Turkey Day Gang 2009

[ICEMANPAD]

Oriental Trading Company can be a great source of items for FE's.

Karen: I got your info.

Stef: I responded to you.

Chuck

 

[sherreis]

I forgot to say before - we booked Bernard's tour for St. Martin. We figure it is a good starting point for our first time on the island.

Now, to figure out what to do on St. Thomas. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I forgot to say before - we booked Bernard's tour for St. Martin. We figure it is a good starting point for our first time on the island.

Now, to figure out what to do on St. Thomas. Decisions, decisions.

Grab a cab to Coki beach Nice safe beach with great snorkeling, We got a awesome burrito from the little "shack" restaurant there. Also the vendors there are VERY respectful and take NO thank you for an answer. I think that we may go back there even though we were just there in July.

Rob

 

[alwayslisad]

I forgot to say before - we booked Bernard's tour for St. Martin. We figure it is a good starting point for our first time on the island.

Now, to figure out what to do on St. Thomas. Decisions, decisions.

We are with you on St. Martin - Bernard -

He recommended Burlie (same kind of trip - except her vans are open window concept ) at St. Thomas - I contacted her and she replied almost immediatly - so we booked with her - cost is amazing! for an all day event!

 

[Morgey24]

We are with you on St. Martin - Bernard -

He recommended Burlie (same kind of trip - except her vans are open window concept ) at St. Thomas - I contacted her and she replied almost immediatly - so we booked with her - cost is amazing! for an all day event!

So that makes us (me, DexH, DD), alwayslisad, and sherrieis with Bernard -- cool, though I am starting to think about the 12 meter Regatta which I know DexH would love but DD is lukewarm about (and for that kind of $$$$ I will only do an excursion if they are wow'ed by it.)

Just found Burlie online; will have to look into that. I've used private companies before for such day trips and always had very good experiences. Remember their livelihood is based on good cruise trip reports so they generally do a really good job.

I'm wondering about the weather in November -- I'm going to have to reseach last year's weather in the islands for that time. Funny because we've cruised at Christmas twice and while the days were sunny it was cool (IMO) and the retractable roofs were always up on the pool decks on the other cruiselines.

Have an awesome Sunday everyone.

 

[alwayslisad]

Hiya - please post what you find regarding the weather for sure

Dsis and her hubby with be with us too - so that means we can have our OWN BUS - hehheheh

http://www.viscenictours.com/
^ Burlie

 

[mwstar]

I recommend Orient Beach. Have been there twice, most recently at the end of July. First time we did a private tour of the island than went to Orient. In July we simply took a cab from the pier. When we were ready to leave just grabbed another cab and had them drop us in town for some shopping.

Orient Beach one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.....
Irene

 

[mwstar]

We are still undecided. I really want to go to St. John, but it takes so much time. I hear Trunk Bay is beautiful. Two years ago we did Bernard's (you will have a great time). Can't remember what beach we went to at the end of the tour, I don't think it was Coki, maybe it was Saphire. Was not overly impressed, but we had been at Orient the day before.

Has anyone been to Orient Beach on St. Martin that could recommend comparable beach on St. Thomas?

 

[sherreis]

I recommend Orient Beach. Have been there twice, most recently at the end of July. First time we did a private tour of the island than went to Orient. In July we simply took a cab from the pier. When we were ready to leave just grabbed another cab and had them drop us in town for some shopping.

Orient Beach one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.....
Irene

Can't wait to see it. The Bernard's tour goes to Orient Beach for 2 hrs of the day. I like the blend of being able to see the island and having some beach time. DH is not a beach person but even he can tolerate 2 hrs.

I looked at the St. Thomas tour that Lisa posted. It starts with 3 hrs of shopping. Not sure if I want to spend that much time shopping -- expecially, with DH and the 2 boys. You know how that is -- ARE YOU DONE YET???? I want to do something in addition to the beach on St. Thomas as well since we've never been there. I guess I'll make that my decision to make for the week.

 

[SteffyLou]

DH and I are now participating in the FE! This is a first for us because we have never done it before even though this is our fourth cruise.

 

[MommyMinnie]

Howdy, I just added SteffyLou to the FE Blog. I also updated the Mom and Dad count to read Mom/Wife and Dad/Husband. To be a little more "inclusive".

Take care. The cruise is comming up soon!

 

[alwayslisad]

Can't wait to see it. The Bernard's tour goes to Orient Beach for 2 hrs of the day. I like the blend of being able to see the island and having some beach time. DH is not a beach person but even he can tolerate 2 hrs.

I looked at the St. Thomas tour that Lisa posted. It starts with 3 hrs of shopping. Not sure if I want to spend that much time shopping -- expecially, with DH and the 2 boys. You know how that is -- ARE YOU DONE YET???? I want to do something in addition to the beach on St. Thomas as well since we've never been there. I guess I'll make that my decision to make for the week.

DH is hoping that somewhere in ST. M and ST. T he will find a place to gamble or such while I WINDOW shop for a few hours

anyone know if this is available????

 

[cruisecrzy]

Now, to figure out what to do on St. Thomas. Decisions, decisions.

I agree if you want to go someplace then Coki Beach is a great place to go. It has incredible snorkeling and bathroom/changing facility (not the greatest in the world, but it is something). Bring a can of spray cheese and you will have fish running to you.

They used to have a coupon for Coral World (which in my opinion did not look so nice in person so we took a pass. It is where they do the sea trek walk. here is the website where there used to be a coupon. http://www.coralworldvi.com/index.html

And her is a review on what there is for families....I think I got it from Family Fun Magazine so that is why it is a disney site http://family.go.com/travel/things-...-thomas--and--st--john/poi-282819-coki-beach/

I'm wondering about the weather in November -- I'm going to have to reseach last year's weather in the islands for that time. Funny because we've cruised at Christmas twice and while the days were sunny it was cool (IMO) and the retractable roofs were always up on the pool decks on the other cruiselines.

Have an awesome Sunday everyone.

We have gone on many November cruises. I can tell you the water temperatures tend to be just fine. The days are warm but the nights are cool. The pools can be chilly when the boat is moving fast, but it is not too cool for swimming. One year we were hanging with Hurricane Delta (I think that was it) and though we could not go to an island as the waves were too much the weather was still not miserable.

We are still undecided. I really want to go to St. John, but it takes so much time. I hear Trunk Bay is beautiful.

Trunk bay is beautiful and if you do not mind being gone the entire day and the travel St. John's is something I say you should do at least once. We did it and we loved Trunk Bay and there was an old Sugar Cane plantation we were able to "hike" through which was very cool. We are glad we did it once, but it is not something we would do now with a 5 year old.

I looked at the St. Thomas tour that Lisa posted. It starts with 3 hrs of shopping. Not sure if I want to spend that much time shopping -- expecially, with DH and the 2 boys. .

Another thing in my opinion about St. Marten shopping as you might as well do it at home. Especially at Havernsight mall....it just an outdoor mall with things like a Hallmark. Now downtown there has always been an interesting "flea marketish" area. And if we tender in we could be right near that area.

But I agree I would not want to drag DH and kids on a shopping adventure.

DH and I are now participating in the FE! This is a first for us because we have never done it before even though this is our fourth cruise.

I think you will have fun with it and glad that you did it!!


Oct. 2 and 3 is the big annual Disney sale at Celebration School (in case did not see it advertised anywhere) May have some good items for FE.

 

[ratt1345]

I am trying to catch up on all the posts since Thursday!!! To anyone who wrote to me, forgive me for getting back to you so late.

Chuck, depends on how I feel, I may have a beer!!! But a soda will do as well.

SteffLou, don't worry. I am in the same 'boat' as you. This will be my 5th cruise and my first time doing FE. We can learn together!!!

The cruise is 60 days from tomorrow!!

My fiancee asked me about the day we can sign up for the Alaska cruises this past weekend!!! I told her you have to wait until 9/28. She is more excited about that one than this upcoming cruise. And she is very exxcited about the Turkey Cruise.

Charlie

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Well the one place in St. Thomas I will definitely not do again was that overpriced and otherwise waste of time of a skyride...the views were nice, but....

We may try Coral World, but on our own by taxi...going to see if we can somehow work in the sea lions even though official times to not match w/the ship's stop...i have a client from St Thomas who I will be asking.

As for St Maarten, nothing beats the 12 Metre regatta boats racing in the bay...hands down the best excursion we have ever taken anywhere. Only negative (for some people) is no kids under 16 permitted.

And there can be some decent jewelry buys on the Dutch side of St Maarten, but be careful of poor settings. Lisa got a very nice ring, but the setting had to be fixed, although that cost was relatively minor...however, the search for the diamond on the courtroom floor was another matter (it was found).

Chuck

 

[cruisecrzy]

ditto on the sky ride. It is just a ride up the side of the mountain with a few stores and restaurant and a parrot show. Nice view, but not worth all the money

And I have the greatest image of Lisa crawling around a courtroom searching for a diamond
Thanks for the dose of laughter Chuck.

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Well I saw an orthopod today and for the next couple weeks will be wearing an air cast...that little slip in tennis yesterday caused quite a bit of swelling last night...more xrays next week just to be sure it is only a sprain (which I know from experience can be worse than a break)...and hey, it hurt so little at the time that I played 2 more sets on it.

Chuck

 

[ICEMANPAD]

One more thing, i was looking at the FE list today and noticed that there are several people who I know have a room number, including us, who have not supplied updated info to MommyMinnie...please lets get that list updated so Michelle can do her map later on...from experience, covering 34 rooms can be a lot of walking, which is great exercise, but being left out, in whole or in part, b/c not everyone has your room number will result in some very unhappy people...

And for those who intend to upgrade at the port, I strongly suggest attending the Dismeet and/or telling those you see in matching shirts at the port...

I will be proposing Deck 10 Starboard just after mandatory drill and just prior to sailaway party for Dismeet.

Chuck

 

[cruisecrzy]

Chuck, Lisa, and Mason Crystal just called and she was able to get a room on the ship (Verandah)

Obviously they are super excited....I asked if they get beyond platinum status.

i think they want to add to the FE too as they have seen so many of them

She and her friend Leah (I think Mason knows her) are super excited.

i told them to hurry up and get that slide working on the island

 

[ICEMANPAD]

Will Colby be on board too...or does that even still matter?

Chuck