ridge123

1 hour ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Interesting. We were to the left of your circle AND also to the left of where it says "Chill Island" - I swam / snorkeled right out from the beach.  The area you were in (and apparently the best place) is straight out from the Grill (at least on the map). I will have to take some notes for next time. I'm confused on your last picture. Were you snorkeling over that far?  That area, as we came in, literally had huge waves crashing against the rocks. Had to hold on to your hat (literally) or it would have blown right off coming from the ship. There was NOone even out anywhere near the white markers. I'm suitably envious since I bothered to pack the gear and it was almost a complete waste of time - fun to paddle around of course but a few gulps of saltwater quickly put an end to the effort. Now I really want to go back!  I clearly saw a darker area straight out from where I was swimming, but the conditions were so bad that I wouldn't have dreamed of attempting to go out anywhere near that far. Very few people were even in the water. Still not clear on where this "float station" is. I can see I should have investigated more before going. 

   
No, the last  photo with  the cruise ship is just to show how good the weather was. We did not snorkel  at that area at all. 

1 hour ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Interesting. We were to the left of your circle AND also to the left of where it says "Chill Island" - I swam / snorkeled right out from the beach.  The area you were in (and apparently the best place) is straight out from the Grill (at least on the map). I will have to take some notes for next time. I'm confused on your last picture. Were you snorkeling over that far?  That area, as we came in, literally had huge waves crashing against the rocks. Had to hold on to your hat (literally) or it would have blown right off coming from the ship. There was NOone even out anywhere near the white markers. I'm suitably envious since I bothered to pack the gear and it was almost a complete waste of time - fun to paddle around of course but a few gulps of saltwater quickly put an end to the effort. Now I really want to go back!  I clearly saw a darker area straight out from where I was swimming, but the conditions were so bad that I wouldn't have dreamed of attempting to go out anywhere near that far. Very few people were even in the water. Still not clear on where this "float station" is. I can see I should have investigated more before going. 

The float stations are marked as yellow circle on the map. Maybe it is not that far as I marked. 

You can see one of float station (yellow circle) on the second picture I post here. 

On 3/11/2022 at 9:18 PM, mitsugirly said:

Snorkeling beaches would be Coki or Sapphire Beach. Super easy to get a ride there and ride back. If you'd like to see pictures, I have a blog you can find in my signature line. There's tons and tons of pictures of both. Just go to the Ports section then St Thomas and it will list the beaches. 

Thank you for your reply. We went to Sapphire beach for snorkeling. However, it was very windy when we were there.  We still tried snorkeling though the waves were big. The water was not clear at all. We didn’t see a lot fish and were disappointed. After we came back, I heard Sapphire beach usually is  more windy than other beaches such as Coki beach. So if it is windy day, it is better to go Coki beach for snorkeling. 

8 hours ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Ridge...how far from the beach were you on Chill Island?  Wish I would have seen a few things. Was just there a few days ago and it was a total bust. Very windy and so didn't want to venture out close to the white roped off section. I'm told that's where most of the action is. I only snorkeled in close to the shore areas and so just grass. Not a single fish. It was just too windy. Got two good mouthfuls of sea water due to the waves - blew the water right over the top of the tube. Oh well...maybe next time. Couldn't even have any of the umbrellas up. The one attendant said the day before we were there was the exact opposite. Luck of the draw. I talked to him and he said if I'd go farther out (to the really dark area, that's where the fish, rays, etc. are) Just wasn't brave enough I guess. Nobody was out anywhere near that far. Only a few people swimming and all close to shore. Felt more like I was swimming off the Jersey shore. 

the rock area of Chill island  is close to the shore and easy to reach. When we stand in the water, there were a lot of fish swam around us . When we snorkeling around the rock area, we saw more fish there. The float stations are a little bit away from the shores. When we were there, the weather was perfect, not windy at all. We could swim to the float station and take a rest on the station. Then jump into the water and snorkel around the float station. There are a wreck of the boat on the bottom, a group of fish hiding under it. 

On 3/24/2022 at 2:33 AM, udamom said:

Can you be specific on where you went in when you snorkeled? I have snorkeled Coco Cay and all times on the chill island side and have never seen anything even close to this. Going back 1st week of April and would love to have your experience vs what I've had there before!

Which horseshoe bay did you go out of the closet to the ship or small middle section or  the closer to Breezy Bay. And how early did you snorkel?

Thanks for any info

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/perfect-day-cococay-map

 the rock area circled on the map is where I were snorkeling. The picture 1, 2,4,6,7 were taken along the rock area. The stingrays were swimming far away from the beach of Chill island, around  the float stations. The picture 5 was taken at the wreck of the boat which is located near one of float station. 

On 3/22/2022 at 12:17 AM, SG65CB said:

Great photos! Thanks for posting. What kind of camera did you use?

 GoPro. 

We just came back. The snorkeling on chill island is fabulous. We saw a lot of fish and several stingrays. 
 

We will take Symphony of the Seas this Saturday from Miami. It will dock at Charlotte Amalie from 7am to 4pm next Wednesday March 09. This is our first time to  St Thomas. The excursions hold by RCL already sold out. We have to  figure out what we could do by our own. Do you have any suggestions about island tour/stops, and best snorkeling beaches? There will be several cruises docking on the island next Wednesday.  We are a family of 4 with 18 and 14 years old. Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

We booked Aqua 80 on the first night. However I just heard Aqua 80 is more possible to be cancelled on the first day of the cruise. Is it true for Oasis sailing this week? 

8 minutes ago, manders175 said:

Today was Perfect Day at Cococay! The last time we were here was before the upgrades and this island is completely overhauled! As a disclaimer, it was 72 degrees and 25 mph winds, and the water was freezing! If I had bought a waterpark pass I would have been disappointed but on a hot day would have been perfect!

 

Plenty of areas to chill for the day, splash with your kiddos, or adventure out to zip line and take on the water slides! 

 

There were plenty of food places and restrooms on the island. We were in port with Mariner today and the island never felt over crowded. 

I love your pictures! 

With 25mph wind, was the ship swaying a lot when it was sailing? Do you feel seasick? 

42 minutes ago, mira577 said:

I have family on Oasis now and they are having a great time!  The ship is skipping Jamacia and going to Costa Maya instead, which is just fine with them. They said everything is great and super clean. 

 

We are meeting them Sunday on the ship - can't wait to get onboard 🙂

 

Hope this helps!

We haven’t been to Costa Maya. It is fine for us too.  Wish you and you family have a great vacation!

We will sail on Oasis of the seas on March 22. Is anyone on Oasis now? How's everything going? Any ports changed/canceled? 

Thank you for sharing! Waiting for more 

2 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Note that Future Cruise Credits are issued per person and are not transferable.  And depending on the "sale", the amounts may differ per passenger.

Can Future Cruise Credits  be used for on board credit, prepaid gratitude or short excursion? 

My cruise is oasis of the seas this Sunday. What does “up to 48 hours” mean? 

9 minutes ago, flrose said:

This morning saw that another major cruise line has modified their cancellation policy temporarily to allow 72 hour cancellation at 100% credit applicable to future or unpaid future cruises . It's time for Celebrity to do the same. It will ease the concerns of those of us at highest risk.

Which cruise line?

11 hours ago, Tinkerbellsparkle said:

Hello,

Just to let you all know.

We got a taxi right outside the port, we were messed about by one mini bus driver who had us all sitting there like lemons waiting to go. I think he was being greedy waiting to fill the bus, but not even acknowledging us. So I took it about myself to get off, and everyone else followed and we got a private taxi for the same amount.

Even the port "Taxi organiser" lady was annoyed with him and said he is always a rude man.

We arranged a collection time for after the falls and a relax at the beach. Sure enough he was there waiting for us, and if I remember correctly we did not pay him until the return trip.

How much did you pay  private taxi per person? Which port did your cruise dock?  How many hours did the whole trip take? Thanks a lot!

Yes, you can purchase social package on board with $16. I did it last week on MSC Divina.

Even with bad traffic it's not more than 1.5 hours around the whole island. So yes you could do it but it seems like you are trying to cram a lot into a little bit of time. Most of shops in Philipsburg will be closed up by 5pm. Not much stays open late, a few restaurants will be open but not much else in the touristy parts of the island.

Cruiseport to Maho is 30 mins.

Maho to Orient is 1 hour

Orient to cruiseport 30 min.

So do to this you eat up at least 2 hours just driving around, of course you would see the whole island that way but you are going to mostly be seeing the roads, shopping area some residential areas etc.

I'd go to Maho have a cocktail watch the big planes & leave. ( The beach kind of sucks here lots of waves)

Go to Grand Case & Lolo's for dinner great BBQ nice little beach with gentle waves & some shopping near by.

Then head back to Philipsburg stroll the boardwalk before heading back to the ship.

I already booked 5 hour private tour several weeks ago. The tour guide/driver said he will pick us up at 2:30pm while our cruise will arrive at 1:30pm. So for 5 hour private tour, we will be back at 7:30pm. But as you said, the most shops in Phillipsburg will close by 5pm. The sunset time will be 6:40pm. It seems 5 hour tour is too long. Should I change to 4 hours tour? We definitely want to tour the whole island since it may be the first/last time for my parents visit this island.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm leaning towards the Surfer (2 devices) package, on the Magnifica in a couple weeks and I never would have remembered to turn off WiFi syncing.

 

My 800/mb would have vanished and all I would have got was updated apps! :(

That is what I worried about if I book surfer with 900mB limit. So I finally decide I will book social package which has unlimited data for Facebook and Wechat.

Just save your money!! Use the free wifi in ports!! And in San Juan , your stand plan works! No international roaming charges !! IMHO , just leave the wifi off on the ship ( sure take pics) and post your pics and catch up in ports when you can find free wifi

Thank you for your suggestions. We still want to get internet onboard to kill time especially for this 7 days cruise.

Thank you, Maureen! Your posts make me smile. I love reading them. I will sail on the same ship two weeks later. I am looking forward to reading more from you!

My family will sail on MSC DIVINA on May 21st, 2016. There are three internet packages I am interested:

1) Social Cruise $16.5

Social Cruise: Access to social networks, chat apps for the entire cruise, with unlimited MB (No Audio and Video)

2)Surfer Cruise $17.5

Surfer Cruise: Access to social networks, chat apps emails and web browsing up to 500 MB No Audio and Video

3)Surfer Cruise $33

Surfer Cruise: Access to social networks, chat apps emails and web browsing up to 800 MB No Audio and Video

We have two iPhones. The main purpose for us to use internet is to post pictures, contact with friends on Facebook and wechat. So it seems Social Cruise $16.5 with unlimited MB is better. However, Surfer cruise seems good too because we can do the web browsing and check emails. But with only 500MB or 800MB limitation, I am afraid that we can't have internet most time because we may already use up one day limit in a short time.

So which package should I pick?

Ridge,,,you are required to attend the muster drill which usually occurs between 5:00pm and 5:30pm,,so you must be onboard before then. If you want to have dinner in the dining room you are certainly welcome to do that. We ate at the buffet the first night so we could be up on deck during sail away.:)

Now I am thinking which dinning time is better, the first seating or the second seating? Our timezone is Central time. The first seating (6:00pm) seems a little too early. But the second seating (8:30pm) seems a little too late. Can you share your thoughts about how to decide which seating is better? What factors should I consider?