September 29, 2007 - Magic

[ibela]

Lol! I wonder if my DH knows about the casino.. .if he does he'll be over there with your hubby.

Gr00vyChc

Um, make that 3 DHs at the casino!

Deweysgirl - we're hitting the butterfly farm too. That's the only thing I really have planned (so far) for our trip, aside from some activities on the boat.

On CNN this morning I saw the ship that got grounded but it's a small boat and hopefully the DCL captain will be more careful (not that I'm putting any blame anywhere) . . . .

 

[JDBlair]

On the drive home from CA today, I had a lot of time to read my Passporter. The one excursion on St Thomas I *'d is Maagens Bay Beach Break. Of course, I'm thinking of doing it on our own because it sounds cheaper that way. DH wants off the boat but we're not really shoppers and with DD (3) we're limited on the excursions we can do as a family. Although, I'm encouraging DH and DS to look at the Passporter and maybe plan an excursion together.

 

[ibela]

well, we're doing the butterfly farm on our own if anyone wants to join. It seems easy to get to (well, by taxi) and this way we're not time bound with dd (1.5yr) who may love it and want to stay longer or be totally cranky and want to leave!

good morning everyone!

you know, the 9/22 and the 10/6 cruises are almost ALWAYS on the first page. shame on us!

I'll see if I can come up with a new "game" for us, that got us all going for a bit. . . . any suggestions?

JD- How was the 2nd wedding?!

 

[MiaSRN62]

I would totally do Maagens Beach and the Butterfly Farm if my kids were little ones. It's so much easier to keep little ones entertained. As they got to be teens, dh and I find we have to kick it up a notch to keep them interested !
My dd's (14 and 16), are wishing for a chance to snorkel and see a sea turtle or two. They love turtles. I'm trying to find the best snorkel excursion for that. They can't stop talking about it. They thought our snorkel trip to Stingray City in Grand Caymen was just the best and it's going to be hard to top that adventure.

 

[SueRS]

How safe is the parasailing? What is the age minimum? How high do you go? Do you go together with someone else? How long are you up there and how much does it cost?

(Sorry for so many questions.)

Ok, as you can probably tell, I am afraid of heights. I am trying to be willing to do stuff for my kids (I did Tower of Terror). My son would love this, I am not sure though.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Sue ~
It's ages 8 and up and yes, you can ride tandem. I think you're about 600 feet up....and in the air for less than 10 min. It's $75 pp even with tandem.

 

[ibela]

How safe is the parasailing?
Ok, as you can probably tell, I am afraid of heights. I am trying to be willing to do stuff for my kids (I did Tower of Terror). My son would love this, I am not sure though.

I'm not sure exactly how it works there but I did go once in Cancun years ago. If the takeoff is from the beach then you can just go to the beach with him and he can go up without you. If it's off a boat then you can probably go onto the boat without going up with him. This way you stay on the ground and have some extra $ for . . . . . drinks or Shutters? Hey, someone needs to take pictures of him up there anyway!

 

[crainbow]

How safe is the parasailing? What is the age minimum? How high do you go? Do you go together with someone else? How long are you up there and how much does it cost?

You ask how safe the parasailing is. Well, you are wearing a parachute, so you can't "fall". I did this last year at cc. I could not get my wife on the boat let alone the sail, but that is another story. This was one of the highlights, for me at least, of the cruise. You can't feel the lift off at all. Suddenly your feet are off the platform and you are gaining altitude. You are just floating there. I got up to 500-600 ft. It lasted about 10 minutes. When they bring you down they dunk your feet in the water and then reel you in. If you raise your feet other parts of you might get wet.

Send me your email address and I can send you some photo's I took whilst up in the air.

Chuck

 

[JDBlair]

well, we're doing the butterfly farm on our own if anyone wants to join. It seems easy to get to (well, by taxi) and this way we're not time bound with dd (1.5yr) who may love it and want to stay longer or be totally cranky and want to leave!

good morning everyone!

you know, the 9/22 and the 10/6 cruises are almost ALWAYS on the first page. shame on us!

I'll see if I can come up with a new "game" for us, that got us all going for a bit. . . . any suggestions?

JD- How was the 2nd wedding?!

I mentioned the Butterfly farm and both DH and DS curled their noses. I told DH if he and DS want to do an excursion together, DD and I will be fine. But he's worried about our safety. I assured him DD and I would not leave the ship alone. I really am looking forward to taking this vacation at a snails pace. I don't want to run all over the place and go-go-go! So, I think if we do things on the islands as a family, it will be spent on some beach!

The 2nd wedding was good. The bride was beautiful. It was a great party. But man, these weekend trips are kind of killers with the traveling and the running around. I'm ready for life to settle down and spend lazy days by the pool, now that it's hit 100+ here!

 

[Beck's mom]

The one excursion on St Thomas I *'d is Maagens Bay Beach Break. Of course, I'm thinking of doing it on our own because it sounds cheaper that way.

Hey there! I haven't been posting much but I just wanted to comment on your idea to go to Magen's Bay. We were there last year on another cruise and it is absolutely a gorgeous place! We caught a van off the ship and I think it was $8 pp each way. The guy came back to pick us up at the time we asked him to. He also stopped at the overlook on the way back so we could see the island and our ship.
I don't know how much the excursion is but that gives you an idea of what we paid. There is a little bar/restaurant there where we got beer & sodas.

They say you really can't snorkel at Magen's Bay, but we did and the kids saw a few fish. It's just not the best for that. Also there are not wave runners or parasailing there either. But it is so beautiful. The water is all those shades of Caribbean blue, it has gentle waves, and the beach is edged with many palm trees to sit under for the perfect Corona ad pic!

One note of caution though (and I am sure this is true at many beaches, not just this one): be careful laying in the sand! My oldest son came down with a nasty rash the day after we were there, and he was miserable. He was the only one that had laid in the sand, and we think he got sand flea bites. He was miserably itchy for the next 3 days. Fortunately it was the last stop on our trip.

I think this time we are going to hit Sapphire Beach or Trunk Bay.

 

[JDBlair]

Hey there! I haven't been posting much but I just wanted to comment on your idea to go to Magen's Bay. We were there last year on another cruise and it is absolutely a gorgeous place! We caught a van off the ship and I think it was $8 pp each way. The guy came back to pick us up at the time we asked him to. He also stopped at the overlook on the way back so we could see the island and our ship.
I don't know how much the excursion is but that gives you an idea of what we paid. There is a little bar/restaurant there where we got beer & sodas.

They say you really can't snorkel at Magen's Bay, but we did and the kids saw a few fish. It's just not the best for that. Also there are not wave runners or parasailing there either. But it is so beautiful. The water is all those shades of Caribbean blue, it has gentle waves, and the beach is edged with many palm trees to sit under for the perfect Corona ad pic!

One note of caution though (and I am sure this is true at many beaches, not just this one): be careful laying in the sand! My oldest son came down with a nasty rash the day after we were there, and he was miserable. He was the only one that had laid in the sand, and we think he got sand flea bites. He was miserably itchy for the next 3 days. Fortunately it was the last stop on our trip.

I think this time we are going to hit Sapphire Beach or Trunk Bay.

Thanks so much for the tip! That's awesome. I just read Cruise Critic and it listed Magen's Bay as the best beach on St. Thomas. In the Passprter, it got a 9/10. It says the excursion through Disney is $44/adult and $33 3-9. It sounds cheaper for us to do it on our own and DH looks intimidating enough, I don't think we'll have a problem with the locals. So, I'm highlighting Maagens Bay Beach in our Passporter as our St Thomas "thing to do".

Got any beach suggestions for St. Maarten??

 

[ibela]

One note of caution though (and I am sure this is true at many beaches, not just this one): be careful laying in the sand! My oldest son came down with a nasty rash the day after we were there, and he was miserable. He was the only one that had laid in the sand, and we think he got sand flea bites. He was miserably itchy for the next 3 days. Fortunately it was the last stop on our trip.

I really am looking forward to taking this vacation at a snails pace. I don't want to run all over the place and go-go-go!

Aside from the butterfly farm, we (currently) plan on staying on the ship. It should be super quiet and peaceful on port days since everyone else is out. I *really* am taking it at a snails pace.

The 2nd wedding was good. The bride was beautiful. It was a great party. But man, these weekend trips are kind of killers with the traveling and the running around. I'm ready for life to settle down and spend lazy days by the pool, now that it's hit 100+ here!

Oh I'm jealous! It's about 75 here, very nice and comfortable but not enough for a beach or pool. Soon enough, hopefully . . . .

And parties are nice but hectic if you're travelling. Speaking of, dd's big birthday bash is this weekend (yes, a bit delayed from her actual bday) and we're travelling 1 hour away. Should be hectic too since we'll be gone the whole day and are taking the dog and all the extras for both baby and dog. I think I'm going to start loading the car the day before.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Send me your email address and I can send you some photo's I took whilst up in the air.

Chuck,
If you can post here, I think we all would love to see your photos from your parasailing excursion

 

[Beck's mom]

It sounds cheaper for us to do it on our own and DH looks intimidating enough, I don't think we'll have a problem with the locals. So, I'm highlighting Maagens Bay Beach in our Passporter as our St Thomas "thing to do".

Got any beach suggestions for St. Maarten??

Magen's bay is a real tourist spot, so I think almost everyone there will be visitors. You don't have to worry at all. The only person that approached us was the waitress from the bar bringing drinks. No peddlers! Let me tell you, we were on a beach in Antigua on that cruise that caused us a little worry - we walked past a group of locals and you could definitely smell something...herbal.

But Magen's Bay really is worth seeing - it is truly one of the most beautiful places I think I have ever been to! And the overlook we stopped at on the way back was really cool too.

As far as St. Maarten, I do have a website that had a lot of info on it but it is on my computer at home. I'll post it later for you if you want!

 

[crainbow]

Chuck,
If you can post here, I think we all would love to see your photos from your parasailing excursion

It has been a long time (shortly after last years cruise) since I have attempted to post photos here. But here goes.

These were taken during the parasailing at CC the first week in SEP 06. I used a waterproof 35mm disposable to grab these.

More to follow.

Chuck

 

[crainbow]

More photos from the last cruise.

Chuck

 

[crainbow]

And the last batch.
IMG]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/crainbow1/cruise06/59610006.jpg[/IMG]

Hope you enjoy!

Chuck

 

[MiaSRN62]

Chuck....we did enjoy !

The kids and I were looking at all the shots and my dd says "let's do it !". Thanks for posting !

 

[Deweysgirl]

GREAT pics Chuck! Thanks for sharing. We did the parasail on CC in May of 06 and it was beautiful. I had forgotten how cool it was until seeing these photos. It is great fun, but so short, I think we were up in the air about 10 minutes. I rode tandem with our youngest DD, she was 8 and my DH rode tandem with our oldest, 11 at the time. They LOVED it!

Beck's Mom - I would like the website for St. Maarten if you get a chance to post it. thanks!

 

[JDBlair]

Aside from the butterfly farm, we (currently) plan on staying on the ship. It should be super quiet and peaceful on port days since everyone else is out. I *really* am taking it at a snails pace.



Oh I'm jealous! It's about 75 here, very nice and comfortable but not enough for a beach or pool. Soon enough, hopefully . . . .

And parties are nice but hectic if you're travelling. Speaking of, dd's big birthday bash is this weekend (yes, a bit delayed from her actual bday) and we're travelling 1 hour away. Should be hectic too since we'll be gone the whole day and are taking the dog and all the extras for both baby and dog. I think I'm going to start loading the car the day before.

I'd prefer to stay on the ship at ports but DH insists we get off the ship. He says that's the point of taking a cruise, to see new things, etc Blah, blah blah!

I love when it gets hot here in PHX! But I'm in the minority.

Have fun at DD's birthday bash!!!