ChefA85

We're traveling on the Gem out of NYC in a month and are looking forward to it. These photos made my mouth water and got me even more excited for our trip! Thank you so much for posting!

Thank you, reedprincess. I appreciate your recommendations!

You're correct. As I reread my post I realize it isn't as clear as it could have been. I did some research here and online and couldn't find a public or shared water taxi service so my intention is to find a private company instead and was hoping others have done something similar and could pass on recommendations. I apologize for the confusion.

My family and I are stopping in St. Lucia with the Norwegian Gem in March this year. We are looking for a water taxi to take us to Jalouise Beach/the Pintons and back. We are wary of using the ship excursions or a tour because of how long they are. We have a 3 year old and 4 year old with us and I don't want to be driving around on the hilly and winding roads with them. We just want to ride over to the beach and be able to return to the port on a more flexible schedule. Thank you in advance.

I think that's the best plan for us. I'm hoping to find a water taxi there and back to avoid the hilly and windy land taxi ride there and back and to also cut down on travel time. I'm going to post in the St. Lucia sub but if anyone has used a water taxi that they recommend, I'd appreciate the recommendation.

That's definitely a concern for us. I was hoping to find a water taxi or tour that would be more direct to the Pitons and beach to spend time there and then bring us directly back to the dock later in the day. I don't know if that's realistic or not but I plan on reaching out to a few different companies to see if it's possible.

I had no idea that existed, thanks for the heads up! I just joined.

since you have a short time in St Thomas, I would suggest Emerald beach. It is much closer to port and much quieter than Magen's Bay.

So according to a couple of the online ship schedule websites, we are going to be the only ship in port that day. Our only plans for the day really involve the beach. The shopping is more window shopping than anything else. Would you still recommend Emerald Beach or is Sapphire nicer?

I wasn't completely sure if this was the correct sub, thanks for the heads up!

My family of four (myself, wife, 3 year old and 4 year old daughters) are traveling on the Gem departing from NY on 3/17 for a 10 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. Our ports of call are Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Thomas in that order. Since our kids are young and really want to spend some time on the beach, we've decided to try and plan our days on shore without any cruise line sponsored excursions. I feel like it's not a necessary expense since we can't really take advantage of the more exciting excursions, due to the little ones, and we want a little more freedom. Here is what we have in mind so far:

Fort-de-France, Martinique 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Grand Marche (Spice Market) and exploring the downtown area

Restaurants: LeVieux Foyal, TheMadeleine P'tite, or TheCrew

Castries, St. Lucia 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Spencer AmbroseSugar Beach Break or Cosol Full Day Tour to see the Pitons and spend time on the beach at Jalouise Bay

Basseterre, St. Kitts 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Taxi to SouthFriar's Beach or Frigate Bay

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Short day so get offthe ship early and get a taxi to Magen's Bay. On the way back stop in Charlotte Amalie for duty free shopping.

Any changes you seasoned cruisers would make or suggestions for the ports I've mentioned? This is only our second cruise and our first with our children. Last one we went on was almost 10 years ago and we did ship excursions exclusively. Not to muddy the thread, but as novice cruisers we are open to any tips or tricks specifically with the Gem or cruising in general. I've already browsed the forum somewhat and have a fairly comprehensive list of things we are bringing to make cruising with the little ones enjoyable for them and us.