Taking Parents on their first cruise!

[2princessesLH]

We will be heading out on the 7 night Eastern Caribbean in November on the Fantasy. We traveled last year on our first Disney cruise and LOVED it! My parents aren't really "beach" people, so I have a few questions about the days we are at ports.

St Maarten- Do we have to pay to get off the ship and see the beautiful beaches and town? I'm not familiar with how this works because on our last cruise, the port was Nassau and we had already "been there done that", so we didn't get off!

San Juan, Puerto Rico- anything here you would suggest? Again, I didn't know if we can just get off the boat and walk around and see things or if we need to sign up for an excursion.

Lastly, is the Royal Court High Tea worth the money? My 4.5 year old is OBSESSED with princesses and having her own tea parties. I would love to splurge on this instead of other excursions since we do have two littles that are coming with us!

Thanks!

 

[BrookeMQ]

You don't have to pay to get off the ship. You also don't have to take ship excursion if you want. We usually don't.

St. Martin is easy to get a cab to whatever beach you want to go to.

Puerto Rico its easy to get out and walk around the city.

 

[momof2minnies]

OMG have fun-we did this many times in WDW w my parents and my girls. We also went on DCL together twice. It is awesome to share these experiences with them. We still talk about all our trips and last week I just watched the xmas video when we surprised them with the cruise.

Linda

 

[poison ivy]

San Juan has a free hop on hop off trolley that runs several routes throughout Old San Juan with many stops including the Forts.

No cost whatsoever and you can easily get around town. They run in a continuous loop.

We conveniently boarded at one of the stops located just outside the ship.
It's a little walk to get from the dock to the street.






All trolleys stop at "trolley stop 1 & 14" which are at the cruise ship terminal.



Look for these signs to indicate a trolley stop.





We took the "El Morro route - color green" to tour the Forts.
Cost to tour the two Forts was $3 for 1 - $5 for both. Very affordable.
They're run by the U.S. National Park Service.

We chose to avoid the crowds which tend to board at stop # 1 - and walked a little further to stop # 14.

We were able to board there with plenty of seats.

The trolleys for each route are different in type and style. Just board the one you wish from the port.

the El Morro is the white open air shuttle like trolley with 2 cars.
the City Hall/El Morro is a green closed air conditioned trolley.
(Not sure what the 3rd one - city hall route looks like.)

both El Morro trolleys can be seen together here.






We loved Old San Juan! If your parents decide on this option it offers a lot of fun.

 

[beach baby]

Wow! Thank you poison ivy for that post! I wasn't even looking for that information but have bookmarked this pot because I know I will need it in the not so distant future! That was truly generous of you to share!

 

[mama2mickeyfans]

Thank you for posting the pics and map!! I am printing this off for future reference! Thanks so much!

 

[E ticket rider]

St Maarten- Do we have to pay to get off the ship and see the beautiful beaches and town? I'm not familiar with how this works because on our last cruise, the port was Nassau and we had already "been there done that", so we didn't get off!

You have already paid the port fees to get on and off the ship. They are included in your fare.

There is a small market area in St. Maarten as you exit the pier area. It's a bit of a walk from the pier to downtown or you can take a cab. There is also a water taxi that runs from the pier area to the heart of town and the beaches on the bay. The water taxi is $7 per person for unlimited trips that day.

 

[poison ivy]

Wow! Thank you poison ivy for that post! I wasn't even looking for that information but have bookmarked this pot because I know I will need it in the not so distant future! That was truly generous of you to share!

Thank you for posting the pics and map!! I am printing this off for future reference! Thanks so much!

Glad to help! I know we had a ton of questions about this port last year and information was not easy to come by. Happy to pay it forward!

 

[Doingitagain]

In July we took all four grandparents on the Fantasy. In St. Thomas and St. Martin we did short bus tours, that was enough for them to get off the ship and see the port.

On the ship, we loved sitting at Satellite Falls. They really enjoyed the shows in the evening. The rotational dining worked great, because the servers got to know them and the familiarity was good for the grandparents. My dad even hugged the assistant server after a few nights, and he is not a hugger!

 

[Bdunn]

We took my parents with us on Fantasy last month, Eastern Caribbean. We stayed concierge and had them next door to us. They had never experienced anything like that before. They loved the shows, the restaurants, we did the helmet dive on St. Maarten (they are 81 and 76), and they really liked the cabana on SB.

You will have a blast watching them have the time of their lives. I know we did.