Day trip to St.Barth's?

[jkijek]

Hi there!

 

My husband and I will be traveling on Oasis in January with a stop in St. Maarten. We're scheduled to be in port until 5 p.m. Is a day trip to St. Barth's an option? I'm not seeing a ferry with a mid-afternoon time back to St.Maarten.

 

Appreciate your help :)

 

Jen

[macaroni]

We did it thru the ship's excursion....seas were so rough, I was terribly sick both ways as were alot of people, so when we got there, only walked around a little and walked to the nearest beach for an hour or 2 and dreaded having to take the ferry back. By the way, we went in January.

[startraveler]

We'll be doing Oasis in October. How much was the excursion? We're thinking of also going to St. Barths (since it'll be our third time in St. Martin/St. Maarten) and was thinking of using Winair to get there.

[macaroni]

We'll be doing Oasis in October. How much was the excursion? We're thinking of also going to St. Barths (since it'll be our third time in St. Martin/St. Maarten) and was thinking of using Winair to get there.

 

We did it thru a Princess cruise....I am going to guess that it was around $50 each....but I don't remember for sure.

[davidnsteph]

In October 2007 on the Caribbean Princess, we booked a tour called "St. Barts on your own" from St. Maarten. The tour ran from 8:30-4:30, including 3 hours roundtrip ride. The cost was about $120 each. Princess stopped offering this tour shortly thereafter. There were only 4 people from the ship who took the tour, including us. There were about a dozen other tourists from resorts on St. Maarten who booked the excursion separately. The catamaran picked us up at the pier right next to the cruise ship. The catamaran, named "Sweety Pie", was operated by Sightseeing Tours. The ride was 90 min each way, and the ride was smooth that day. It can be very choppy, though. We had beautiful views of St. Barths, St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Kitts from the catamaran. We enjoyed the catamaran ride both ways. We sailed back with the wind for part of the return trip, and many enjoyed sitting on the trampoline. The catamaran stopped at a small customs building on the dock, and an agent took a quick glance at our passports (passports are definitely required). There was a tourist info office nearby. An island tour was available from the pier, but we stayed in the vicinity of Gustavia. We liked Shell beach, a short walk from town. There were many yachts in the picturesque harbor, a couple old churches and a municipal museum (all displays in French, but the proprietor spoke English). Also, Jimmy Buffett's restaurant (Le Select) was open. We are returning there on the Royal Princess in April 2010 as a regular port call, and we plan to see the rest of the island.

 

Hope this helps.

 

David

[airlink diva]

In October 2007 on the Caribbean Princess, we booked a tour called "St. Barts on your own" from St. Maarten. The tour ran from 8:30-4:30, including 3 hours roundtrip ride. The cost was about $120 each. Princess stopped offering this tour shortly thereafter. There were only 4 people from the ship who took the tour, including us. There were about a dozen other tourists from resorts on St. Maarten who booked the excursion separately. The catamaran picked us up at the pier right next to the cruise ship. The catamaran, named "Sweety Pie", was operated by Sightseeing Tours. The ride was 90 min each way, and the ride was smooth that day. It can be very choppy, though. We had beautiful views of St. Barths, St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Kitts from the catamaran. We enjoyed the catamaran ride both ways. We sailed back with the wind for part of the return trip, and many enjoyed sitting on the trampoline. The catamaran stopped at a small customs building on the dock, and an agent took a quick glance at our passports (passports are definitely required). There was a tourist info office nearby. An island tour was available from the pier, but we stayed in the vicinity of Gustavia. We liked Shell beach, a short walk from town. There were many yachts in the picturesque harbor, a couple old churches and a municipal museum (all displays in French, but the proprietor spoke English). Also, Jimmy Buffett's restaurant (Le Select) was open. We are returning there on the Royal Princess in April 2010 as a regular port call, and we plan to see the rest of the island.

 

Hope this helps.

 

David

 

Great info!!

I'm going to St. Martin in 2010. This will be visit number three and my ship is there from 9:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. Even with the 90 minute ride each way, I could still have time to explore Gustavia and return to st. Martin.

[suech]

Stopped at St Barts last April on cruise. Crew warned us how expensive it was before we went ashore. They weren't kidding! Prices in Euro's, which is not so friendly as the US$ to us Brits. 3 Euros for a coke, 6 for a beer on Shell beach, thats about US$5/10!!! But the prices were only chalked up on board, so would imagine they may be lower if a ships not in. Picked up ours for cooler from supermarket on way through town for a fraction of price. Personally, Shell beach my least favourite in the Caribbean, but kids loved diving for shells and the wave action was great. Give me a soft sand and lapping waves anyday, oh, thats St Martins. Only joking, just to give you the heads up, take a plenty of cash!

[benzygirl]

Hi there!

 

My husband and I will be traveling on Oasis in January with a stop in St. Maarten. We're scheduled to be in port until 5 p.m. Is a day trip to St. Barth's an option? I'm not seeing a ferry with a mid-afternoon time back to St.Maarten.

 

Appreciate your help :)

 

Jen

 

 

One time when we were vacationing in St. Martin, we flew over to St. Barts for the day. It was a very short, but a hairy flight as it comes in steep. I think we took a 10 AM flight over and rented a car at the airport. Drove around the whole island with some stops at beaches and for lunch and took a 4:00 or 5:oo flight back. If you started out earlier you could be back earlier. Fun and easy.