What to do in St. Maarten

[Xerxella]

We're on the seven night eastern Caribbean cruise on leaving September 12, 2015. We have 2 adults, an 8 year old boy, 6 year old girl and 10 month old boy. I'd like to just get off the boat and go to a beach to play in the water, the sand and just relax. I know the kids would love that. Is that possible?

I saw a shore excursion that would take us to Orient Bay, but it was like $220 for everyone: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...s/st-maarten/french-riviera-beach-rendezvous/ This seems awful expensive for a trip to the beach. Are there cheaper options? Can we just walk to somewhere?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

You can contact Bernard's tours they are very good and they can accommodate any requests.

You can also get taxis at the port.

 

[Xerxella]

Thanks! So you would need a taxi at the port to get anywhere? How much can I expect to pay? Are there close by beaches that are safe? Are there readily available taxis back to the ship?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Thanks! So you would need a taxi at the port to get anywhere? How much can I expect to pay? Are there close by beaches that are safe? Are there readily available taxis back to the ship?

There are price lists there, I would say check out Bernard's tours first ,we loved it and went to Orient bay thats a bit far but a great beach.

 

[PandL]

We are on your same cruise! We will be traveling with a 20 month old. With a young one being so "unpredictable" we don't really want to get locked in an all day excursion that he decides he wants nothing to do with half way through. After some research we are just going to take a taxi from port to Maho Beach and watch the planes. There is also a beach really close to town that I think you can take a water taxi to. I think I read you can walk to either of these but I would have to do more research to find out how far.

 

[Xerxella]

We are on your same cruise! We will be traveling with a 20 month old. With a young one being so "unpredictable" we don't really want to get locked in an all day excursion that he decides he wants nothing to do with half way through. After some research we are just going to take a taxi from port to Maho Beach and watch the planes. There is also a beach really close to town that I think you can take a water taxi to. I think I read you can walk to either of these but I would have to do more research to find out how far.

Yeah!!!! I think our cruise meet up link is broken (?) It gives me the message that I need permission to access it. Oh well. We've never taken the kids on a cruise so we're super excited.

DISNEY FANTASY - I looked at Bernards tours, but that doesn't seem to be what we're looking for. We're just looking to go to the beach for a few hours and then come back. I'll keep looking into walking distance and maybe rent a stroller on board the ship. I'm fine with taking a taxi, but I don't want to get stuck somewhere with no way to get back. If it's close enough to walk, at least we know we CAN get back to the ship that way if needed. KWIM?

 

[bumbershoot]

There is a beach *right there* where the water taxi lets off.

You'll dock in Philipsburg about a mile away from "town". You can walk that, you can get off the ship and go where the car-taxis* are and cab it, or you can take the water taxi. (we took the water taxi and would do it again)

When you get to town (Front Street, I believe, though signs are likely in Dutch and just sort of *look* like "frontstreet"), especially if you've taken the water taxi, you will see the beach. It's a perfectly lovely beach. Plop down on a towel or find some loungers and pay a little money for the rental of the loungers (and some have beer included in the fee).

We are on your same cruise! We will be traveling with a 20 month old. With a young one being so "unpredictable" we don't really want to get locked in an all day excursion that he decides he wants nothing to do with half way through. After some research we are just going to take a taxi from port to Maho Beach and watch the planes. There is also a beach really close to town that I think you can take a water taxi to. I think I read you can walk to either of these but I would have to do more research to find out how far.

With an under-2 year old I truly cannot imagine going to Maho. You are literally at the edge of a runway, and I can only imagine how horribly LOUD those planes landing or taking off must be. Have you watched videos of the situation there and had them with the sound on?


For a tour I would contact Joyce Prince or Bernard's.


* As you get off the ship and walk further onto the pier, you will see a big huge sign with the costs per person for taxis. They have a great setup there in terms of taxis and prices. Not saying it's the cheapest you'll ever see, but it seems very nicely organized and regulated.

 

[Quellman]

There is a beach *right there* where the water taxi lets off.

You'll dock in Philipsburg about a mile away from "town". You can walk that, you can get off the ship and go where the car-taxis* are and cab it, or you can take the water taxi. (we took the water taxi and would do it again)

When you get to town (Front Street, I believe, though signs are likely in Dutch and just sort of *look* like "frontstreet"), especially if you've taken the water taxi, you will see the beach. It's a perfectly lovely beach. Plop down on a towel or find some loungers and pay a little money for the rental of the loungers (and some have beer included in the fee).
.

We did this, we walked quite a ways to the left of the taxi stand when they drop you off. We found 2 chairs and and umbrella for $10. Also use of bathrooms and a primitive shower to hose off. They would also come by and take orders for lunch. The biggest 'problem' are the locals coming by every few minutes wanting to give you foot massages, sell you stuffed toy monkeys or other trinkets. They aren't hostile, just moderately tiring. But for the cost and convenience, we weren't put off.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

If you don't mind being a little bit aways from the ship, I really liked Mullet Bay. It's near Maho, but not quite as loud. We were very lucky and found a fabulous cab driver who for $25 for each of us, acted as private chauffeur the whole day.

 

[annacali]

With an under-2 year old I truly cannot imagine going to Maho. You are literally at the edge of a runway, and I can only imagine how horribly LOUD those planes landing or taking off must be. Have you watched videos of the situation there and had them with the sound on?

Funny---I just saw a video yesterday of a plane bearing down on that beach as it landed (on my computer homepage for some reason). Yikes! Reminded me of the scene in Lilo and Stitch where the spaceship knocks the ice cream out of a man's hand while he is sitting on the beach

 

[PandL]

With an under-2 year old I truly cannot imagine going to Maho. You are literally at the edge of a runway, and I can only imagine how horribly LOUD those planes landing or taking off must be. Have you watched videos of the situation there and had them with the sound on?

I think it is a little presumptuous on your part to judge what my kid can handle or can't. I am well aware of how loud airplanes are as well as my son's tolerances. If this is something that I think he will not only tolerate, but enjoy that is my prerogative. I don't think I was asking for opinions if people thought it was a good idea. I was letting the OP know what our plans were.

I have literally traveled ALL over the world (not cruising) and you wouldn't catch me dead on one of those generic "tours". Hopping on and off a bus with with 50 other people all day sounds like a great way to torture my enemies. Fine for the people that prefer to travel that way, but not for me or my family.

 

[JJZMgailey]

I think it is a little presumptuous on your part to judge what my kid can handle or can't. I am well aware of how loud airplanes are as well as my son's tolerances. If this is something that I think he will not only tolerate, but enjoy that is my prerogative. I don't think I was asking for opinions if people thought it was a good idea. I was letting the OP know what our plans were.

I have literally traveled ALL over the world (not cruising) and you wouldn't catch me dead on one of those generic "tours". Hopping on and off a bus with with 50 other people all day sounds like a great way to torture my enemies. Fine for the people that prefer to travel that way, but not for me or my family.

I don't believe that there was any judging intended here - just sharing info for those who might not be aware is all.

Carry on....

 

[krr126]

The Butterfly Farm on the French side of the island is awesome and I don't think, too expensive!

 

[jbshell]

The Butterfly Farm on the French side of the island is awesome and I don't think, too expensive!

do you know if this is within walking distance?

 

[ThisGirlLovesDL]

Definitely not walking distance from the port but I agree the butterfly farm was very cool and the drive there allowed us to see more of the island.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think it is a little presumptuous on your part to judge what my kid can handle or can't. I am well aware of how loud airplanes are as well as my son's tolerances. If this is something that I think he will not only tolerate, but enjoy that is my prerogative. I don't think I was asking for opinions if people thought it was a good idea. I was letting the OP know what our plans were.

I have literally traveled ALL over the world (not cruising) and you wouldn't catch me dead on one of those generic "tours". Hopping on and off a bus with with 50 other people all day sounds like a great way to torture my enemies. Fine for the people that prefer to travel that way, but not for me or my family.

The tour suggestion wasn't for you. I always try to put extra spacing to separate thoughts but I suppose it didn't translate well this time. Regardless, Bernard's and Joyce Prince don't have 50 people on a given tour, and there are options to make it your OWN tour. If you are already researching I would hope that you noticed that. Joyce doesn't do generic tours at all, and even on the non-private Bernard's tours there is often the option to change things up. But the op asking about tours or things to do is at the beginning of research, hence the suggestion of tour companies.

You described your child as unpredictable. I personally would rather have my own shuttle and driver that could get to know my little guy, who has a vested interest in keeping him happy, and who can change things up if needed*, rather than relying on finding a taxicab at the moment I need it!

And you might notice that I'm using the "I" word. I'm not using "you" except to point out your words. *I can't imagine it. I would do this. I wouldn't do that.* That is not presuming. That is not judging what your child can handle. That is me imagining my former 2 year old or any of the many little ones I've known, at Maho beach, and thinking about how freaked out those kidlets would have been, and trying to HELP a total stranger.

We don't always think of everything. We sometimes get caught up in vacation plans and forget about the simplest things. Been there done that, repeatedly, and it's all embarrassingly documented in my trip reports! I'm not dictating to you, I'm trying to help. Maybe you didn't think about baby ears while basically standing on a runway. Maybe you did and are planning to bring ear protection. You didn't mention it. So I can't know.

Many of my posts are about ears and sounds. I've noticed that with me and my son (and so many others), being overwhelmed and unhappy starts with too much sound. In the middle of a massive kid tantrum (and a DH reacting poorly to it) I suddenly heard how loud tomorrowland at DL is. The ambient sounds really add up. For some reason I had my sleeping earplugs in my purse. I told my guys to stop talking, put the earplugs in DS's ears, and he calmed down instantly. We now carry them for all Disney trips. I'm always shocked how many people think that's a fabulous suggestion; that they never thought of how noisy things are, and never noticed the connection between noise and being overwhelmed. (That tantrum also went along with huge hunger, just to tell the entire story, and we learned from that, too!)

So it's not a surprise to me that the baby at Maho idea would cause me to wonder if it had been thought through and to try to help! No judging or presuming apart from having known many litttle kids through my life.

Didn't help you; maybe it will help someone else.



*not to mention that those tours tend to have rum punch. (Autocorrect keeps changing that to "lunch" haha) My kid's early years would have been more fun for me if I'd had more rum lunch (punch!) in my life lol.

 

[bumbershoot]

do you know if this is within walking distance?

From the port? No. You dock on the Dutch side of the island. (It's a neat island, with two countries on it! We made it a unit study for homeschool before goin there the first time) You have to travel, to cross a border, to get to the French side. Most of the tour-y stuff seems to be on the French side.


Random stuff about what we did in SM if anyone cares...

Embarrassing tidbit...I'm phobic of butterflies. (DH is phobic of sunflowers. We had a garden wedding lol.) So I'll never go to the butterfly farm but many people like it.

When we were in SM we wandered in Philipsburg (Dutch side), stood on the beach right there in town, bought chocolates at the kiosk there at the pier (the full shop is on the French side), bought guavaberry rum. Oh and had "meh" lunch at hard Rock because DS and DH were starting to get "hangry" (see previous post for lessons learned) and had to be fed (but they chickened out at eating where I wanted to eat (see other thread about dining in SM)). We had worn ourselves out walking through Old San Juan the day before and DS and I were still getting our strength back from being sick in orlando, and that was all we could do.

Next time, next year, we are all about a tour.

 

[PandL]

Bumbershoot - Sorry I misread.

Loud noises and our son are not and issue. He has been to more concerts, airshows, and fireworks than most people go to in a lifetime. We always have ear protection. I can see that someone that might not know how their child would react to the extreme noise might want to be cautious. He is ALL boy loves loud things and trucks and sirens and trains. The planes might be the highlight of his little life.

When I say unpredictable I mean his nap schedule. Especially being on the cruise it will be hard to tell what his sleep schedule will be. Being stuck on a tour/excursion when he decides he is going to get overtired would not be fun for anyone involved.

I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I am sensitive and grouchy.

 

[krr126]

do you know if this is within walking distance?

Whoops, sorry I missed that part of your message. Definitely not walkable, but honestly I'm not sure how much of the island is?

 

[Xerxella]

PandL - I was reading somewhere else that the planes don't come in as often as a bigger airport. Someone was telling how there were no flights in the entire time they were at the beach. Also, I guess September is the low season, so there is even less of a chance to see a plane. You may want to check some flights schedules before you go just so you know if it'll be worth it or not. Just an idea.