Disney Cruise to St. Maarten Excursions ideas?

[oghoagie]

Going to St. Maarten for the first time anyone know of any must do excursions?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I would say google Bernards tours and book them, their excellent.

DCLs ones are uninspiring and if you want to see the Island the beach the planes coming in book them and for a family its not too much.

 

[Dug720]

Soualiga Destinations has an awesome all-day on the water tour with snorkeling, swimming, and lunch included. They also "park" the boats out in the water off Maho Beach to try to catch some planes coming in. Best day of my whole vacation.

 

[oghoagie]

Thank you I will look these up. Have a great day

 

[KristiMc]

Soualiga Destinations has an awesome all-day on the water tour with snorkeling, swimming, and lunch included. They also "park" the boats out in the water off Maho Beach to try to catch some planes coming in. Best day of my whole vacation.

I also highly recommend Soualiga Destinations. We had a great day!

 

[bumbershoot]

We had a nice day just hanging out in Philipsburg. But we were wiped out from the day before in San Juan (and DS and I had been sick for a couple weeks in FL before being well enough to embark, and we were still regaining our strength).

http://www.bernardstours.com/ and http://joyceprince.com/ get terrific reviews for their tours of the island.

 

[Jillian Atwood]

We unfortunately didn't do any excursions but we did go to Maho Beach, which is an experience all of its self! Seeing the planes that close is cool and you get some great pictures. Plus the beach is clean and blue! But I'd advise you get there early because it can get a bit crowded as the afternoon goes on. :] Have fun!!!

 

[mhconley]

Soualiga Destinations has an awesome all-day on the water tour with snorkeling, swimming, and lunch included. They also "park" the boats out in the water off Maho Beach to try to catch some planes coming in. Best day of my whole vacation.

I also highly recommend Soualiga Destinations. We had a great day!

We booked Soualiga Destinations for our upcoming September cruise. I wanted a snorkeling tour and to see the planes fly in over Maho beach and their tour fit the bill perfectly. From the reviews it looks like they feed you a pretty good lunch, too. We're looking forward to our first visit to Sint Maarten / Saint-Martin.

Martin

 

[kimkreis]

http://www.randomwind.com
We just used Random Wind in February. It was an amazing day. Small enough to feel personal, but big enough to enjoy the people. The food was remarkably yummy, the drinks better with rum punch, ginger beer, and tons of non alcoholic. The Tarzan swing they set up off of Maho while we waited for the big plane to take off was the highlight.
You go several places to snorkel, swim, and cruise.

 

[Bettyscruise]

We were booked for Soualiga Destinations but at the last minute decided not to go due to some anxiety one of our party had, (an 80 year old non-swimmer). It looked like a great time, but great grandmas has much influence. Instead we just caught a cab to Orient Bay and did a day on the beach. It's about a 20 minute ride at $8 per head. It's a nice gentle beach. You may encounter some nudity. We also took the water taxi to shop in Philipsburg later in the day for some souvenirs. The shopping near the ship seemed unimpressive at that time.

 

[Dug720]

We were booked for Soualiga Destinations but at the last minute decided not to go due to some anxiety one of our party had, (an 80 year old non-swimmer). It looked like a great time, but great grandmas has much influence. Instead we just caught a cab to Orient Bay and did a day on the beach. It's about a 20 minute ride at $8 per head. It's a nice gentle beach. You may encounter some nudity. We also took the water taxi to shop in Philipsburg later in the day for some souvenirs. The shopping near the ship seemed unimpressive at that time.

Yes, you do have to swim to get to lunch, so be aware of that.

Still, I'd rather split up than have missed the beauty of that day. I was solo, so it was a moot point, but even when we cruise as a family we're allowed to do our own thing during the day - and pretty much any time other than dinner.

 

[KristiMc]

We booked Soualiga Destinations for our upcoming September cruise. I wanted a snorkeling tour and to see the planes fly in over Maho beach and their tour fit the bill perfectly. From the reviews it looks like they feed you a pretty good lunch, too. We're looking forward to our first visit to Sint Maarten / Saint-Martin.

Martin

We loved our lunch. My husband and I said that it was our favorite meal of the cruise - after Remy. Enjoy!

 

[2crazegoofies]

Soualiga Destinations has an awesome all-day on the water tour with snorkeling, swimming, and lunch included. They also "park" the boats out in the water off Maho Beach to try to catch some planes coming in. Best day of my whole vacation.

For those of you who did the Soualiga tour, how did people handle the situation of having to swim to the beach for lunch? How do people get their things from the boat to the beach? Bring along a waterproof bag of some sort? It seems as if you would need a towel and people say that you need money to get a drink for lunch since its not provided.

The tour has amazingly positive reviews on Trip Advisor, so it must not be a huge issue, but I am curious. thanks for the help!

 

[KristiMc]

For those of you who did the Soualiga tour, how did people handle the situation of having to swim to the beach for lunch? How do people get their things from the boat to the beach? Bring along a waterproof bag of some sort? It seems as if you would need a towel and people say that you need money to get a drink for lunch since its not provided.

The tour has amazingly positive reviews on Trip Advisor, so it must not be a huge issue, but I am curious. thanks for the help!

We just took our towels around our neck. It was really more like wading to get to the beach. For our drinks, I believe we used a credit card.

 

[2crazegoofies]

We just took our towels around our neck. It was really more like wading to get to the beach. For our drinks, I believe we used a credit card.

Thanks! The reports I read said that the water was about neck deep, so I wasn't sure how people were making that work.

Do you feel like it was worth $109?

 

[KristiMc]

Thanks! The reports I read said that the water was about neck deep, so I wasn't sure how people were making that work.

Do you feel like it was worth $109?

I do think it was worth the $$. The stop where we had to swim in was at Pinel Island. They anchor out a bit. We were not staying there long so we just swam in and looked around. Didn't bother with towels.

 

[goherdibg]

We just got back from a spring break cruise and stumbled across a 4 seater 4 wheeler vehicle rental place. I believe it was called SXM Rally Tours (still unpacking some things so I don't have my pictures). I can verify the name tomorrow. I do know it was in Bobby's Marina right as you enter the main shopping district.

Anyway, they have 4 seater Polaris 4 wheelers with covered tops - much better than the 2 seater 4 wheelers with no top. They want $60/hour or $270 (which includes insurance) for all day but we were able to get everything for $250 which was great for the 4 of us as we were all able to be in the same vehicle. We had it out for about 6 hours and went around the entire island (the long loop around both sides).

I will post more details in my review of my first Disney cruise. No matter what, go to Maho Beach and watch the KLM 747 take off. It was AWESOME!

 

[Dug720]

For those of you who did the Soualiga tour, how did people handle the situation of having to swim to the beach for lunch? How do people get their things from the boat to the beach? Bring along a waterproof bag of some sort? It seems as if you would need a towel and people say that you need money to get a drink for lunch since its not provided.

The tour has amazingly positive reviews on Trip Advisor, so it must not be a huge issue, but I am curious. thanks for the help!

I didn't bother with a towel - it's super casual and pretty much populated by people on the Soualiga tour. I don't think anyone from our boat had a towel at lunch - I didn't pay attention to the other boats, but I don't recall seeing towels with any of us. Wet suit, no shoes, no problem.

As for money - ziplock baggie!

We had to swim a little because of the water conditions, but it wasn't bad.

 

[Dug720]

I do think it was worth the $$. The stop where we had to swim in was at Pinel Island. They anchor out a bit. We were not staying there long so we just swam in and looked around. Didn't bother with towels.

See, Pinel is where we didn't have to swim but waded in. The depths clearly depend on the surges and currents.

DEFINITELY worth the money!! Even though we didn't see turtles, just being out on the water, seeing the island, everything about it was AMAZING!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We have always seen them come in, you can see them from afar line up and come in, you are close or it feels that way but I would spend say 30 mins there and no more. Orient beach was fantastic.