Differences in Eastern itinerary

[foolish-mortal]

Hi - one of my bucket list cruises has always been an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We have 2 options right now in January. One goes to St. Thomas and Tortola, the other goes to San Juan and St. Maarten. The only place we've been to before is San Juan which we loved.

I've always associated Eastern Caribbean with St. Thomas and that's where I want to go the most. But, the dates of the San Juan/St. Maarten trip may end up working better for us.

Are there big differences between St. Thomas/Tortola and St. Maarten?

Thanks!!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Yes there are.

What kinds of excursions do you like?

 

[foolish-mortal]

Yes there are.

What kinds of excursions do you like?

It depends on where we are and what's offered. Sometimes we just explore the town. Sometimes we like to go to a local beach. Sometimes we plan an actual excursion depending on what's offered. But, our preference would be to be able to just take a taxi to a beautiful local beach. Since it's Eastern Caribbean I don't want to give up a place as beautiful and scenic as St. Thomas if St. Maarten will feel like a let-down in comparison aesthetically.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It depends on where we are and what's offered. Sometimes we just explore the town. Sometimes we like to go to a local beach. Sometimes we plan an actual excursion depending on what's offered. But, our preference would be to be able to just take a taxi to a beautiful local beach. Since it's Eastern Caribbean I don't want to give up a place as beautiful and scenic as St. Thomas if St. Maarten will feel like a let-down in comparison aesthetically.

If you want a beautiful beach, you can taxi to one on St. Thomas. BVI you would need an excursion or a boat for a really good beach. In SXM you would also need a boat, really - the nearest beach to port is okay, but nothing spectacular.

Private sails in SXM will take you to the nicer beaches and to see the planes at Maho Beach. I would say the DCL excursions in SXM are nothing special, but we booked a shared private sailing and werw quite happy with it.

 

[foolish-mortal]

Do you feel like both islands are equally beautiful (St. Thomas and St. Maarten)? The videos I've always seen of St. Thomas are gorgeous. Thanks for the replies!

 

[jasonriv]

Do you feel like both islands are equally beautiful (St. Thomas and St. Maarten)? The videos I've always seen of St. Thomas are gorgeous. Thanks for the replies!

I love St. Thomas and do think it is prettier than St Maarten. There also so many different places you can go. In Tortola, you would definitely want to get away from the port area and most likely take a ferry to one of the other surrounding islands. There might be some nice beaches on Tortola, but I don’t know since I went to Virgin Gorda.

Jason

 

[Take The Stairs]

It depends on where we are and what's offered. Sometimes we just explore the town. Sometimes we like to go to a local beach. Sometimes we plan an actual excursion depending on what's offered. But, our preference would be to be able to just take a taxi to a beautiful local beach. Since it's Eastern Caribbean I don't want to give up a place as beautiful and scenic as St. Thomas if St. Maarten will feel like a let-down in comparison aesthetically.

If you are a foodie do some research. One of our best meals ever was a local french chef at the Botanical Gardens in St. Maarten. The Mountains in St. Maarten make it just as pretty as St. Thomas. Brewer's beach on Tortola is fantastic!

 

[kathi]

We would pick San Juan any time - love walking around Old San Juan, visiting the Fort, eating local cuisine, shopping and drinking pina coladas from the place that invented the drink! (And if you like cats, there is a well cared for colony by the fort you can visit - take cat treats!)