Windspirit Ports

[sandbag7]

We intend to rent cars in St. Maarten and St. Barths in accordance with the suggestions I have read; can anyone advise where the Wind Spirit docks on these Islands?

[johnnycruise]

In St. Barths all the ships are at anchor about 1/4 mile out of Gustavia Harbor. Most of the rental car companies have offices in town. You should either make sure your car is available at their Gustavia location or that the rental company will come pick you up and take you to the airport (less than ten minutes away, but a pricey cab ride). I think renting a car in St. Barths is the way to go. It is extremely hilly, but compact enough so you're never more than 20 minutes from town. You will be able to sample several of its excellent beaches. Grand Saline is great but you might want to go in the morning as there is no (ZERO) shade. The guide books tout it as a nudist beach but don't let that necessarily stop you; when we were there everyone was clothed (at least the bottom half);) except for some folks WAY down on one end. Flamands would be a good afternoon choice as it is lined with palm trees and has cafes. Make sure you go to St. Jean Bay and stand where the airport runway literally touches the sand. The woman at the tourist office just down the quay from the tender dock is very helpful and has several driving tour brochures in French and English. There is a moderate-sized free parking area by the tender dock where you can leave the car if you want to go back to the ship for lunch. The main Shell gas station opposite the (tiny) airport closes from noon until two o'clock. The roads are narrow, but so are the cars. Here is a web site which describes the beaches and shows their location: http://www.st-barths.com/guidepgs/maproads.html. You will have a blast!

 

In St. Martin the ship calls at Marigot on the French side. I would assume you dock in town as it has a pier large enough to accommodate a small cruise ship. Of course if there are several in town, some of them may be at anchor. The megaships dock/anchor at Phillipsburg on the Dutch side. The French side has better food and the Dutch side has better duty-free shopping.

[billteer]

We were on the Wind Spirit NewYears cruise which stopped at both St. Barts and St. Martin. We were at anchor in both places. We were on the French side at St. Martin and the ship was rolling a lot. If we had gone to the Dutch side we could have been at a dock, but the captain said it would not be any smoother.

 

Enjoy!!

[2gators]

We just returned from a St Thomas - St Thomas Itinery. In St Martin we chose not to rent a car as the island is really not that pretty to drive around and traffic is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE :eek: (no kidding here!!!!!). I can't imagine driving in that traffic. It took 40 minutes to go 8 miles. You can easily taxi anywhere and we actually rode the bus from the french side to the dutch side and back for $1.50 pp. Both times we waited less than 2 minutes for a bus as they are always riding around.

 

We did however, rent vehicles in St John from Courtesy Car Rentals and in St Barths at Beranger Car Rental. This was the right thing to do in both ports. Boths islands are beautiful and great to see on your own. In St John we reserved the car the day we embarked by calling from St Thomas they have a phone number posted on the web. In St Barths we had no reservation and took the first tender in and walked to the car shop and we able to get one of the last Jeeps but it was stick shift only. Go right away if you have no reservation. Do rent on your own though because you will pay double if you do it through the ship as an excursion. The roads on both islands are very narrow and hilly but loads of fun too. You can see lost of beautiful spots on both islands by doing your own thing. I recommend it. We paid about $65 US each day. Beautiful beaches but beware on St Barths we stopped for lunch at La Rivage at Flamands and had a simple meal and no alcohol and paid $65 US with the exchange and St Barths very expensive prices so you may want to go back to the ship or eat a very big breakfast before you hit the town.

 

You will love the trip it exceeded our expectations and we are already thinking ahead to when we can travel with Windstar again. Have fun

2gators

[sandbag7]

I'll follow your advise on St. Maarten; I was gonna rent, but I have no patience as a driver, and the bus idea is intriguing. I have a car rented on St. Barths, and will probably rent one on St. John; the last time I did that I missed about 10 turnoffs, which is tough to do as there is only one main road; anyway thanks for the advise.