ques. for you dcl vets

[tagall4]

I have a few questions for you vets out there....

-has anyone been to the casino on st. maarten, and if so, can you tell me how to get there, how far it is, easy or difficult, anything else to do in the vicinity, full day/half day, etc.

-has anyone done the rhino rider & snorkeling on st. maarteen?
Any feedback you have would be great.

-what is the availability of getting on and off the ship at the various ports if you are not on an excursion

- arrival- is it worth getting to the port early and being the first on the ship? we are not cc members.

-teenage parents...help!!! my 14 yr old ds is not excited about this trip. what can i share with him to get him more enthused?

thanks

 

[MarkRG]

- There are a few casino's in St Maarten, Dave from Marietta is your best source of info for that one. As for other things, people really talk about the French side of the island, I wouldn't know, as it was closed for some holiday when we were there.

- All the ports it is usually as easy as walking off the ship onto land and back. Only at Grand Cayman is tendering mandatory, but it sometimes happens at St Thomas too.

- Being cc member or not makes no difference on when you board. Everyone gets the same shot at boarding. Get there early(10:30-when the port opens) and be first in line, or get there after 12 noon and avoid the line altogether and you'll probably walk on.

- There will be enough kids his age (boys and girls) to have fun with, it's not just little kids. They have specific programming geared for the teen set, and even a special place for them alone to hang out(don't worry it is supervised). They also have a movie theatre that runs a lot of good first run movies.

 

[ThreeCircles]

Originally posted by tagall4
I have a few questions for you vets out there....

-has anyone been to the casino on st. maarten, and if so, can you tell me how to get there, how far it is, easy or difficult, anything else to do in the vicinity, full day/half day, etc.

We visited several of the St. Maarten casinos during our cruise in May. They are not that far from the ship and are very easy to walk to. If I remember correctly, several are on Front Street and are usually easy to spot.

Although they are by no means comparable to Vegas-style casinos (and who would really want them to be) they are charming in their own right. The first one that we went into was slots only. The second and third were a combination of slots and table games. Keep in mind that gambling is only legal on the Dutch side of the island.

We probably spent a total of two hours in the casinos. We started with $10.00, won $50.00, and lost it all back. It was fun and I'm sure we'll visit again!

 

[gdulaney]

We did the Rhino Rider...and had a blast. I did a "review" of it. If you'd like to read it, just click on the ratings area from the first page of the DIS board, then click on "Disney Cruise Line" then choose "Shore Excursions." Then choose "7 Night Eastern Shore Excursions." At this point, click on "St Martin" and then choose the excursion you'd like to read about.

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

Ginny

 

[luv2sail]

I will try to answer the teenager question..... We went on our first cruise this past Aug. Our 15 year did not want to go at all. Let me say, she made many friends and had a blast. We booked again for next summer and she is really excited about going back. She really enjoyed the all day excursion at CC. Hope that helps.
DCL 8/03
HAL 12/03
DCL 8/04

 

[toot2]

My kids loved our cruise on the Wonder. They were DS-11 and DD-13 at the time and begged us to cruise again.

When we go on the 7 day next year they'll be 14 and 16. They are really looking forward to it.

Even if your son isn't a 'joiner' and doesn't think he'll enjoy the activities, he can still have fun.

My kids didn't participate in many of the organized activities. BUT they really enjoyed their indepndence while on board. They had plenty of time to roam and do what they wanted, when they wanted to do it. We just set up check in times and they were surprisingly responsible.

My son especially enjoyed the movies and the chicken fingers at Plutos snack bar! My daughter like the later than usual curfew.

We did the land/sea package and they had much more freedom on the ship than in the hotel.

Let him decide what he wants to do or not do and I'm sure he'll have a great time! Good luck!

 

[tagall4]

thanks everyone for all your information and suggestions. you've been terrific. i'm feeling a little better about my son now too.

 

[jrabbit]

Does he like basketball? They have a court up on Deck 10 all of the way forward. There are lots of activities that the teenagers can participate in. Heck they sound like a lot of fun to me, but I'm just a "little" above the age limit! Give him some freedom, set some limits (like checking in - have a place in your room where you can leave notes for each other: "ie going to the movie at 3")

 

[gdulaney]

That reminds me...if you're going to be leaving notes..don't forget to take some post-its!!

Ginny

 

[tagall4]

We didn't know they had a basketball court. I think that will definitely help with my son.

My husband was glad to hear about the casinos in st marteen. we were a bit surprised when we found out that dcl didn't have a casino on board.

is dave from marietta the same as dcl tribute? i'll try that site. I know he has alot of info on there, but i haven't been on lately.

thanks again!

ps - thanx for the reminder. i just started packing for our 11/01 eastern cruise.

 

[xABearx]

Originally posted by tagall4

is dave from marietta the same as dcl tribute? i'll try that site. I know he has alot of info on there, but i haven't been on lately.

Yes, that is his site and has alot of info that will answer your questions......very helpful.....the link is www.dcltribute.com ..... Andy