do-it-yourself excursions on Eastern cruise?

[gnuthca1]

First cruise in a few weeks and we're traveling with our 5yr old and 1 1/2 yr old. Since they're too young for many of the excursions and soooo happy at the ocean we'd like to just plop on the beach with them when we dock. DH is also thinking about just staying on the ship and enjoying the pools, but I'd love to be at the beach. Anyhow...

Do people recommend going on the DCL sponsored excursions to the beach since food and transport is included or is it just as easy to rent a car or take a taxi and do it yourself? We'd prefer to save the $$, but w/two young kids won't mind paying a little more if it saves us a ton of hassle, whines and tantrums!

We'll probably bring the stroller for shade and transport, but other than that we're used to lugging the kids lots of places in backpack carriers and just making do w/what we have at the beach.

What do more seasoned cruisers w/kids suggest?

Karen

 

[bev r.]

we did a 7 day eastern in November. We rented a car in both ST. Thomas and St. Maarten at the pier for about $80 with insurance. This allowed us to go to the beach for most of the day and we toured the islands on our way to the beach and back to the piers. We had no interest in shopping on either of the islands, so that was not an issue. The only thing we did plan ahead of time was to research which beaches we wanted to try.

With our family consisting of 2 adults and 3 kids, the we found the cost of excursions just too much for the 5 of us for the amount of time you would actually have at the beach.

The car really gave us the freedom to do our own thing on our own schedule. My kids are 7, 9, and 11. The only thing I would be concerned about would be getting car seats for your kids. I have no idea how the rental companies there operate, or for that matter what do the cabs have. Perhaps someone else has experience with that. With the amount of dents that were on our rental cars for "NEW" vehicles, I would definitely want my kids properly secured.

Overall this worked well for us. I hope this helps you out.

PS. What we saved from not doing excursions, I spent on pictures.

 

[fred ferdlap]

So what are the best beaches on the eastern cruise?

We also have young ones. How about a taxi van?

Isn't it easier to have some taxi guy lug you around and give you an adhoc tour?

We are 2+3kids is that too much for the taxis?

FERD

 

[SweetSpot]

We were on the DCL Eastern in November and winged it without any planned excursions. We took a water taxi in St. Maarten and shopped but wouldn't do it again. Next year we will either enjoy an empty ship or we will take a taxi to a beach.

In St. Thomas we took a taxi to Megans Bay. The taxi's aren't what you would normally think of as a taxi. The taxi on the way there was really a very large, comfortable and air conditioned van that held around 15 people. The taxi's are right at the port and it is extremely easy to get a taxi without a wait. Magens Bay was absolutely beautiful, with a calm beach. There are trees on the beach so you are able to get shade for the kids if you pick the right location. You are able to rent beach chairs and floats and there is a food stand that is really reasonable. I especially liked the waitress who took your drink orders and delivered them to you. Every beach should have a waitress delivering drinks while you sit in the ocean.

When we were ready to leave we returned our chairs and floats and walked a couple feet to waiting taxis. Again we had no wait. The driver who gives you the ride there will offer to come back and pick you up but it's not necessary. The taxi on the way back was more of a tourist van that was open to allow you to see the sights (which were beautiful, especially looking down the mountain at the 3 ships lined up at port). I wouldn't want to have a very small child on one of these because it is a bumpy ride and the drivers are on a mission and not exactly careful drivers. There are plenty of the van taxis available so you can wait it needed.

Sorry this is so long but trying to do the excursions on my own was one of the things I stressed over before the cruise because of all the unknowns. Hopefully, this helps you see it more clearly than I did before I went. It was much easier to do your own excursions than I thought and with little kids I will definately be going it on my own again.

 

[Hopelessly Hooked]

First, I want to thank all the great folks who have posted information on this board that have made my family's previous cruise(s) so nice. Perhaps I can return the favor. Regarding doing the excursion on your own, this is the best way to do it IMHO. If you like the beach, you can’t miss the beaches in St. Martin and St. Johns.

We have done the Eastern 7-day twice with our DS5 (now 6-yr-old). With the assistance of the info on this board we had a great time doing the excursions ourselves.

First St. Martin. We had the best time renting a car at the dock and driving to Pinel Island then Orient Beach. Orient Beach was beautiful but I didn’t like the nudity (and I don’t consider myself a prude). My BIL family was with us, 2 adults and a 6yold. It is very easy to rent a car at the dock; some of the dealers will pick you up in a golf cart to make it even easier. We liked renting a car much better than being herded around in an excursion. We loved meeting the people and having the freedom to go as we pleased. Even if that meant just laying on a hammock at the beach restaurant. St. Martin is the “friendly island” and the only person who approached us was to give us directions. BTW, the restaurants on the French side are incredible. I think it was the highlight of our trip. The only downer is the traffic around the French capital, which can be very slow. We didn’t care for St. Martin the first time we visited on an excursion but loved it after renting a car and visiting the beaches and seeing the island on our own. It was the highlight of our cruises. Talk about memories! (Perhaps it was the gale-force winds that spoiled our first visit to St. Martin).

SIL wanted to do some shopping in St. Martin but I think shopping on vacation is a waste of time. You can get much better deals on the Internet. Of course, we got a bunch of t-shirts.

We are going on our third 7-day cruise in a few weeks. We had scheduled the Western but had to reschedule to the Eastern because of a work conflict with someone in our party. I think we will go to Mullet Bay beach this time or perhaps to Anguilla if I can talk people into it. If we only hit one beach in St. Martin, we may go to Grand Case to eat.

In St. Thomas, we first went to Trunk Bay on a beach-snorkel excursion. It was so beautiful we have returned to Trunk Bay each time doing it ourselves. Besides the beauty, Trunk Bay is a US National Park and is well developed. It also offers white sand beaches and nearby coral for snorkeling. Many beaches don’t have both. To see how to do it on your own, search the board for “Trunk Bay on your own”. You will probably have company from others on the ship while going to Trunk Bay.

If your kids like the beach then you must go to a few of the beaches in St. Martin and St. Thomas. You will never anything like them in the states. DH will have to go with you to help you with the kids. He may enjoy it more than anyone. Let us know if you have specific questions.

 

[gnuthca1]

Thank you everyone, this is just the sort of info we needed. We've never been to this area before but are pretty comfortable 'winging' it but have found that w/2 now advance planning is a must.

I'm not that interested in shopping either, just looking to get to the beach the easiest way and enjoy the ocean.

Thank you!

Karen

 

[DonnaDavid]

Bump

 

[RellingTwin]

Dawn Beach in St Martin was very nice, easy to get to (walk off the ship and get in a cab going to Dawn Beach) chairs/umbrellas available (12.00 for the day) small resturant, with rest rooms right there. The cab driver asked what time we wanted to be picked up and was there at the apointed time. We took a soft sided cooler with sandwiches/snacks and drinks with us from the ship.
Trunk Bay in St Thomas was also a highlight. We also went the 1st time with a tour but time there was too short, so the 2nd time we took a cab to Red Hook, Ferry to St John and cab to Trunk Bay. Again we took provisions with us. We did this with 2 children (8&9 y/o) and would do it again.
Helpful hint: We took our small luggage carrier. It was very helpful to carry the cooler, towels, and snorkel stuff.

 

[prymsu]

Dave also has some good info listed on his site about various beaches and how to get to them...


www.dcltribute.com

 

[NYDisneyMom]

We took a soft sided cooler with sandwiches/snacks and drinks with us from the ship.


This may be a silly question....but I'm planning our first cruise for 5/04. When you say you took sandwiches/snacks from the ship, did you have to order them or did you just go to one of the buffets and wrap them to go?
I have no clue!!