cg_abby

Gary, thanks for the response. We got the info about the cancellation around 6:00 PM and I figured most offices in St Maarten would be closed at this time. I plan on calling first thing tomorrow though.

Some places I emailed were St Maarten Sailing, St Maarten Cruise Excursions, Random Wind, Soualiga Destinations, Bernard's Tours, Blue Safaris, Swaliga Tours. I looked into some other ones but prices were too expensive. I'm mostly going off what I have read on here or what has good reviews on TripAdvisor. Random Wind has already emailed back with no availability but they are giving us recommendations on things to do.

If anyone has recommendations for smaller companies that might still have space or a DIY option that would work too. We can always find a tour at the dock as well I guess.

Hello everyone, my family of four leaves on the Carnival Sunshine this Friday. We had only booked excursions in two ports and were really looking forward to renting a motor boat in St. Maarten. We confirmed the trip several weeks ago and just an hour ago the company emailed us to say they "would not be back in time to follow through on the rental". I am distraught as this was our "big excursion" and now we have nothing planned, and I am afraid everything will be booked at this later date.

We are very "DIY" people which is why we wanted to rent our own boat (as we have done on past cruises). I just sent two inquiries to two other rental companies but I doubt we will hear back by Friday. We were wanting to fish, see the island from the water, have a little picnic on the boat, and then afterward explore Marigot or go to a beach.

Can someone please help me find some other options that we could make happen at this late date. Something that involves some fishing (we have our own pole), seeing nature, and exploring some culture. Our budget is 300-400 for the day. Once we get on this ship on Friday we will have no internet so I really want to get things figured out by then.

I am sorry if I seem so panicked, I am the teenage daughter and I do all the trip planning, so for this to happen makes me feel terrible and anxious. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

We are traveling to St Kitts on the Carnival Sunshine this July and our port time is 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM. We are a family of four with two active teens. I am having trouble planning our day. We want to see the different parts of the island (Brimstone Fortress, other good panoramic places) but also do a rainforest hike. Javin's trip looked perfect for us but he is already booked.

I have emailed several different operators and am waiting to hear back. With such a long time in port, I am unsure how to fill our day - we are already spending a lot of time at the beach in our previous stops so that is not a major priority. We also don't want to spend a ton on multiple excursions. Is there much we can do on our own, especially in the evening? I have found some walking tours of Basseterre that might work but I don't know if it would hold all of our interest. Anywhere interesting we could get by taxi? Any recommendations for excursions that combine the island tour with a rainforest hike (similar to Javins?) Is there anywhere we could hike on our own?

Thanks!

Hello, I am trying to plan my family's day in St Martin for when we arrive there in July on the Carnival Sunshine! My little brother (14) is really interested in fishing. I had looked into renting a small boat in Simpson Bay Lagoon from Boathouse Boat Rentals because they said you could fish, but now they are saying due to the hurricane fishing is prohibited in the lagoon/the Dutch side. Apparently, it is allowed on the French side.

Can anyone give me suggestions on getting to the French side and finding a spot to go fishing? We aren't interested in deep-sea fishing - we want more of a "family can hang at the beach while son fishes off a dock" type deal. If we could find an excursion that would take him and my dad out fishing, that would be great, but the ones I have seen so far are very expensive.

I am looking into either renting a car or just using taxis to get around the island. Marigot looks interesting, maybe there would be some spots to fish around there?

I would appreciate any help and suggestions! We are very open to doing different things!

Are your plans to go UP in the Statue of Liberty ?, have you secured tickets already to go up ?, you do have to reserve in advance.

 

The Breakaway passes right in front of her on the Sailaway ! That's why I don't use the ferry anymore...your ship will be as close as those ferries are in front of her. On the island it is difficult to take a full frame picture of her...the best shots are when you are on the Ferry OR on the cruise ship.

 

If you do go, I once parked on the North West corner of Albany and 9A ( West avenue ), it is an indoor parking in one of the buildings affiliated with the WTC site and they inspect ( they did 2 years ago ) under the car with mirrors... It is a little walk to the Ferry but It is hard to find anything closer...or park further and pick up a taxi to go to the ferry.

 

From there it took us about 1h in heavy traffic to go up to about Pier88...you just never know what incident, construction, or parade, or...whatever... is happening... I wouldn't cut it close...no way I wave at the ship from the shore as it leaves the Pier :mad:

Yes, we have booked tickets for 9:00 AM, not to go up on in the Statue, but just for the grounds. I would agree with just passing the statue and seeing it from the ship, but it is really important to my parents to go on Ellis Island. Thanks for the advice about parking and drive times. We definitely don't want to miss the boat!

We leave on the Norwegian Breakaway this Sunday (!) for a cruise to Bermuda. We are driving into New York the day before by noon to sightsee. We were going to do a Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island visit that afternoon but it did not look like we would have enough time, so we rescheduled to Sunday morning at 9 AM. We will be driving our car to Battery Park and then from there drive and park at the cruise ship terminal. I know driving in New York is terrible but that is our only option right now.

My questions-

Where should we park at Battery Park? I know they do not have designated parking but are there some lots closer to the ferry departure point than others?

If we finish up our visit around 1 PM, will we have enough time to get to the cruise ship terminal, park, and board? I know the general guideline is to get there 90 minutes before departure which for us is 4 PM.

Thank you all for the advice/pictures/maps. I will be trying to keep an eye out on any information about the Hatchers Pass road, and we will ask our rental car company what they think. I think we will start up using one of the "Fishhook" roads either from Wasilla or Palmer and at Independence Mine we will try and find out what the condition of the road is. If it looks doubtful then we will just go back down to Wasilla. Thanks for all your help.

OK, first of all, Hatcher Pass Road is not a separate route up to Hatcher Pass. It is the road to Hatcher pass that you access from Wasilla Fishhook Road.

 

Hatcher Pass Road runs from Palmer, where it starts at Wasilla fishhook road and goes over a mountain pass and ends up in Willow.

 

As BQ said, rental cars are not covered for this road as you will need a 4 wheel drive in the tougher parts of the pass.

 

That said, Hatcher Pass Road from Wasilla fishhook road is a nice road and is paved for quite a ways up to the Independence mine site.

 

The easiest way to get there from Anchorage is to take the Palmer cut-off and stay on it till you get to Wasilla Fishhook Road. Then you go straight for a few miles and you will see a sign for the Hatcher Pass Road. Take this road up to Independence mine.

 

When you are done there, you can take the same road back to Fishhook Road and when you get to Fishhook Road turn right and continue on Fiahhook road (don't go back to Palmer). Fish hook Road will then take you into Wasilla, where you can pick up the Parks Highway. Turn right and head to Denali...

Ok yes, these directions make sense. I guess we can always just ask Midnight Sun Rentals when we get our van to see if they have any restrictions/advice. I guess I'm just confused about the very top road on the map I attached in my above post. It says "Hatcher Pass Road" and goes out from Willow. Is that more scenic? Should we take the Palmer or Wasilla Fishhook roads up then drive on the "hatcher pass road" to get back to the Highway to Denali?

I tried to attach a picture of a map I found in another thread here. This is where I got the road names. Thanks for all your help.

Thank you everyone for your responses. We are renting a seven passenger van from Midnight Sun Rentals in anchorage. I looked on their website for which roads were prohibited and I didn't see any of the ones here listed. Thank you for the suggestions...maybe if someone could find a map that would be helpful, because the road names are confusing. Thanks again.

Hello everyone, we leave for our cruise/DIY landtour in a week. On our landtour, we will be driving from Anchorage to Denali National Park (we have a whole day for this, not a rushed drive). We would like to see Hatchers Pass and Independence Mine, but don't know what route to take. As I understand it, there are three main roads- the Wasilla Fishhook, the Willow Fishhook, and then Hatcher Pass Road. Which one is the most scenic route? Which would we take up to the Mine and which would we take to get back on the highway to Denali.

Also, on our way home from Denali to Anchorage, any good attractions? I have heard of the Musk Ox and Reindeer Farms, the Iditarod HQ, anything else to fill a few hours that wouldn't be too expensive and time consuming?

Thank you guys so much for your help, I'm so excited to be headed to Alaska in one week!!!!! :)