just4steven

I am a frequent visitor to St Croix, very familiar with all the local type forums and everything, so the wonderful disclaimer is: I am NOT looking for a use the search function answer to gain you 50k posts in a year :D:rolleyes:

I am with people that do not want to snorkel at all, just want to see and spend the day at Turtle Beach with our cooler packed full of wonderful goodness. I know of at least one company that does this.

So FINALLY, after all the hype up and disclaimers I have to do :rolleyes: here is my question: Sunday is notorious for the locals and beaches, I have seen it in person and know what it is all about and do not care for the Coki beach x10 environment at Cramers :)

Has anyone done any of the Sunday only beach drop offs at Turtle Beach only with no snorkeling and is the environment similar to say Coki on St Thomas or Cramers beach on a Sunday in St Croix?

Yes, all disclaimers had to be made as this is a cruisecritic/tripadvisor related forum :rolleyes: I am not really too much of a jerk, but hey, now a days you gotta make things crystal clear to get any responses on a forum :cool:

Awesome MiamiSpartan! Where all did you go? I'm hooked now! :)

It is a wonderful island and I stay there a lot, please do anything to make more cruise lines go there!!!! Like Carnival of course! Thanks!

Very cool videos. My husband and I sailed Carnival a couple years ago and had the best time. The first night at dinner was a little odd with the other diners but by night two we were all friends. We booked on the Dream last year but that one got cancelled so now we are urgently awaiting our July 5th Sunshine out of Port Canaveral. Can't wait!

This is great and thank you! I thought we were "insane" for liking Carnival but we had zero issues at all and it was a blast! We probably wouldn't do a 3 day booze cruise on any line, but have to say again it was great on the 7 day on Carnival! (um, had some people ask me where my "dad" was at times, but also had people that just picked up and said "hey your friend wants you over here", lol) Thank you though, hope to get some more cruises and videos up here soon from some average out of shape guys :o

I am not sure what all got deleted or if I already reposted on here, gotta love forum monitors :rolleyes: but either way here is my LFK video, spamming again for those that haven't seen:

I also bring along a ton of wipes, mostly for the drinking binge RUNS, but you never know about noro. Just saying, be prepared, and Im sure others on this cruise were packing Tucks as well and spreading the love. This was probably a blessing extended cruise!

They should pay Carnival! Extra days at sea and I think they got free booze and if not they knew someone with free weed or booze being and happy sharing, mon, happy mon

Have taken RCI ship's excursion for the Scenic Railway Tour. Train ride was approx. 2 hrs, total tour time 3hrs. Don't think you can book this tour independently. Depending how long your ship is in port, you should have plenty of time after the tour for the beach.

 

They are many beaches in St. Kitts, Carambola is one of them which is on South Friars Beach, Cockleshell Bay is another and has a view of Nevis. There's also a Marriott on the island, approx. 10 min ride from the port that has 2 pools, chairs, umbrellas and beach. Day passes are $35 pp, food is extra $ and they do not provide towels. There are many places on the beaches to eat and drink.

 

Have not been to The Brimstone Hill National Fortress yet.

 

Don't know of any tour where they throw monkeys on you, to go to the front of the line!

 

I won't say do a search, but I will say there is a lot of helpful information in this forum, just read the posts and Trip Advisor is another helpful site.

LOL again, thank you very much! This helps! :)

Can just respond with a few things:

 

The Sugar Train Railway is an easy way to see parts of the island not always included in tours. More fun than you might expect.

 

We've never found a beach in St. Kitts that we really liked. Have enjoyed taking a sailing catamaran to Nevis.

 

No one is going to throw monkeys on you. :D

 

LuLu

~~~

LOL, thanks!

Oh my, I'm in my "specific rambling on forever stage here" :o

If something has a beach option like Carambola Resort on St Croix, Magens on St Thomas, Mermaid on St Thomas if you mad the hike lol, Hawksnest on St John, and smugglers on Tortola. Oh, Sapphire beach too on STT. Snorkeling is not the number 1 priority, but we have stayed for a week or longer on Sapphire, Carambola and Smugglers because of the awesome views!

Um, hey, am I asking for too much??? I am probably confusing everyone already, so I will put it in this order:

1 - The Railway Tram of course

2 - Beach with view like above (not really 2 but I'm thinking if we did the railway tour only we would have more time to have someone else take us to a beach, AND I WANT THE BEACH!!!! With DRINKS, then food.

3 - That fort thing, what is it Brimstone or something??? Either way the high up fort with great views everyone talks about

3 - oh snap, I did 3 already so make this 4! :confused: A quick walk through a botanical garden, not my idea, don't ask, so if it's quick I will paypal you extra for suggestions! :D

3c - monkeys thrown at from all directions, I have become a monkey lover after Roatan! Big Big teeth for size of their body, but we did not get bit and they liked to be hugged and cuddled :o

Gosh, I sound demanding here............. sorry, just trying to get specific so I don't get one of the responses from someone with 50,000 posts in like 6 months that says "USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION" and they post that over and over for post count :rolleyes:

LOL

Oh, don't mind if food or drink is not included in the price at a beach. We would just like the option of some local food and DRINKS :D to be right there. Just thought it would be cool to see a beach on St Kitts, especially with cool views....... I've seen some great pictures so far and the mountains/hills pics right by the beach look awesome!

Does anyone know of a local or a ship tour that does the Scenic Railway, the Brimstone Fortress for more than just a "pass by" or whatever Carnivals site says, possibly the botanical garden thing, and definitely a beach with food and drinks even if it's just for an hour or two???

I'm a newbie that recently got hooked and just researching a couple cruises I saw that stop here, so if I find what I'm looking for soon I'll post back that I'm set, but still any recommendations would be great. We are big USVI and BVI fans so I'm thinking we will love to see St Kitts for a port stop to see if we want to plan a longer visit!

Oh, and tour suggestions where they throw monkeys on you go to the front of the line! :rolleyes: I will probably be wearing my GoPro headstrap so I can catch the cool monkey and film without even paying them and it will make for some great vidoes! Recently got some great film from Roatan where one little mfer tried to bite the camera, but at least the video came out cool! :cool:

Thanks everyone!

Wow, do you give lessons on how to make those videos ? Great job.

Thank you, what is funny is I actually learned it from International Academy of Design and Technology right near you in Tampa! Got one of my degrees from there! I believe it is still there, it was around the airport about 10 to 15 years ago but have not kept in touch enough lately and I think they moved the location a little. Good school! They taught me everything I know even though technology has changed a bunch since I have been there! :D They could instruct way better than me I'm sure :o

My first time was on Carnival too. I was suckled on Carnival for many years and still love them to this day and don't travel on them enough anymore.. BTW great video and you are a VERY hot man or your lover in the video is as I am not sure who that is.

-jon-

hahahaha, thank you! I'm guessing you are talking about my partner, he is the stunning looking one with silver mustache, I'm the out of shape idiot that likes to take selfie videos :o

Thank you so much for your review. I am on this excursion in a couple weeks. I have my bug spray packed and I'm ready to climb!

LOL, you sound more prepared than me and I loved it even with the bug bites! ENJOY! :)

okay...uh..huh...go.... boyyeezz! DO IT! Welcome! notta word....delete? WHAT? they B loozzin'.....l00Kin' fwd to more....we B crzy...

GURRRRLLLLLLLlllll, u know its true!:D

Found the Grand Cayman video, I was logged in under the wrong name when I uploaded :o We went with Native Way on our own because neither of us have been to GC and wanted to do an island tour but of course also snorkel or see the stingrays. They offered exactly to the point of what we wanted to do and see. I was nervous because this was our first stop on my first cruise and we were doing a non Carnival excursion, but I think it was Sharon and Eldon, they were wonderful! Plus the other bonus is there were about maybe 15 people that did stringray city first, then we were the only 2 that did the island tour! It was awesome and they did not mind a bit. A couple more people might have been fun, but this way we were able to tell them what we were looking to see and they would take us right there. OK, I'll stop rambling for now :rolleyes:

whoops! didn't mention....wow! for the video and music combos! Credit (ioho) where it is do.....big fkn smiley! luvvin'.....

lol, thanks! :)

Wow sorry for the late response to this, work got crazy! Thanks everyone and I'll try to catch up to speed on here. As Bostonjetset mention, we didn't have any issues either. And Little French Key was fine. I would go back in a heartbeat but I do think next time on Roatan we will try something different because from what we saw we liked that island a lot. Everyone was just friendly everywhere, um, but I must say I'm sure some did not peg us as a couple with the age difference.

Here's a little video on Xunantunich I finally finished and I'll try to dig up the Grand Cayman one now!

I finally got around to finishing up with what might be the last in the video series for this trip. I have some more video to look at from on the ship but not sure I'm even going to mess with it. Quick review below video and yes I am just spamming this everywhere so I just copied and pasted the same text. :D :rolleyes:

Here's the quick video of it:

Like others have said it is a long day, but you hardly even notice it. I am guessing it would feel the same if you did it on your own or with a tour from a hotel/resort. I will say it is a lot of walking and when you come around the corner and see the big one, my first thought was OH NO WAY, I'm not climbing that! Then we got a little tour and were explained some history and then the speech came............. how you may possibly never get the chance to do this again in your life, so if if there might be a slim chance please try to make it to the top :)

I fell for it, and sure enough made it. Um, I noticed as I get older I seem to gain more of a fear of heights each year. I must say it was a little difficult for me to make my way back down and had to be coaxed and babied quite a bit. There might have only been like one or two of us that were like this so please take it with a grain of salt and you will see what I mean when you get there. It seemed like nothing to most. If you have a major fear of heights though, hahahaha, coming back down will be "fun"!

It is absolutely amazing though and definitely something for a bucket list to see in your lifetime! The views, even from halfway up, are amazing! So please go at least half way up as that is not scary at all. Sorry I did not have a ton of video from up on top but that's when I started getting my panic attacks, lol. Please experience this though as you will love it even if it is only one time and you will not notice at all how long the day is.

I forget the place we stopped for lunch but it was kind of big and great chicken! It wasn't far from the ruins at all. Someone will probably remember the name, it's the place with all the picnic tables in sort of like an opened air barn and I loved how they had like the 6 different sauces on the table! It would be a cool local joint to stop even if you did this on your own.

We were a little rushed when we left the ruins so we were not allowed to stop at the hut shops by the hand cranked ferry. I am not a shopper at all unless it's local hot sauces or liquor, hee hee hee, but when we walked past these shops when we arrived it looked like they had some really neat things and I wish we would have gotten maybe 5 or 10 minutes as I can even handle shopping that long!

Oh, Oh, Oh! Major tip! We all know it or read about it, I actually did it but only followed through with 50% of it! Bring your bug spray, BUT REMEMBER TO USE IT! I brought it alright, but just got so caught up in everything I never put it on! Yes, I paid for it for several days! I would say where the restrooms are at the last parking lot before you start walking to remember, remember, remember to put it on, at least your legs! Again, I totally knew about this and bugs love me so I remembered to bring it, but just made the boo boo of not using it :( Don't be "that guy" like me.

One final thing on wild life. We saw some cool birds and heard the howler monkeyes but could not get a good view to see any. Um, lol, and keep your eyes opens like in the bathrooms and the information center and on trees. We only saw two and luckily for me it was walking back to the bus after we already took the tour, but just an fyi it seems pretty easy to turn and look at something on a wall or tree and OH WOW, IT'S A TARANTULA! Like a real one, like a few feet away from you, like not the little ones in U.S. pet stores, like way cool, but a little spooky! LOL

And the guys with the machine guns were pretty neat to see too, they might only freak you out for a split second because when we were there they were kind of hiding out in the middle of the jungle right after climbing down the big castle. I wanted to see if they would let me get some selfie shots with them but they seemed pretty business like and I thought it was best if I didn't bother them considering they were packing :)

Very last thing and I'll shut up. We did not really notice the heat, but of course it was humid. We were there the end of January and it was pretty much overcast the whole day so we were ok for the most part. If it were spring, summer, or fall and full sun was out........... yeah, we could tell it would be quite toasty!

Great pics! Thanks!

I believe they have different taxis there to take you. I know when we went, the guy directed us to another guy with his own car that took us straight there. There wasn't any waiting. I do know that there were other people on our cruise that had also booked the place. Whether they arrived before or after us, I don't know. I just know we didn't wait on anyone.

 

Yes, people can get in the canoes, go around the island and out to the reef. You don't "have" to take the boat ride out. However, I don't know what you do with the canoe while you're snorkeling (unless you have someone with you and you take turns). When I first started researching this place, I had found a thread that someone said they took the canoe out to the reef and there was a platform out there that they tied it to. Since then, I have never heard anyone else mention it and I have not been able to find that thread that stated it since then. I did find a picture, which you can see something that looks like there might be a floating platform there. :confused:

 

 

Then there are other pictures that don't have the platform in it. (Or at least that I can tell)

 

I think I got deleted somehow............. either way :D

MY SPAM! :D Yes, we went with Carnival because we weren't sure we would like cruising. Trying to figure out these messeage boards so this might not be the right spot this and it might get deleted, but either way figured I would post it :D

We had a WONDERFUL TIME! Long story short, we are looking into cruising more!!!! Here are the cliff notes videos :rolleyes::cool:

Full Cruise Smashed Into One:

Cozumel:

Roatan:

If this does not get deleted soon for some crazy reason like the others have and you are curious about actually doing a cruise, JUST GO DO IT! It was totally awesome, I had full write ups on everything (but they got deleted, guess I did some violation????), and you will love it! Just go for it, RESEARCH, and test it out! We did it as a couple only and did not know anyone getting on. Again, my long write ups got deleted, probably my bad, but just ask away and I and hopefully others will answer! It was a BLAST!!!

More videos coming soon! :D

Hi, I can't quite figure out if I got banned or my original post was one of those that got "sucked up" with whatever is going on with the forums, but I do see that notice to repost if possible, so that I will! :D

I won't do the whole write up, sorry it got deleted, but at least the video is here! Please go do this, and I over thought it a lot as it was my first cruise and I knew we had the short 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. time. Just do it, we had plenty of time and it was INCREDIBLE!

Here you go!

Quick review follow up I don't think I mentioned. I know a lot of Florida residents asked me about this and also posted their concerns that they might not be getting anything special out of this because they live in Florida and get sun and palm trees everyday and do not want to spend the money on this:

I don't think I mentioned that I have lived in Tampa/St Petes Beach as well as the Homestead/Miami area before. Trust me, especially if it is a get away for something different, it is definitely worth it :) I have lived in and/or traveled down both coasts of Florida a lot, and the Caribbean sea area is much different than what you will see and get at home.

Those that live in the Keys I guess I kind of get it, but then again I was in the water without any type of wetsuit in January and I know you were not :D From that standpoint it is definitely worth it!

Hopefully that cleared it up some for the Florida residents as I was once one myself, it IS worth it!