dankchau

@ajtraveler66 Are you on the Jan 27th NCL Bliss sailing? Following this as I couldn't find any NCL excursions available for this port and aren't too sure what kinds of tours/excursions are available. 

I am also wondering that as well :confused:

We're on the NCL dawn as well - We have booked the Jolly Pirate Sunset sail and need to get to Moomba Beach for the Sail - I was thinking to grabbing a taxi or bus to the beach but now I'm not sure since I literally just found out while reading this post that May 1st is a National Holiday.

Since Most businesses are closed and so shopping will be limited - do you think that with 3 cruise ships docking that we will probably see some street vendors selling crafts and such?

Are Museums and such open during this time - I had planned to go to the, Numismatic Museum, Fort Soutman, Willem III tower and Museo Arubano but if these are closed too then I am strapped for ideas as to what to do besides going to the sunset sail and then heading back to the ship

Theres only going to be another ship (Jewel of the seas) in port with us, with two ships do you think we can rent when we are there or should i reserve now

We are from Canada so I think St Maarten drives on the same side of the road as us but would we need an international drivers license?

Hi All

Maybe you guys can help me decide what to do with our group. We are a group of 8, ranging from 16 to 56 years old. We are on NCL dawn and we will be in port in Phillipsburg on Sunday, May 4 from 8 am to 5 pm

This is what we want to do when we are in St Maarten.

- go to the french side and explore the city and hike up to the fort

- go to Maho beach to see the planes landing

- do some sight seeing and shopping is phillipsburg

Since there are 8 of us, is it better and more economical to rent a car and drive ourselves or should we take the bus to Marigot, and then taxi from there to Maho and then to Phillipsburg?

How much would the cab fare cost for the 8 of us? If its going to be similar to the cost of renting the car then we may as well have someone drive us around and avoid the stress of traffic

Suggestions will be greatly appreciated:)

Thanks for the replies and suggestions

I think what i'll do is ask the group whether they want to do a land sightseeing tour or spend a few hours at the beach before heading to the sunset sail.

All but one is over 18 so I'm sure the older half of the group can spend time at the casino and the younger half will spend it on the ship or something

Is Oranjestad generally safe at night in that if we wanted to stroll along the waterfront or the streets close to the port ?

Hi All

we are a group of 8 (ages 16 - 56) people going to Aruba for the first time on the NCL Dawn in May and our port time is from 1pm to 11pm (Ship time?)

We were thinking of doing the Jolly Pirate Sunset Sail but I'm trying to figure out what to do before and after the sunset sail.

here is a list of activities that the group of us want to do

- inexpensive land tour around the island or walking tour around town to take pictures and see the sights and sounds

- time to go around town shopping.

- spend some time at a beach

I read from a few threads here that the shops in Aruba close pretty early around 7pm?

Would it be best to not do the Sunset sail and just do a land tour and include some shopping and beach time? I feel that all of this would have to be done before the sunset since shops are not open at night and I don't think going to the beach at night is very wise and most afternoon land tours finish before sunset. So I still end up with the problem of not sure what to do in Aruba at night.

Our itinerary also includes Grand Cayman, Curacao, St Maarten and St Thomas, is shopping better at these locations and we should skip shopping in Aruba? (Aruba is our 2nd stop, Grand Cayman will be our first)

Thanks in Advance for your help

Has anyone gone to Altlantis in May? Is it busy or worth it to go then? My friends and I are going to be sailing on NCL sky, and will port at Nassau on May 3.

this is the first time we have cruised and I have been reading and doing research and things are starting to get a bit confusing. Are there any good non-cruise line excursion booking agencies that are safe to buy from ? As when I tried to look for the Atlantis pass on NCL website it says its unavailable or it will cost 180 a person which is alot more than the 120$ a person I have read on here