staying onboard part2?

[4everDisney]

I had ask earlier if anyone has ever not gone ashore and just stayed on the ship, My other question was ...Which island is better...St. Maarten or St. Thomas...I have two children 6 and 9. If we choose to stay on the ship oneday instead of going ashore i want make sure we see the nicer island.

 

[mmouse37]

Yes, people do just stay on the ship at different ports, or just go ashore for a bit and then come back....on the Eastern you already have 3 days at sea so most do go ashore at St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

Overall I think St. Thomas is a prettier island. They both have their depressed areas, but I think St. Thomas is nicer. The shopping is much better on St. Thomas...nicer shops, cleaner streets to walk on.

I am sure others will have their favorites as well as it is really a personal preference.

MJ

 

[BethA]

Why are you thinking of staying on? My mother rarely gets off because she has difficulty walking. I have stayed on when my son didn't want to get off because I didn't want them paging me and we weren't onboard. He rarely wants to leave the club though,but wants to eat is lunch with us. With 3 sea days just a short walk off the ship might be nice. I didn't find 1 island that different from the other. Have a great trip--when is your cruise? If you stay on the pools and buffet are empty-so it's nice that way. That was the only time we could get in the Goofy pool.

 

[Greysword]

St. Thomas is a US territory, so you already know the language, have the currency, know the basic culture. This can be an advantage should anything happen while ashore (you won't need passports to get from the island to the mainland ). This can be a piece of mind.

St. Martin could be great, since your kids can basically visit two European nations in one stop! They can go to school and say they have seen parts of France and Holland on their trip.

I would suggest you look at the shore excursions and what is ashore you would like to do. If you have a son, he may get a kick out of walking the same streets as infamous pirates and privateers (Bluebeard, Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, Francis Drake, etc) in St Thomas. There is also Coral World in ST. Thomas, which might be a fun experience.

http://www.coralworldvi.com/

http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/History/index.php

http://www.piratesinfo.com/

 

[tvguy]

I've been on 7 cruises, all but one stopped in St. Thomas, and we've not big shoppers. The first 2 times we got off the ship as soon as it docked in St. Thomas, the next 3 times the St.Thomas day was the day to sleep in and get off the ship at our leisure. Of course, with current immigration laws, you can't sleep in, at least on DCL at St. Thomas since everyone has to clear immigration between 6:30 and 8 am before ANYONE can get off the ship.
We found St. Martin more interesting, did the 6 metre regatta and shopped....didn't have time for an island tour. St Thomas we did the Skyway and City tour and shopped, but broke that up by going back to the ship for lunch.
I'd at least try and step off the ship in all ports. But for some folks, the SHIP is the destination, and the ports are secondary. Only ship I ever felt I got to do everything on was on the MS Mermoz. But that was a small ship (583 passengers), and it was a 14 day cruise, and it had far fewer things to offer than the bigger ships. Never got to do everything on the Magic, Amsterdam, Norway, Nordic Prince or Soveriegn of the Seas.

 

[TheWog]

Both islands are beautiful. St. Maarten has a beach right at the port St. Thomas does not. If you want to do a little swimming, rent jet skis, some shopping, lounging etc. St. Maarten has it all right there. Just a short water taxi ride away. You can also be back to the ship very quickly if you want to. Under 10 mins by water taxi from the Main Street. For your scenario you may want to try St. Maarten. But I would at least consider exploring both.

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by tvguy
I've been on 7 cruises, all but one stopped in St. Thomas, and we've not big shoppers. The first 2 times we got off the ship as soon as it docked in St. Thomas, the next 3 times the St.Thomas day was the day to sleep in and get off the ship at our leisure. Of course, with current immigration laws, you can't sleep in, at least on DCL at St. Thomas since everyone has to clear immigration between 6:30 and 8 am before ANYONE can get off the ship.
We found St. Martin more interesting, did the 6 metre regatta and shopped....didn't have time for an island tour. St Thomas we did the Skyway and City tour and shopped, but broke that up by going back to the ship for lunch.
I'd at least try and step off the ship in all ports. But for some folks, the SHIP is the destination, and the ports are secondary. Only ship I ever felt I got to do everything on was on the MS Mermoz. But that was a small ship (583 passengers), and it was a 14 day cruise, and it had far fewer things to offer than the bigger ships. Never got to do everything on the Magic, Amsterdam, Norway, Nordic Prince or Soveriegn of the Seas.

If you don't get off in St Marteen do you still have to do the Immigration clearance on St Thomas day??

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by 4everDisney
I had ask earlier if anyone has ever not gone ashore and just stayed on the ship, My other question was ...Which island is better...St. Maarten or St. Thomas...I have two children 6 and 9. If we choose to stay on the ship oneday instead of going ashore i want make sure we see the nicer island.

I have two boys, 7 and 9. We cruised last week. We did St. Maarten on our own...took a cab to the Butterfly Farm, which the kids enjoyed. Then we went back to the ship, had lunch, swam and then the kids went into the club while my husband and I went back on the island to shop for two hours. They did not want to shop...can't blame them. It worked out to be a great day all around.

We had a great full day on St. Thomas. I wish we had the longer day at there rather than St. Maarten, honestly. We snorkeled on Coki Beach and walked over to Coral World. Another great day...but too short. We could have sat on that beach for hours.

 

[hydster]

I too wonder why you want to stay on board the ship for the whole day?? St. Marten has a beach you can go to right off the pier where they have beach chairs for rent and it's a very short walk. They also have a really nice Water Taxi where it's $5.00 for an all day pass and kids under 12 are free. You can take it over and do some shopping or just experience it for an hour and then go back to the ship. We went to Orient Beach with the kids and it was awesome! They have a water tramp and all kinds of things to do there.

St. Thomas there is shopping right off the pier and a pretty close walk. We did the Paradise Point Tram with the kids and they loved it. Sat and had a bushwacker and strawberry daquiris and then we went back to the ship, had lunch and set out for our excursion. We did the doubloon sail and snorkel and it was a riot for our kids! We have 3 aged 10, 9 and 5.

I'd say since you are there why not experience it for even an hour?? You have 3 days on the ship. You could even do some swimming in the pools on the port days and THEN go ashore.

Also to the person who asked if you don't get off the ship in St. Maarten do you still have to clear immigration...YES! It's the whole ship who has to clear since the ship visited a foreign port before entering a US port. It takes about 10 min, very painless and then you are done. They do the times by morning excursion, decks and then if you aren't getting off.

Heidi

 

[DrCavin]

Originally posted by ivanova
If you don't get off in St Marteen do you still have to do the Immigration clearance on St Thomas day??

Yes you still have to clear immigration. You even have to clear immigration if you are not getting of the ship at St. Thomas, in case someone was wondering that as well.

 

[tvguy]

That's why I don't like the new post September 11 immigration policy. Used to be only those who got off the ship had to clear immigration, now everyone does, at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am.

 

[mmouse37]

On our Magic cruise this past Feb they made the immigration times more bearable....we did not have to show up until between 7:30 and 8:00....we were up at that time anyway!!!

They stagger the times a bit better now. I think anyone with an early DCL excursion must get there earlier.

MJ

 

[Hygiene99]

Yes In St. Martins ,
The beach is right there we did not rent a chair just used the towels to sit on the beach was fun and clean.. and the water was warm and u could see the ship as u swam .. and if u wanted u could go back to the ship for lunch ... shops are right there walking disntance.. Why stay on the ship in either Port there is fun to be had ....

Peter

 

[BethA]

What is involved with the immigration process? Our last Eastern cruise was pre 9-11 and there was nothing like that on the 2 western cruises. Does the whole family have to be there? Is it a 1 time thing or for each stop? thanks

 

[trishy]

4everDisney: It's none of my business why you want to stay on the ship. If I had one island to pick from, I'd definitely do St. Thomas. St. Thomas is a more comfortable atmosphere as far as being more like home. St. Maarten has their strange types right off the dock to deal with and haggle with as far as taxi's go. St. Thomas has more to do in terms of tours, shopping, or just walking around with your children. We were not the least bit uncomfortable with St. Thomas; however, I'm glad dh was there to take care of business in St. Maarten. Just a bit more on the 'seedy' type as far as pushy peddlers on the beach and stuff. Not that much to see either if you're not interested in snorkeling off the beaches - the waves can be a little intimidating for a 6 yr. old.

The ship is not crowded while the majority are on the island; however, there is not a lot to do as far as DCL activities since they expect most passengers will be on the island. Take a look at some of the Navigators on the port days and you'll see the difference. Yet the kid's clubs are still in full swing and the pools are emptied out. I believe they still have movies playing in the theater also, but you'd have to check on that. There's the sports deck if the kids like kicking or throwing the ball around. You can check it out on Barb's site at (can't link so you have to fill in '.' for the '_') www_castawayclub_com. Have a great trip.

 

[hydster]

BethA--Everyone in your family HAS to be in attendance! It is mandatory that you all go. It's in the Walt Disney Theatre, you walk in, they seat you in seats, they call row by row, you walk down to the agent by the stage, he looks at passports, birth certificates/Id for each person (just the bc for the kids) and then as you walk out they stamp your hand with invisible ink. Then when you want to get off the ship you hand them your KTTW card and they check your hand with a blacklight to see if you cleared immigration or not. I think for us it took a total of 10 min. They have changed the times a little bit..for our May 1 cruise it was

Guests on Morning Shore Excursions 6:30 to 7:00 am

Guests from decks 1, 2 & 5 - 7:00 am to 7:30 am

Guests from decks 6, 7, & 8 - 7:30 -8:00 am

Guests who do not wish to go ashort - 8:00 - 8:30 am

The paper says All guets must pass through inspection and that all family members are to be present for inspection. All guests must present a passport or birth certificate accompanied by photo ID. No guests will be allowed ashore without having passed through inspection. Even if you are not going ashore you are still required to pass through inspection. This procedure is a US Las that applies to any ship that goes from a foreign port to a US Port.

HTH
Heidi

 

[BethA]

Does the whole family have to go at once-or based on leaving boat or not---it's hard getting those teenagers up.