Thoughts on our non-NCL sponsored off ship activity plan

[ChefA85]

My family of four (myself, wife, 3 year old and 4 year old daughters) are traveling on the Gem departing from NY on 3/17 for a 10 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. Our ports of call are Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Thomas in that order. Since our kids are young and really want to spend some time on the beach, we've decided to try and plan our days on shore without any cruise line sponsored excursions. I feel like it's not a necessary expense since we can't really take advantage of the more exciting excursions, due to the little ones, and we want a little more freedom. Here is what we have in mind so far:

 

Fort-de-France, Martinique 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Grand Marche (Spice Market) and exploring the downtown area

Restaurants: LeVieux Foyal, TheMadeleine P'tite, or TheCrew

 

Castries, St. Lucia 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Spencer AmbroseSugar Beach Break or Cosol Full Day Tour to see the Pitons and spend time on the beach at Jalouise Bay

 

Basseterre, St. Kitts 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Taxi to SouthFriar's Beach or Frigate Bay

 

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Short day so get offthe ship early and get a taxi to Magen's Bay. On the way back stop in Charlotte Amalie for duty free shopping.

 

Any changes you seasoned cruisers would make or suggestions for the ports I've mentioned? This is only our second cruise and our first with our children. Last one we went on was almost 10 years ago and we did ship excursions exclusively. Not to muddy the thread, but as novice cruisers we are open to any tips or tricks specifically with the Gem or cruising in general. I've already browsed the forum somewhat and have a fairly comprehensive list of things we are bringing to make cruising with the little ones enjoyable for them and us.

[Shawnino]

You'd do well to post over on the Caribbean board for advice...

 

 

...but it looks good to me.

[ChefA85]

I wasn't completely sure if this was the correct sub, thanks for the heads up!

[electro]

St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Short day so get offthe ship early and get a taxi to Magen's Bay. On the way back stop in Charlotte Amalie for duty free shopping.

 

since you have a short time in St Thomas, I would suggest Emerald beach. It is much closer to port and much quieter than Magen's Bay.

[ChefA85]

since you have a short time in St Thomas, I would suggest Emerald beach. It is much closer to port and much quieter than Magen's Bay.

 

So according to a couple of the online ship schedule websites, we are going to be the only ship in port that day. Our only plans for the day really involve the beach. The shopping is more window shopping than anything else. Would you still recommend Emerald Beach or is Sapphire nicer?

[trivia addict]

We will also be on that same cruise. Your ideas seem solid.

This cruise has a quite active roll call forum. If you have not joined it already, you might want to look at that and ask the cruisers on that board what they think, and what they suggest.

[ChefA85]

I had no idea that existed, thanks for the heads up! I just joined.

[Cool Breeze Cruiser]

The tours in St. Lucia are great & the Pitons are amazing but it is a LONG day with a lot of time spent riding in a van. Only you know if your kids would enjoy that. It is also very hilly, winding roads & not the best thing for anyone with motion sickness.

[ChefA85]

That's definitely a concern for us. I was hoping to find a water taxi or tour that would be more direct to the Pitons and beach to spend time there and then bring us directly back to the dock later in the day. I don't know if that's realistic or not but I plan on reaching out to a few different companies to see if it's possible.

[ClarkBHM]

The tours in St. Lucia are great & the Pitons are amazing but it is a LONG day with a lot of time spent riding in a van. Only you know if your kids would enjoy that. It is also very hilly, winding roads & not the best thing for anyone with motion sickness.

 

I was going to mention the same thing. It was the favorite tour for my wife and me back before kids (bus down, catamaran back), but I'm not sure if I would do it with kids as young as yours. With a taxi to a beach, you have the freedom to call it quits and head back to the ship. On a long tour, you don't really have the same freedom.

[ChefA85]

I think that's the best plan for us. I'm hoping to find a water taxi there and back to avoid the hilly and windy land taxi ride there and back and to also cut down on travel time. I'm going to post in the St. Lucia sub but if anyone has used a water taxi that they recommend, I'd appreciate the recommendation.

[hathaway42]

The tours in St. Lucia are great & the Pitons are amazing but it is a LONG day with a lot of time spent riding in a van. Only you know if your kids would enjoy that. It is also very hilly, winding roads & not the best thing for anyone with motion sickness.

 

 

 

I agree with the above . When my children were younger I took them to the Pitons from the port. It was a long journey and one of my children became car sick . After a while I told the driver to just take us to a beach which he did . The beach was beautiful but it had black sand which became so hot in the sun that we had to keep our shoes on so we could get out of the water. St Lucia has great beaches just do some research . You may want to get a day pass at one of the resorts so you have all the facilities .

 

 

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[Giantfan13]

Motion sickness is just not for the kids. We did a long tour of this island last year and my DW got car sick also. (Especially so for anyone in the rear seats)

Cheers

Len