Excursions, St. Maarten?

[jsgabel]

Hi everyone!

I'll be sailing with a group of 6 adults (no kids with us) on the January 22 Magic. One in our group will be diving in both St. Maarten and St. Thomas, but the rest of us are looking into other excursions.

I realize pickings are slim because it's very late (and we decided on this late, so it is what it is), so doing my best not to stress . . . a few questions:

It seems there almost nothing left for St. Thomas that we'd want (tried about 4 choices), so we'll have to play that by ear.

I went ahead and booked the French Riviera Beach excursion. I realize almost no one does this since it's pretty easy (and certainly cheaper) to do it on our own . . . but I'm willing to pay the 50% "luxury surcharge" for the benefit of not having to do anything but show up (it's also one of the few that includes a full lunch). Has anyone actually done this? The you-can-do-it-yourself-cheaper factor aside, is there anything bad about it?

St. Maarten seems to have more still available (Golden Eagle Catamaran; Lagoon Kayaking) so there's some temptation to switch to one of those and then do an on-our-own beach day on St. Thomas. Are either of these not to be missed?

Thanks!

 

[TooPure4u]

I did the French Riviera (sp) excursion and had a nice time. I had my hair braided and laid in the sun. I attempted to go in the water but there was so much seawood wrapping around my ankles....I was screaming the whole time thinking it was fish or crabs lmao. I was on the Jan 10th Eastern last year. Other than that....there were a few topless people and a couple all nude old men but for the most part was nice. Facing the water....if you were to walk down the right side...you would encounter more nudity. There is a trampoline in the water that you can pay to jump on and off. Lunch in my opinion was absolutely awful. If memory serves me right, there was a choice of chicken or bbq ribs. I picked the ribs and they were tougher than leather. People walked all over the beach trying to sell stuff but they werent that pushy at all. All and all, it was beautiful there...but nothing like Trunk Bay on St John. HTH

 

[jsgabel]

Thanks, that's extremely helpful actually. I'm now wondering if it's worth saving the beach for Trunk Bay on our own (seems complicated at first, but hopefully not too bad).

Any experiences with the Golden Eagle Catamaran or St. Maarten Lagoon Kayak tour would be great (or other French Beach experiences).

On our last cruise (4-day Wonder) I didn't book anything -- basically mellowed on the boat.

Thanks again.

 

[jrabbit]

We went to Orient Beach on our own and it was very easy to do and a lot less expensive than the DCL excursion.

Haven't done the Golden Eagle Cat but from everyone that I've talked to - it sounds like a lot of fun. It's a catamaran sail trip, a snorkeling trip and and beach trip all in one excursion. And when they sail back to the dock they make sure those of us that didn't go on the trip wish that we had. They are dancing and partying and having a great time. Next time we go to St. Maarten it will either be the Golden Eagle or the America's Cup excursion for us.

St. Thomas - we would most definatly go to Trunk Bay over on St. John.

 

[gdulaney]

We had fun doing the Rhino Rider excursion.

Ginny

 

[PoohJen]

We booked Golden Catamaran for our November cruise, but it was cancelled that day b/c of rough waters. Shore Excursions desk let us know what else was available, but we just went and spent the day at Great Bay Beach (We had a GREAT day, but this was a family/kids adventure). The beach to the left of the water taxi was more families (water trampoline, jet skis), while the beach to the right was more adults-only and seemed very clean and serene. So, if you come up with no planned excursion, you can have a fun day together at the beach!

Also, I found that availability of shore excursions - including for CC - changed often as people cancelled and changed plans up to the last minute.

Have a great time!