Anyone done the French Riviera Beach Rendezvous in St Maarten?

[greenikes]

What did you think of it?

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

I have not done this excursion, but since nobody replied, I'll summarize what I know about it.

Orient Beach. Gorgeous, but with occasional naked people. If that shocks you, try a different beach.

The bus over is comfortable but a lot of people are shocked by all the poverty they see on the way.

Accommodations at the beach are nice... welcome beverage, nice lunch, comfortable beach chairs.

On the return trip, you have the option of being dropped off in the Philipsburg shopping district or back at the ship.

 

[doulasue]

Hubby and I went to Orient beach on January cruise. It was sooooooo beautiful there, and we can't wait to go back. We took our own taxi there (you can grab one right off the dock, very easily). About a 15-20 minute ride (went fast), and yes, saw alot of poverty and alot of sheep in the road!. You have your pick of chair rentals on the beach, my advice is walk the beach before you decide. We stayed right next to the nudist resort, as it was the first spot available. I think you may be able to negotiate a better price with whomever tried to sell you a chair rental, as it seems pretty competitive. Be prepared for lots of people to try to sell you stuff, a polite no thank you does the trick. We ate pretty cheaply at the only american open air restaurant on the beach, and it was great (look for the american flag), good ole burgers and fries. We saw about 3 fully nude men, and about 30 topless women over the course of a day, but it was no big deal at all. The beauty of the water and the view was all we were concerned with. You can parasail and rent jet skis and catamarans and such. I don't think this is the place to go if you are expecting calm water. The waves were a blast to jump in, and everyone had a great day. This was our favorite stop on our 7 day cruise.

 

[garnet73]

Hi, I did the Beach Rendevous in Sept of 2000 and loved it! The waves were great! We had a terrific time and the food was good. My aunt who is a travel agent does not recommend people taking cabs out to that beach as she was worried that we would not have transportation back to the ship. The beach is on the other side of the island. In addition the excursion has you back w/plenty of time for shopping in the afternoon!

I definately recommend that excursion and feel that is was worth the money. Also the bus driver tells you little facts the entire way to and from the beach regarding the island and the difference btw the two sides.

The chairs are padded so are comfortable. The location of the DCL section of the beach did not have as much nudity! There were 3 girls from our boat (and trust me we did not look at them the same way again after) topless and then a woman on the section beside us also topless! Never saw any full nudity!

Enjoy! Hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[doulasue]

As a sidenote, we had no problem grabbing a taxi back to the ship, for only $4 per person. There were plenty waiting. We saved alot of money doing it on our own (paid for taxi, chair rentals and inexpensive lunch, and a few drinks while there), and figured that we saved quite a bit off the excursion price. If you feel "safer" taking the excursion, then go for it, but we did fine on our own, and could even choose our own arrival and departure times. have fun! Sue

 

[mickybean0816]

My mom and I did this excursion just last week. It was very relaxing! They take you over on a bus, giving you lots of facts and a history lesson about the island. It's about a 20-30 minute ride over there, and yes, there is mostly poverty on your ride over there. Once you can see the water however, you won't think a bit about the poverty, only about how beautiful and breathtaking the view is. The day we went over there, the wind was so strong that the waves were just enormous. DCL warned us about the undertoe, and even offered a refund if we decided not to do it due to the strong under-current of the waves. My mom and I didn't plan on swimming much, so we went ahead with it. We got to the beach, and they greeted us with a complimentary fruit punch (which tasted very peachy...you could get rum added to it if you wanted). There are plenty of comfy beach chairs to choose from...we walked a ways to a spot with an umbrella. Of course, you have to pay $3 if you'd like to keep the umbrella. You WILL get bombarded with lots of local merchants trying to sell you things...there's just no avoiding it...espeically hair-braiders. I got my hair braided there (because I wanted to...and because I wanted them to quit asking me). If you're not interested, a "No Thanks" will get them to leave you alone. What worked for me was wearing a visor and my headphones...they didn't bother me at all as I couldn't hear them. =) You also have lunch included with this excursion...they only have ribs, chicken, and fish I believe...I'm a vegetarian, so I just nibbled on the french fries and salad that also comes with it. After lunch, we had about an hour and a half more (about 2 1/2 hrs beach time total), so we relaxed on the beach, trying not to look at the naked people. We counted 13 people fully or partially nude. If this bothers you, I would suggest picking a different excursion/beach. It was kind of disgusting, but we lived through it. =) On the bus ride back, you can choose to either get off the bus at Phillipsburg to do some shopping or go back to the ship. We decided to check out the shops...although, we didn't find anything...so we ended up walking back to the ship, which isn't exactly a short trip. I suggest that unless there's something you really want to buy there, just ride the bus all the way back to the ship.

Overall, this excursion is very relaxing (with a few naked people here and there) and beautiful.=) Hope this helps!