katjoeus

Thanks for the info! I figure if we skip going over that bridge and came back down the East side of the island, we should be ok traffic wise, hopefully...the fact that it's Sunday should help, too, I think.

I realized after I wrote this post where Mullet Bay was, so will probably not go there - I think we'll just try to avoid the bridge altogether and just go straight up to Marigot and then on to Pic Paradis and Grand Case. The idea of going to Great Bay was born out of the fact that is it almost walkable to the pier, so I thought if we had tons of time left and wanted more beach time ,we could always stop there on the way back? Didn't realize it was so polluted!!

OK, thanks! Maybe we'll just stay really close to the car? Really want to get up there for the views, mostly, and if we do have the rental, might as well make the most of it!!

thanks for your input :-)

Has anyone done it, are the roads ok?

Since we're probably going to have a rental car, I was thinking of doing this as the views are supposed to be pretty spectacular!!

But if it's a murderous drive, then I obviously don't want to do it :D

Sorry,

This is where we book. Emails are quick with reservations and info.

 

http://stmaartencruiseexcursions.com/stmaartenbeachbreak.htm

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

This sounds really nice, but it's quite expensive - is it really worth the money?

We have ZERO interest in Maho! If we skipped Maho and went straight to Marigot, would that save us from the worst of the traffic? I'm getting a little frightened by everyone saying how bad traffic is...

If we went straight up from Philipsburg (well I know now there isn't a "straight up" but the most direct way possible!), would it be reasonable to go to Marigot and then either Grand Case (even though it sounds like that's rather rough?) or Mullet Beach (I think we'd prefer that over Orient Beach, which sounds very overrun and touristy)? How is the beach close to the port, I've read conflicting things about that...I'm thinking we could start early from Mullet Beach to be on the safe side and if we have plenty of time left, stop at that one (Grand Bay or something??)

How much time do we need to plan from the moment we arrive back to the rental car company to the moment we arrive back at the ship?

I'm in the same position as the OP - will actually be in St. Maarten next Monday; we have reserved a car through Hertz (for about $66) but aren't sure whether to keep it or do something else. I've read so many conflicting things! Some say getting a rental is the best thing to do, others advise against it (mentioning, amongst other things, the bumper to bumper traffic - I'm wondering, though, if that goes more for the high season, plus we'll be there on a Sunday, which is apparently the quiet day on the island. So maybe driving would actually be ok?

Brings to mind the glass house, doesn't it :D

Barbados is one of the best organised cruise terminals in the Caribbean, due to it being one of the busiest. You can get a tour or a taxi at the terminal to anywhere you want to go. No need to book or pay anything in advance.

I'm sure that's fine for some, but I prefer to have my ducks in a row beforehand and NOT have to haggle with the locals - I absolutely HATE that!!

I don't really understand what the big deal about the caves is - to me, that's the least interesting thing about a Caribbean island!!

That sounds REALLY expensive!

We just booked our tour through Shorefox - it's a 5h tour, sightseeing and beach - with a company called Scenic Barbados Tours. We got a 10% off discount for signing up for the Shorefox newsletter (will be unsubscribed once we're done) and we paid just under $78 for the TWO of us!!!

Maybe look into that instead?

We're staying in OSJ from September 17 to 20 after our cruise and we've booked the Monastery Art Suites in the Old Town so we can walk everywhere.

What do people recommend we do while we're there during the day? I've heard that public transportation is good and beaches can be reached by it, and we're thinking of doing a rainforest tour but not 100% sure about that.

Recommendations welcome!

Thanks :D

Good advice, thanks!

Could those of you who've toured the island by car point us towards an itinerary? Where did you etc.?

We now have organized tours booked for the four other ports we're stopping at, not sure whether to try and do that for St. Maarten, too, or whether to keep the car; leaning towards keeping the car reservation

And I can fill you both in before that bc mine starts on the 10th of September :-)

Day Sail? We're not going sailing - even though I'm sure that would be fun :-) It's a tour stuffed full of all sorts of activities around the island, so we actually may just be completely knackered anyway. if not, we may try to walk to that beach - thanks for the info! We're fast walkers so if you say 15 to 30 minutes, we'd probably be more on the 15 spectrum. Unless we're totally pooped after the day, in which case I guess we'll go to the pool for a bit - always an option, too :D

As a fellow Frequent Peer, I don't think it's a silly question at all :D:D

Thanks everyone for the info provided!! I have booked the Thenford Grey tour for this time. Will report back on it afterwards.

We've booked the Full Day Tour with Cosol, but I think we will have a couple of hours afterwards and I was wondering if there is a beach within walking distance from the ship? I'd love to get some more beach time in if possible!!

I certainly will!! It sounds ideal for your situation as everything will be taken care of and you and your kids can just sit back and relax - assuming they're ok on car rides? It will be a lot of time sitting in the car, I think...which I'm personally not a huge big fan of, but unfortunately, it's the only way to see a lot of stuff :D

When you booked yours, did you indicate which day this was for?

Our cruise starts next Saturday!!! Can't wait!!!

I'm just wondering if they'll get in touch with me or something because I do'nt think I gave the date at the time of booking, it didn't ask me for that??

Oh thanks, but I'm afraid I'll be there way before you - our cruise starts next Saturday :-)

I will report afterwards

I just booked this tour - it seems like an insanely good value at $38 pp for 6+ hours!! Read almost entirely good reviews, so looking forward to it.

I have came across strangely few tour reviews for Antigua...dunno why that is? As I was saying to hubby, even if this is not the most thrilling island of the Caribbean, I think we will still find it pretty cool :D:D

While doing my research for our upcoming cruise, I just came across this Tour Company in Antigua and they offer what sounds like a really nice, comprehensive tour of the island at what seems like an incredibly low price....which makes me a little suspicious...has anyone ever toured with them? I have not come across a whole lot of things for Antigua during my research, so I don't really understand why? It gets good reviews on Tripadvisor, whom I normally trust...

Any experiences / info / warnings????

No worries!! I was just trying to say that after everything I'd read, I really didn't think they'd just "dump" us somewhere :-) These people seem to be really good and honestly, I"d much rather give them the business than pay for a totally overpriced RC tour...

I booked the Cosol tour and I'm really looking forward to it - maybe I'll see you there :D

It stated that the end of the tour is a stop for shopping 5 minutes from the ship. There are several excursions that do in fact require you to find your own transportation back. They do state it in the description if that is the case, which is why I was confused about this one because it isn't clear.... There's no need to be rude. If you don't have an actual answer to someones question maybe you should just move on to a post you have more knowledge about :confused:

If this was directed at me, please explain how I was "rude" in my post???

Looking at both companies and they both get really good reviews on Tripadvisor - kinda lost here, which one is the better one as far as companies and which is the best tour? Leaning towards the Thenford Grey Grand Island Tour but would potentially like a bit more beach time...

Has anyone done these tours and which one would they recommend??