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St. Barths On Your Own - Royal Caribbean?


MattInFLL
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I'm totally surprised no one really comments on this tour from Royal (and presumably Celebrity). I've been trying to decide on whether to go to St Barths or Anguilla from St Maarten. I've had some good advice from the St Maarten board, but also have had to do a lot of my own digging.

 

Anyway, Royal Caribbean's shore excursion department sent me a timetable of the excursion today. It says, the first 30 minutes are to get from the ship to the ferry, ticketed, and onboard the ferry to the island. Then they plan for 30 minutes to St. Barths (which seems a little ambitious given what I have read on travel times). Then 3 hours on the island. So it's four hours from the ship to waiting for the ferry back from St. Barths. According to the timetable, the ferry back to St. Maarten and transport back to the ship is not part of the advertised 4 hour time of the excursion. If that is the case, given the various information and input about both islands, it makes a better argument for me to go to St Barths.

 

But more input please!

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  • 2 months later...

Matt posted about this over on the St Maarten board - RC cancelled the St Barths excursion, so he went to Anguilla instead.

 

I have found that a lot of these more exotic shore excursions get cancelled when they don't get enough interest.

Or if the shot glass / fridge magnet / t-shirt crowd does not want to pay for a new experience.

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I was on the Liberty of the Seas re-positioning cruise from Bayonne to Galveston. We called on St. Maarten and I was very interested in doing St. Barts. but waited to book until I was onboard.

 

The Shorex Agent on Liberty had worked on Oasis and mentioned that they always had trouble getting the required 18 passengers from that ship and he had never been able to do the trip as well.

 

He mentioned that there were already 13 booked from Liberty and that due to the fact that Jewel would join us in port that this tour would go. In the end we were 16 passengers from Liberty and 14 from Jewel.

 

Oddly the meeting time was at 08:45 on the pier between the two ships. Jewel did not arrive until 08:15, while we were in at 07:00. They had us originally booked for 09:45, but then changed it as they said Jewel was getting in earlier. We paid the price for this confusion as we were forced to stand almost one hour without the shade provided by the ships for all other tours. Jewel's meeting time was 09:15 and some were late and delayed our departure.

 

You then have to walk almost 15 minutes to the high speed ferry boat. The seas were rough and some days the tour is cancelled due to weather. Only 4 passengers became ill. Those that went up on deck could not come down due to the movement as we really got thrown around. DO NOT sit near the sides or the back as you will get thrown around more and WET.

 

Arriving in Gustavia, you are right in the heart of the small city. No matter when the ship tour goes, the 'on your own' starts from the actual arrival and we had from 10:15 to 14:15 allotted. The guide is 'required by RCI' to set this at a minimum of 4 hours from the moment the boat pulls in to the terminal.

 

Most got stamps in their passports, but I carry a European passport and was just waved in. I was a bit disappointed, but did not want to appear too much the tourist and ask.

 

What many did not realize was that as all the shops would close at 12:30 and then the restaurants would all become very packed from that moment. As it is French standard service you must allow at least 1 hour or more for lunch.

 

Some took taxi tours directly and when they returned the only thing open was restaurants. Some were disappointed to miss the shopping as there are many high end shops. St. Barths is really freshening up now to meet their more upscale image.

 

I had a mission to visit the Swedish Consulate directly prior to their closing, as I had a passport question, but they were not open and in fact never open in contrast to what the Swedish government website stated.

 

What I found odd was that the 'guide' did not provide us with maps or tourist info. We were just let off at the pier. A few of us tried to find the Tourist information that was just up the pier and found a sign in the window that they had decided to close. There was a 'hotel' right there and we were able to get maps. There was a small grocery there as well to purchase cold drinks.

 

Gustavia is very compact and I just enjoyed walking around the shops and for me seeing all the historic Swedish information was of interest. The city was well marked with almost all buildings having a historic marker with description in English, French and Swedish.

 

I was able to spend an hour at Shell Beach and the restaurant Do Brazil with international, French and local cuisine.

 

I then went to a small French café and used the WIFI for a half hour before the trip back.

 

I was quite satisfied with the experience and do recommend it to those that have visited St. Maarten previously as a very nice option with proper planning.

Edited by MADflyer
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We just did this excursion on Anthem of the Seas. I was a little concerned the excursion would be too short, but they did give us a full four hours on St. Bart's (in our case it was from 10am to 2pm). Be sure to be on time for the meet-up and to have your passport (we had two people miss the excursion as they did not bring their passports from the ship and there was not sufficient time for them to get the passports and rejoin the group before the departure).

 

The high speed ferry ride to St. Bart's was a bit rough, but no one in our group got ill. However, I recommend taking Bonine or the like which we do regularly on the cruise anyway. The return ride was much more comfortable and smooth.

 

We followed the excellent walking directions provided in a separate thread and walked to St. Jean's Beach. This is at least a 30 minute walk. We were able to stay at the beach two hours and had purchased lunch at a supermarket on the way. Our only disappointment was when we returned to town some of the stores were closed for lunch ... but this was not a huge deal for us.

 

St. Bart's is beautiful! We had already been to St. Maarten several times, so were very glad we did this excursion.

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  • 1 month later...
I'm totally surprised no one really comments on this tour from Royal (and presumably Celebrity). I've been trying to decide on whether to go to St Barths or Anguilla from St Maarten. I've had some good advice from the St Maarten board, but also have had to do a lot of my own digging.

 

Anyway, Royal Caribbean's shore excursion department sent me a timetable of the excursion today. It says, the first 30 minutes are to get from the ship to the ferry, ticketed, and onboard the ferry to the island. Then they plan for 30 minutes to St. Barths (which seems a little ambitious given what I have read on travel times). Then 3 hours on the island. So it's four hours from the ship to waiting for the ferry back from St. Barths. According to the timetable, the ferry back to St. Maarten and transport back to the ship is not part of the advertised 4 hour time of the excursion. If that is the case, given the various information and input about both islands, it makes a better argument for me to go to St Barths.

 

But more input please!

Hi Matt,

Did you find any more information on the trip. We are sailing on Allure on 31st January and are interested in doing the day trips to St Baart but wonder if its a good choice. Thanks Annemarie

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Hi Matt,

Did you find any more information on the trip. We are sailing on Allure on 31st January and are interested in doing the day trips to St Baart but wonder if its a good choice. Thanks Annemarie

 

Hi Annemarie, please read the posts above..... one is by me and see the one before that. This gives you some actual feedback on the excursion.

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  • 6 months later...

Was on Oasis of Seas July 9th, 2016. Three of us went; including my 3 year old daughter. There were about 30 people on the tour. Half of the people got sick, not hyperbole. We didn't get seasick. My daughter enjoyed all the bumps and swells and waves. It was like a roller coaster on the ferry over. Going back was much better. We walked the town, ate, shopped early as the stores do close for extended siesta. We walked to Shell beach, also. The tour operators were nice and comforted the sick people with some type of smelling cloth and cold rags. We were provided water coming and going. They played a video of the island both ways. There are a few pictures of nude women advertising the nudes beaches on the island. My daughter thought the nude ladies were mermaids so that was fine. Of course i wish we had more time on the island. We have already started planning a land vacation there for the holidays.

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The excursion had been on the cruise planner for Anthem this Xmas and New Year's cruise but suddenly disappeared today. It is no,longer available nor apparently for Celebrity either. Does anyone have any idea why line would cancel this ? I called and they could not give me an answer.

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  • 2 months later...

One wonders if part of the problem is that St Barts would be very happy if there were no day trippers (especially cruise ship passengers). It is a lovely island (we have stayed there) with very little crime or issues. Most of go there pay top dollar for rentals (and meals)...and a big draw is that there are very few cruise ships. In a sense you are going to a place where you are not really wanted.

 

Hank

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Really ? Well let's rank that as one of the most obnoxious posts ever.

 

I bet the merchants have no trouble taking their money ...

 

Which may be the only reason they tolerated your visit.

Edited by MattInFLL
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Really ? Well let's rank that as one of the most obnoxious posts ever.

 

I bet the merchants have no trouble taking their money ...

 

Which may be the only reason they tolerated your visit.

 

Ouch! Sometimes the truth does hurt and sorry you feel hurt. But when it comes to St Barts.....we spoke the truth. And its not a slight to those on the island as they love their island and want to keep it the way it is....which means an upscale island (popular with many jet setters) which would prefer not to become one more overcrowded cruise port. There are actually quite a few islands scattered around the Caribbean that prefer to have nothing to do with the cruise industry (or even the normal tourist industry). Those that remember what St Thomas was like before the cruise invasion would understand. Imagine a small village with no Diamonds International, Royal Caribbean, Little Switzerland, etc. These places still do exist. Yes St Barts does have some nice merchants...but they are not dependent on cruise ship passengers for business. The shocker on St Barts are the prices of things...which are not for the faint of heart. We once decided to have just a simple light lunch (near a beach) in a simple cafe....and it still cost us nearly $100. And even prices at their supermarket would make mere mortals cringe.

 

We are avid cruisers, but also spend a fair amount of time on land trips. One should acknowledge that not every place welcomes cruisers (you can just look to the locals of Charleston, SC to see that in our country). And then there are the popular cruise ports....where not everyone wants the cruiser business. Consider that many of the best restaurants in Grand Case (St Maarten) do not even bother to open for lunch. We asked one restaurant owner (an excellent French Chef) while he didn't open for lunch and take advantage of all the cruisers on the island. He just rolled his eyes (like only the French can do) and bluntly told us he did not want "that kind of business." There are plenty of islands in the British Virgin Island chain that purposely limit development in order to keep out the masses (such as Peter's Island). Go figure.

 

Hank

Edited by Hlitner
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  • 4 months later...

I've read several of the threads here and Hank is exactly correct. St. Bart's prides itself on its exclusivity and their 'remoteness' coupled with relatively nearby jet access that makes it a feasible haven for the rich and famous. There are places in the Grenadines that are far less accessible to the point of being almost undeveloped. (Look up Petite St. Vincent sometime.) St. Bart residents are more than happy to welcome folks off small vessels to their quaint little corner of the world. But they are not prepared to become Americanized and overrun by tourists. We've had wonderful experiences and very friendly interactions with the locals because it has been a handful of us, not an invasion.

 

With respect to an excursion from the pier in Phillipsburg off a cruise ship, that strikes me as very ambitious. It's quite a distance even by Fast Ferry. And the joy of St Bart's is really only appreciated at a slow pace. But I suppose if the goal is to say 'I've been there.'.....

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  • 2 weeks later...

The issue with St Barth is not that they do not want the money of the cruiser. It is that the shop owners believe that the presence of cruisers chases away the real big $ customers, and that as a result they as store owners end up with less money in their pocket. They feel that when a cruise ship is in town, the big spenders stay away. And then they don't sell that one of a kind $25,000 alligator carry-on suitcase or that $40,000 watch. They feel that selling 5000 t-shirts at $50 each, or 2500 lunches at $100 each is not really an alternative given the size of their store.

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