Places to see Nassua, St. Thomas & St. Maarten

[oceanstate192]

Hi all.

I'm taking our family on our first ever cruise on Oasis to the Eastern Caribbean later this month. I would love to get some feedback on our planned stops on each of the islands to see if anyone has any experience they can share. It will be my wife and I, our 12 year old daughter and two sons age 9 and 5. Again, we've never been to any of these places before so this is all new to us.

 

Nassau - Plan on taking a jitney bus to the Sheraton at Cable Beach and getting day passes to spend time on beach and use their pool/bathrooms/bar etc.. Bus back to Straw Market to shop and find a place for lunch to try some local food. I hear the conch fritters are fantastic so we must try them. Then board ship. My boys are really into Pirates. Not sure of any pirates sights in Nassua other than the Pirate Museum which I've read mixed reviews about.

 

St. Thomas - Plan to take a taxi to Megans Bay and spend a few hours at the beach. Anything we should know about getting taxi to and from? Admission to beach or other rentals there? Then taxi back to port area for shopping and maybe something to eat. Anyone been to Blackbeards castle?

 

St. Maarten - We're still up in the air about what to do here. We'd love to experience a beach here and some local food but haven't been able to get any solid recommendations. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this and any other tips you may want to share. This board has been a great resource for us already.

[LMaxwell]

On the French side of St. Maarten you will find wonderful, fresh, French bakeries. Totally worth the experience and taste. City busses are $2 per person to go to Marigot. Taxis are about $20 for first two people, not sure of amount for additional people. Taxis and busses are the same type of small minivans; just the plate says bus or taxi. Not sure what local food is available in Philipsburg, all I saw were food joints aimed at tourists (burgers and salads, etc) and tourist priced too. Unless I am eating something I CAN'T get at home I usually just eat on the ship.

 

In Nassau there is a fish fry place made up of various small eateries about a mile from the straw market; easily within view of port. That is a good stop for conch fritters. If you are unsure about going to the Pirate museum you can always walk to the forts and queens staircase. It's free but a $1 admission into the fort itself.

 

Been a while since in St. Thomas but right at the end of the pier is a cable car up the mountain that is pretty cool.

[laedw]

On my recent Allure of the Seas cruise I took a Bernard's Sightseeing Tour of the French Side of St. Maarten. One of our stops included Marigot. The tour guide told us we could visit the pastries shops or have a Creole lunch at Enoch's Place. I chose to eat at Enoch's and the meal was fresh and very tasty. I had the best tasting grilled shrimp! You may also read about Enoch's Place on tripadvisor. Enjoy your cruise!

[oceanstate192]

Thank you both. My daughter and wife would love to go to the French side of St. Maarten. All I need to mention is: bakery and pastries. :)

 

The Creole lunch would be right up my alley. We'll have to try and squeeze in both.

 

And thanks LMaxwell for the heads up on the fish fry places and forts.

[LMaxwell]

Here is the place I went to in Marigot. Sarafinas.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147348-d1754928-Reviews-Sarafina_s-Marigot_Saint_Martin_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

[waterbug123]

Hi all.

Nassau - Plan on taking a jitney bus to the Sheraton at Cable Beach and getting day passes to spend time on beach and use their pool/bathrooms/bar etc.. Bus back to Straw Market to shop and find a place for lunch to try some local food. I hear the conch fritters are fantastic so we must try them. Then board ship. My boys are really into Pirates. Not sure of any pirates sights in Nassua other than the Pirate Museum which I've read mixed reviews about.

 

St. Maarten - We're still up in the air about what to do here. We'd love to experience a beach here and some local food but haven't been able to get any solid recommendations. Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

Nassau- We usually have lunch at Lum's Iguana. They seem to get very mixed reviews, but the food has always been good when we've gone. Typical Bahamian fare, including conch fritters, jerk chicken, grouper or grouper sandwich, rice and peas, etc. They also have burgers etc.

 

St. Maarten- Your boys would probably love to see the planes come in right overhead at Maho Beach. Very crowded with tourists, but check the arrival schedule of the daily KLM flight...it's a 747 that comes in around 12 or 1pm I think...very impressive! You could then continue on to a less crowded beach, bakeries, etc.

[FunCruiser56]

The Pirate Museum is cool, we enjoyed it and the tour that goes along with it of the forts is good too. Nausau is a short time port since your only there till 2 so not alot of time to do alot.

 

We are also doing Bernards Tour in St Martin. Your kids/family would probably enjoy it also, Iguania farm, seeing some of the island, beach time X2, and the French bakery- worth the trip :D We have wanted to watch the planes land for a long time at Maho. This tour is a win win and not too expensive either.

 

St. Thomas, I think Megan's Bay is $4 a person and a cab would be easy to get at the port, make sure and arange a return time.

 

If you check out the Port of Call boards for each island you will get alot of other suggestions.

 

We are sailing Oasis at the end of May and looking forward to it alot!

Bev

[seabeew]

Your plans sound great. A couple points. The Sheraton is under new ownership. It's now called the Melia. In January they were still offering their day pass for $30. (It could have been $35.) I second the suggestion for eating at the Fish Fry. The jitney to/from the Sheraton/Melia goes right by it. Just tell the driver you want to get off there. I have only eaten at Twin brothers but I am sure all the restaurants are similar. We eat there because we can watch them make the conch salad. Sharkey's across from the port also serves conch, etc if you are in a rush. The atmosphere isn't the same as the Fish Fry.

 

In st. Thomas you will be directed to one of the waiting open air taxis along with other passengers going to Magen's Bay (or other local destination). It will be a little chaotic, but it's worth it to see the sights. Taxis are expensive there. I would estimate the fare will be around $10 pp each way. The admission to Magen's bay is around $5 pp I think. Chairs are available to rent. I can't remember if they have umbrellas, but I know we were in the shade as I try to stay out if the sun when I can. I think you will need to bring towels from the ship. Also my daughter was thrilled to be able to rent a paddle board there. I don't remember the price.

 

We also love to go to Marigot (sp) in St. Martin. There are several restaurants behind the Straw Market that serve Caribbean food. We had whole grilled snapper there for around $15 at Rosemary's. We enjoyed it and plan to go back at the first opportunity. From there we took a cab to Orient Beach. We stayed a few hours. Our cab driver came back to pick us up.

 

Have a great trip.

 

Carolyn

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[summersigh]

 

St. Maarten - We're still up in the air about what to do here. We'd love to experience a beach here and some local food but haven't been able to get any solid recommendations. Any help would be appreciated. .

 

Bernards tour to Moho Beach to the Sunset Bar & Grill. (google Bernards and St Maarten) It's on the beach where the planes come over very low approaching the airport. Beautiful, sandy beach and the water is a Carribean dream :) Good food too.

 

There are folks that say they take a taxi or bus out there because it's cheaper but for peace of mind (imagining us not being able to find a taxi and missing the ship) we enjoyed the tour and narrative they gave us. Bernards meets close to the pier, takes you out there with a narrative by their wonderful guides, drops you at the Sunset Bar & Grill with a prearranged time to meet to return. It was well worth the $$ for us.

[TidePride]

We will be on Freedom next week. We booked a tour with Bernard's at St. Marteen that will include 2 hrs. of beach time. In St. Thomas we booked a tour with Godfrey. We have been on his tours before and really enjoyed them. As far as the Bahamas we have struggled to find something that everyone enjoys.

 

Have a great trip.

[caneguy]

Hi all.

I'm taking our family on our first ever cruise on Oasis to the Eastern Caribbean later this month. I would love to get some feedback on our planned stops on each of the islands to see if anyone has any experience they can share. It will be my wife and I, our 12 year old daughter and two sons age 9 and 5. Again, we've never been to any of these places before so this is all new to us.

 

Nassau - Plan on taking a jitney bus to the Sheraton at Cable Beach and getting day passes to spend time on beach and use their pool/bathrooms/bar etc.. Bus back to Straw Market to shop and find a place for lunch to try some local food. I hear the conch fritters are fantastic so we must try them. Then board ship. My boys are really into Pirates. Not sure of any pirates sights in Nassua other than the Pirate Museum which I've read mixed reviews about.

 

St. Thomas - Plan to take a taxi to Megans Bay and spend a few hours at the beach. Anything we should know about getting taxi to and from? Admission to beach or other rentals there? Then taxi back to port area for shopping and maybe something to eat. Anyone been to Blackbeards castle?

 

St. Maarten - We're still up in the air about what to do here. We'd love to experience a beach here and some local food but haven't been able to get any solid recommendations. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this and any other tips you may want to share. This board has been a great resource for us already.

 

 

Hi Oceanstate192,

Just got off Oasis eastern and it was great. In St. Maarten we booked a private tour with Bernard's. We were six people and they picked us up at 9:30 and we got back to the ship at 4:30. It was great as we went were we wanted and stayed as long as we wanted. You and the boys with LOVE Moho (Airplane)beach. The KLM 747 comes in on Tues and Sun. so we missed it, Oasis is in port on a Wed. but the Air France A340 is a daily and it lands around 2 PM local time.

 

I am writing a review of our cruise at this time Look for it on the thread

 

Oasis 3/22-29/14 so, so writing.......really pretty girls.

 

I have posted already all of the Cruise Compasses for the week and teen and younger programs. Hope you like the review.

 

Caneguy

[caneguy]

 

Picture I took of A340 coming in for landing at Moho beach

 

Caneguy

[Jen731]

Hi all.

I'm taking our family on our first ever cruise on Oasis to the Eastern Caribbean later this month. I would love to get some feedback on our planned stops on each of the islands to see if anyone has any experience they can share. It will be my wife and I, our 12 year old daughter and two sons age 9 and 5. Again, we've never been to any of these places before so this is all new to us.

 

Nassau - Plan on taking a jitney bus to the Sheraton at Cable Beach and getting day passes to spend time on beach and use their pool/bathrooms/bar etc.. Bus back to Straw Market to shop and find a place for lunch to try some local food. I hear the conch fritters are fantastic so we must try them. Then board ship. My boys are really into Pirates. Not sure of any pirates sights in Nassua other than the Pirate Museum which I've read mixed reviews about.

 

 

I will do that itinerary in June, but I think you might have too much on your plate for Nassau. You are only in port until 2, which means you have to be back on the ship by 1 or 1:30. I guess if you are a real early bird and get off the boat as soon as it docks you might get your money's worth of the day pass at Cable Beach, but it's something to think about. I can't remember how long of a cab ride it is. I have been back and forth in my head about what we are going to do in Nassau. If your kids are really into pirates, you might do the museum and shop around instead of the day pass, then get your lunch before getting back on the ship. If your next two ports will be beach days, it might be enough for you!! We are doing a tour on St. Maarten with Soulagia. I am super excited about it, I hope we have fun. My kids have never snorkeled and they can't wait to try. We are still debating St. Thomas, but I'm leaning towards Trunk Bay. I am obsessed with the Baths at Virgin Gorda, but I think I've resigned myself that we simply don't have the time to do it.

 

Write back and let us know what you do and how it goes!!!

[marthkat75]

On my recent Allure of the Seas cruise I took a Bernard's Sightseeing Tour of the French Side of St. Maarten. One of our stops included Marigot. The tour guide told us we could visit the pastries shops or have a Creole lunch at Enoch's Place. I chose to eat at Enoch's and the meal was fresh and very tasty. I had the best tasting grilled shrimp! You may also read about Enoch's Place on tripadvisor. Enjoy your cruise!

 

We went on a Bernard's tour, too, but yours sounds very different. Ours was a drunks paradise. Maybe need to book with clarity for the family tour and not the booze bus. We had a blast

[ehfl]

We like the Poop Deck in Nassau.

[waterbug123]

Moho Beach to the Sunset Bar & Grill.

 

There are folks that say they take a taxi or bus out there because it's cheaper but for peace of mind (imagining us not being able to find a taxi and missing the ship) we enjoyed the tour and narrative they gave us.

 

When we visited Maho Beach, our taxi driver came back for us. But there were a zillion other taxis there waiting as well. Drivers know it's a popular place for cruise pax, so I doubt one would ever have trouble finding a cab back to the ship.

[LMaxwell]

When we visited Maho Beach, our taxi driver came back for us. But there were a zillion other taxis there waiting as well. Drivers know it's a popular place for cruise pax, so I doubt one would ever have trouble finding a cab back to the ship.

 

The strip of road between the beach and runway is JAM packed with taxis. You couldn't NOT get a taxi almost. At the end of the beach strip at the corner of the main road is where busses pass by every minute or two. Taxi to Philipsburg from Maho was $18, busses were $2.

 

Philisburg busses will drop you around Back Street (one block from all the main tourist area) whereas a Taxi will take you probably right to the cruise terminal if you want or any where else you pay them to.

[MrCruzeaddict]

Hi all.

I'm taking our family on our first ever cruise on Oasis to the Eastern Caribbean later this month. I would love to get some feedback on our planned stops on each of the islands to see if anyone has any experience they can share. It will be my wife and I, our 12 year old daughter and two sons age 9 and 5. Again, we've never been to any of these places before so this is all new to us.

 

Nassau - Plan on taking a jitney bus to the Sheraton at Cable Beach and getting day passes to spend time on beach and use their pool/bathrooms/bar etc.. Bus back to Straw Market to shop and find a place for lunch to try some local food. I hear the conch fritters are fantastic so we must try them. Then board ship. My boys are really into Pirates. Not sure of any pirates sights in Nassua other than the Pirate Museum which I've read mixed reviews about.

 

St. Thomas - Plan to take a taxi to Megans Bay and spend a few hours at the beach. Anything we should know about getting taxi to and from? Admission to beach or other rentals there? Then taxi back to port area for shopping and maybe something to eat. Anyone been to Blackbeards castle?

 

St. Maarten - We're still up in the air about what to do here. We'd love to experience a beach here and some local food but haven't been able to get any solid recommendations. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on this and any other tips you may want to share. This board has been a great resource for us already.

 

I would recommend going to Maho Beach in St. Maarten. You can watch planes landing right over your head. We go there on EVERY visit.

 

Joe

[LMaxwell]

While Maho is a really cool experience...don't go thinking it is a normal sit out and relax at the beach kind of experience. It. Is. Not.

 

It's a great atmosphere, it's a lot of fun, it's unique and worth going, IMO. But for most people a brief stop to experience it before moving on probably will suffice. If you're an airplane nut it could be nirvana though. Just wanted to throw that little asterisk worth of info out there.

[marci22]

There are folks that say they take a taxi or bus out there because it's cheaper but for peace of mind (imagining us not being able to find a taxi and missing the ship)...

 

If someone just wanted to go to Maho I wouldn't take a tour. I would take the public bus out $2pp (walk into town, go to Friendly Duty Free for your liquor and shop around a bit before you get the bus) and then bus back or taxi back. Lots of taxi drivers sit near the bar looking for fares back to the ship. As long as you allow enough time there is no problem finding a taxi.

 

If you want to do several things: Marigot, Maho, 2 hours at the beach, a tour through a local operator would be worth it.

Edited April 4, 2014 by marci22

[summersigh]

The day we were in St Maarten there were 6 ships in port -3 of which were "jumbos" :).

Our experience was that there were only 4 taxis in sight probably because of this :o and the port is quite a distance (especially in heavy tourist traffic) from Moho Beach.

Like I said ... personal preference :cool:

[marci22]

While Maho is a really cool experience...don't go thinking it is a normal sit out and relax at the beach kind of experience. It. Is. Not.

 

It's a great atmosphere, it's a lot of fun, it's unique and worth going, IMO. But for most people a brief stop to experience it before moving on probably will suffice. If you're an airplane nut it could be nirvana though. Just wanted to throw that little asterisk worth of info out there.

 

We didn't want to do a real beach day on our St. Martin day one trip so we just took a bus to Maho. Had drinks and lunch and then taxied back. It's a fun day if you just want to watch planes and get lunch.

[waterbug123]

While Maho is a really cool experience...don't go thinking it is a normal sit out and relax at the beach kind of experience. It. Is. Not.

 

It's a great atmosphere, it's a lot of fun, it's unique and worth going, IMO. But for most people a brief stop to experience it before moving on probably will suffice. If you're an airplane nut it could be nirvana though. Just wanted to throw that little asterisk worth of info out there.

 

Correct, which is why when I first suggested it, I mentioned just staying long enough to watch the daily KLM 747 flight that comes in from Amsterdam, then heading on. The OP mentioned that they have 2 little boys who I figured would probably find it very, very cool. I know my sons at that age would have thought so. But once you've seen the big one land, I'd leave. Definitely not a loungy-type beach.

[shipshape sam]

Maho Beach on St Maarten. It was our 4th trip to St Maarten, but a neat experience. Enjoyed the crowds, enjoyed the bar food while anticipating and really enjoyed experiencing the plane flying right over us and then on take off watching first hand, people being blown across the sand.

 

Mountain Top on St Thomas. For the views of Magens Bay. There are other nice views on way up and back down. We also liked Blue Beard's Castle for an interesting view of ships and Charlotte Amelie.

[OCruisers]

While Maho is a really cool experience...don't go thinking it is a normal sit out and relax at the beach kind of experience. It Is Not. .

 

Agree!

Unless you are big into seeing low flying airplanes, the beach area is not good at Maho. :rolleyes:

LuLu

~~~