Eastern Self Excursions?

[tshampton]

Help! First time Eastern cruiser. Anyone have ideas for fun things to do at St. Maarten and St. Thomas for Mom, Dad, daughter-7, son-5, grandma and grandpa, and grandma? Kids love beaches and nature. Figure I am too late to schedule any disney excursions since we cruise 4/2/05. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[musicgirl]

you might be surprised if you call for ressies. Some people actually book their excursions on board. It is just that you risk getting closed out if you wait.

An easy excursion on your own at St. Martin is Great Bay Beach. It is right at the port. Once at the dock, take the water taxi over to the beach. It is $5 per person and is good all day. It is very convenient.

The beach looked awesome while we were there and the shopping is directly behind it.

We took a taxi to Dawn Beach. The taxi system is easy and posted. It was $42 round trip for the three of us. Dawn beach was about 10 min. away. It was beautiful. We were able to snorkel here. We arranged to have the taxi pick us up. Just make sure you mention exactly where you want to be dropped off.

They also have a fresh water shower here. It is not very strong, but it is nice to rinse off the salt water. There were a few vendors, but they left us alone. You can rent an umbrella and a chair for $10. We did this just to have "a home" for our things.

 

[zeldacruiser]

We went on our own to Orient Beach in St. Martin, just picked up a taxi downtown after shopping. The occasional naked man or topless woman walked by on this beach, so if that's something you want to avoid, I'm told the beaches on the Dutch side have less/no nudity. For two people, I figure I saved about $40 by doing the excursion on my own. Plenty of taxis are available to take you wherever you want to go.

You might try giving Disney a call to see what excursions are available. I believe that for some excursions - and beaches might be that type - they take almost an unlimited number of people, since they can always add another bus or van. The only Disney excursion we did was the Captain Nautilus speedboat snorkeling at St. Thomas/St. John, which we loved. Like you, I procrastinated and didn't call until the Monday before the cruise. It wasn't available, but I called back on Thursday morning, the last day for people to cancel excursions without penalty, and we were able to book because they'd had cancellations.

 

[cwf1028]

Hi, we are crusing on the 4/2 Magic also. There is a cruise meet post on the Cruise meet board with the rest of us who are going as well. Jump over and introduce yourself. We have a "roll call" with everyone who is going from these boards and we'll add you on!

 

[ljql_5969]

Thanks for the beach info!!!

 

[TheWog]

St. Thomas my son who was 6 at the time loved the Atlantis Submarine ride. We had a great time and it was very informative. If he loves sea creatures, there were plenty, sharks, turtles, lobster, fish, barracuda, you name it. You can book it on your own, but I bet there will be room through DCL.

St. Maarten we used the all day water taxi and headed over to Great Bay Beach right in town. Had a great day there.

 

[NCRedding]

On St Thomas, we grabbed a taxi and went to Coki Beach and Coral World on our on--it was a great day!!

 

[Hollua]

We booked a Daysail in ST. Thomas. We have rented the sailboat for the day. It can take up to six people. It comes with lunch and beverages (including alcohol). They will sail you to a secluded beach or to a snorkel site or whatever you fancy. We plan to sail to a good snorkeling area (probably off of St John) and then take a dingy to a beach for our little ones to play.

We decided to go on our own because our little people aren't allowed on the cool excursions. Also, having cruised before, I know how crowded some of the planned excursions can be.

If you have less than six people they charge about $100-125 per person. (Kids are less.)

 

[logan1_2000]

For younger children, consider Magans Bay on St. Thomas, just an easy open air cab ride away. The water is clear and calmer than calm. We loved it, in spite of the crowd that gradually built, when we sailed with a then-6 yr old DS on our last Eastern. We are also on the 4/2, going to go to Trunk Bay on St. John on our own this time, DS just turned 9.

 

[tshampton]

Thanks for all the great advice. This forum is great!

 

[mommasita]

Another vote for Magan's Bay in St. Thomas.. We did this as a group of 11 with 5 young children, and we all LOVED it...everyone enjoyed the beaches, and the best part was that it was not too far, and you could still enjoy the beach, and go back and enjoy the EMPTY boat...