Will we miss the boat?

[rollnoles2]

We are looking into a day sail that returns at 4:00-4:30 pm in Simpson Bay. Our ship leaves at 6:00 pm. At first, I thought that would give us plenty of time to get back to the port, but after reading some threads, I'm concerned about the traffic. We will be in St Martin the beginning of April, and I think our ship is the only ship in port that day.

 

Thanks for your expertise!

[Redtravel]

That gives you ample time to get on board. St. Martin is a very small island. Perhaps for piece of mind, you can take a morning sail. Just in case, take your pasport and credit card along. If you do miss the boat, you'll need them to get yourself to the next port. By the way, I will be on a ship also in April. Wityh whom are you sailing?

[Karysa]

We are looking into a day sail that returns at 4:00-4:30 pm in Simpson Bay. Our ship leaves at 6:00 pm. At first, I thought that would give us plenty of time to get back to the port, but after reading some threads, I'm concerned about the traffic. We will be in St Martin the beginning of April, and I think our ship is the only ship in port that day.

 

Thanks for your expertise!

 

What time do you need to be on the ship by? If it is 5pm then I would say no you may not have time. Does your sailing come to shore at the Pelican Marina or on the other side of the Simpson Bay Bridge?

[rollnoles2]

That gives you ample time to get on board. St. Martin is a very small island. Perhaps for piece of mind, you can take a morning sail. Just in case, take your pasport and credit card along. If you do miss the boat, you'll need them to get yourself to the next port. By the way, I will be on a ship also in April. Wityh whom are you sailing?

 

That's good advice! We are sailing on the Solstice. At first I wasn't concerned about the time, but then I read on the boards how the traffic is terrible from Simpson Bay and to allow at least 90 minutes to return to port. I probably wouldn't worry so much if this wasn't our last port of call-it would effectively end our cruise if we missed the boat!:eek:

[rollnoles2]

What time do you need to be on the ship by? If it is 5pm then I would say no you may not have time. Does your sailing come to shore at the Pelican Marina or on the other side of the Simpson Bay Bridge?

 

Karysa,

The ship is suppose to leave at 6:00, so we probably need to be back by 5:30. I'm not sure where the day sail ends. I know that we board at Ric's Place (which I believe is under a new name now), so I would assume we finish there too.

[Karysa]

From what I remember Rics place is on the other side of the Simpson Bay Bridge. The Bridge is scheduled to be open to the boaters at 4:30 and again at 5:30 in April. If you were to cross before 4:30 I would say not a problem. However, a 20 minute wait for the bridge is not unheard of and this does back the traffic up. I know that it is a small island but the traffic at times can be just like rush hour in a big city. My head however tells me that if they run this excursion and they have people from cruiseships they know how important it is to get you back on time. They are used to doing this. I would post on the Celebrity site and ask what time passengers were asked to return to the ship in St. Martin. I would also post a thread here asking others who have taken this excursion if they felt pressed for time on the return. Remember what someone tells you about traffic in the fall will not be the same as in April.

[m steve]

even for allowing extra driving time, just turning in the car and running down that long pier took more time than I thought, especially w 2 -6 packs of booze.