itsjb1

keep in mind that they drive on "the other side of the road " in St Thomas, so you may prefer to hire a driver rather than renting a vehicle.

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/71425-kim-sha-beach-designated-as-market-activity-area-for-cruise

I seriously doubt that any of the cruiselines will be running excursions up to Orient Beach.

Here's another video, showing the beach from the Village up to Esmeralda and where Coco used to be.

Here is a link to a video with a section of Orient Beach, from late September. Looks like it is from the Village up to Esmeralda and what used to be Coco.

For those looking for information on Orient Beach, see the link below for what a stretch of the beach looks like. As mentioned in earlier posts, none of the beach bars or other structures survived. As if they were never there.

If you are looking for less crowded I would head to Coco Beach .

Aloha Bar is one of the bars/restaurants on the "other side" of Pedros, and is one of the rebuilt bars/restaurants. Literally a 2-3 minute walk from the famous Club O sign. The beach then continues for about a mile, with many other bars and restaurants along the way

Are there car rental agencies there at the port???

Not at the POM. However, the major agencies will pick up from the port by shuttle and take you to a nearby location.

Book a room at a hotel with a nice pool for the day

Hopefully the beach has returned

Your attitude makes me thankful I just cancelled my only upcoming Celebrity cruise.

 

Roy

Better not ever book a cruise with any cruiseline, as they are all the same, businesses.

One other thing to consider is if you want to get your VAT back on your purchases, the line at Customs to get your receipts stamped can be quite long.

In most situations yes. Get off ship early, arrange private transfer and should have no problem. BUT, the 1 thing that you can't control is traffic. If there are lane closures , or accidents on I95, then you never know.

So true. I am able to eat everything. But seeing my husband really disappointed in his meals really makes it difficult. We are dining Saturday night in one of the top French restaurants in the DC area. I just checked out their menu. 75 percent of their menu had a red star which indicated GF. We are Select on Celebrity and will not make it to elite. In fact, our next cruise is on Princess and we will cancel if we don't see good reviews on their GF offerings.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We were on the Regal Princess last year. The GF selections on Princess were, IMHO , far more limited than on Celebrity.

Maybe a silly question, but who does the inviting and how is the invitation communicated to you?

our daughter was diagnosed as celiac fairly recently, and we have taken 3 X cruises with her since then. The experience has been great. Find a maitre'd at the buffet, they will take you around and tell you what is GF and what isn't. More importantly, they will tell you how to go about getting GF pizza and bread.

Our daughter does not eat at the buffet, for fear of cross contamination. She will get GF pizza. She will also get GF bread and take it up with her to the Mast Grill to get a burger. She has been told that the burgers are all beef and the regular buns don't go on the grill.

The maître ds that we have come across have been great. If you have a question about a particular item, they will phone down to ask. I don't recall exactly what it was, but our daughter had a question about whether something was GF, the maître d called down (not sure to who exactly) and the answer came back that the item was purchased on shore(as opposed to being made on the ship) and therefore they could not be sure that it was GF.

Definitely doable. But, leave yourself enough time. Last summer when we were there the line at the luggage storage facility was very long

We have booked with Coastal a couple of times. Have found that if you prebook online their rates are very reasonable.

fly to Madrid and spend some time around there, as they are not places that you would end up on a cruise.

I am from this Universe!! We've been on at least 15 Princess cruises, all different ships, so I know what I'm talking about....

All I can say is "different strokes for different folks".....

After 25 years of cruising many lines, and I did for the most part love Princess, I think I'm done with this line. They are not what they used to be. They are losing some of the loyals.

Have good cruises.

We have done Princess, Royal , Celebrity, Carnival and NCL. These days none of them are what they used to be.

Have you contacted the dietary requests people about your GF requirements in general? You may want to send them an email and ask about Princess Cays. If you do hear from them, please let us know their reply.

They will have hamburgers (skip the bun) and hot dogs. They may have fruit. I would certainly pack a protein bar-- as it is better to have it an not need it, than need it and not have it.

But are the hamburgers and hot dogs GF? There are sometimes additives, especially in hot dogs that make them not GF. Best advice is probably to ask on the ship. Also, even thought fruit is GF, there is a risk of cross contamination , with so many people and it being a salad bar type setup.

There is a Holiday Inn right across from Bayside Marketplace....

We stayed there 1 night pre cruise in December 2012. Unless things have changed, I would not stay here again, even if it were free. Tons of issues and problems and management couldn't care less. There is a tripadvisor review if interested.

We bought a GoPro on our last cruise with our OBC.

The taxi stand is right outside the port entrance and is well marked. We have taken a taxi from there to Orient Beach. You can get a txi to Maho. Not sure about the other beaches.