St. Thomas, RCI, so many excursions - CONFUSED!

[TwoWeebles]

I posted this on the St. Thomas board, but thought I would get more responses here on the general RCI board...

 

There are 48 excursions listed on RCI's site for St. Thomas! My goodness, I am confused about what to do! Maybe some of you who have been to St. Thomas can help me.

 

It will be me (38), my hubby (39), and our son who will be 6 at the time of travel. We are traveling next July on Freedom of the Seas and will be in St. Thomas from 11am - 7pm. One of the excursions that peaked my interest was the Skyride to Paradise Point. I saw on the boards where someone said to just go to the scenic overlook on Skyline Drive instead because it is higher up and free. I am kinda scared to get into the Skyride thingy anyway, so maybe this is a better option for me.

 

I know I would also like to do Megans Bay for 2-3 hours. If we don't do the "excursion" through the ship, how much does it cost to get into Megan's Bay? How much would a taxi cost for the three of us from the ship to Megan's Bay? I would be really happy if the taxi driver would give us a general tour and maybe stop at a few places of interest along the way. How much does this cost? Do they even do this, or do we need to book a real tour?

 

I would like to do some LIGHT shopping. I am not real big on major shopping; I just want to find some cool souvenirs. Is there shopping like this at the pier? Is it in walking distance to the ship? Can I just have the taxi driver drop us off here on the way back from the beach?

 

Finally, we will be in St. Maarten the following day from 8am - 5pm. How is St. Maarten different from St. Thomas? What should we do there? I think we might be "beached out" by this point as it will be our third day in the islands. Unless there is a must see beach. Other than that, what do we do in St. Maarten?

 

Thanks for any info you can give me!!

[houlacruiser]

I posted this on the St. Thomas board, but thought I would get more responses here on the general RCI board...

 

There are 48 excursions listed on RCI's site for St. Thomas! My goodness, I am confused about what to do! Maybe some of you who have been to St. Thomas can help me.

 

It will be me (38), my hubby (39), and our son who will be 6 at the time of travel. We are traveling next July on Freedom of the Seas and will be in St. Thomas from 11am - 7pm. One of the excursions that peaked my interest was the Skyride to Paradise Point. I saw on the boards where someone said to just go to the scenic overlook on Skyline Drive instead because it is higher up and free. I am kinda scared to get into the Skyride thingy anyway, so maybe this is a better option for me.

 

I know I would also like to do Megans Bay for 2-3 hours. If we don't do the "excursion" through the ship, how much does it cost to get into Megan's Bay? How much would a taxi cost for the three of us from the ship to Megan's Bay? I would be really happy if the taxi driver would give us a general tour and maybe stop at a few places of interest along the way. How much does this cost? Do they even do this, or do we need to book a real tour? I recommend you do the Megan's Bay Beach Getaway booked through RCI. It costs $28 per person and gives you a scenic drive and a couple of hours at Megan's Bay Beach. It includes admission to the beach. They have a beach bar and chair/umbrella rentals.

 

I would like to do some LIGHT shopping. I am not real big on major shopping; I just want to find some cool souvenirs. Is there shopping like this at the pier? Is it in walking distance to the ship? Can I just have the taxi driver drop us off here on the way back from the beach? There is shopping right off of the pier. Tons of shops, some jewelry, some souvenirs and some with just a bit of everything. This is usually the pick up/drop off location for excursions and taxi's alike.

 

Finally, we will be in St. Maarten the following day from 8am - 5pm. How is St. Maarten different from St. Thomas? What should we do there? I think we might be "beached out" by this point as it will be our third day in the islands. Unless there is a must see beach. Other than that, what do we do in St. Maarten? There is nice shopping in St. Maarten. We've done beach a shopping there in the past. There are tons of excursions through RCI and also check out that port of call board to get some cool ideas.

 

Thanks for any info you can give me!!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[jackdiamond]

I believe that the taxi fare to Megans is $8.00, per person each way. This is cheaper than the excursion; and, more importantly you are not bound by the time parameters of the excursion folks.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

I would never book an excurison at St Thomas on RCI you will pay about 5 times as much as you can get it on your own. I recomend get off the ship early see if you can catch the Ferry to St John from Charlote Amalia. If that one is not running the get a cab to red hook and get the ferry to st john there. spend the day on St John. Beach at Truck Bay is wonderful and the shopping on St John is much lower pressure than the shopping on St Thomas.

[danp]

If you all know how to snorkle look into the BOSS,it is a lot of fun.

[JYL]

Hi TwoWeebles,

On St Thomas my dh + dd did the BOSS, suggested by dnap, & loved it. I didn't think I would be able to stay down and didn't want to ruin it for other people; so I went to Magen's Bay, by myself. I grabbed a taxi outside, there are people there helping to direct the tourists. I sat on the beach for a while and rented a kayak. I had a great time. We also went to Coki Beach one year. I don't like doing "fixed" excursions, I don't like feeling I have to do something for a set amount of time.

I love Marigot on St Maarten, on the French side, it's the capital and a very quaint city. The restaurants are unbelievable!!! We ate at Jean Dupont at the harbor/shopping area (many years ago, stayed for a week). Orient Beach is beautiful, with little restaurants all over. I'm hoping to attach a pic of Orient.

These are not third world countries that you need to worry too much about the people who live on these islands. Alot of famous people frequent them, they're very cosmopolitan.

I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever you choose. Go online and you can look at maps of the islands and pictures of the different beaches.

Judy :)

[Langley Cruisers]

It's Magen's Bay, and you can absolutely do it on your own, apart from a ship's excursion. It is easy and fun, and much cheaper. I suggest you go right away in the morning; it is so beautiful there and the taxi will be waiting to take you there (it's a safari-style open air taxi, and you'll just have to wait a few minutes for it to fill up, then you'll be on your way). It's $8.00 per person each way, and $4.00 each admission. The drive is spectacular and scenic, especially on the way back. Have your camera ready! But this way, you do the opposite of what many do in that you beach it in the moring and end the day with shopping. So many do it in reverse and it can get crowded at the beaches in the afternoon.

 

Definitely check the Ports of Call boards again for each stop; this thread may get moved there, anyway. The boards are full of information about these ports.

[ParrotHead79]

I have been to St. Thomas many times and have taken shore excursions from the Cruiseline and from private operators.

 

By far the BEST tour and day I ever had on St. Thomas was when I took the Sunny Liston tour. He takes you downtown for some shopping, picks you up for a 45-60 minutes tour of the island and then drops you off at the beach of your choice for as long as you want. He usually goes to Megans bay, Sapphire beach (my favorite) and Coki beach. Last year it was $25 PP for the whole day. He is a ball! Plays music, sings and makes it a very fun time.

 

You can't beat the price.

 

http://www.sunnylistontours.com/index.html

 

P.S.-- Megans bay requires a separate charge to get in. For the experience, it is worth it. However, if you want a beautiful quiet beach with no cover charge, great swimming and snorkeling, plus a bar onsite--go to Sapphire beach.

[printingchick]

I HIGHLY recommend taking the ferry over to St. John. You'll visit plenty of touristy locations with great beaches and shopping, simulaneously visited by the other 3,000 people on your ship. A coupleof years ago, we grabbed a cab to Red Hook and took the ferry to St. John. It has since become my favorite place on earth!

 

I did a little research ahead of time, and picked an area we could investigate in the limited amount of time we had. We had a cab take us to the Annaberg area, home to a lovely set of sugar mill ruins, perched high on a hill with an amazing view. We walked down the short Leinster Bay trail, all the while accompanied by a wild donkey. Arriving at the beach, we found only about five other people there. We went snorkeling and saw intensely colorful star fish decorating the ocean floor, fish, rays and sea turtles. Because few people visit here, the sea life is not spooked by snorkelers. We were able to swim right along with the sea turtles, close enough to touch. It was an incredible experience.

 

Check out this site: http://www.seestjohn.com/trails.html

[KuffMUp]

I posted this on the St. Thomas board, but thought I would get more responses here on the general RCI board...

 

There are 48 excursions listed on RCI's site for St. Thomas! My goodness, I am confused about what to do! Maybe some of you who have been to St. Thomas can help me.

 

It will be me (38), my hubby (39), and our son who will be 6 at the time of travel. We are traveling next July on Freedom of the Seas and will be in St. Thomas from 11am - 7pm. One of the excursions that peaked my interest was the Skyride to Paradise Point. I saw on the boards where someone said to just go to the scenic overlook on Skyline Drive instead because it is higher up and free. I am kinda scared to get into the Skyride thingy anyway, so maybe this is a better option for me.

 

I know I would also like to do Megans Bay for 2-3 hours. If we don't do the "excursion" through the ship, how much does it cost to get into Megan's Bay? How much would a taxi cost for the three of us from the ship to Megan's Bay? I would be really happy if the taxi driver would give us a general tour and maybe stop at a few places of interest along the way. How much does this cost? Do they even do this, or do we need to book a real tour?

 

I would like to do some LIGHT shopping. I am not real big on major shopping; I just want to find some cool souvenirs. Is there shopping like this at the pier? Is it in walking distance to the ship? Can I just have the taxi driver drop us off here on the way back from the beach?

 

Finally, we will be in St. Maarten the following day from 8am - 5pm. How is St. Maarten different from St. Thomas? What should we do there? I think we might be "beached out" by this point as it will be our third day in the islands. Unless there is a must see beach. Other than that, what do we do in St. Maarten?

 

Thanks for any info you can give me!!

 

As for the Skyride, you can book that independently from the cruise line. An all day roundtrip pass is $21 per adult and ages 6-12 $10.50. You can Google Skyride St. Thomas and their website will come up. As for the area higher up, you are going to have to get in a car or cab to get there. If going to Megan's Bay, I think you will pass through that area as it is on the opposite side of the island.

 

I have decided on Air Force 1 Tours. It is $25 per person with a couple hours of sight seeing and then time on the beach. He will go to Megan's Bay, Sapphire Beach or Koki Beach. If going to Megan's you would need to pay the admission fee. Google Air Force 1 and you will find his website. He is recommended on the St Thomas boards.

 

As for St. Maarten, I booked Bernards Tours. He offers two hours of sightseeing, 2 hours of beach, and 2 hours of shopping. His price is $35 per person. We aren't shoppers so when the rest of the group takes off for shopping we are staying put at the beach. They will pick us up later.

 

As to how the islands differ, well all of them are different. Their current way of life is made up from their historic past. St. Thomas is part of the US Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas) while St. Maarten is made up of a French side and Dutch side. The Dutch side is part of the Netherland Antilles.

 

You have lots of time to plan so read those port boards! I have cruised only 3 times but it took me that long to abandon doing cruiseline related excursions to booking on my own. There is a lot of good info out there on the boards and you can trust what other CCrs are saying.

[TwoWeebles]

Thanks to everyone who has posted information for me! I have read several places that I should take a ferry over to St. John and spend the day there. I kinda feel guilty doing that being that my intinerary is to St. Thomas, not St. John. Why is St. John better? I want your opinions!!

KuffMUp, about St. Maarten, my last name is Van Rooy (dutch), so I am very interested in hearing about the Dutch part of the island. Probably the closest I will ever get to visiting the Netherlands. LOL. Will I have time to visit both the French and the Dutch sides, or should I just concentrate on the Dutch side since I really am more interested in that? I've always wanted to buy a pair of Dutch wooden shoes to hang on my wall. Can I get this here? I know, cheesy, but... I do have a large print of two Dutch Girls hanging in my house.

[Marie51]

Thanks to everyone who has posted information for me! I have read several places that I should take a ferry over to St. John and spend the day there. I kinda feel guilty doing that being that my intinerary is to St. Thomas, not St. John. Why is St. John better? I want your opinions!!

KuffMUp, about St. Maarten, my last name is Van Rooy (dutch), so I am very interested in hearing about the Dutch part of the island. Probably the closest I will ever get to visiting the Netherlands. LOL. Will I have time to visit both the French and the Dutch sides, or should I just concentrate on the Dutch side since I really am more interested in that? I've always wanted to buy a pair of Dutch wooden shoes to hang on my wall. Can I get this here? I know, cheesy, but... I do have a large print of two Dutch Girls hanging in my house.

 

As far as St Thomas, my favorite beaches are Sapphire and Coki. Both are free to get in where as you have to pay to get into Megan's bay. Also if your ship docks at Havensite mall, it is a shopping mall right there at the dock where you can pick up souveniers.

 

If you are "beached out" by the time you get to St Martin, you could take an island tour that included a little shopping.

[bigasufan]

We did the skyline and it was outstanding. Shopping is available on top of the lookout and it was really reasonable. The view is breathtaking.

 

Remember that St. Maarten beaches are clothing optional.

[printingchick]

Thanks to everyone who has posted information for me! I have read several places that I should take a ferry over to St. John and spend the day there. I kinda feel guilty doing that being that my intinerary is to St. Thomas, not St. John. Why is St. John better? I want your opinions!!

 

.

 

 

St. John is 75% protected park land. While the famous Trunk Bay will be croweded (but absolutely gorgeous - google an image), once beyond the dock/town area, the rest of the island is virtually undeveloped.

 

St. Thomas, as well as many of the islands the ships visit, is geared toward tourism. The excursions tend to be large groups of cruise passengers doing somewhat hokey things. I've done the helmet dive in St. Thomas. I enjoyed it, but it was a typical tourist excursion - crowds, lines, obligatory photo purchase, etc. While there's nothing wrong with these types of excursions I and get as psyched up for those hokey pirate ship excursions as the next over-excited cruise passenger, I enjoy mixing up my activities with some less structured, more natural activities.

 

I've gone swimming with the sting rays in Grand Cayman more than once and it was great. But swimming with the sea turtles - in the wild, not on an excursion - in St. John was the experience of a lifetime. It's one of those things you can't plan for, don't expect and will likely never experience again.

 

St. John, because it's so undeveloped, has breathtaking views, uninterrupted by billboards, hotels or condos. There are also historic ruins to visit.

 

I'd love to spend a week on the island, but it's so expensive unless you're willing to camp (I'm not), so we just try to make the most of our single-day visits while cruising. Someday we'll spend a week...it's on my "Bucket List"!

 

St. John is simply not to be missed.

[birdylady]

Hey there,

 

First, as far as the Sky Ride is concerned, I am terrified of heights, but I was able to handle it. Funnypart was I had a bigger issue going up in the gondola than I did going down. We bought our tickets from the pursers desk and walked over and went when we wanted. I think we waited in line for less than 5 minutes. Then when your up at the top, there are a few shops, a restaurant and a women that has parrots and does a free show. For a few buckes ($10, I think) you can have your picture taken with them.

 

We also booked the Atlantis submarine excursion. We were the first group out and it was very enjoyable. I wasn't so keen on it but I knew hubby REALLY wanted to go. You son may enjoy this.

 

As far as St. Martin is concerned, we just walked off the ship, down the pier to where the taxis are. They have maps and you can take misc tours of the island. We (2 people) walked up and waited less than 5 minutes for 4 more people to show up. SO 6 of us (it's cheaper the more people there are) got in a nice A/C van and got a great tour of the island. Do keep in mind, there is a beach on the French side that is a clothing optional beach so you may not want your son going though.

 

Be sure , wherever you go on these 2 islands, you will find some beautiful views.

 

Erika

[Barbiegator]

I posted this on the St. Thomas board, but thought I would get more responses here on the general RCI board...

 

There are 48 excursions listed on RCI's site for St. Thomas! My goodness, I am confused about what to do! Maybe some of you who have been to St. Thomas can help me.

 

It will be me (38), my hubby (39), and our son who will be 6 at the time of travel. We are traveling next July on Freedom of the Seas and will be in St. Thomas from 11am - 7pm. One of the excursions that peaked my interest was the Skyride to Paradise Point. I saw on the boards where someone said to just go to the scenic overlook on Skyline Drive instead because it is higher up and free. I am kinda scared to get into the Skyride thingy anyway, so maybe this is a better option for me.

 

I know I would also like to do Megans Bay for 2-3 hours. If we don't do the "excursion" through the ship, how much does it cost to get into Megan's Bay? How much would a taxi cost for the three of us from the ship to Megan's Bay? I would be really happy if the taxi driver would give us a general tour and maybe stop at a few places of interest along the way. How much does this cost? Do they even do this, or do we need to book a real tour?

 

I would like to do some LIGHT shopping. I am not real big on major shopping; I just want to find some cool souvenirs. Is there shopping like this at the pier? Is it in walking distance to the ship? Can I just have the taxi driver drop us off here on the way back from the beach?

 

Finally, we will be in St. Maarten the following day from 8am - 5pm. How is St. Maarten different from St. Thomas? What should we do there? I think we might be "beached out" by this point as it will be our third day in the islands. Unless there is a must see beach. Other than that, what do we do in St. Maarten?

 

Thanks for any info you can give me!!

 

The St. John's snorkle trip through the ship is worth every penny. Beautiful underwater park and a fun ferry ride over.

St. Marten's- I highly recommend getting a local bus to Mako Beach to see the jets land. So much fun and you still have time to shop downtown.

[aggie1]

We were on St.Thomas last April on the EOS. We booked a day sail with Kathleen of Highpockets on her sailboat. Left from Red Hook, went to St. John's and then sailed around some of the uninhabited islands and also stopped at one where you could snorckel, or just play in the water and enjoy the beach while she prepared a delicious lunch. There were only 6 of us, plus Kathleen and her helper. It was an awesome day, DH got seasick, but he is very prone to this. After laying on the beach and the great lunch, he was much better. Also after several mango punches with rum he was really feeling good. One of the couples on the sailboat had a 10 yr old son.

[DLKC]

We did the skyline and it was outstanding. Shopping is available on top of the lookout and it was really reasonable. The view is breathtaking.

 

Remember that St. Maarten beaches are clothing optional.

 

We found this out... took a cab over to a beautiful bay beach. Awesome. Hooked up at some small beach bar with lounges to rent as long as we bought some beverages/food (this was no problem!). Saw some topless there; OK, seen that. And there were some fun little shopping spots there at the beach. However, we also realized this public beach was right next to a nudist beach, and it was common to see some of those folks walking along the shore in the entire bay. That was a first for us. Different strokes for different folks.

[DLKC]

Once at St. Thomas, our group of six did the RCCL excursion to go out on a private sail boat to a little island for some snorkeling and snacks. It was limited to six passengers, with the sailboats crew of 2. (RCCL had several of these small boats lined up to go). We had a really nice time, even if the weather was not too friendly to us, since we were just our group.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

Thanks to everyone who has posted information for me! I have read several places that I should take a ferry over to St. John and spend the day there. I kinda feel guilty doing that being that my intinerary is to St. Thomas, not St. John. Why is St. John better? I want your opinions!!

 

 

 

St Johns has less people so you can enjoy the beaches and shopping without the 3000 other people on the ship. There are only about 300 ferry seats to and from St Johns that the cruise passengers can access so that limits how many can get there. Truck Bay, the sugar mill ruins, Cinnamon bay, are wonderful. Usually you can get a "hop on Hop off" cab right at the ferry dock on st john. Nice shops with more local craftsmanship rather than another diamonds international store. If you want a really nice lunch Asolare overlooks Cruz Bay. Its pricey but a real 5 Star Resturant. I like St Johns because you can really relax there.

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

If clothing opptional is a concern on St Maarten, go to the beaches on the French side, they are not as opptional there.

[Floridaman5115]

I have been to both places and went on a tour at each Island. Very, very enjoyable and very reasonable. You get a bit of everything.

Good Luck the Islands are beautiful.

http://www.eeetours.com

http://bernardstours.com

[Marie51]

If clothing opptional is a concern on St Maarten, go to the beaches on the French side, they are not as opptional there.

 

The beaches on the French side are clothing optional. If you want to avoid this, go to a beach on the Dutch side.

[mjyanne]

The beaches on the French side are clothing optional. If you want to avoid this, go to a beach on the Dutch side.

 

...and if you want to save a couple of bucks just go to the beach on the waterfront near the pier (take the water taxi over). Personally, I like it better than Orient Beach.

[Let'sGo!]

I'm not really a big fan of ship excursions but on our last trip to St. Thomas one of our table mates highly recommended a sailboat/snorkle trip... I think its the same one someone else mentioned in this thread.

 

Its limited to only 6 people - our trip had only 4.

 

A guy took us out on his personal sailboat for a great trip around the island to a snorkle spot where there was NO one. We then went to a beach for some beach time.

 

He had sodas and rum on board. It really was a great, relaxing trip and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Like you said, we had already been to Aruba and Curacao and were pretty beached out, so this was a great tour for us.

 

Have a great cruise!