Tues. -St. Martin - we decided to do our own excursions...we love to snorkel and hang out at the beach and it just seemed after reading these boards that self-excursions were more for us. We were able to save money, plus, we spent all day snorkeling at the beach compared to the 2 hours you get on the DCL excursions.
We went to Dawn Beach (recommended by these boards) and we would do it again. We got a cab right off the ship. We were off the ship by 8am. The cab was a 10min ride, $7per person each way. Our cab driver was great...wondered how we knew about Dawn Beach...it is his favorite, but he said most tourists want Orient and he always tries to talk them into Dawn instead. It is on the Dutch side, so very few topless women...we saw 3 the whole day. Our dinner table friends went to the French side and saw a lot of full nudity(the norm).
The beach is large and gorgeous. Locals run it, so you have to rent nice chairs and umbrellas from them if you want a chair...2 chairs and an umbrella were $10 and well worth it (you get a free punch or rum punch with the price--good). You can take towels from the ship, but they are small bath towels...so we took 2 each...they are not the best towels. Wish DCL would do as other cruise lines we've been on and get nice, plush, large beach towels for the beaches and Castaway Cay.
It was windy the day we were there...locals said they hadn't seen it so rough in a long time, so the snorkeling was not the best...it was ok...not great...I think if it would have been calmer, the snorkeling would have been great...there are reefs there. The beach was great anyway...the water was wonderful to stay in and it is so blue and clear. There is a restaurant there and a burger shack...beer is $1...burgers and beer were good.
There are local ladies there walking the beach selling bathing suit wraps (some very nice $7), jewelry, wanting to braid your hair, etc...it was all new to us and we bought a few things...saying "No Thank You" works well if you are not interested, they really don't bother you. Take several $1 bills, they say they don't have change and you will get a better price if you can pay with exact money. Several other cruisers were on the Beach with us and they asked us for change so they wouldn't have to pay $10 for a $7 bracelet, etc. If you want your hair braided, I didn't, but I would have it done on the ship before you get to the islands...everyone is constantly wanting to braid your hair and if it is braided when you get off at the island, you won't be bothered. Plus, DCL cleans their combs, etc, and the ladies we watched at St. Martin and St. Thomas don't...we have heard of problems with lice on the islands from all the combs.
Take lots of sunscreen...we took SPF 45-waterproof and laid out a little on the "at sea" days to get a little sun before hitting the islands. The sun down there is sooooooooooo much stronger than in the States (and we live at the beach in Charleston, SC). We still came home slighlty burned, but saw lots of very bad burns on other people on the ship.
We stayed at the beach til 3pm, the same cab driver arranges to pick you back up. We got dropped off downtown near the ship and did some shopping. This is the place to buy Tropical clothes for Tropical night...very good deals on mens shirts and womens skirts and dresses...you can really talk the ladies down...don't buy for the price they ask...they are very pushy...almost uncomfortably so...but we just kept saying "No" til we found what we wanted, then talked the price down several dollars. We were back on the ship by 4:30...no show on Tues. night, so we ordered the cheese and cracker tray and some chicken fingers while we got ready for dinner.
Tues. is Tropical nite, so everyone is dressed Tropical. Our dinner was in Lumieres with the Tropical menu. Had the BBQ drumsticks, beef wonton for apps...fair, I had Garlic shrimp pasta, DH had Beef tenderloin...both very good. Dessert was Pina Colada Bread Pudding...ok, and Baked coffee custard...great.
Part 3 to follow
We went to Dawn Beach (recommended by these boards) and we would do it again. We got a cab right off the ship. We were off the ship by 8am. The cab was a 10min ride, $7per person each way. Our cab driver was great...wondered how we knew about Dawn Beach...it is his favorite, but he said most tourists want Orient and he always tries to talk them into Dawn instead. It is on the Dutch side, so very few topless women...we saw 3 the whole day. Our dinner table friends went to the French side and saw a lot of full nudity(the norm).
The beach is large and gorgeous. Locals run it, so you have to rent nice chairs and umbrellas from them if you want a chair...2 chairs and an umbrella were $10 and well worth it (you get a free punch or rum punch with the price--good). You can take towels from the ship, but they are small bath towels...so we took 2 each...they are not the best towels. Wish DCL would do as other cruise lines we've been on and get nice, plush, large beach towels for the beaches and Castaway Cay.
It was windy the day we were there...locals said they hadn't seen it so rough in a long time, so the snorkeling was not the best...it was ok...not great...I think if it would have been calmer, the snorkeling would have been great...there are reefs there. The beach was great anyway...the water was wonderful to stay in and it is so blue and clear. There is a restaurant there and a burger shack...beer is $1...burgers and beer were good.
There are local ladies there walking the beach selling bathing suit wraps (some very nice $7), jewelry, wanting to braid your hair, etc...it was all new to us and we bought a few things...saying "No Thank You" works well if you are not interested, they really don't bother you. Take several $1 bills, they say they don't have change and you will get a better price if you can pay with exact money. Several other cruisers were on the Beach with us and they asked us for change so they wouldn't have to pay $10 for a $7 bracelet, etc. If you want your hair braided, I didn't, but I would have it done on the ship before you get to the islands...everyone is constantly wanting to braid your hair and if it is braided when you get off at the island, you won't be bothered. Plus, DCL cleans their combs, etc, and the ladies we watched at St. Martin and St. Thomas don't...we have heard of problems with lice on the islands from all the combs.
Take lots of sunscreen...we took SPF 45-waterproof and laid out a little on the "at sea" days to get a little sun before hitting the islands. The sun down there is sooooooooooo much stronger than in the States (and we live at the beach in Charleston, SC). We still came home slighlty burned, but saw lots of very bad burns on other people on the ship.
We stayed at the beach til 3pm, the same cab driver arranges to pick you back up. We got dropped off downtown near the ship and did some shopping. This is the place to buy Tropical clothes for Tropical night...very good deals on mens shirts and womens skirts and dresses...you can really talk the ladies down...don't buy for the price they ask...they are very pushy...almost uncomfortably so...but we just kept saying "No" til we found what we wanted, then talked the price down several dollars. We were back on the ship by 4:30...no show on Tues. night, so we ordered the cheese and cracker tray and some chicken fingers while we got ready for dinner.
Tues. is Tropical nite, so everyone is dressed Tropical. Our dinner was in Lumieres with the Tropical menu. Had the BBQ drumsticks, beef wonton for apps...fair, I had Garlic shrimp pasta, DH had Beef tenderloin...both very good. Dessert was Pina Colada Bread Pudding...ok, and Baked coffee custard...great.
Part 3 to follow
