What did you do in St. Thomas/St. Marteen?

[underthesea2010]

Hi!! Just got back from the Dream and already planning for the next one. With all the rumors about new itineraries for 2013, we're thinking either Hawaii or Eastern Caribbean. I would love to hear your opinions and experiences on the Eastern Caribbean cruises. Our kids will be 4 and 10 by then. I was just wondering if they will enjoy the ports as much as dh and I would. DH's planning on doing a lot of shopping. Are the prices really that good? How's Magen's Bay? Is it over crowded? I hated how Atlantis was so pack with all the other cruisers. Is there anything to do at the mountain top?

TIA!
j

 

[mufasa0505]

We've been to St. Thomas twice, on a Carnival cruise and on the Magic. The first time we did the skyride (amazing views) and a trip to Magen's Bay. Magen's Bay is crowded where you first walk in, but we walked a ways to the side and there was hardly anyone there.

On our last cruise we took a catamaran cruise to St. John for some snorkeling. There were some kids on that. It was amazing! We even saw sea turtles.

St. Thomas is a beautiful place. If you go on the skyride, there are walkways at the top, plus a bar with a souvenir shop and bird show. There's a great view of the port so you can get pics of the ship (if that's the dock where the ship is at). On DCL we docked at a different place.

 

[son3disfan]

We've been to St. Thomas twice, on a Carnival cruise and on the Magic. The first time we did the skyride (amazing views) and a trip to Magen's Bay. Magen's Bay is crowded where you first walk in, but we walked a ways to the side and there was hardly anyone there.

On our last cruise we took a catamaran cruise to St. John for some snorkeling. There were some kids on that. It was amazing! We even saw sea turtles.

St. Thomas is a beautiful place. If you go on the skyride, there are walkways at the top, plus a bar with a souvenir shop and bird show. There's a great view of the port so you can get pics of the ship (if that's the dock where the ship is at). On DCL we docked at a different place.

I second the tram! The kids loved the birds!
We did the Eastern with the first stop to Tortola....and did our excursions there.
BUT....
We are returning to the eastern in March.
Right now we are looking to a privite tour in St. Martin.....our kids want to see the airplanes land at Maho Beach!
In St Thomas, there is a doubloon snorkle that visits turtle island that we are also looking in to for St. Thomas.
Here is a link to some reviews of port adventures....

St. Martin:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=16033310#post16033310

St. Thomas:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1303002

You can find so much more info in the Stickies at the top of this forum.
The mods have worked so hard at collecting valuable info for us planners!
Thanks mods!


Happy planning!

 

[lucky1]

Were were on the NYE cruise this past year.


St Maarten: Mountaintop Downhill Rain forest Trek
As a family we enjoyed this... There was a lot of good views and got us out in the countryside of St Maarten. I could see where this would not be something that someone going to the Caribbean would want to do, but we did enjoy it. I think there is a age limit of age 8


St Thomas: Magen's Bay Beach Break.
Oh.. how I missed the beach breaks of Mexico (Cozumel)... Nice beach, but very very crowded while we were there. Then there was a Hugh confusion (maybe because the wonder staff had never been there before)... But first they told us not to take Take the Towels from the boat as they would be provided to us. When we got there were told there were no towels... (Contact DCL and they had to send towels over from the boat... they came about 1.5 hours after we got there). next was an issue with the beach loungers.. Nothing was available when we got there... We were told their was a rental fee for these. Yikes... Finally DCL came in to get it negotiated. Regardless it was very crowded and hard to find a location to put 3 chairs together. No food or drinks provided as part of the excursion, most of the food was hamburgers and pizza at a very crowded grill.
There was bathrooms and showers close by

We probably would not do this one again.

 

[Nette]

We went on an Eastern on the Magic last February (2010). In St. Martin, we booked an excursion through a tour group ourselves. It was neat, but kind of long and crowded on a bus with a bunch of obnoxious people.

In St. Thomas/John we wanted to do the sky ride, but it wasn't available, so we did the St. John Eco Hike. *THAT* was the best. A nice stroll through a national park followed by time on the prettiest beach I have ever seen (Honeymoon Bay). And yes, prettier than CC.

 

[castawaycayfans]

We did the Doubloon Snorkeling excursion in St Thomas in '09 had a great time, so much that we are going to do it again on our Jan '12 cruise. There were several kids on the boat with us and one of the tour guides got into the water with them and would point out things to them. They seem to have a great time. We did not go to St Maarten, as we were on one the cruises that went to St Croix. Loved the beach there. So, we are also looking the at the beaches in St Maarten.

 

[slk]

We were just at St. Thomas and St. Maarten last month and it was beautiful!
In St. Thomas we did the Skyride to Paradise Point first:

This is the view:

After Paradise Point we took a bus/taxi to Megans Bay (we did this own our
own - not as a tour through the ship).

Bus our group was on:

Then we went to Megans Bay - beautiful beach! It really wasn't as crowded
when we went a little later (after lunch)

This is my kids with Megans Bay in the background

In St. Maarten we took the water taxi to the town/beach area right near
the ships (Great Bay) everything was right there. Shopping, beach
great views. My kids did the banana boat ride there. Excellent day.

St. Maarten

 

[msminniemouse]

We were just at St. Thomas and St. Maarten last month and it was beautiful!
In St. Thomas we did the Skyride to Paradise Point first:

This is the view:

After Paradise Point we took a bus/taxi to Megans Bay (we did this own our
own - not as a tour through the ship).

Bus our group was on:

Then we went to Megans Bay - beautiful beach! It really wasn't as crowded
when we went a little later (after lunch)

This is my kids with Megans Bay in the background

In St. Maarten we took the water taxi to the town/beach area right near
the ships (Great Bay) everything was right there. Shopping, beach
great views. My kids did the banana boat ride there. Excellent day.

St. Maarten

Great pictures!! Do you happen to know age cutoff for banana boat ride?
My kids are 11 & 13 and didn't know if they were too young.

 

[CoachJason]

Awesome pics! We area wondering about the area as well. Never been on a Disney Cruise and are having a hard time deciding where to go!

 

[slk]

Great pictures!! Do you happen to know age cutoff for banana boat ride?
My kids are 11 & 13 and didn't know if they were too young.

I'm not sure there is an exact age but if you look in the lower
left side of the pic of the banana boat you can see the boy
and lady that were getting on the ride. I'm not sure how old he
is but if your kids are 11 & 13 they should be able to ride it
(the people that work on the islands aren't real strict about ages)

 

[son3disfan]

We did the Doubloon Snorkeling excursion in St Thomas in '09 had a great time, so much that we are going to do it again on our Jan '12 cruise. There were several kids on the boat with us and one of the tour guides got into the water with them and would point out things to them. They seem to have a great time. We did not go to St Maarten, as we were on one the cruises that went to St Croix. Loved the beach there. So, we are also looking the at the beaches in St Maarten.

Great to hear you liked it enough to do it again.....
We are really looking forward to this excursion in March!

When you do it again in Jan. I would love to know what time you head out on the excursion....
I am hoping it is a "first thing "in the morning excursion, as we do want to do a bit in St. Thomas after the tour. We are only there until 3:30, and I think the tour is listed as 5 hours.
Let us know when you get back....

 

[underthesea2010]

Seems like Paradise Point's a must do. Do you need a reservation to dine at the restaurant? The doubloon snorkeling sounds fun but my son will only be 4 at the time.

slk, beautiful photos! How far is Paradise Point to Magen's beach and what time did you leave to get back on the ship? I'm always afraid we won't make it back in time to leave!

son3disfan, thanks for the link!!! will definitely use it!

i love disboards!

~j

 

[slk]

slk, beautiful photos! How far is Paradise Point to Magen's beach and what time did you leave to get back on the ship? I'm always afraid we won't make it back in time to leave!

i love disboards!

~j

Thanks to all for the great comments on my pics! I just thought
a visual might be helpful - and I like to look at other people's pics too!

The day we were in St. Thomas we were docked there from 10 - 8 and
in the pic I have on here taken on Paradise Point there were 3 larger
ship docked that day. (We were on the Carnival Dream which you see
in the pic with the back of the Carnival Freedom in front of it and in the
distance on the other side of harbor the RC Oasis). We walked to Paradise
Point and it wasn't too far. Maybe 10-15 min. There is as another poster
mentioned, gift shops, bar, etc. up there. We actually spent a while up
there. We ended up taking our stuff back to the ship and got lunch real
quick then got the bus to Megans Bay. It was about a good 20 min ride
from where we were. But to answer your question - if you got a taxi
right at Paradise Point it would still be about 15 mins or so to get to Megans Bay. When we got there - around 1:30 - 2 by now
people were leaving and it was clearing out. So a group that was leaving
left us their chairs. We ended up leaving around 5. Not sure where your
ship will be docked or what time you will be leaving but we had plenty
of time. It was very beautiful to see St. Thomas all lit up at night.

 

[KristiMc]

We did the Eastern in March. On St. Maarten, we rented a jeep for the day and drove around the Island. We stopped at Maho Beach and unfortunately only saw a plane taking off. We went up to Pic Paradise, walked around the shops in Marigot and had lunch and beach time on Orient Beach.

We took an excursion to St. John (St. John Eco Hike). We really liked the short hike and time at Honeymoon Beach.

I have pics in my trip report link below.

 

[declansdad]

We were in St MArteen in January and booked a private island tour with Bernard's Tours. It was excellent and you got all the rum punch (and other beverages) that you wanted.

The guide we had was very knowledgeable about both sides of the island and was very friendly. Our major stops were Orient Beach, the beach at the airport, and a market but I can't remeber the town. We also had short stops in a few other places to enjoy the views.

 

[son3disfan]

We were in St MArteen in January and booked a private island tour with Bernard's Tours. It was excellent and you got all the rum punch (and other beverages) that you wanted.

The guide we had was very knowledgeable about both sides of the island and was very friendly. Our major stops were Orient Beach, the beach at the airport, and a market but I can't remeber the town. We also had short stops in a few other places to enjoy the views.

Thanks for posting! We are looking forward to this tour too....
Such great reviews....

 

[jmjousley]

St Thomas: Magen's Bay Beach Break.
Oh.. how I missed the beach breaks of Mexico (Cozumel)... Nice beach, but very very crowded while we were there. Then there was a Hugh confusion (maybe because the wonder staff had never been there before)... But first they told us not to take Take the Towels from the boat as they would be provided to us. When we got there were told there were no towels... (Contact DCL and they had to send towels over from the boat... they came about 1.5 hours after we got there). next was an issue with the beach loungers.. Nothing was available when we got there... We were told their was a rental fee for these. Yikes... Finally DCL came in to get it negotiated. Regardless it was very crowded and hard to find a location to put 3 chairs together. No food or drinks provided as part of the excursion, most of the food was hamburgers and pizza at a very crowded grill.
There was bathrooms and showers close by

We probably would not do this one again.

What time does this tour depart? Is there time to do the skyride and this? How much time should we allow for the skyride and looking around? I'm wondering if there is enough time to do the skyride AND then go to Magen's beach on our own?

 

[jmjousley]

When I was looking at Bernard's Tours, I noticed a link for V.I. Scenic Tours in St. Thomas. Does anyone have any experience with this company?

 

[TIGGER/POOH4]

pics from Paradise Point

 

[orlandothebeagle]

maho beach...........................