Hi All,
Happy Booking to all of you who are booking tonight! I agree with Kathy (Gma X4) that if Palo seems really booked up tonight when you log on, that there will be spots open when you get on the ship! There are always open spots when you get on the ship.
Ok, so I just have to tell everyone that DH and I have finally come to a decision regarding this Maho Beach thing. After literally going back and forth and back and forth and back AND forth, we have decided we are going to do a cab and NOT go with Bernard's private tour. It just makes SO much more sense money-wise for what we plan to do that day. If we had wanted a private tour of the island and stop at several places, then it'd make sense to pay that money, but for us, we really just want to go to Maho Beach and if we had done Bernard's Tours, we would have had him stop at a different beach. But, the other thing that made us decide against it is included in the price is bottled water, soda, beer and rum punch. Well, DH and the boys drink soda, but not a lot, and I don't drink soda at all. DH nor I are beer drinkers. We do drink and love cocktails and LOVE wine (we are big wine people), I did a TON of research online about Bernards (reading lots of reviews, etc), and I found out the rum punch is served in these little shot glasses (you get as much as you want), but from what I've read, it's super super strong. I would totally drink one or maybe two, and so would DH, but we are not huge hard alcohol people, so we would not get our money's worth for the beverages on this tour, especially since we don't like beer. So, basically, DH and I decided we'd be paying $350 + gratuity for a private taxi to take us to Maho Beach and one other beach, plus a couple sodas, some bottled water, and maybe two or three shot glasses of rum punch. This just does not make sense financially for not wanting to do much more than that on the island. I'd much rather spend that money on something else. I still will say that everything I read about Bernard's is 5 star... all excellent reviews... so I'm not saying they are not good. We just decided that for what we want to do, spending that kind of money doesn't make sense.
SO, our plan is to try to get a cab around 10 AM to Maho Beach (I researched it, and it's about $25 + tip for all 4 of us one way), and then stay at Maho Beach until 4 PM. I know that is a long time for this particular beach, but for us, literally, the main reason we wanted to go to St. Maarten again was for our 11 year old son to see the airplanes take off and land at Maho Beach... he's been dreaming of this for a couple years!! And, there are a couple hotels right there, so if we need a break, we can go into the hotels and get out of the sun.
But, this way, we'll get to see LOTS of planes, and all 4 of us do love planes, so it'll be fun for all of us.
Then, we'll catch a cab back.... if we leave Maho Beach at 4 PM, that will give us PLENTY of time to get back to the ship... I can't imagine it'd take us more than 2 1/2 hours with bad traffic to get back to port!! That'd be crazy. And, I did research and found out you can either ask your taxi driver to pick you up at the time you tell him, or you can go to Sun Set bar right at Maho Beach, and they will call a cab, and if neither of those work, you can walk over to the hotels, and you should be able to get a cab from one of the hotels. So, I'm not too worried now about finding a cab back.
So, for those of you planning on going to Maho Beach, hopefully all this info on both Bernards and a taxi is helpful. If you ARE wanting to go to Maho, but only want to go for an hour, and see a lot of other things on the island, Bernards would totally be the way to go, but I'd do their public tour for $40 per person.
It definitely feels good to have this decision made and now I can just sit and relax and wait for November to come!!
LovestoRun--I am not a runner either, I tried it for a bit, but just don't enjoy it. My mom's DH is an extreme runner, he does 100 milers. Well, he did them, but was injured and has had a hard time getting back into that kind of shape. Then broke 3 ribs in a fall this summer (not while running) and that has slowed him down some more.
Wow, 100 milers?!! Definitely not me!
I actually know someone who does those LONG road races, too... I could not even imagine. I did one full marathon in my life, and I basically just said to myself that I checked that off my bucket list, and I'll never do that distance again.
I like shorter distances now. It's just easier time-wise, and I don't get bored with just running for 30 minutes. Anything longer than that, I get bored.
Kathy,
I don't know how you could stand all those years in Alaska. I love the beauty of the state but to me it would be depressing to live there due to the weather.
Kathy
Yah, I agree... I always wonder how I was able to stand Alaska for all those years, too! But, the only thing I can think of is when you are a kid and it is all you know, then it seems normal.
My parents lived up there for my dad's job, so that is why we lived there. But, after I got out of Alaska and discovered what the "lower 48" was like, I could never go back! I go to visit every couple years, but that is good enough for me. My brother and his whole family still live up there, so that is why I go up... to visit them.
Kathy: Alaska would be beautiful... Darcie is in the same boat with the darkness... It took her a while to get use to that and more daylight in the summer, and not being able to sleep as it was so light out.
Tanya
Yes, Darcie definitely would understand what life was like up in Alaska!!
Well, everyone, have fun booking tonight!!
Kathy
.....my mom works a swing shift so she will be up anyway, to book our excursions for us at midnight. Didn't mention it in my original post but my mom booked a room beside us. This will be her 1st cruise. Thank God for my mom, because I'm sleepy now!
I guess I know what I'll be doing at work tomorrow morning! Love that CBS has the episodes online!
