Magen's Bay on a 4 ship day?

[JJsmama]

When we will be in St Thomas, the following ships will be in port also. Would you do Magen's Bay on a 4 ship day? I am hoping to get off early (8:00) and get to the beach early (on our own. DCL's meets at 9:30.) Is Magen's just going to be packed with all those ships or is that not many by St T standards? I actually have a snorkeling excursion booked but DH really wants a beach day for one of the days and it would be nice to be on our own schedule.

Allure of the Seas - 5,408Crown Bay
Carnival Splendor - 3,006West Indian Co.
Carnival Sunshine - 3,006West Indian Co.
Disney Fantasy - 2,500West Indian Co.

Looks like Allure is docked at another port, but it is still a small island. Does that make any difference?

 

[jenpink]

We have done it. We got off the ship as soon as possible, got a taxi and headed there. We had the beach to ourselves and left when it got crowded. I think we stayed for 3-4 hours and had a nice time.

 

[Iamaplanner]

We did the same. We got there early (went on our own), enjoyed a good chunk of time without too many people. It got crowded by lunch. We ate lunch there and headed back to the ship shortly afterwards. It was actually the right amount of time for us because of the sun. I am fairly sure there were the same number of ships in port the day we went.

 

[JJsmama]

OK that sounds great!
I am only worried about the reports of taxi drivers making you wait until the whole vehicle is full before they leave, but what can you do.... ? Hopefully enough others will be getting off early.

 

[JJsmama]

Another question about Magen's:
How much cash should we carry? I hate to take much and / or a full wallet since we will be in and out of the water, away from our things, etc.
The cab to Magens is approx 10 USD pp/ each way? Anyone remember how much to rent the chairs, etc?

 

[Drusilla99]

We actually did it with dcl and really enjoyed it. There were two other ships in port that day, spring break 2014. Dcl reserves a huge section for their group, so our seats were oceanfront, with an umbrella, not far from the food shack. The cocktail waitresses were constantly circling, so no waiting there. My teens had no waiting when they walked over and rented a paddle boat. There were shuttles standing by, so we could leave whenever we were ready.

 

[JJsmama]

We actually did it with dcl and really enjoyed it. There were two other ships in port that day, spring break 2014. Dcl reserves a huge section for their group, so our seats were oceanfront, with an umbrella, not far from the food shack. The cocktail waitresses were constantly circling, so no waiting there. My teens had no waiting when they walked over and rented a paddle boat. There were shuttles standing by, so we could leave whenever we were ready.

I would do DCL except I want to go early (leave ship around 8:00) and the first DCL meet time i see is 9:30. I will keep checking back though.

 

[declansdad]

We did it between Christmas and New Years with 4 ships in port. Carnival Glory, NCL Escape, Celebrity Reflection were all tied up at Havensight and the Oasis of the Seas was at Crown Bay. We were on the Glory and were the last to arrive (around noon). We went to Megan's Bay and while it was crowded, we had no problem finding a spot for 3 people.

 

[JJsmama]

We did it between Christmas and New Years with 4 ships in port. Carnival Glory, NCL Escape, Celebrity Reflection were all tied up at Havensight and the Oasis of the Seas was at Crown Bay. We were on the Glory and were the last to arrive (around noon). We went to Megan's Bay and while it was crowded, we had no problem finding a spot for 3 people.

Good to know. Still can't decide whether to do it or keep our snorkeling exc which also spends an hour or so at Honeymoon beach.

 

[Funky Chicken]

Get there early and you will be fine. It was getting crazy when we left around 2PM but we had gotten there soon after 9.
Sleep in on a sea day.