St. Martin Downhill Trek

[OklaCruiserMom]

I have been making a lot of positive changes in my fitness level in the last couple of years and ought to be close to ideal weight by my late May cruise on Allure. In the midst of the 24-hour Food Frenzy that is a cruise ship, I'd like to try to do something physically challenging. Has anybody done this excursion, and if so, is it very difficult or just mildly energizing? I was thinking I'd let the kids sleep in, get off the ship and go do this excursion, then go back and get the kids and we'd take a minivan tour of the island.

 

Information please? :)

[pittisit]

Did anyone do this excursion? My wife and I don't want Bernard - we're not big drinkers and don't want to spend time getting on and off a minibus for several hours. We want something active like the downhill trek.

 

I understand the bus that takes you up the mountain is like a safari vehicle - but has anyone done this? How long does it take? worthwhile? fun?

 

THANKS!

[pittisit]

BUMP - I need help with this one please! Anyone done the Downhill trek? any feedback?!

[Droop]

You're going to laugh about this. Initially when I booked this excusion we thought it was a bike ride down the mountain. (There is actually one) The ride up the mountain is pretty bumpy so you will be holding on.:p When you get up there they hand you a walking stick....which really comes in handy. By the way...we went on this excursion in Jan 2012. The guide was wonderful. If you mention the people who asked where the bikes are she will probably remember.

 

You make a trek about 2 1/2 miles down the mountain. You will be shaded most of the time but there are some areas that have some great views. The guide really makes the hike fun. There was a lady that had some difficulty due to diabetes (nuropathy) in her feet. So if you have issues with your ankles or feet I would be careful. When the tour is over you end up at a resort area which also has the zip line tours. At the end of they have fruit punch as well a rum that you can put in the punch. The resort (hotel) has an area where you can purchase beer sodas etc. Personally I felt a little uncomfortable doing that. We had to wait a little over an hour due to waiting on the lady that had trouble. They had to eventually send someone up to help the lady down the mountain. I felt really bad for her. She looked like she was in pain.

 

Other than that the tour does give you some excercise. My calves and believe it or not my abs were sore. Which is good. The trail does have many rocks that you are walking on/by. If you have any questions please let me know.

[pittisit]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your feedback and info!

 

My wife and I are in our 20s and work out pretty regularly, so I don't think the activity will be too strenuous for us, but I really don't like it when people don't heed the warnings on the website about ability and difficulty. We end up waiting around and wasting our day for someone that could have done something more applicable to their condition.

 

That being said, (1) how long was your "trek" from the top down and (2) how long did it take to get up the mountain (once leaving the ship)? we are doing this on RCL Navigator in March and don't want to waste the whole day with this one...'

 

We want some time to explore St. Maarten as its our first port.

 

Thanks again for seeing me here! :-)

[Droop]

We are in our 40s and 50s and you should'nt have a problem with it. From what I remember I think it takes about an hour to get up there, which means an hour to get back. If we had not had the delay I think you would have had some time to go explore a little. When we were driving up they said that if anyone wanted to be dropped off on the way back they would do it.

 

The hike was about 3hrs.. (It was hard to guage due to the delay we had). Our excursion ran over probably 1 1/2 hrs. But if everything is on time I don't think you will have a problem.

 

I'm still chuckling about after a 1/2 hour of walking asking the guide where the bikes were and looking at the expressions on everyones face. :D We just said oh well and it brought back memories of us on a Volksmarch in Germany.

 

I think this would be a good excursion to go on to get off the ship and do something different than sitting on the ship. Have a great time and let me know how you like it. Anything you need to ask please do.

[pittisit]

Our trip starts at 1pm. I didn't notice that the other day. No biggie.

We can explore in the morning if we want. I went ahead and booked it. Sounds like a fun non-beach, shaded thing my wife and I can do to exercise and enjoy some jungle.

 

Saw the mountain bike excursion and thought of you :-) We don't bike a lot and the reviews of that excursion sounded treacherous even for experienced mountain bikers.

 

So from what you're saying, from start to finish, we're talking 5 hours? Not bad for $60 pp.

 

We'll bring snacks, water, and bug spray - sounds like fun.

[OklaCruiserMom]

I pretty much gave up on the idea of this excursion. Although I work out fairly regularly, my knees and ankles are pretty iffy. I dislocated my kneecap about a month ago, and it still hurts sometimes. I would have enjoyed this, I think, but I don't want to take a chance on a major injury, especially since I don't have my passport. Have to figure out something else to do in St. Martin instead. :)

[Droop]

Pittsit: They gave you a bottle of water when you first start, but if I had know what I (should have know ;)) I would have probably brought something to carry it in instead of having to carrying it. If you can latch it onto something or carry a small backpack I think that would do pretty good. It's hard sometimes to carry the stick and the water due to the possibility of tripping or falling.

For the most part it will be shaded so I think you will enjoy it.

 

For the most part it will be shaded so I think you will enjoy it. Something different. The bike ride we were looking at didn't seem like it was trecherous. I'll have to look again and see what the description was. :)

 

Okla Mom: The bike ride we were looking at didn't seem like it was trecherous. I'll have to look again and see what the description was. :) I agree with you...if you have had some pain in your knew I would NOT go on this. I've ripped my ankle 6 times and I was a little concerned about the rocks etc. during the trip. For a knee I would really be concerned. good call on your part girl!

Edited February 17, 2012 by Droop

[pittisit]

Droop: We'll bring our small backpack. Thanks again for your help. We'll attach pics and update you upon our return in late march! :o)

[Droop]

Re:We'll bring our small backpack. Thanks again for your help. We'll attach pics and update you upon our return in late march! :o)

 

Cool!:D

[OklaCruiserMom]

So are you actually walking on big loose rocks, or just really steep, uneven dirt paths or what? Part of me still really wants to do this. I think if I wore either hiking boots or really good sneakers, and knee braces, I would be pretty well protected. I have done two 5K fitness runs with mud pits and obstacles, so I'm thinking this would be pretty similar, minus getting covered in mud and swimming through ponds! The first one I did was in record heat in July last year. My sisters and brother-in-law will be competing in a 5K mud run/fitness games on the day we fly out for our cruise, and I won't be able to do it with them, so I'm still really feeling drawn to this, but I don't want to be stupid. It's our last port stop, so if I hurt myself a little, I can just lounge around the ship for the next 2 days until we get back. Not that that would be ideal, but still...

 

? :(

 

It seems like the kind of thing that would make you feel strong and alive, like the 5K mud runs. (!)

Edited February 22, 2012 by OklaCruiserMom

[Droop]

Some of the rocks can be the size of a 2 man rock, and there might be some areas where it could really work the knees. It's kind of iffy as how it would be on the knees. I would think you would have to be really careful on some of the areas. Like I mentioned before it was a workout on the abs and the legs...it's just a matter of what shape you are in. It's kind of funny what some people might think is a workout...others may not. Some of the areas are uneven dirt/rocks. I know how you feeling trying to figure out if it's something you should or shouldn't do. If you try it please let me know what you think. :D

Edited February 22, 2012 by Droop

[OklaCruiserMom]

Some of the rocks can be the size of a 2 man rock, and there might be some areas where it could really work the knees. It's kind of iffy as how it would be on the knees. I would think you would have to be really careful on some of the areas. Like I mentioned before it was a workout on the abs and the legs...it's just a matter of what shape you are in. It's kind of funny what some people might think is a workout...others may not. Some of the areas are uneven dirt/rocks. I know how you feeling trying to figure out if it's something you should or shouldn't do. If you try it please let me know what you think. :D

 

 

If I decide to do it, I will definitely come back and give a full report. Maybe I can do a lot of exercises that will strengthen my knees between now and then too. Thanks for the information and encouragement!

[Droop]

Well did anyone go on this excursion? I'm curious as to how it went?

[NancyW1354]

I finally found a full review of this excursion online with pictures! http://halfhealthyhalfnuts.blogspot.com/2011/11/cruise-day-5-st-maarten.html -Nothing this Colorado girl can't handle --we are going to do it!

[Karysa]

I finally found a full review of this excursion online with pictures! http://halfhealthyhalfnuts.blogspot.com/2011/11/cruise-day-5-st-maarten.html -Nothing this Colorado girl can't handle --we are going to do it!

 

Last summer DH and I did a similar hike except we started where the poster ended and climbed up to the top and then back down. I am not sure why it would take them 3 hours that seems very long to me. It was an energetic hike that is for sure and the views were very nice. You don't need to take an excursion I think that it cost us 5 E to do the self guided hike.

[NancyW1354]

Thanks for the info! Would it be best to rent a car then if we do on our own? I think I heard it is about a 30 minute drive from the pier.

[mpkid123]

We signed up on our Disney Fantasy Cruise in July 2015 for this downhill trek. First, I must be honest - there is no rainforest on St. Maarten. The island is dried up pretty good in August. The area we trekked down was just a plain old forest. However, that being said it was fun and very very strenuous. There is no path down the mountain - instead, we traversed down a dry stream bed that had more rocks that I could count. We were looking for a workout and this trek did not disappoint. If you are the least bit out of shape or have leg problems avoid this excursion because it is very physically demanding. Unfortunately, my wife fell near the end and scraped her elbow and knee (she said she would never do it again). My 16 year old daughter loved it though because it was so strenuous. The guide was funny and very knowledgeable. The view and pictures we took at the top and at various points made it very much worth the trip!