St marteen

[dclpluto]

It seems DCL has forgot about this island. I really wish they will bring it back. I know it's available a few times within the next year and a half. But them times are not good for me. Anyone else wish DCL will go back more often. It use to be every other week now it's tortolla.

 

[Sytrace]

It was really beautiful. We stopped there April 2015 (and Puerto Rico) It would be nice to go back there again and skip Puerto Rico.

 

[phinz]

It was really beautiful. We stopped there April 2015 (and Puerto Rico) It would be nice to go back there again and skip Puerto Rico.

And see, that's where I differ. I really don't like Sint Maarten and loved San Juan Antiguo.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I was there in 2010. To be honest I don't know how much is changed in the past 7 years. At that time there was a boat that would take us from the pier over to the town. And we loved the multilingual song ..... "Welcome to Saint Maarten Maarten Martin welcome to and Saint Maarten" my daughter and I still sing it 7 years later with a big old "cat ate the canary" smile on her face. I love the shops in the town especially Mr. tablecloth.

 

[Jennifer777]

Loved St. Maarten! We were there in 2015 and t's been my favorite port so far. We hired a private driver (non-DCL excursion) who took us to a French bakery where I had the best chocolate croissant I've ever had in my life. I still dream about it and would love to go back!

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

It seems DCL has forgot about this island. I really wish they will bring it back. I know it's available a few times within the next year and a half. But them times are not good for me. Anyone else wish DCL will go back more often. It use to be every other week now it's tortolla.

About to book with RCL on the Oasis (as I could not convince DH to pay more for DCL) and Saint Maarten is one of the ports - I'm happy to hear its a liked port as I've not heard anything about it. Maybe your post this morning is my sign that RCL is going to be ok. (I'm sad about not doing DCL).

 

[tinkerone]

I to loved St Marteen. the beach is prestine and its right there. Taking the ferry over is fun. Lots of little shops and restaurants. Renting chairs and umbrellas is very cheap. Lots of linen stores with lovely items. If your into casinos there are several within walking distance. yeah, I like it there.
Now I'd gladly give up St. Thomas......

 

[phinz]

Just pray that the power isn't out in Philipsburg for the entire day like it was on our last trip. Only those who had personal generators for their shops had power and air conditioning. It was hot as blazes and every store was dark. When we left port that evening the power *still* wasn't back on. It's apparently not that uncommon an occurrence.

 

[bumbershoot]

There are other cruise lines to get to Sint Maarten!

We will have been there twice this year by the end of the year. Wasn't the biggest fan of St Martin (didn't like our Bernard's tour, which is almost unheard of) though Orient was nice. But we like hanging out in Sint Maarten.

 

[jne7043]

Just pray that the power isn't out in Philipsburg for the entire day like it was on our last trip. Only those who had personal generators for their shops had power and air conditioning. It was hot as blazes and every store was dark. When we left port that evening the power *still* wasn't back on. It's apparently not that uncommon an occurrence.

That seems to be the norm in most of the Caribbean. Nassau is often out too. At Atlantis we've only had one power outage while visiting of about 1.5 hours. But, several times during our trip we could look out over the bay and see that Nassau was dark.

 

[Jennifer777]

We almost booked a fall 2017 NCL Eastern Caribbean because it included St. Maarten. It would have been less than $4k for our family of four in a junior balcony suite, which seems to be the closest comparison to the deluxe family verandah rooms on DCL. That included the premium drink package and one other perk, either 250 minutes of wifi, a specialty dining credit or a $50/pp excursion credit. If my kids were a little bit older and one wasn't on the spectrum we would have jumped on it.

didn't like our Bernard's tour, which is almost unheard of

We didn't use Bernard's, we used another company and she wanted to show us around but we came prepared with a plan of when and where we wanted to go. We watched the planes come in over Maho, hit the french bakery, ate at a french restaurant right by the ocean and then spent the rest of the day at Orient, which is where we will probably spend the bulk of our time next time we go. Absolutely beautiful beach! Had we not gone in with a plan and were insistent about following it with our driver, I think we would have been disappointed too. She wasn't the most friendly and the stuff she wanted to show us we had no interest in.

 

[GWS]

The best thing about St. Maarten, free or ridiculous cheep Heineken, like a buck a bottle.

 

[phinz]

The best thing about St. Maarten, free or ridiculous cheep Heineken, like a buck a bottle.

I tend to drink Carib or something we can't typically get in the States when I'm on that particular rock.

 

[bumbershoot]

We didn't use Bernard's, we used another company and she wanted to show us around but we came prepared with a plan of when and where we wanted to go. We watched the planes come in over Maho, hit the french bakery, ate at a french restaurant right by the ocean and then spent the rest of the day at Orient, which is where we will probably spend the bulk of our time next time we go. Absolutely beautiful beach! Had we not gone in with a plan and were insistent about following it with our driver, I think we would have been disappointed too. She wasn't the most friendly and the stuff she wanted to show us we had no interest in.

JP's tours?

The tour companies really want to steer you in certain directions. Lots of friends getting tips from tourists because of them. (Like a tour guide in Europe or anywhere I suppose)

Even the bakery was a disappointment. We didn't get part of our order, and there line was crazy long and I'm not sure if we paid for it. The baked goods just weren't that great, either. Maybe I go to spectacular bakeries at home or eating those things while sweaty isn't my thing, but it was meh.

Maho wasn't of interest anyway, and it was at the end of our day that was an hour longer than the website said when I booked it, and we nearly caught a cab back to the ship.

And our guide's helpful island info patter like a hostile lecture to me.

I would definitely do a private tour in the future, even though it's a huge price difference when you are in a family of just three.

 

[Jennifer777]

JP's tours?

The tour companies really want to steer you in certain directions. Lots of friends getting tips from tourists because of them. (Like a tour guide in Europe or anywhere I suppose)

Even the bakery was a disappointment. We didn't get part of our order, and there line was crazy long and I'm not sure if we paid for it. The baked goods just weren't that great, either. Maybe I go to spectacular bakeries at home or eating those things while sweaty isn't my thing, but it was meh.

Maho wasn't of interest anyway, and it was at the end of our day that was an hour longer than the website said when I booked it, and we nearly caught a cab back to the ship.

And our guide's helpful island info patter like a hostile lecture to me.

I would definitely do a private tour in the future, even though it's a huge price difference when you are in a family of just three.

We used St. Maarten Tours and Taxi Service. It had pretty good reviews on Trip Advisor and we knew we didn't want to be part of a traditional tour where you were at the mercy of the tour guide. The cost was definitely higher than a group tour but wasn't too bad, $300 for the whole day for our family of 4. I totally agree they will try to steer you in certain directions. Even though I was very clear with the owner in advance and during the booking process about wanting to do our own thing, the driver, who was a different person, tried telling us where she was going to take us. We were very firm that we knew what we wanted and even brought a paper copy of our email booking to show we booked a driver to use at our leisure for the day, not a tour. We weren't interested in anything else. I wouldn't let the kids get in the van until we had an understanding. Once we got that out of the way, she was pretty friendly and took us wherever we asked. We did ask for her advice on the best time to go to Maho, because the kids wanted to see the big planes come in and she did find us a french bakery that was very good but other than that, we determined when and where we would go. We would use them again in a heartbeat, the van was clean and air conditioned, other than the initial disagreement about what we booked, she was friendly and responsive. I would be extra clear during the booking process what we wanted and bring a paper copy of our booking along just in case.

 

[noahsketomom]

Been there twice and loved both times! Hung out in phillipsburg when it was an adult only trip. Went zip lining at lotterie farm with the kids...then to la gallion beach. Perfect days!!!!

 

[Quellman]

Loved the duty free there.

I will say that I appreciate Disney mixing up itineraries from time to time. Tortola is a bit more "natural" in the type of excursions that are offered. They also invested heavily in the immediate port area.

 

[disneyholic family]

we had one of our nicest port excursions ever in st martin.....this was when we were on the allure of the seas...
we did a catamaran sailing with snorkeling in a rather secluded little bay...
it was heavenly....i thought it would be nice, but it so beyond surpassed nice..
i would do this one again for sure...
i think it was called the golden eagle catamaran
we did the excursion via royal..

 

[OKW Lover]

To each their own. We've cruised many times and probably half the time the cruise we are on includes a stop at St. Martin. Frankly we enjoy a change of pace and welcome an itinerary that features a different island.

 

[cgolf]

This is our favorite island and love how laid back it is compared to the more touristy islands where people are practically grabbing you to use their service or buy something. Also the guava berry rum is one of our favorites to bring back to use as mixers.