Island tour.

We're skipping St. Maarten on our upcoming cruise (have done it several times) and are doing the excursion to St. Barth's for the day- looking forward to a much less crowded island and beach!

We're skipping St. Maarten on our upcoming cruise (have done it several times) and are doing the excursion to St. Barth's for the day- looking forward to a much less crowded island and beach!

Can you provide more details on this? I'd love to go to St Bart's but I'm not confident about popping over to another island...

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That's tough to answer love both of them. I have been to St. Maarten many times. This island is were I can get the best deals on my jewelry. So, I could leave it. St. Kitts is beautiful. I would love to go back.

We did the Rainforest tour on St Kitts and it was quite an experience.

One of DH's all time favorite excursions was on St. Maarten. If you might like to sail, the America's Cup Regatta is awesome. We did this on HAL and DH can't wait to go back there to do it again. I didn't think I would like it but I loved it. They use actual former America's Cup vessels and participants can be active or passive. DH was a "grinder" for the sails and I was a "turtle watcher". Both of us had a great time. Don't know if Celebrity is offering this one, but if so, it is a good choice.

Can you provide more details on this? I'd love to go to St Bart's but I'm not confident about popping over to another island...

I would go "off island" only on a cruise line excursion. Too many things can go wrong. Although St. Barth's is really close to Sint Maarten. If the tour takes you to a beach directly, that should work. If it goes to Gustavia, plan on getting stuck in traffic. Our Century cruise in February 14 stopped there, which was one reason we went there. As they were announcing the tender times, they also announced that the island reported a water problem and that no public toilets would be available. So instead of taking our grandson to a St. Barth's shell beach as planned, we walked around Gustavia for a half hour and went back. Judging from the number of people in the restaurants, I think they were just trying to keep us cruisers from overwhelming the place. However, while walking around, we could see a major traffic back up getting up the hill to where the popular beaches were and were kind of glad we had not tried to go.

We've gone to Dawn Beach at Oyster Bay (Sint Maarten) twice - and it was pretty empty both times.

j

I would want to know how many ships are in port at St. Maarten before making a decision. When there are several ships in port.

A boat trip from St. Kitts to Nevis is a nice beach option.

Having been to both islands, I would spend a full day in St. Kitts and half a day in St. Maarten.

We are on the Eastern itinerary which stops at St. Martins and St. Kitts. We plan to do an island tour on one of the islands and then 1/2 a beach day on the other with the other half on what we hope is a quiet ship. Does anyone who has done this itinerary or has experience with these islands have an opinion with suggestions? Thanks!

Do the French side on St.Maartin(hire a taxi)Really quite cheap. Plenty of cabs to be had.Or do a beach day. On St.Kitts try the railway tour. It's railway that follows much of the old sugar route.

We recently did a Clay Villa tour thru the owner Phillip and also visited the Caribelle batik store and Romney Manor and the Fortress. Great day on St. Kitts!

http://www.clayvilla.com/tours_main_24.asp

I would do a beach day on St. Maarten. Some great beaches and you can go to another island like Anguilla. I enjoyed St. Kitts, but not as much as St. Maarten.

Very hard call. We were in at St Marrten in 2012 & 2013. ( over half a dozen times over the years) We are going to St Kitts this year, for the first time since Dec 2000. We will be in both this Nov, so it is a quandary for us this yr.

It all will depend on the time your ship is in port at each.

We did our own beach buffet at Grand Bay in St Marretn last trip.

Are thinking about a tour to Nevis in St Kitts.

Hard decision.

Sint Maarten for beach (we took a cab to Divi Little Bay Hotel - $5 per person each way) and at the Divi $15 for 2 chairs and an umbrella. Beaches on St. Kitts aren't as nice (volcanic versus coral) and it is a more interesting island for touring. Also very clean. Orient Beach on St. Martin is usually very crowded, has a clothes optional section, I wouldn't go out there if there are more than 2 large ships in port.

we just spent a week in St Kitts and love Cockleshell & Reggae beaches ! Went to Nevis one day and enjoyed the beach at 4 seasons !

Reggae has great food and wonderful people !

Eaglewar

I'd vote for the beach day in St. Martin, we've visited both Dawn and Orient and enjoyed them both. Then in St. Kitts I'd go for an island tour that included the Fort and the batik place and still ended a beach. The beaches of St. Kitts are nowhere near as nice as St. Martin but are still worth a few hours.

We are on the Eastern itinerary which stops at St. Martins and St. Kitts. We plan to do an island tour on one of the islands and then 1/2 a beach day on the other with the other half on what we hope is a quiet ship. Does anyone who has done this itinerary or has experience with these islands have an opinion with suggestions? Thanks!

If you haven't already done this you may want to Cruise on over to the Ports Of Call on the home page and ask your question. You may find more info over there to your questions.

Check how many other cruise passengers will be at each of these ports on your cruise days. That may make a big difference on traffic, beach crowding, etc. For example the day we will be at St. Martin in March the following ships will all be in port: Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Summit, Freedom of the Seas, Noordam, Regal Princess. We are taking a ship's excursion because we would not want to risk getting stuck in traffic on a private tour and watching our ship sail off without us!

We had rather skip St. Kitts than St. Maarten. ;)

LuLu

That is the beach where the jets land about 50 ft over your head. If you are lucky enough and a 747 is landing, it is a once in a lifetime thing to see. KLM lands it's 747 on Fridays.

Mark

You can get lots of info over on the ports of call boards, but I would do an island tour of St Maarten, which stops at both Orient Beach as well as Maho beach, where the planes come swooping in right above you. There are many videos on You Tube about it.

On St Kitts, check out the Carambola beach Club.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1778820

Check how many other cruise passengers will be at each of these ports on your cruise days. That may make a big difference on traffic, beach crowding, etc. For example the day we will be at St. Martin in March the following ships will all be in port: Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Summit, Freedom of the Seas, Noordam, Regal Princess. We are taking a ship's excursion because we would not want to risk getting stuck in traffic on a private tour and watching our ship sail off without us!

Ditto to that. One of the many times to StM, we opted for a jeep tour. We spent THREE HOURS IN TRAFFIC. There were six ships in port.

Beach day on St. Martins and full day on St. Kitts. I loved both islands. I hope you have a great time whichever way you choose to go.