Caribbean Princess- Eastern Excursion Question

[Greg and Mary]

This is our first cruise and we don't want to overload with excursions so we decided that one port we would just explore the island on our own via taxis, walking, shopping, beach etc..nothing structured. And then book excursion for the other port. We are going to St. Thomas, St. Martin and Princess Cays. Should we book the excursions in St. Thomas or St. Martin? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Rustynail]

In St. Thomas we just took a cab into the heart of the city for some shopping and sightseeing. We then decided to take on of the many tour/taxi trips around the island with final destination a beach of your choice. The taxi came back and picked us up as promised right on time.

 

In St. Matin we took a taxi with others from our ship right to Orient Beach for the day.

 

For Princess Cays all you need to do is take the tender to the island. Once there you can rent a cabana (if still available) or a water float.

 

Have fun... we certainly did!

 

Dan

[Katie333]

We took this itinerary and ship, and did self tours in each island. Godfrey Tours is great for St Thomas and much cheaper than any ship's tour. If you search it on this site, I'm sure you'll find the contact info easily enough.

[britsbest]

No question On these stops do NOT take ships tours. There will be loads of taxis at ship side and you'll get to see much more with them than on a tour Did it last year! This year doing the same except in Jamaica where I feel it could be safer on a ships tour

[OCruisers]

Greg and Mary .... Agree with britsbest! St. Thomas and St. Martin are very easy islands to do the things you described OnYourOwn.

 

If you have not already, you would enjoy going to the Ports of Call Board (right here on CC) and checking under each of your cruise stops. Lots of good and helpful info there!

 

Have fun planning! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[Aquarian]

On our first Eastern Caribbean cruise, we booked excursions at both St. Thomas and St. Martin through Princess because that made us comfortable. We wanted to relax and not have to worry about getting back to the ship on time or getting lost, stuck in traffic, etc. My suggestion is to wait until you have a couple of cruises under your belt before going off on your own. There are plenty of affordable, fun excursions available through Princess.

[4xcruisers]

st. thomas I would say do whatever you want, unless any in your group are snorkelers. If so you might think about Trunk Bay on St. John if you decide to go go on your own not thru ship. It will cost less and you will have more time. Search the boards there is much information about doing this on your own.

St. Martin you might want to consider the Americas Cup Regatta. It is an absolute blast, unless someone in your group gets seasick.

Just my opinion though. If you want more info about either of these email me at xakmom@yahoo.com.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[katisdale]

We did a day sail on the "new horizons" sail boat when we were in St. Thomas. We had fun snorkeling at two locations on St. John and they served us a full lunch. We were under sail most of the time. On St. Martin we walked off the boat and asked a taxi driver for an island tour (we had Max Racon and excellent guide/driver) who took us around the island and also to the butterfly farm and zoo. At Princess Cay we just swam and played at the beach as did everyone else.

[mskopins]

St. Maarten has the Golden Eagle Catamaran. Board right at the cruise ship. the women love this because the crew wears black boxer type bathing trunks black bow ties and white cuffs. Really lively music and drinks on board. Cruise to a beach (about 1 hour or so) Mamosa's or plain orange juice on board in the morning. Relax at the beach for about 2 hours. The crew took the women on the beach and brought "special volcanic mud":confused: from the interior of the island, (right!!) and gave the women a mud bath. My wife really enjoyed that. I just floated around and received drinks from the floating life presever filled with libations. The cruise back is under sail and they serve rum punch and deli sandwiches. I would rate this an excellent excursion for the price which I think was about $70 pp. You can email me for more info milt.skopinski@comcast.net.

 

Good luck

[Northender]

Is this a Princess excursion or one that you did on your own.

We will be in SXM in October and would look this up. Any links you may have if not Princess would be appreciated.

Oh, one more thing - how about shade - I need to be out of the sun.

 

TIA

[atlcple2]

In St. Thomas, if you walk up to the main street, you can get go up to Paradise Point, it is very pretty, but kind of expensive. We also took a taxi to Megan's Bay....it is on the list of most beautiful beaches in the world and lives up to its name. Very quiet beach with forests around it to explore as well as the clean beach. There is a place to get food and drinks. Very relaxing.

 

St. Martin -- Orient Beach is our favorite, but be aware that it is a "nude" beach. We have been there twice and there are always a couple of nudists and a few topless women. We will be going there for a third time on the CB in September. Orient Beach is on the French side. I understand that the beaches on the Dutch side are just as beautiful.