BoopTennis

We just got back from our wonderful cruise! Fantastic cruise! I will break the review up into pieces and try my best to also include photos if I can figure out how to post those.

Arrival and Hotel (pre cruise Thursday)

We flew from Chicago to San Juan on Thursday, two days before the cruise, to ensure we did not have any flight issues and to enjoy San Juan a bit. Arrived around 4:30 pm, taxi line moved quickly with a dispatcher that gave you a price slip so you knew exactly what you were going to have to pay. There were 5 of us and we were going to the Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino in Condado, taxi was $24 plus tip (included 5 people, 6 bags at $1 per bag). (Backpacks etc do not count as luggage for the $1 fee).

Traffic was awful but of course it was rush hour. Taxi driver was great and did his best to try to get around traffic jams but it still took 45 minutes to get to our hotel, just because of the grid-locked traffic. But it was ok as we got to see a lot of the city on the way by going on some back roads.

Marriott Resort is awesome, was clean and beautiful. We had 3 rooms (3 more of our group for total of 8 people arrived later Thursday evening). We were on the 18th floor and were on the side of the hotel so had a nice view of the beach if you looked to your left, not straight ahead. But it was very nice. 2 beds per room, plenty of space, had balcony with a couple chairs you could sit on and enjoy the view. The bathroom was big and clean and had shampoo, lotion, etc. This hotel is right on the beach and there are chairs and umbrellas to use. It also has a wonderful pool area with a couple pools, an adult only pool and a pool with a swim up bar. There is a small waterslide for kids. Also a hot tub. My 9-year old grandson was with us and he had a lot of fun at the pool and in the ocean. Ocean was not too rough and was nice sand.

Thursday evening we kept it simple and just walked across the street from the hotel to a burger place called BunsBurger Shop. I have a menu I will post later. They have burgers, hot dogs, different types of grilled cheese/panini style, I had one of those and it was very good.

Also there is a Starbucks right across the street. On the corner by the hotel is both a CVS and Walgreens where we got some wine to take on the ship and a few other supplies. There is a gelato place on the hotel property. We did not eat in any of the hotel dining areas but had drinks at the bar area which was a nice big area and they had a live band.

I will post more soon, or in meantime answer any questions as I go….

I'm sorry I don't recall. There was no branding that I saw our drop off point had a small washroom and equipment shack. Our end point had a couple of vendors with drinks and sandwiches but again no company branding which I can remember

no problem and thank you for taking the time to respond. Glad to hear the tubing was fun, we are thinking about doing that

For Dominica st Kitts and st Croix they were RCL excursions booked through the cruise planner before we left

thank you -- and in Dominica - i know you booked thru the cruiseline -- but do you happen to know what local company provided the river tubing? was it either Wacky Rollers or AnTours?

thank you

hi,

In Dominica, did you arrange your River Tubing through the cruise line or someone else?

great, thank you. (i have been spooked by all the comments about bad traffic in the afternoon so want to be careful).

Couple more questions -

I have read about a CAROUSEL in Marigot -- anyone been there? I need to check days and hours open.

Also I have read about Seaside Nature Park in Cole Bay south of Maho. Probably not time for that but also wondered if anyone has been there

also you mentioned Fort Louis in Marigot, thanks for that, yes we would like to stop there (before Maho) if we have time....

Going counterclockwise you'll pass the airport and Maho early. Is there anything other than Maho that's on your list- beach/es, sites, shopping? I recommend a stop in Marigot and check out the open air market and Fort St Lois overlooking Marigot. There is a hill near the port overlooking the port and Philipsburg for photos of the ship. I also like Pinel Island, but you really don't have enough time for that. If you plan on hitting Orient Beach you could have lunch there- I prefer Grand Case- depending on your tastes/ budget. There are some good restaurants on the water or the LOLO's- also on the water for bbq. I prefer the Sunset Cafe at the Grand Case Beach Club

 

Chris

hi, actually by counter-clockwise, i mean when we leave the pier, we are going to head east then up North towards Orient Beach, across the top thru Grand case, then back down the west side towards Maho. So Maho area will be toward the end of our trip. We are hoping to leave early in the morning and do all the loop around the east and north side of the island and back down to Maho by noon to catch bigger planes for awhile.

I wanted to leave plenty of time to see planes at Maho then work our way back to the pier and drop off rental car

I don't know if I am under-estimating the time to circle around the island that way? we dont plan on spending a lot of time at the beach etc, we just want to stop at a few key places for awhile.

make sense? any suggestions?

anyone know about the Iguana Farm? (we have a 9-year old with us)

I just remembered that we will not be any where near the airport on Saturday- we'll be driving into Philipsburg from Orient that afternoon. We will be driving to Grand Case on Friday afternoon and will drive over the bridge on the lagoon. I will still try and report what I see traffic wise both days

thanks again...for any info...we leave on Saturday Dec 19, our day in St Maarten is on a Tuesday 8-5. i want to be able to see as many interesting points as we can during the day, but hit the bigger planes at Maho then make sure we get back to drop off the car before 4

i need a timeline i think so we don't get hung up somewhere too long, we will go counterclockwise around the island so Maho near the end of our tour

The newer maps should show the new bridge over Simpson Bay Lagoon. Definitely take that bridge to Union Road. The worst traffic is on Welfare road/ along the coast. It is a little longer ride , but going around the Salt Pond past the zoo instead of through town should also cut down your travel time. I see you're leaving on the 19th. We drop off the car on the 12th and board right after - a Saturday, commuter traffic shouldn't be a problem for us, but I'll try to post from the ship on our experience

that's awesome info, thanks very much for all the help!

good info, thank you. My biggest concern is being able to see the bigger planes at Maho (#1 priority for us!) in the early afternoon, then getting thru the bad traffic back to the pier in time to drop off rental car! All the reports of the bad traffic are scary.

Reviewing maps, it looks like there are a couple ways to get back to the pier from Maho, is any particular route more likely to have less traffic?

great info, thank you!

fantastic, thank you!

following this post, we will be going on the Regal Princess and January and it will be our first time on St. Marteen. I was thinking about renting a Jeep for the day for fun. Looking for some reviews etc

we also are renting a car while there in December. Would like tour the whole island and need help on the best places to make sure to get in, for sure a stop at Orient Beach and mandatory stop in early afternoon to see planes at Maho. Other than that open for ideas, we have 7 adults and one 9-year old boy.

anyone been to Butterfly Farm?

Anyone know about Iguana Farm?

other key recommendations?

thx!

We did this tour last week. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

 

I was a little frustrated at first as they had just moved their office but hadn't bothered to notify anybody and it was difficult to find them. Even some of their business neighbors didn't know they had moved! After a bit of a rocky start everything turned out fine. We did the 9:30 tour and went to the beach afterwards. There were still plenty of chairs available. We grabbed a spot right next to the bar and restaurant area. Had a few beers and a great lunch. All were reasonably priced.

hi, we are booked to take this tour next month. So where is the new office now, can you help with directions? would appreciate it. also we were talking about also staying at Rainbow Beach, is that where you stopped, did you like it? Did you taxi back to the pier (how much) or walk?

thanks for any additional information!! I am excited about the ATV tour, we have 8 in our group so using 4 ATVs

thank you. I did review the website, didn't see prices. I will email him. I appreciate your reply :)

I found on another thread about this guy and looked up his site and was very impressed with how quickly i got a response.

I emailed him around 11:00 pm with a few questions and my contact info and he even called me the next day to give me all the info i needed and answered any questions I had.

Even emailed me all the info I had asked about too, to make sure that i had as much information as i needed. And then gave me all his personal and cell numbers.

WE will be there in december and i am going to use him for our tour. And am so excited just to meet him after having a really nice conversation with him.

his website is very professional looking and pretty user friendly for a computer dummy like myself:o reynotours.net

I did not see pricing on his website, did I miss it or do you have to email him for pricing?

Not sure if you have gone yet or not, but we just went on this excursion last week (Oct 2015) and it was wonderful. My DW was sort of scared, but once she got there and saw what it was, she loved it.

 

The trip up the hill is an adventure in itself. Yes, it is bumpy, but I felt safe all the way. The crew that took use was kind of "crazy" but they made you feel comfortable at all times. I think that the longest of the four lines is like 1300 feet long. The view is amazing. I wished that we could have gone back up and do it again!

 

It was our first experience in doing zip line, I am 60 years old and not in real good shape, but loved it and had no issues. I can't wait for our next chance.

ssteve923 -- did you book this zip line excursion thru the ship? i thought I read that is the only way to do it. I will be on Adventure of the Seas in December.

awesome ideas thanks everyone

we have 4 cabins so plan to bring on 8 bottles of wine to our ship. What is the best way to carry it on board...can we leave them all together in a partial case and write the 4 cabin numbers on the box? or does each couple have to carry them individually 2 at a time when boarding? all 8 of us plan to board together at the same time

thanks. i've never rented here before i hope this works out.

any particular suggestions for where to go and parking advice at key sites?

thanks!

has anyone rented for one day at the cruise port a van/vehicle that will hold 8 passengers? from which car rental site and how did it work out?

I've been doing some research on this for my upcoming trip in October. It seems that people seem to enjoy Ropa Vieja or Casa Lola for dinner and Hacienda Don Jose for breakfast.

 

Hope that helps!

sirfuller: upon your return from your cruise, let me know where you ended up going for dinner in the Condado area pre-cruise and any other good info! we will be there in a couple months! thank you

I'm also interested in restaurant options for dinner near the Marriott Stellaris (not too expensive but good local food)

is the "Tram" different than the "trolley"?