St. Martin on our own

[O&WMOM]

We have decided to do St. Martin on our own. Any suggestions on what we shouldn't miss, what we should try to do, and what we should skip. (traveling with DH, DD 5, DS 3)

Thanks!

 

[FrenchRyourfriends]

Hi. Like I said to somebody else .. If you like French Food, you should stop to local groceries supermarket, restaurants and get some nice bread / brioches and sandwiches ... that is if you are into this kind of things. If you rent a car, you should try to stop at the "boarder" between both countries and get some pictures. If you have young children, you may want to skip a few beaches, because in St MArteen, not only are you allowed to go topless but bikini less (if you see what I mean . As for the people on the island, and because I am French, I can tell you that some of them are totaly unpolite & $%$%#%#% like French people can be when they want to ... (again .. I am French so ...). the Netherland side is full of jewleries / duty free stores (not very interesting). Lots of resorts and this island is certainely not as charming as other carribean islands. However it is pretty safe, nobody will come and bother you in the streets and hospitals are quite good !!! You should be careful as well with the currency, I am not too sure about the EURO accross the island, but if this is the case the euro is stronger than the dollar, 1,5 times more these days .. therefore you may want to be careful with exchange rate.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by O&WMOM
We have decided to do St. Martin on our own. Any suggestions on what we shouldn't miss, what we should try to do, and what we should skip. (traveling with DH, DD 5, DS 3)

Thanks!

In May our family (me, DH, DS 7 and DS 9) took a taxi to the butterfly farm, which was actually better than I expected. The kids even enjoyed the ride around the island in the cab. After that we all went back to the ship, swam in the pool, had lunch and then the kids went to the club while my DH and I went back on the island, took the water taxi over into town and shopped for a few hours.

Since we were going to spend the entire day on the beach in St. Thomas I didn't 'need' to be on the beach in St. Martin, although we were the only ship in the port that day and the beaches probably would have been very empty (especially the one right near the port).

 

[chasbos]

St. Maarten on your own is very easy and with young kids a must. But that is just my opinion.

We (myself, DH, DD's 12, 10, 8, 5) spent a week in St. Maarten last December. We had a great time all around, but had to improvise a few times to keep everyone happy. Luckily we at the Maho for a wedding and 30 other people came too.

We took the kids into Philipsburg on the Monday - busy day (4 cruise ships in) and they liked seeing the ships, the shops and people and the school in the middle of Front Street (they loved the uniforms and how cute all the students looked) but after about 1 hour they had enough of the crowds of people and just wanted to go back to the resort and swim.

So the next day Dh and I went into Philipsburg on our own - good thing. The Disney ship was tendered and that is what got me hooked on a cruise. But so were 5 other ships - it was a zoo on Front street and I saw many unhappy kids going from shop to shop through too many people.

The next day we rented a jeep and toured the island on our own - now that day was fantastic. We stopped in Marigot, stopped at the "border" sign, stopped at the far end of the island and kids ran and played in the shallow waters. They loved driving through the island with the wind in their hair and being able to stop and explore whenever we wanted. (Makes kids much more happy to have a little input of when to stop).

We loved St. maarten and will go back again! But first it is Disney Cruise time.

 

[O&WMOM]

Thanks for some fast answers!!!! Anymore suggestions on stops along the way?

 

[musicgirl]

We took a taxi to Dawn beach for $42 roundtrip for 3. We went back to the ship for lunch and to get cleaned up. We went shopping with ds, then back to the ship. DS wanted to stay on board, so we ventured out again to the shops and to find The Guavaberry Shop. You must get a guavaberrycolada. YUMMY!!! If you can not find the shop, you can get one at Sharkey's, a little bar at the dock!!!!

Next time, (I hope) I would just go to Great Bay beach. When we were there in June, we were the only ship there!!! It was deserted. There are wave runners to rent, a water trampoline and the stores are right there.

The dock is right there and using the water taxi ($5 per day all day) was very convenient. It takes you right to Great Bay Beach.

Lorie

 

[DARWIN91]

We took a taxi to Orient Beach and had a great time! I think it was $15.00 for 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella at the beach. The beach was beautiful and they had a trampoline there that costs $5.00 per person so the kids had fun.

 

[DARWIN91]

We took a taxi to Orient Beach and had a great time! I think it was $15.00 for 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella at the beach. The beach was beautiful and they had a trampoline there that costs $5.00 per person so the kids had fun.

 

[mousecrazy]

Is the water trampoline appropriate for little kids (e.g . ages 4 - 7)?

Thanks.

 

[mickeyboat]

We took DD3 and DD4 to Great Bay Beach. Water taxi was $5 per person (for all day), kids were free. We rented an umbrella and two chairs for $10 - which included two free drinks and use of the bar's restroom. We hung out there and took turns doing a little shopping in town (we aren't big shoppers). It was just the right amount of beach/shopping for us.

We did not let our kids use the water trampoline - it is rather high to jump off and our kids aren't strong swimmers.

There are many people walking up and down the beach hawking their wares. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but a polite "no thank you" was enough for them to go on their way.

Have a great time!

Denae

 

[TheWog]

We did the same as mickeyboat. Hung out at Great Bay, we rented chairs and used the water trampoline and rented jet skis. My DS6 and I used the jet ski and he used the water tramp with me right there. We then returned to the ship midday using the all day water taxi (kids free), showered, changed and had lunch onboard. Then we spent the afternoon in town shopping. It was a lot of fun.

 

[mickeyfan4444]

We are considering renting a car when we go in Jan. but, was wondering is it best to make a reservation for a car rental ahead of time or is it more convenient to just rent one when we arrive that day? If we need to reserve ahead who does anyone suggest?

Thanks,
Patti

 

[chasbos]

In my map that I was given last December it listed all of the car rental companies and they offered a discount for reserving a car ahead fo time. And I think it is waiting at the tendering dock when you get off - there was a large line of vehicles waiting there anyway.