Drake’s Seat, Magen’s bay and Skyride (ST80)

[Disturbia]

The prices for this excursion list 4 years and up. I know the skyride is free but will our 3 year old just be charged extra for the taxi or can she not be included?

On further analysis: The Meghan’s bay beach break ST27 is $59 for 3 year olds. I couldn’t get it for 5 people so I will be keeping Secret Sands Beach getaway (ST57).

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Disturbia]

If 3 yo is allowed on a shore excursion, but is free, I would not expect her to incur extra costs. If no price is indicated (even the word “free,” I would read the description for age limits.

Secret Sands (Lindqvist) is a lovely beach. Not nearly as large as Magen’s. No concessions of any kind, but it does have a bathhouse. Any feels more private, routinely having few guests.

We are ok bringing in our own water/soda/pre packaged snacks (kids have multiple food allergies) and will want to be back on the ship for lunch. The excursion starts at 8:15 am and is 3-3.5 hours. It seems like 8:15 am is the time to meet up in the theatre.

I’ve read reports about the secret sands attendant being rude and short to non excursion folks. It’s a sold out cruise and excursion so a lot of work.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Disturbia]

I have only gone by car. Only person I encountered was the ticket booth attendant. Nothing bad. No one was setting up loungers in my visits. I think it may be a one-person issue - the lounge provider. Knowing it going in may help. And then you can be pleasantly surprised when they respond kindly to you.

We have always felt that St Thomas, in general, is less friendly than some other destinations. In that, I mean everywhere on the island. (I am sure there are welcoming people and I know I have encountered them.). I am spoiled by cruise line staff, AK port people and citizens of Hawaii and their aloha spirit even to tourists. (Even St John, two miles away, has a different vibe than St T.)

Hope it’s a great cruise. (We’re doing the Eastern itinerary in September).

We love Hawaii (only been once to Big island+Oahu). We stayed Hilton (Waikoloa+Waikiki beach) and it was a memorable vacation. Our teen was 6 years old; a perfect age to explore/hike/swim. With a 3 year old the 10 hr flight is a no go right now. Everyone we encountered in Hawaii was always smiling and went above and beyond to make you feel welcome. We miss that at WDW.

I’ll try to remember to post back here on how the excursion went.

Also, I couldn’t get the Royal princess gathering despite clicking 9 am and 9:15 am on day 6 (had to select 5 people; they should update the system to at least have a ‘select all’ button or pre select your party like the VQ because larger parties are at a disadvantage). I wasted time starting on day 3. I would start day 6 or on castaway cay day (day 7).

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Disturbia]

Update secret sands getaway:

Our 8:15 am excursion suddenly changed to 10:45 am without notice (I turned my phone to airplane mode once we were on the ship and had checked times before boarding; but there are no emails now that I look back) we enjoyed this beach and there were unlimited drinks - rum punch, water, soft drinks in addition to a pretzel mix. Free beach toys and snorkel equipment (not sure if that was free). Beach chairs were nice spaced and already set by shade or near the beach grouped in 2s or 3s (perfectly spaced and plenty). All went well until it was time to head back.

We were told at 1:35 pm that we should all gather and line up and he gave us 20-30 mins. We waited and waited and waited. This time kids were all super hungry and I have a kid with allergies who can’t have the snack mix but I had sealed Froot Loops. All the kids were crying and I asked for a cab and the tour guide refused and said he doesn’t control the buses and they will be here soon. He also suggested that we were too quick to gather that he gave us 40 mins at 2 pm (clearly a lie because I set a timer). I asked again for a cab around 2:40 pm and the guide refused. I settled for more snacks for our 3 year old who was pulling her hair out at this point and scratching and kicking us. Around 2:50 pm was when the taxi finally showed up and the onboard time was 3:45 pm. The kicker was we were dropped off by the shopping area and had to walk with tired kids from there all the way back to the ship (was extra exhausting).

We had ordered allergy safe food to be sent to our room at 1:40 pm from Cabanas as our excursion time had suddenly changed; we expected to be back by around that time. We had to call room service (you need to be present to receive food in your room) and they finally brought the allergy plate at 3:15 pm and that’s when our son ate. The rest of us went and got burgers from Flos.