Treasure

[treasuredog]

Ok. I am new at this and apparently did not make a good first post.:mad: We are a family of 5 with 3 very active boys, ages 20,18 and 15. We will be cruising to the Eastern Caribbean in June and our ports are Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Martaan. I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for excursions. Also, whether we should book through the cruise ship or try to on our own once we get to the ports. Any suggestions for great beaches also? I have already signed up for the zip line and para sailing. They are interested in possibly paddle boarding, jet skiing and possibly scuba diving. Also, I understand the drinking age is 18 in ports, but what is Royal Caribbean's real policy?

Thanks. Hope this further information helps! I appreciate it!

[johneeo]

Ok. I am new at this and apparently did not make a good first post.:mad: We are a family of 5 with 3 very active boys, ages 20,18 and 15. We will be cruising to the Eastern Caribbean in June and our ports are Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Martaan. I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for excursions. Also, whether we should book through the cruise ship or try to on our own once we get to the ports. Any suggestions for great beaches also? I have already signed up for the zip line and para sailing. They are interested in possibly paddle boarding, jet skiing and possibly scuba diving. Also, I understand the drinking age is 18 in ports, but what is Royal Caribbean's real policy?

Thanks. Hope this further information helps! I appreciate it!

 

First, to find out more about the islands and excursions, visit the Port of Call area.

 

As for the real RCI policy on drinking. If you are not 21, you cannot drink alcoholic beverages. Your sea pass will verify your age.

 

If an adult provides a minor with alcohol, they risk being put off the ship at the next port.

 

Bartenders that are found to serve minors will get fired.

[firefly333]

RCL's policy is 21 years to drink.

 

Coco Cay is a private beach so the only choices are beach type of stuff thru RCL, no private excursions. The BBQ is fun and will have ribs and corn nibblets and hamburgers with the fixings and hot dogs (never tried them) and BBQd chicken and desserts and salads, a real nice picnic lunch set out near the beach.

 

We did Koki or is it Coki Beach via taxi on St. Thomas and did the tram and heights, excursion in the morning first.

 

Orient Beach in St. Marteen is a topless beach, so not sure if you would want it with the kids, but its the most well known beach.

[Colorado Kat]

We've always booked excursions on our own - much cheaper. In St. Thomas, Magen's Bay is beautiful. If you go on your own in St. Thomas, allow lots of time to get back to the ship. Traffic tieups can be unreal.

 

Just do lots of reading in the Ports of Call section. You'll find very specific advice there.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Here's a suggestion about posting questions on CC (or any board): put your actual question in the title, rather than any or all of your screen name. You're bound to get more help that way.

 

In this case: Shore excursions on Royal Caribbean

 

I would definitely check out the areas for RC and for the Caribbean. Go to the main page for the forum and scroll down (when you click on "boards" on the main page).

[Keith1010]

Ok. I am new at this and apparently did not make a good first post.:mad: We are a family of 5 with 3 very active boys, ages 20,18 and 15. We will be cruising to the Eastern Caribbean in June and our ports are Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Martaan. I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for excursions. Also, whether we should book through the cruise ship or try to on our own once we get to the ports. Any suggestions for great beaches also? I have already signed up for the zip line and para sailing. They are interested in possibly paddle boarding, jet skiing and possibly scuba diving. Also, I understand the drinking age is 18 in ports, but what is Royal Caribbean's real policy?

Thanks. Hope this further information helps! I appreciate it!

 

You are doing well.

 

Some of the ports you can easily do on your own rather than booking excursions depending on what you want to see. The major advantage of booking through the cruise line includes the dependability of the tour company and that if you arrive late back to the ship that the ship will wait for you. If you are on your own, the ship will not wait for you if you are running late.

 

You can post on the ports of call board for the ports you are looking at to get some specific suggestions.

 

RCI policy will be age 21 for drinking. There are certain places where drinking is permitted on the ship at age 18 or above but that is not the case in the Caribbean.

 

Coco Cay is there private island so there will be lots to do including items you can rent to go into the water.

 

Keith

[Bonnie J.]

Welcome to cruisecritic! As was said use the topic of your question not your name when posting. Then you'll get more answers.

 

Orient Beach in St. Maartin is NOT a topless beach it is a NUDE beach!There is an area where cabs usually drop you off where most have suits on but we saw a nude elderly man and his topless wife walk right past us on the beach.

There are many other beaches you can go to that are not nude or topless.

Are you PADI certified? If not you can snorkel in all the ports including Coco Cay. I am sure the ship will have tours in the two ports.

Just make plan to be back on the ship about an hour before you must be!

[johneeo]

Welcome to cruisecritic! As was said use the topic of your question not your name when posting. Then you'll get more answers.

 

Orient Beach in St. Maartin is NOT a topless beach it is a NUDE beach!

 

Not true. A NUDE BEACH is where EVERYONE is naked, and there is a nude beach at the most southern part.

 

The rest of the beach is NOT NUDE. 99% will not be nude. You might see an occasional topless female. It is rare to see total nudity away from the nude beach.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to cruisecritic! As was said use the topic of your question not your name when posting. Then you'll get more answers.

 

Orient Beach in St. Maartin is NOT a topless beach it is a NUDE beach!There is an area where cabs usually drop you off where most have suits on but we saw a nude elderly man and his topless wife walk right past us on the beach.

There are many other beaches you can go to that are not nude or topless.

Are you PADI certified? If not you can snorkel in all the ports including Coco Cay. I am sure the ship will have tours in the two ports.

Just make plan to be back on the ship about an hour before you must be!

 

Not true. A NUDE BEACH is where EVERYONE is naked, and there is a nude beach at the most southern part.

 

The rest of the beach is NOT NUDE. 99% will not be nude. You might see an occasional topless female. It is rare to see total nudity away from the nude beach.

 

 

Agree -- we have been to Orient Beach many times and it is NOT nude -- have seen a few women walking around topless -- but that is it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Ok. I am new at this and apparently did not make a good first post.:mad: We are a family of 5 with 3 very active boys, ages 20,18 and 15. We will be cruising to the Eastern Caribbean in June and our ports are Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Martaan. I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for excursions. Also, whether we should book through the cruise ship or try to on our own once we get to the ports. Any suggestions for great beaches also? I have already signed up for the zip line and para sailing. They are interested in possibly paddle boarding, jet skiing and possibly scuba diving. Also, I understand the drinking age is 18 in ports, but what is Royal Caribbean's real policy?

Thanks. Hope this further information helps! I appreciate it!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Lots of good information here.

[johneeo]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Lots of good information here.

 

And some really bad info at times!:eek:

[mrsfuzzmo]

Your adult kids might be interested in doing a "resort" or "discover scuba" dive if they are not certified. Most ships will offer them. We did one in St. Maarten. It was a half day. We went to Orient Beach in the morning and then did the resort dive in the afternoon. You will have a short (about an hour) lesson about diving, then be fitted for gear, given a short test in the water and then you will dive to no more than 30 ft. with an experienced guide. Kids as young as twelve can do it and it's a great intro to scuba. Check it out if thats something they will be interested in.

Here's one thing to remember when booking ship sponsored excursions vs. on your own. If it's a ship sponsored excursion and you are delaye din getting back to the ship, 90% of the time the ship (many of them are 100%) will wait for you to reboard. If you go off on your own and get back to the ship late, you may be left behind and have to pay for your own way to the next port. It happens more often than you know. I used to work on ships and it happens a LOT! But, that being said, I usually book my own excursions from a reputable company on shore because it's so much cheaper, and then give myself a HUGE cushion of time to return.

[infoprof56]

Also, I understand the drinking age is 18 in ports, but what is Royal Caribbean's real policy?

Thanks. Hope this further information helps! I appreciate it!

 

The drinking age will be 21 on the ship and the private island Coco Cay, in St. Maarten your 15 year old could probably order a drink in a bar. The older two definately can. I have never been to St. Thomas, but since it is a US island they may be more restrictive on drinking than other islands.

[mitsugirly]

If you go to the individual boards for each port of call and post, you will get a lot more answers. Also there is a lot of information on those boards that you can research different things that might interest your family and take it from there.

 

IMO, it's much CHEAPER to do any island on your own. Just simply get off the ship and hail a cab to your destination. The islands thrive off the tourist. They all know when the ships are in port. There seems to always be a taxi where ever you might want to go. If there isn't one waiting to take you back, there is always someone around to call a cab for you. :)

 

For St Thomas, depending on if you are looking to do snorkeling or relaxing on a beautiful beach, I went to Sapphire Beach. BEAUTIFUL place with TONS of fish that come right up to you, a lot of coral reef that goes really, really far out, but yet not deep, and iguanas walking around all over the beach and in the trees. There are grape trees for natural shade if you want to get out of the sun for awhile. Perfect place. Snorkeling equipment is cheap. Here is my link to the review I did there along with a link to tons of pictures we took when we were there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280889

 

As for Orient, when we were there, there wasn't A LOT of nudes walking around, but there was definitely a few handfuls. Yes, completely nude. There were several ladies and even a gentleman that was completely nude that was not located in the "nude area". I did see it at other places on the island as well, just not as much.

 

To me, Orient Beach was just a beach for me. Pretty sand, beautiful water, but we didn't do much while there other than swim and walked around. We were too excited to get to Maho to watch the planes come in. Your teens would probably like that. They fly in really low. Here is the review I did on Maho:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26322154#post26322154

 

And for your viewing pleasure:

 

 

[Gonzo70]

I would consider Maho beach in St. Maarten. This beach is directly across the street from an airport, so it is fun watching planes take off and land; they fly just several feet over your head!

 

Here is a photo:

 

Orient beach is nice, but not one I would take children to. When I went there I saw numerous people fully nude (men and women). Maho beach is not nude/topless; only fully clothed people there (unless the jet stream of a plane taking off blows someone's top off)!

 

Lots of nice beaches in St. Thomas. If your children want to snorkel, it may be easiest to book through the cruise line, but if you research it (go to the Port of Call boards here on Cruise Critic) you'll be able to save some money booking it on your own. Definitely plan something out in advance unless you decide you are just going to go to a beach (then grabbing a cab day of is fine).