Question about St Barths

[xander]

So SeaDream have rejigged the itinerary of our Dec 4th cruise, and we now have a fair length of time in St Barths - arriving 7pm Saturday and departing 10pm Monday. And as we plan our vacation time like a military exercise, we're looking for some advice about this port of call.

 

Any recommendations for bars for the Sat night in Gustavia?

 

We're thinking of hiring a jeep for the two days we are there. Given that one of the days is a Sunday - do shops etc stay open or close on Sundays?

 

And does anyone know if there would be somewhere to leave the rental car overnight?

 

Any recommendations for must see places / beaches?

[Jim Avery]

So SeaDream have rejigged the itinerary of our Dec 4th cruise, and we now have a fair length of time in St Barths - arriving 7pm Saturday and departing 10pm Monday. And as we plan our vacation time like a military exercise, we're looking for some advice about this port of call.

 

Any recommendations for bars for the Sat night in Gustavia?

 

We're thinking of hiring a jeep for the two days we are there. Given that one of the days is a Sunday - do shops etc stay open or close on Sundays?

 

And does anyone know if there would be somewhere to leave the rental car overnight?

 

Any recommendations for must see places / beaches?

 

I am sure you will get lots of responses on this one as St. Barts is a regular (and favorite) stop for SD. As far as hiring the jeep, I went into some detail about this aspect which you might find of use. It is in my review "SeaDream 1, December 9-16, San Juan, review" located on page 3 of this board. I would cut and paste it here but I dont know how. I leave that to the smart set (Disney Jen, Frequent Traveler, etc.). Have a great time.

Jim.

[DisneyJen]

Here you go Jim:D

 

Thursday also dawned sunny and bright but with the persistent windy conditions. We had booked a 4 wheel drive from Tourbe rentals to be at the passenger dock at 9:00 am. We invited new friends from Texas to come with us and explore some of the beaches. So, promptly at 9:00 we arrived in the tender to be greeted by -- no car. Time goes by, no car. A nice cabbie offers to call them and after a lengthly conversation in French tells us they will "be right here". More time goes by, no car. Another call, he gives me the phone. They have no reservation. I say I am holding a confirmation. Ok, we will pick you up. 10 minutes later they arrive and take us to the airport to get our vehicle. at 10:15 we see the POS car. A Suzuki Samurai of indeterminate age. We all pile aboard and were off for the perfect beach singing Adam Sandler's classic song "POS Car". Had not heard that song before but our new friends knew all the verses. So did we by the end of the day. Driving on St. Barts is a thrill. Narrow, rough, concrete and very twisty. Full of other traffic driving in training for Formula One. You might imagine what our ride is like. The first thing noticeable is it has almost no power. A bike could out run us. Next, no shocks. Thats a given for renters in the Caribbean. The steering wheel seemed to be connected to only one front tire and the brakes squealed mightily. Then they stopped squealing. They also pretty much stopped working unless you were turning hard right-then they worked even when not pressed. No problemo, we are off. First stop is Eden Roc. Beautiful place with a great beach right off the airport. Bar is closed. Our quest is for a great beach with a nice beach bar/restaurant for lunch so we are back in the POS. Following the map we head out to the North and East. One hill (I spent most of my time in first gear) crested and all we saw was ocean. The road dove hard right and down. 4 tourists in a POS all screaming at the same time! Made it but now we really need to find a beach. Saw a beach access. It led to a cemetery and then the beach. Found the beach, no bar. Back in the POS. The girls suggest we ask someone. Who are they kidding? We are guys. Never ask, never go back. We showed them, we found a beautiful beach, great little open air bar/restaurant, perfect water. The bar opened at 6:00pm. Bummer, back into the POS. Ok, Ok, we will ask this guy for directions. An elderly Frenchman answers our pointing at beaches on the map with a 5 minute explanation in French. We understood 2 minor points: "go back" and "turn right". On the road again. We finally ended up at Shell Beach. A nice, protected beach with a nice bar/restaurant that was, by now, open! One small thing to fess up. It is a 5 minute walk from the tender dock. Another SeaDreamer blurted out "you rented a car to come here???". Ok, all we need is a cold beer or 3 and a soak in the ocean. Did I mention this is a topless beach? Were not in Kansas any more, Toto. After some time enjoying the view (ocean) it was decided to go into town and eat a burger at Le Select. We walked. Good burger and beer then my crew deserted. They all went in search of shopping, yacht watching, fun stuff. I got to walk back to the POS and return it to the stable. All in all, a great day ashore in St. Barts but when we arrived back on board, another new friend, Ed, who is in the car business added the finale: " A Samurai, you rented a Samurai? They havent allowed them in the States for years--they roll like a bowling ball." I am taking a cab in the future. Grabbed a Bali Bed for rest and a tonic. Tonight, after the cocktail party, we are dining with Capt. Smorawski. There were three couples in all dining with the Captain. Captain Smorawski is a very good table companion with a great sense of humor. We all got on well and before we realized, its late. Sommelier Jan had done his usual great job and, between the wine and the over the top desserts/chocolates, its time for bed. The week is going by way too fast. Tomorrow is Virgin Gorda.

[Jim Avery]

Thanks, DJ:

I knew you could do it. Got to learn more computer stuff one day. Use a Mac, have an iPhone, dont even have any music on either one--what a dinosaur!

J

[DisneyJen]

Thanks, DJ:

I knew you could do it. Got to learn more computer stuff one day. Use a Mac, have an iPhone, dont even have any music on either one--what a dinosaur!

J

 

You're not a dinosaur Jim .... you use CC:p

[cburger100]

We are going on this sailing as well! Got it as a Christmas present, and no, I am not allowed anything else for Christmas! Our time in St. Barts will start at Nikki beach, and then hopefully hubby will spring for some St Barths soaps, which are really nice. I try to get over to either Eden Roc or Le Toiney or Guanahani, just to see how these hotels are doing.

[xander]

Cburger - clearly you've been very good this year as that's one heckuva Xmas present. Thank goodness Santa lives at the North Pole and not Iceland!

 

Thanks for the hotel and beach tips - we always try and plan something for each port of call to motivate us to get off the yacht, otherwise we'd just laze about all day drinking and eating. Gus has yet to explain to me why that's such a bad thing :rolleyes:

[koalabear6314]

Hi Ian and Gus,

 

How did you learn about the itinery change ? I just checked it on the SD website after reading your post, and we do seem to have a long time in St Barth's, and St. Martin has been pushed back to the following tuesday.

 

We've been to SB a couple of times before, but only for a day at a time. Both times we just hired a car at the dock and drove around the island. Had lunch at Nikki beach with the 'beautiful people' !

 

Having SD as our floating hotel and restaurant is no bad thing when you see the prices on St. Barth's (in my opinion)......

 

At least it's not too long to wait now. Do you have any other plans for the islands ?

 

Andrew.

 

ps. i will try and post a pic on your previous thread re St Martin......if I can ( might have to ask Disney Jen how to do it first !)

[DisneyJen]

...

ps. i will try and post a pic on your previous thread re St Martin......if I can ( might have to ask Disney Jen how to do it first !)

 

It's quite easy ... just click on the icon that looks like the sun and mountain (5th icon from right) and then paste the url of the photo. The photo has to be hosted on a website (photobucket, flickr, your own website).

[DisneyJen]

We are going on this sailing as well! Got it as a Christmas present, and no, I am not allowed anything else for Christmas! Our time in St. Barts will start at Nikki beach, and then hopefully hubby will spring for some St Barths soaps, which are really nice. I try to get over to either Eden Roc or Le Toiney or Guanahani, just to see how these hotels are doing.

 

I am guessing you aren't on the naughty list:D

[koalabear6314]

Thanks Disney Jen.

 

I managed to post a pic of sorts although it's very small ! Had to reduce the original pic as it was too large to post, but hopefully Ian and Gus will get the idea ! (Hopefully they wont notice it wasn't a jumbo, but something smaller).

[DisneyJen]

Thanks Disney Jen.

 

I managed to post a pic of sorts although it's very small ! Had to reduce the original pic as it was too large to post, but hopefully Ian and Gus will get the idea ! (Hopefully they wont notice it wasn't a jumbo, but something smaller).

 

No problem ... you know what a friendly group we SeaDreamers are!!

[xander]

Hi Andrew,

 

Gus received an email from SeaDream with the itinerary change detailed; it also included arrival and departure times.

 

So far we've only booked the excursion to the Baths on Virgin Gorda - there is another one on Saba that we'd like to do, but it's not showing on the SeaDream website. In Marigot & Nevis we'll do our own thing - some shopping, sightseeing and time at a beach - with or without jumbo jets. It will all be detailed in the pack that Gus hands me as we board the flight. As you can gather, he's the organised one in this relationship. I do know that the highlight of the week will be the Champagne Splash at Jost van Dyke. If we haven't drunk the yacht dry by then......:eek:

[koalabear6314]

Hi Ian,

 

The Baths in Virgin Gorda are well worth doing. We've snorkled their previously, and if my memeory serves me right, they're quite difficult to get to indipendently, so a ship's tour is a much better option.

 

Hopefully there wont be any other mega ships around as the baths can be swamped with visitors and the snorkling becomes hopeless. Fingers crossed !

 

Andrew.

[DisneyJen]

Hi Ian,

 

The Baths in Virgin Gorda are well worth doing. We've snorkled their previously, and if my memeory serves me right, they're quite difficult to get to indipendently, so a ship's tour is a much better option.

 

Hopefully there wont be any other mega ships around as the baths can be swamped with visitors and the snorkling becomes hopeless. Fingers crossed !

 

Andrew.

 

SD usually arrives in Spanishtown, Virgin Gorda long before the organized tour groups from the larger ships who dock in Tortola make it to the Baths area.

 

One of the beauties of sailing on SD is that the ship can stop to let passengers disembark via tenders to Spanishtown before repositioning over to Gorda Sound.

 

Got to love that flexibility!

[DisneyJen]

...I do know that the highlight of the week will be the Champagne Splash at Jost van Dyke. If we haven't drunk the yacht dry by then......:eek:

 

Agree 100 percent with you that the Champagne and Caviar Splash is the highlight of our SD cruises!

 

The provision masters on SD1 and SD2 (Hi Fabian and Christophe the younger!) do an excellent job of making sure there is enough of everything on board ... especially champagne (although with the CC crew we have sailing on SD2 in March will give them a run for their money:D).

[xander]

Glad to hear that SeaDream prioritises its provisions - on the QM2 they ran out of Cloudy Bay :eek: and on the Celebrity cruise out of Dover they ran out of teabags.....there was almost a riot.....imagine the reaction of the US passengers if they ran out of coffee. We ended up buying our own teabags in Oslo - we could have made a fortune selling them on :D

[TOYBAR]

1. Go to the Eden Rock for lunch or dinner. Have the ship make you reservations. It is spectacular, beautiful and you might see a celebrity or two. I have again tell you, reservation my be a must that time of the year.

 

2. You can rent quads by the hour or for the day and they are a great way to see the island and beaches.

 

3. There is a great wine store about block from the launch pier and many times we buy wine there and share with friends back on board for dinner one evening.

[xander]

Thanks , those sound like great ideas , heard many good things about Eden Rock !