Not so much sunshine on the Sunshine 1/13

[topofE]

2nd Port

San Juan!

 

When looking at the shore excursion book the kid HAD to do the Pirate Family Treasure Hunt. It was $50 for adults and $40 for kids. She likes families, she likes pirates, she likes treasure, and she likes hunts so it was a no brainer. Signed up at the shore excursion desk. Easy Peasy. Got our tickets.

 

Got off the ship and met our tour guide. A teenager from San Juan. This was her first time doing this tour. She usually did a walking tour of San Juan but her boss needed her to do this one this week so she went through and learned it the day before. There was another family of 5, with 2 kids and a family of 5 with 3 kids. So 6 kids and 7 adults. We had to wait for a group for a little bit so I ran across the street to the Walgreens and got us each a bottled soda for $1 and myself a Monster Energy drink for like $2.20 or something. That Walgreens was PACKED. I don't want to give a play by play of the excursion because I don't want to give anything away for someone who IS doing it.

 

But it was fun. The kid loved it. On the pros side, since the girl usually did the walking tour of SJ she made a lot of extra stops along the way and showed us a lot of history. It was like 2 tours in one. We walked A LOT. We were in search of clues throughout the city. At one point we were looking for the flag of SJ which was hilarious because that flag is EVERYWHERE. The girl had to keep telling the kids that we weren't looking for THAT one. I mean, in half the shops, on the busses, on the billboards. The flag is prominently displayed everywhere so we found about a hundred of them before we found the exact right one. We had a delicious little snack. It ended with us flying kites at some very popular little kite spot. By the fort I believe. The kites were the $3 ones you can buy anywere. Diamond shaped with two sticks you stick through the back to keep it's shape. Thanks to the wind we had been battling all week, it was perfect kite flying weather. It was fairly crowded there. Our guide says it is a popular spot for the locals so that was 95% of the people there.

 

I had the alpha kite. It flew up as high as the string allowed. It even sliced the string of an inferior kite in it's quest to be the leader of the kites. My kid dropped her handle and chased after it a bit but the kite ran away from her. Luckily there were extras so she and another boy got to grab another one. In the end I gave my kite to a local kid who was crying because he lost his kite. I passed on alpha kite. There was NO way I was going to reel in hundreds of feet and strip alpha kite of it's glory.

 

At the kite spot the tour was concluded. I assume she would've walked us back to the ship if we wanted her to. She had maps on hand so we grabbed one and she gave us a rundown of the path we had taken since I was looking for a shop that we passed that had like $3 t shirts. She assured us that no matter what we did, if we walked in any direction, because of how narrow the island is, we would either end up back at this point or back at the ship so we didn't have to worry about getting lost. We ended up retracing our steps but not on purpose. We just kept seeing the same sights we had seen on our way to the fort. We checked out a couple shops but since I have started my own shirt making business I just couldn't see buying the same old shirts that you see in every port that I can make at home. If I didn't have a dozen shirts with the map of the Carribean on it already though, SJ is the place to go. Into the city. Down towards the ships there is a whole strip of little bars serving food and drinks with tables outside. We found a good spot at one next to Stabucks and my dad got some local beer and the kid got a coke while I ran into starbucks and got a drink.

 

SJ was a really great time. Was the excursion worth $140 for the 3 of us? Eh. There wasn't really any "pirating" involved. It was a $3 kite and a couple bucks for the snack. But, with it being the girls first time, it may have been a better or not as great of a tour. I mean, the kid's didn't really go on a treasure hunt. But we did get a decent tour of the city. Since Carnival usually has a huge upcharge on their excursions, this was a decent price. We really enjoyed SJ and the kid says she liked the excursion and flying the kite. We wouldn't do it again because I think it is more of a "been there, done that, got the tshirt" kind of an excursion but I will be sure to keep an eye out for other ships to SJ.

 

Oh! Also, maybe because she was new. But this was the first time I have ever taken any excursion through any vendor where there wasn't a constant reminder that tips are appreciated/expected/their livelihood, etc.

 

After we drank a couple drinks and walked through the city the kid decided that she was starving to death so we headed back to the ship. THis was our late night port (till 9pm!). We stopped at Walgreens and I got another Monster drink and the kid got a twix ice cream bar and my dad got a bag of Doritos. I remembered about halfway up the gangway that I couldn't bring the can onboard with me so I chugged it. This helped me to finally get to check out the midnight snacks on the Lido though!

[Shaded Lady]

from post #20: We ended that night pretty early. Our early morning start and the stress of travelling and the on again off again rainy weather was enough to convince us to call it a night early. Our room steward had asked my dad if we wanted morning or evening service. He said morning but I flagged him down and said that while we didn't need turn down service, the kid NEEDED a towel animal. I wasn't sure if he caught it all but my family is big on going with the flow so we weren't too worried. When we got to our room, the beds were turned down, the animal was there and we slept soundly while the boat rocked us to sleep.

 

So the stewards are still playing fast and loose with this trial program I guess. Very disappointing to hear.

 

 

Bill

 

I've heard of room stewards trying to pull this. But I also heard that if you just say, 'No I'd rather service morning and night' they will comply. I read one post where the steward refused and insisted they had to pick one or the other. The poster went to Guest Services to find out if things had changed, and not only did he get his twice a day service the ship comped his whole family a dinner at the steakhouse.

 

So at least for now, if your steward asks one or the other, feel free to insist on both, if that's what you want.

[EdukatedRedHed]

Loving your review! We sail on the sunshine in a couple of weeks. I've copied a few of your tips and comments down in my phone's notebook. ☺

 

 

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[momin05]

Those kids might have been mine. We were on the same sailing as you in Ocean Suite 7174. So my kids could have been running to the room.

 

The ship was quite rocky. My 9 year old son spent a fair bit of time sitting on the balcony on those first few days watching the horizon.

 

Actually on this sailing there were a lot less kids than the Jan 24th from 2015. The kids club had grouped the 6-8 and 9-11 kids together. Because of this the 4 boys in our group had no interest in going to the kids club at all.

 

I would also love to hear how you get the pictures to load. I have all the funtimes except for the disembarkation day and could post them. I have tried but only had issues.

 

Sailing this itinerary in April and would really LOVE to see the Fun times. Can someone help RW20;52117294 figure out how to post them?

 

Great review, really enjoying it. Trying to plan our port days now so anxious to hear what you did at the next two ports.

[terri-eddie]

I'm really enjoying your review, and your funny take on things. The Sunshine is our next cruise, with this itinerary, so it's nice to start learning about it. For example, I've never seen breakfast pizzas at the pizza place on other ships, so I'm definitely going to have to get one...to go with my usual breakfast burrito!

[momof3cruisers]

Hasbro Game Show

 

It was clearly listed in the Fun Times. It was either the second or third night. The kid was very excited about this. We ended up getting there super early, like the doors weren't open yet because the kid was sure that if we sat in the front row she would get picked. We had a long discussion about cheering even if you aren't picked so I was curious as to how this would turn out. We met a wonderful woman that gave the kid a pep talk about how you have to act CRAZY to get on the "show". Like jumping up and down and screaming and waving your hands crazy. We got in, sat in the front row, watched the commercials and ads for the game and all the hasbro games. Then it was show time.

 

They did a great job of keeping everyone pumped and getting audience participation. She didn't get picked. However, our "team" (the left half of the audience) lost like every competition so she wasn't out much besides her 2 minutes of fame. The wonderful pep talk woman was picked though. She got a consolation prize of a travel pocket electronic Yahtzee and to my surprise, she ran over and gave it to the kid. A small gesture to her maybe but it meant everything to the kid. She loved the toy, she loved that she "won" it. She apparently loves Yahtzee even though she had never played it before. She carried it around for the rest of the trip (since mean old mom made her leave the tablet at home for the trip) and is now some Yahtzee prodigy.

 

That is such a sweet story! My son was picked to be in the show. He did not act wild and crazy, but he did jump up and wave his hand as soon as the question was asked. The cruise director did recognize me so that may have helped. My son's team won so that was really fun. He didn't get the grand prize but he had a blast doing it. I know people gripe about passenger created entertainment, but our family loves those activities.

 

I am loving your review. You are very funny. The part about the Dora sticker had me rolling.

[topofE]

Port #3

St Kitts

 

After such a long day of walking in San Juan we decided to just get off the ship and see what there was to see here. We tend to vacation off the seat of our pants and this cruise was no different. We checked out the shore excursion booklet but nothing stood out as a must do.

 

But, once we got off the ship we were pretty much inundated with people trying to sell tours. Holding up the signs, trying to call the kid over---

 

(my pet peeve! She doesn't make decisions for our family and I resent when people think they can somehow convince the child to do something and then guilt the parents into going along. The worst is in those high pressure sales areas like in Cozumel where they are constantly trying to call her over to give her a free gem/diamond/earrings/etc. She can't just ignore them because I have been pounding it into her to be polite. Yet if she even acknowledges them, the next thing you know they are showing me diamond watches and jade earrings. Listen pal. I am wearing $5 earrings from Sally Beauty Supply and I kid you not, these are my fancy ones. I am wearing a tshirt that I made and a pair of shorts from either Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I am NOT in the market for a diamond ring. "Okay how about this jade chess set?" Man I play checkers at Cracker Barrel once a week while I eat my $3 dessert with the kid. Again, you are actually wasting both of our time now. Meanwhile the kid is fussing cause she is hot/hungry/bored/needs to pee and she still never got her "free" gems. Rant over. Dang that was not pretty. Sidebar, I LOVE Cozumel. It is one of our favorite ports. But it was the best example because if you have been there in downtown shopping area you know exactly what I mean. If I was in the market for vanilla extract, I would go buy it. I don't need the high pressure sale to trick me into getting it)

 

I digress.

 

Tons of tour operators there. If you are the type of person that doesn't need to take a Carnival excursion, then don't in St Kitts. Surely their prices were lower and there is no shortage of tours to take.

 

Annie. Annie was just standing there, holding her sign, smiling as we walked past. Naturally I stopped and asked her what her thing was. She does a full our of the island. A handful of museum drivebys, an old plantation, the start of the rainforest, the botanical gardens, Brimstone Hill Fortress, some big time picture lookout spot, then back down to the fancy side of the island and back to the port. She charged us...I think it was $25 per person and she said the kid could go for I think $10. She said she had an air conditioned van with cold air and great reviews online so I ran into a store to grab 3 sodas and googled her real quick and decided that was the way to go. Another couple had been left by their tour just before they got off the ship and then there was one couple that had booked with her online beforehand. (They paid $50 each). So I think 7 of us. I sat in the front because I get carsick easily (and no one else wanted to) and we were off. Annie has an ice chest with soda, water, and rum punch. Everything was $1 except diet coke was $2.

 

Right off the bat someone in the van asked about crime in St Kitts and Annie told us about the gang activity, the gun violence, and the public hangings. Apparently she is/was a cop. Not a super reassuring way to start off our trip but we already had bracelets and I had just opened up a diet coke so we were in it for at least as long as that took me.

 

Her van had good AC. She started off with a fairly lengthy prayer. She told us a very very detailed history of St Kitts and Nevis. Every once in awhile she would ask a rhetorical question and then ask if everyone was listening because people weren't answering her. But i mean really, they were rhetorical questions. She spoke very loudly and clearly and my dad and kid were in the back and said they heard everything really well.

 

We drove around the city there. Saw a couple Universities. One, a veterinary school she said was 80% Americans because of overcrowding in American schools. Now, I have never heard of veterinary schools being overcrowded so I took it with a grain of salt and decided to look it up later. Surely it is that they are much cheaper than American schools and nothing to do with the population of our Universities.

 

Stopped at the Rainforest/Plantation. It was interesting. It is very interesting/obvious that their #1 business on St Kitts is tourism now because the entire island is very tourist friendly. Signs everywhere with descriptions of what is ahead and what you are looking at. I mean, everywhere. Like driving through town and there are huge travel info signs even in front of their courthouse and their jail and their schools and everything.

 

Went to the Botanical Gardens. The kid likes some kind of palm tree that Annie showed us that you could get water from. It was cool and we later saw it in Florida as well and the kid recognized it right away. We have a huge georgeous Botanical Garden in STL so I am a little biased maybe and we pretty quickly went through their small garden. Kid got a bag of chips and a soda from their little snack stand and we were back off to go to the fortress.

 

I was really doing this tour for my dad and the fortress part sounded the most boring to me. But I knew my dad had kind of wanted to see the forts in San Juan but got roped into the pirate treasure hunt so I pep talked the kid about being enthusiastic for grandpa and not rushing him and letting him do his thing at this fortress. The drive up to the top was...scary and interestinng. It is a tiny one lane road, with tunnels. I guess they only paved the road somewhat recently when Prince WIlliam (?) was coming from England. She said the whole island got a huge upgrade from it. If you were renting a car or a scooter there is no way you could/should go to the fort. It would be impossible to navigate up that road. They have to honk their horns over and over again the whole way because it is 95% blind curves and 1 lane roads.

 

So we made it to the top, went into a little building to watch a video made around 1847 about this fortress. Went through the shop were they were selling the video on VHS so...if anyone is interested in a take home copy, they have you covered. Then we walked up the...I don't even know. I should look it up so I can get an accurate number but it was a lot of steps. They were nice, wide evenly spaced steps though. Even if you had mobility issues, as long as you had the time, you could do it. I stopped about halfway up panting and some guys coming down said to keep going and it was worth it.

 

IT WAS.

 

It was so gorgeous. And the kid and I walked into all the old rooms and read about the soldiers. My dad, surprisingly didn't...apparently he has some unknown ghost superstition that I have never in my life heard of until we were back in our room that night. (Spoiler alert, no ghosts followed us out so feel free to check out all the little rooms and there aren't any spirits in there that bothered us at all).

 

It was so much cooler than I though. Beautiful pictures. For some reason only 2 other people went up there with us. Maybe they were tired from all the walking we had done already. And the steps DID look daunting. I don't know if the Carnival tours go up to the fortress...If it was anything larger than a van it would be about impossible to get up that hill though.

 

On the way back we drove past the airport, went to where new hotels and condos were being built, heard about a couple celebrities that "live" there.

 

We stopped at a lookout point. They were selling drinks and souvenirs and there was a man with a donkey and a little monkey there selling the opportunity to take pictures with them. The kid wouldn't stop giving me puppy dog eyes and she DID hike up that fortress and didn't fuss once all day for what I am sure was a fairly boring tour of the island for her so I relented. Told him I would give him $5. The kid got to sit on the donkey and the monkey sat on her head and climbed all over her. I got lots of pictures and the kid loved it. It was great. Of course the kid HAD to get a souvenir monkey. The kind with the long arms that velcro around their neck and say St Kitts on it. For some extra amount of money she even got one that made an super annoying monkey screeching sound so, thanks so that Grandpa.

 

When we were leaving the port that morning I had seen a little restaurant selling Jerk Chicken so that was my plan all day to eat there when we returned. However, Annie told an interesting story about how everyone eats monkey here and the monkey out number the people. Annie once ate monkey and didn't know it until after so from then on she hasn't eaten one thing or drank one thing that she didn't prepare herself. For like 15 years she hasn't eaten out once. She won't even drink St Kitt's water. Which, you know, was super reassuring after we had been drinking her drinks all day! So, no Jerk chicken for me.

 

Got back to the port, got out and everyone had to pay her. It appears as though we had all negotiated different prices. The people who paid $50 got like 2 free drinks and got to sit in the first row in the van. Which was super fair because they could've insisted that she leave right when they got off the ship but agreed to walk around for an hour and wait to see if anyone else wanted to join the tour. Plus all of their entrance fees were paid for by Annie. We paid...I don't remember. I think it was 20,20, and 10 but had to pay to enter everywhere. WHich Annie took care of and told us along the way, "This is $10 each", "This is 15$ each" etc. The kid didn't have to pay an entrance fee so with our tours, whatever price we had agreed on, and our drinks, plus a tip, we ended up paying $100. The same as the couple who had prepaid...but then we had a kid along for the ride too.

 

If you are going to St Kitts and you want a tour of the island, go with Annie. She never hassled us for a tip, she never tried to push anything on us. She did fuss at us a bit for not answering her rhetorical questions but I was in the front seat and I didn't mind that much even though i felt like she was fussing at me specifically :). She specifically told me to offer the donkey/monkey guy $5 and assured me he wouldn't be insulted and he would take it. He did and he was great. Annie's vehicle was in good shape, AC was cold, she locked the doors whenever we went in. She told us the history of St Kitt's from pretty much God's 2nd day until the present so if you want to know history, this is the way to go. If we went again we would stop in a little shop there and grab a bag of chips or a snack or two because there was really no food opportunities along the way and it was a LONG day. Once we got back to port we walked around the shops for maybe 10 minutes before heading back to the ship to find food.

 

St Kitt's was very cool. Annie is the way to go.

[topofE]

**Forgot to add. I looked up the University. It is super expensive. So my theory was wrong and Annie must know her stuff afterall :)

[nicole9s]

still loving your report, though I was :eek: about the possible monkey-eating part!

 

Maybe instead of overcrowded US med/vet schools, she meant competitive? As in, it may be easier to get into a foreign school vs a US one? I know that a co-worker's daughter was looking at going that route when she was applying to med school.

 

Either way - sounds like it was a very fun tour!

[drosphot]

I am also enjoying your review. Thank you for taking the time to write it. I like that idea of giving my oldest a limit for the week and letting him spend it how he wants.

 

I think that is one of the coolest things for a kid to do on a vacation, especially in an environment like a cruise ship. I miss having our kids be that excited, now they just drink with me... :D

[magictam]

18 more days till we board The Sunshine. I don't generally go with Ship sponsored excursions. I was interested in your review about Anne. I don't supposed she mentioned her website did she?

Thanks

 

 

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[topofE]

18 more days till we board The Sunshine. I don't generally go with Ship sponsored excursions. I was interested in your review about Anne. I don't supposed she mentioned her website did she?

Thanks

 

 

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Google Annie's tours st kitts. (I don't know if I can post links here). It is the first one. That is how I found her while we were standing there cause I wanted to make sure she had good reviews. Checking it out now, we must've done the "panoramic full island tour" which makes sense because I really can't think of anything we didn't see.

 

I told my kid about this review and how I said it was probably boring for her and she wanted me to make a point to say that it was not boring and she enjoyed it. It was a lot of driving around in the car and I suspect that the donkey ride and annoying toy monkey had a lot to do with it. But since we had walked literally 10+ miles the day before (according to my fitbit) she said she was happy to sit in the ac and she really really enjoyed the fortress.

[topofE]

I think that is one of the coolest things for a kid to do on a vacation, especially in an environment like a cruise ship. I miss having our kids be that excited, now they just drink with me... :D

 

It was so beneficial to me. And to her AND my dad. I am so...frugal. On one hand I save all year so we can splurge on the ship. On the other hand I want to get maximum value for my money at all times. I would've NEVER let her spend that much in the arcade if it were up to me. And I really don't want her buying junk that we have to lug back to St Louis that never even makes it out of the backseat of the car. So if it were up to me she probably would've begged for every opportunity to spend money and I would've shot it down and then my dad relents and gets it for her and then they both resent me and I am mad that they undermine me. I mean really, this was way so much better. I gave her $15 per day. Including ports. I told her it was for souvenirs, the candy shop, the arcade, everything. She ended up spending WAY more in the arcade than I would've okayed but we had agreed that it was her money. Next time I would probably do less but unfortunately I think I set a precedent! :eek: And really, what is $120? She had to buy her own sodas and I think that her having to account for her own money for sure cut down on her needing every single item in the shop there on the boat. Because before it was a 7 day struggle about those stupid drink floaty things that encourage people to spill their drinks in the pool. This time, when it was her money, suddenly I didn't hear a peep about it.

[magictam]

Thank you. I found the site and prebooking. We're looking for a little laid-back relaxing cruise and I think this will fit in perfectly.

Looking forward to the rest of the review.

 

 

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[patandfritz]

Oh my heavens!! What a wonderful, informative and funny review. "The kid"!!! hahhahaa We are booked for Feb 2017. This will be our first cruise ever. We are going to be with a huge group. Most of us belong to a fire company. A portion of our group sails every other year. At this point I believe there are about 40 of us including a few kids. I made notes on my iPhone note app. We were thinking it would be fun to go to Mahno Beach on St Maarten to see the planes coming and going. I have Annie in my notes. Hopefully she will still be there in 2 years. :) Again, thank you for a very informative and delightful review!! You should write books!!

[topofE]

Oh my heavens!! What a wonderful, informative and funny review. "The kid"!!! hahhahaa We are booked for Feb 2017. This will be our first cruise ever. We are going to be with a huge group. Most of us belong to a fire company. A portion of our group sails every other year. At this point I believe there are about 40 of us including a few kids. I made notes on my iPhone note app. We were thinking it would be fun to go to Mahno Beach on St Maarten to see the planes coming and going. I have Annie in my notes. Hopefully she will still be there in 2 years. :) Again, thank you for a very informative and delightful review!! You should write books!!

 

I am glad you are enjoying it. You guys will have lots of fun I am sure! I am certain Annie will still be there. She said she has been doing it for like 20 years or something. Just make sure there is a designated person to answer her rhetorical questions!

[topofE]

4th Port!

St Maarten

 

This was our last port before two more sea days. By this point we were pretty tired off the mediocre weather. It was starting to look up but we had spent the better part of the week in terrible winds and overcast skies.

 

Since winging it with Annie had worked so well our plan was to get off the ship and see what there was to do. I lived in Holland as a foreign exchange student my senior year of high school so I was looking forward to seeing the dutch influences and to hopefully go to a dutch grocery store and maybe get some macaroni spice mix that I used to get and haven't been able to find.

 

That reminds me. Being in a suite, they had sent us a note telling us where to go to get the priority debarkation. I think it was the Taste Bar. However, the two times we went there, the group had already left so we never actually utilized it. But getting off the ship in all 4 ports was easy peasy. The typical 20 minute line if you get there early and then if you wait half an hour you get to walk right off and be bombarded by all the photographers all on your own. Dang those guys are adamant about you getting in every photo op. Getting on the ship, getting off the ship, with a sign that says Grand Turk, a sign that says Carnival, here is one with the ocean in the background, here is one with a pirate, here is one with the ship in the background. They are going to give you about 83 chances per port to pay $20 for a photo so if for some reason you miss 1 of the pic stands, have no fear, there are about 13 other photo ops on the way down the pier. I am one of those moms who thinks the kid is beautiful in every shot and I hate that they shred the pics you don't buy. So we have a policy of not even looking at the pics. I know it is terrible, but I have spent hundreds on pics from Carnival and really should've just spent that money on a gopro to document every step that the kid has ever taken instead. So we stop and cheese it up for the photo guys but we never even go look at them on the ship.

 

So we got off the ship right away, let them take 7 thousand pics, and then we were in port. There were people standing there with their tour signs and prices. I think it was something like 20-30$ to get to the airplane beach. We've lived on/near Air Force bases for 30 years so it wasn't a huge priority to us. We figured we would make our way to the town and see what they had to offer and then go to the beach from there. i stopped to look at a huge posted map by the taxi stand and one of the drivers came over and asked where we wanted to go. I told him just into the town that was nearby. He said he would drive us for $5 or we could walk. He said it was just a 10-15 minute walk and to walk out of the port, take a left, and keep walking. He told us that when you see the green fencing, there is a small sign that points to a shortcut and to take that. So we did. What a nice walk. Roads were nice, there was a guardrail separating us from the cars. The weather had finally turned in our favor and it was pleasantly warm and sunny but not too hot. The shortcut was easy to see since we knew what we were looking for. We passed a couple shops, one of them was a dutch cheese shop and I told my dad that we had to stop there on our way back.

 

We got to the little town there and it opens right up onto a very long beach. While we walked down the little boardwalk (is that the right term? There were no boards at all, I just don't know what that area is called between the beach and the stores...it was paved). The right side was lined with stores, bars, and restaurants. The left side was all white sandy beaches and lounge chairs. We had worn our swimsuits just in case but didn't have our towels so we decided we would walk down the boardwalk (for lack of a better term) and then go back to the ship and get towels and probably come back. We stopped and had a couple cokes. They were $2. Stopped in a pharmacy and asked them for directions to a grocery store. Walked down the little alleys and got to a very rundown store that sells some groceries. It was more like dingy 7-11 than a grocery store and they didn't have what I was looking for. Stopped at DelSol and got the kid and her friends some color changing headbands they had on clearance for $1. (They are still in her suitcase...that is what happens when I decide not to make the kid pay for them!).

 

Back down to the beach. We got stopped every 15 feet by someone offering us different packages to go to the beach. The beach is free. But the lounge chairs and umbrellas of course cost money. There was a water trampoline at one point but I look like a seal trying to get on them so we kept walking. For the most part the packages were 2 chairs, an umbrella, and 2 sodas or 2 mixed drinks or a bucket of local beer for $25.

 

Some french woman who worked at a travel agency came and used her good looks to get my dad to stop and scratch off some lottery type card thing. He won a free vacation!! How exciting! All we had to do was go to the end of the beach, into this travel agency, pay for the taxes, watch a video about the vacation, and sign paperwork. I have already had 1 vacation almost ruined by the timeshare hard sell so I gave her a hard no. I asked her how long the video and presentation is and she said "Less than 2 hours and it is in an air conditioned room". Yeah, no thanks. I am not going to waste this vacation that I paid for, to listen to someone go on about another vacation where I will be given hard sells the entire time to book yet another vacation. Sidenote, if you aren't turned off by some language, you should look up the comedian Hannibal Buress. He does a skit about a timeshare and it is super accurate and hilarious.

 

So we go to the end of the beach, same deals just about the entire way. On our way back, the kid was just dying to go swim and insisted she didn't need a towel. Which is easy to say when you aren't picturing a 15 minute walk in wet clothes back to the ship. One of the guys renting out the lounges said he had the best deal. $20 for THREE chairs, he would throw in the kid's for free. Plus 5 cans of soda or beer. I told him we needed towels first and he said they had clean freshly laundered towels we could use. I told him I could get free towels on the boat and he insisted, he would get us 3 towels and they were free. Just return them to the drink station place when we left. So we did that. They had brand new chairs and we got front row and 3 freshly laundered towels for $20. Their place was either called the Pink Flamingo or was next door to the pink flamingo. Since we walked up and down the beach I can assure you that they were the best priced. Can't beat that. The beach was nice. Chilly water, nice smooth sand, gentle waves. All 3 of us swam. We ran out of sunblock which is amazing, since this really was about the first time we had seen clear skies. I went back off the beach to find sunblock. It was $15 everywhere except one shop, if you walk off the beach and go straight back, then make a right on the next street, it is on the left. They had a huge stand of the banana boat brand stuff right by the door. They were $10 each. I checked and they weren't expired or anything and they had every type of banana boat sunblock there. This was the best price we saw the entire cruise. I got one that was made to make it easier to brush sand off you which is now sitting, still sealed, in my suitcase next to those headbands.

 

I asked the kid if she wanted to go see the airplanes or stay on this beach and it was a definite stay from her. So we spent most of the day there. I walked around a couple times and explored the little shopping area. My dad read his book. The kid looked and found about 20 broken seashells that she HAD to bring back. And rocks and fossils. I gave her a hard no on that. Once we decided we were starving we decided to head back to the ship. Went and returned the towels and thanked them. Got a soda to go and started back.

 

Oh, on the beach, people were CONSTANTLY coming by asking if you wanted braids, a massage, or bags that they were selling. My little tender headed fussy pants can NOT get braids without wailing and the thought of someone rubbing me down on a public beach didn't really appeal to me. Plus I had bought some bright colored bags in St Kitt's already. (Remind me to tell you about them). But, even though it was every couple minutes, when you said no, they were super polite about it, "Okay! Have a great day! Enjoy St Maarten!". Every time. St Maarten has the nickname "The Friendly Island" and it was apparent that they earned it. Even the taxi cab drivers and the guys offering us the lounge chairs. When we said no, they were not just, not rude, but actually wished us a great day and told us to enjoy ourselves. Quite refreshing actually. The only pushy person we saw was the travel agency lady and that was just because she was SO EXCITED that we had won the free trip. Apparently that is like a 1 in a thousand odds so we were super super lucky and could NOT let this opportunity pass.

 

On our way back, we stopped at the Dutch Cheese store. We had a sample of some aged gouda that was SO GOOD. The guy working there told us that we could bring it back with us and it would clear through customs and we were very lucky that we found this shop. I heavily debated on it. ALthough Sam's club sells pretty good gouda but this stuff was delicious. Went over to check out the prices. $55 for a wedge of it. Not a 10 pound wedge like you are thinking. But a regular old wedge of it. I thanked him and said we were good to go. The kid had to buy some Dutch chocolate coin stuff that she ate 2 of and the rest are probably still in the suitcase (maybe I need to spend less time reviewing and more time unpacking!). Walked back to the ship, got our food and called St Maarten a success.

[topofE]

There is a water taxi that you can take from the port to the beach there. I THINK it was $10 per person (unlimited all day) and it left every 10 minutes. But unless you have mobility issues or toddlers, I would definitely walk it. It was a very nice walk and we felt very safe during it.

 

There is a hotel right by the beach. Just a small little 10 room type of place. There was a group of men sitting on a bench nearby and I asked them if it was a hotel or apartments or what. They said it was a hotel and asked if I wanted weed. So...again. Super friendly island. (I declined but thanked them for the offer)

 

The bags. They sell these same bags in every port. They are $15 each or 2 for $25. They come with 5 things. It is a super brightly colored large bag. They are embroidered with whatever port you are currently in. The 5 items (this is the funny part) are one of those long wraps that you can wear as a dress or a scarf or a business suit or whatever if you can figure out how to fold it. Mine always end up us coffee table clothes. The bag is item 2. A scrunchie is item 3. And I mean like circa 1992 hair scrunchie. Hilarious. Item 4 is the mesh on the side of the bag that you can put a water bottle in. They actually count a part of the bag as an extra item that comes with the bag. Item 5 is a little clutch sized bag. Or a makeup bag maybe. In St Kitt's I jokingly (very nicely) told the guy selling them that the bags are at BEST 4 in 1, and that is if you count the scrunchi as an item even though I haven't seen one since the 90s. He laughed and gave me two of the bag things for $20 so my sister got a gift too. I told her the scrunchi and the mesh on the side of the bag were the selling points and she agreed that I got a steal with this setup.

[topofE]

(p.s. dumped out my purse that night to tie it shorter and give the kid a walkie talkie, the funtimes, and the camp carnival schedule like we did every night and low and behold, 20 broken seashells fell out of it. Little turd)

[micro yaya]

You are right, if they aren't powdered that is just sad because that's what they taste like and I normally love scrambled eggs. I know they didn't taste the same in the dining room when we went. Those were definitely real.

 

Real eggs are served in the omelette line just ask for over easy and you get a real egg

[micro yaya]

(p.s. dumped out my purse that night to tie it shorter and give the kid a walkie talkie, the funtimes, and the camp carnival schedule like we did every night and low and behold, 20 broken seashells fell out of it. Little turd)

 

Could you remember how the live bands were and did they have a Latin band

[DebbieMo]

(p.s. dumped out my purse that night to tie it shorter and give the kid a walkie talkie, the funtimes, and the camp carnival schedule like we did every night and low and behold, 20 broken seashells fell out of it. Little turd)

 

 

[emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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[terri-eddie]

It was so beneficial to me. And to her AND my dad. I am so...frugal. On one hand I save all year so we can splurge on the ship. On the other hand I want to get maximum value for my money at all times. I would've NEVER let her spend that much in the arcade if it were up to me. And I really don't want her buying junk that we have to lug back to St Louis that never even makes it out of the backseat of the car. So if it were up to me she probably would've begged for every opportunity to spend money and I would've shot it down and then my dad relents and gets it for her and then they both resent me and I am mad that they undermine me. I mean really, this was way so much better. I gave her $15 per day. Including ports. I told her it was for souvenirs, the candy shop, the arcade, everything. She ended up spending WAY more in the arcade than I would've okayed but we had agreed that it was her money. Next time I would probably do less but unfortunately I think I set a precedent! :eek: And really, what is $120? She had to buy her own sodas and I think that her having to account for her own money for sure cut down on her needing every single item in the shop there on the boat. Because before it was a 7 day struggle about those stupid drink floaty things that encourage people to spill their drinks in the pool. This time, when it was her money, suddenly I didn't hear a peep about it.

 

 

We do the same thing for our teenage daughter when she cruises with us. The first time, she blew just about her whole budget in the arcade...she was convinced she could defeat that Vault game thing! I thought it was a dreadful waste of money, but she enjoyed herself. On her second cruise, I don't think she tried the vault game at all...learned her lesson. And at the end of the week, she had money left to take home with her, even though she bought souvenirs for her friends, so she was quite happy about that.

[okletsgocruisin]

great review, thanks

[Mommabear2Five]

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