San Juan and St Maarten

[Levijean21]

just booked a last minute cruise out of New York ending in San Juan! I am usually such a planner and am feeling overwhelmed that it is so soon!! Does anyone have an excursion they looovvveeeed in St marteen... We have two kids 12 and 7 and like water activies. Also for those of you who have stayed in San Juan any hotel recommendations. I am looking at the marriot. Anyone ever stay there? Thanks!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Many people enjoy taking a tour with Bernard's Tours in Sint Maarten/St Martin. There's also Joyce Prince tours.

Our first time we were there we just spent the day in downtown Philipsburg, sitting on the beach for a little bit, doing some shopping and wandering, hitting the "Yoda Guy" place (a guy who worked on Yoda and now sells art and has a little museum of sorts), and having late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe.

Second time DS and I did Bernard's and are some of the very very few who didn't enjoy it. (didn't like our tourguide and the tour was longer than what we booked and I'm still not sure how that happened)

Next time we're there we'll likely get a taxi and go to a beach. Many people like Maho Beach, where you can stand basically at the end of a runway and it's very impressive. DS and I didn't care for it (and standing at the Avis rental car place at LAX gave basically the same experience for just the cost of a rental car LOL). Orient Beach is a popular one; note that all beaches there are very likely to be topless, and full nudity isn't forbidden. DS was fabulously embarrassed to see a lady about my age just sitting there with no top on...it was very funny.


There are several areas in San Juan that you might want to stay in. If you are focusing on Old San Juan and don't need a beach closeby, just stay in Old San Juan! I really want to stay at Hotel el Convento, but the cost when we're going is just too high for the number of days we're staying. When we're there we'll likely stay at the boring Embassy Suites and we'll just take cabs to where we want to go.


Cruises that start and/or end in San Juan generally go out of or in to the Panamerica Pier. This is different than the pier right in Old San Juan where day-stop cruises are. It's worth knowing ahead of time.

 

[Dug720]

St. Maarten - Sojaliga Destinations!!!! Amazing day on the water snorkeling, swimming, sightseeing, good lunch, and even planes coming in for a landing overhead...all on small boats with limited people on them!!

 

[Tink3350]

Another vote for Bernard's Tours!

 

[ludari]

I enjoyed scuba diving at St Maarten and I would definitely recommend any type of snorkeling or beach activities. I've also stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Isla Verde Beach Resort in Puerto Rico. It's right on the beach and I enjoyed the days I stayed at that resort.

 

[MUN]

just booked a last minute cruise out of New York ending in San Juan! I am usually such a planner and am feeling overwhelmed that it is so soon!! Does anyone have an excursion they looovvveeeed in St marteen... We have two kids 12 and 7 and like water activies. Also for those of you who have stayed in San Juan any hotel recommendations. I am looking at the marriot. Anyone ever stay there? Thanks!!

Orient Bay Beach in St. Marteen is really cool. We took a cab there and hung out at a place called Orange Fever all day. The beach is huge and beautiful. Orange Fever had great food and drinks at reasonable prices. We rented loungers and umbrellas from them.

Enjoy your cruise!

MUN

 

[disneyholic family]

we had one of our best excursions ever in st martin.... i have to find the name of the excursion..
we sailed on a catamaran to a very quiet bay where we snorkeled..
there were lots of families on board with kids..
you could either jump off the catamaran into the water, or go down the ladder..
i have to look up the name..
if memory serves it had a eagle in the name, but i'll go look..
we did the half day sail...

golden eagle catamaran sail and snorkel...

 

[KristiMc]

Soualiga Destinations. We had a great time.

 

[limabeanies]

Following this thread! I booked this cruise today too. Super excited but also feeling hopeful about learning more about excursions.

 

[ciniminis]

We loved the butterfly farm on St Maarten. The Orient Beach is beautiful but don't go there on the DCL excursion - we made that mistake, and it was so badly organized we wasted a lot of time just waiting to get on the bus, then once we got to the beach we were led to a super crowded seating area where rows of beach chairs were one right next to the other, and you still had to pay extra if you want a beach umbrella. There was only a pathetically thin strip of sand between the front row of beach chairs and the ocean.

In Old San Juan we did a fabulous walking food tour (not booked from DCL) that took us to about 6 or so local food joints plus many little stops for historical sights on the way. We sampled some really good and interesting food/drink items, like their traditional hot chocolate paired with cheese and churros.

 

[mhconley]

For St. Maarten - another vote for Soualiga Destinations Boat Tours. Best. Excursion. Ever. Our 12 year old loved it.

For San Juan - never stayed there but we were looking at the Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino for our Southern next April but chose the Condado Vanderbilt instead. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Enjoy your cruise!

Martin

 

[Dug720]

Add me to those who sing the praises of Soualiga Destinations. Best excursion ever - TBH I would even rank it above my whale watching in Alaska which was amazing.