helensobol

You can hike on your own there.     This might be a good reference for you.. http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/hike-the-el-yunque-trail/

15 minutes ago, ABQrobin said:

After the cruise, how hard is it to get to airport?  Are there lots of taxis?  Is 10:30am too early to book a return flight?  

10:30 might be a bit iffy.    You would need to self debark and then it is dependent on the tsa line.  

15 hours ago, blue_water said:

If we were there on a cruise stop for the first time AND we wanted to see some of the sights we would plan a busier itinerary, something like:

Mountain Top for the view of Magens and the north shore, and the $12 banana daiquiri.

Skyline Drive with a stop at the overlook, maybe Drake’s Seat for the view.

Stop by Hull Bay, having a car makes this so easy, it’s a little harder with a taxi, otherwise Sapphire Beach.

Last stop Paradise Point.

 

Easier itinerary -

Sapphire

Skyline Dr

PP

 

Since we’ve stayed on the island and have seen most of it we would just drive to Sapphire and enjoy the beach, take time to stop at Island Time Pub for pizza in Red Hook (opens at 3PM though, if there earlier the Tap & Still opens at 11 and has good burgers), then drop the car and head up to Paradise Point by taxi or tram. We would be docked at Havensight where we can walk back to the ship from the tram.

 

Where are you docked and what are your port times?

 

[EDIT] But I will say the north shore views including Magens Bay from MT and from Drake’s Seat are stunning so you should take the time to hit one of those since you will have the car. MT is nothing more than a large souvenir store with this spectacular view, although we have gotten nice beach bags there we didn’t see in town...

Thanks for all the information.   We are arriving at the Havensight Dock.   So I think my only options for a car are Avis or Budget.  I emailed all the local places and they aren't interesting in my business unfortunately.   Do you know of any other local places? I still have a note out to Paradise. 

We are in port from 7am to 5pm.  I see most rental places are open from 8-5pm.      

Do you have a beach that you feel is better?  I was leaning towards Sapphire. 

On 1/8/2019 at 1:36 AM, Stinger-pr said:

Last three times I've visited St. Thomas I've rented a car through Avis for less than $80 for the day. Which if you do separate taxi trips to Mountain Top, then to Sapphire and back to the ship, it will add up. We were in port from 8am-4pm with two other ships and had no problems getting around. My take: #1 I've been there a few times already and shed my fear of driving on the "other" side of the road so this might be an issue for others that haven't tried it or are not so adventurous #2 GPS is a MUST but you don't have to rent it from the car rental company. We used Google maps the first time, and Waze the last two times and they were both excellent with the directions. #3 Roads are not in tip top shape but you don't need a Jeep to get around. If you don't have to have a Jeep, save the money and go for a compact. We always go for the cheaper and the smallest they've given us was a 2017 Toyota Corolla. YMMV... #4 You go at your own pace. We've done a drive around some scenic sites with a about 90 minute stop at Coki AND Sapphire, then a stop in town and this last time we did Mountain Top, Drake's seat, over two hours at Sapphire, at stop Downtown and were back at the ship with time to spare.

After lots of thought, I think the car is the way to go.    I'm not concerned about driving on the other side of the road as I have done this before on other islands.  

Would you mind sharing your itinerary of stops?  Its great to see what others do and plan accordingly. 

Crazy4Camping...  

Some cost effective tour suggestions: 

St Kitts - thenfordgrey  or royston tours always get great reviews.  Last time I was in St Kitts, I went ATVing which I wouldn't recommend. 

St. Marteen - Bernard tours are very popular.  Another fun option is to take the ferry to Pinnel Beach/Island 

Barbados - go to one of the many beach clubs. 

The shampoo and body wash is the same for all ships.  They don't give conditioner.  The quality is average at best.  If you are particular I would bring your own.   

On 1/5/2019 at 11:59 AM, Hillbillygram said:

We cruised on the Fascination in September. We received our S&S cards at check-in. We had FTTF, so we were able to go directly to our cabin after check-in. We grabbed some lunch on Lido; ran into a couple we had met the night before at Barrachina's. The four of us disembarked; did some sightseeing; picked up wine and sodas at CVS (they are across from the port); shopped the vendors that were set up outside the cruise terminal; and then reboarded the ship. It was not a big deal at all. Oh, there were taxi drivers outside the terminal offering rides to Wal-Mart to pick up last minute supplies. Since sail away wasn't until 9 PM, back on board was 8 PM, so there is time to do some exploring depending on how early you get checked in.

I saw you said you brought wine and soda post initial boarding.    Could you tell me how that worked?  I thought you could only bring aboard when you initially boarded.   How did they know you didn't bring it twice?   That sounds like a better idea than lugging it with all of your luggage.   Thanks! 

19 hours ago, Elizabeth K. said:

We were at Copacabana in Dec at the recommendation of the driver we had.  We were on the Summit. The cost is $25 pp and included beach chair, umbrella, a rum punch and a food/drink credit, the amount of which I apologize but can't remember (might have been $20).

We had each has a decent lunch and bottled water and it was covered. We didn't have additional drinks. The sand is super powdery and the water warm and calm. The entrance area is very nice and the staff are too. Changing rooms are decent.  My main complaint was that the beach chairs are very close together. It turned me off as soon as I saw it. Fortunately we were the only ship in port and the place wasn't very crowded.

 

There are quite a few venders trying to sell you jewelry and snorkel, turtle, jet ski type stuff. It gets a little annoying but I know they are just trying to make a living.

Thanks for information.  This is very helpful.   Quick question - did the Copacabana have a tarzan boat?   I saw it on their website but wanted to confirm it was still there. 

On 9/17/2018 at 11:11 PM, sfarrell said:

I did read a review from someone and they suggested the Decanter and I'm probably between that and the Sheraton Old Town. I looked at the MA Stellaris Casino hotel tonight, and apparently the Marriott owned AC Hotel Condado is next to the Stellaris so you are allowed to use the facilities at the Stellaris. I'm looking into this more as it's cheaper....not trying to be budget as we definitely want a nice beach one around $200 if we can. Thanks for your input!

Did you confirm this?  I'm curious if it is worth it. 

On 12/27/2018 at 3:25 PM, rubytue said:

Apparently, that is the one picture I didn’t take. Pretty sure it was $20 for 2 chairs and an umbrella. We did the $30 chairs, umbrella, and snorkel boat here: https://www.tranquilitycruises.com/. That also included transportation, which was very nice. There were some folks in out taxi van, which was glory tours, that just did chairs, umbrella, and transport. I can’t find that option listed anywhere on glory tours website or Copacabana’s Facebook page. I think I saw it listed on viator,  no idea of the price. Could probably contact glory tours directly about it. http://www.glorytours.org/

Question.  Did they have the tarzan boat on the property?  I saw references to it on their facebook page.  I'm leaning towards there if it is available as it have something for my daughter to do while onsite. 

1 hour ago, TXCruiser10 said:

Was just in Barbados a few weeks ago.  We made a reservation at Harbour Lights (you can book and pre-pay on-line).  The rental fee is $20 or $25 and includes 2 lounge chairs, 1 umbrella, wifi, 2 drinks and use of the showers/bathrooms.  There is also a nice patio by the grill.  The beach is lovely and on Carlisle Bay.  Beautiful clear water.  Probably my favorite beach in all the Caribbean.  A shuttle/taxi from the port to Harbour Lights will cost $5 per person, each way.  I've attached a few pictures.

Great pictures!   A few questions:  Were there any water toys available to rent?  Did they offer a turtle swim?  Did you find it crowded? 

2 hours ago, OceansOfTravels said:

Hello! Unfortunately, there were no movies shown onboard, as there was no real place to show them. There are some TV channels in the room that have movies, but they aren't on deck. Sorry! You could try to do some offline netflix downloading to your phone and then go watch it on deck? 🙂

Thanks for the information.   I feel that the dive-in movies are such a nice touch for families and was hoping that maybe this had changed.   Though with the busy itinerary, we might be too exhausted to even stay up for them. 

1 hour ago, Hillbillygram said:

What was rude about the reply? The Fascination is an older, smaller ship that doesn't have the capabilites of the larger ships to show the Dive In Movies.

 

 

Hey Hillbillygram.   It was the first statement of 'Its a ship'.     I said boat in my post asking for information and she was criticizing my reference.     

Please Note: I didn't insult her improper use of grammar when they wrote 'Its a ship'.  I don't understand why people must be rude.  This is a community board to help people not to be condescending.

3 hours ago, bakersdozen12 said:

 

Its a ship, and while it doesn’t have a dive in theater, they show movies in one of the lounges on ships that don’t have dive in theaters. Though usually during the afternoon, though, because at night they use the lounge for the comedy shows. 

Thanks for being so rude.  Seriously I don’t understand people! 

On 12/15/2018 at 3:47 PM, EeyoreRN said:

OP, can you please elaborate on what was bad about your ATV excursion?

 The ATV excursion I took was very disappointing for many reasons. 

1.  It had an option to go to the beach afterwards which the tour company refused to bring us to because everyone else was going to the boat. 

2.  The excursion was noted to be 3 hours long with multiple stops.   We ended up being on the atv for about  2 hours at best and we made one stop.   

I felt the whole thing was advertised as something different than what is was.  

This is the a tour I booked via https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/

Yes,  I have used island marketing before in Honduras.   Beforehand, I did search around and get more information via trip advisor. 

Rubytue... Cannot wait to hear your feedback on the Copacabana.    It seems like a lot of tours are now bringing people there.   

HI...  I'm pretty sure the answer is no but I was curious from someone who had been on there. 

Do they show any movies onboard?   My daughter's favorite thing is the pool side movies which I have read don't happen on this boat but I was wondering if they have them at other locations? 

🙂 Thanks!!! 

just wondering if anyone decided to rent a car in St Thomas and do a few sightseeing stops and then head to the beach. 

Right now, I want to go and view Mountain Top and then head to Sapphire beach.   Is it worth getting car for these 2 things or should I taxi to each separately?  Are there more good spots to head to via car? 

My other option was going to Paradise Point and then just taxi to Sapphire beach.   

I can't wait to hear your feedback on Copacabana.   It appears nicely updated and I'm hoping it might be a good location to visit for the day vs the boat yard. 

I'm booking Caribbean paddling for our upcoming trip. 

2 years ago,  my daughter (8 at the time) and I did a snorkeling boat ride which was amazing.  The tour guides were very helpful given how small she was and they even let her help drive the boat.  

On 12/6/2018 at 4:06 PM, santana007 said:

Hi , did you contact with Royston? I need his email please help me ...

Yes,  his email is:

roystontours@hotmail.com

I'll be there in April.    I looked at the lunar calendar recommendations and it appears that the days we can go to the bio bay are considered bad days to go.  😞

Any thoughts on the sugar plantation ?  

Stinger-pr - question for you. 

I definitely love your suggestion as this is exactly what we want - something outside the standard tourist area for a day. 

We have 3 days before the cruise and 1 day after the cruise to spend in San Juan.  the more i think about it,  the amount of time spent touring and exploring I'm not sure staying at a resort hotel makes sense. 

I have booked the intercontinental for our 1 day after the cruise.   Do you have suggestions on what areas make the most sense to stay pre-cruise?    

We are flying in  early for our cruise so we will have 3 full days to adventure around San Juan.  

As of right now, I'm looking at the Intercontinental or Courtyard by Marriott Isla Verda as our hotel options.   I'm travelling with my 10 year old daughter.  Could someone recommend some must see sights or tours to experience. 

Are the bio tours worth it? 

Thanks..  that is a helpful description of the difference!  I appreciate your feedback!