Why stop at St. Barts

[shoesonfire]

Our October 2014 Infinity cruise stops at St. Barts, however, all the posts I've read recently indicate that the locals are not very open to having cruise visitors. Can anyone explain why Celebrity has decided to make this a port on a few of their itineraries? Why would anyone visit someplace where you are not welcome??:(

[Orator]

Our October 2014 Infinity cruise stops at St. Barts, however, all the posts I've read recently indicate that the locals are not very open to having cruise visitors. Can anyone explain why Celebrity has decided to make this a port on a few of their itineraries? Why would anyone visit someplace where you are not welcome??:(

 

I found all the people I met very warm and welcoming. Much more so last year than 10 years ago. The island is much more commercial now than it was before. Small shops along the beach have been replaced by brand name stores. Had some nice conversations with store owners and employees. I have found you get back what you put out. I don't do beaches, but those who do seem to have enjoyed themselves. Went to a pastry shop for some of the best I've had. You should try the Vanilla rum. Going back in December and looking forward to it. Just my opinion, others might differ depending on their experience.

[Christine Frances]

We have been there and it is beautiful! Never noticed any problems with the locals:confused: Lots of great shopping, a beach close to the port and you just have to go up the hill to watch the planes come in, just miss the cars and drop down over the hill. We loved it there:)

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I think Celebrity has added it to select itineraries because people haven't been there and are tired of going to the same old, same old islands.

 

I thought it was pretty hostile for the city to send a message to the ship that the water plant was down so there would be no toilets, etc. Once on land, we found it not to be a problem. The people in the stores were friendly enough, but most of the stores are VERY high dollar types. And the traffic was gridlock downtown.

 

I didn't see anything that would make me anxious to return, although my next Caribbean cruise is calling there as well. For me, Caribbean cruises are now about who is sailing with me and do I need a break from winter. I mean, how many times does a person need to go to St. Maarten with 25,000 of her closest personal friends???

 

[wwcruisers]

Well, I guess Celebrity is responding to folks who want to see new islands. That was one of the reasons we booked last February's Century Caribbean itinerary. We had never been to Grand Turk, St. Croix, or St. Barts. And, although Grand Turk ran a close second, St. Barts was one of the most disappointing ports we've ever been to. :(

 

As we were lining up for the early tenders, an announcement came over the ship's PA system that, due to a "waterworks' problem, ALL public restrooms on the island would be closed, that day. St. Barts is a beautiful island, and Gustavia is a a very clean city. But, at 11:00 am, almost nothing was open. So, we walked around a little, took some pictures, and went back to the ship. We surely weren't tempted to drink anything, with no open restrooms! :eek:

 

The locals clearly did not want us there. Folks from our roll-call who did find an open restaurant said that the food was good, but expensive -- and, in most cases, served with a side of attitude. So now, St. Barts is at the top of my "been there, done that" list -- no desire whatsoever to go back.

[Orator]

I think Celebrity has added it to select itineraries because people haven't been there and are tired of going to the same old, same old islands.

 

I thought it was pretty hostile for the city to send a message to the ship that the water plant was down so there would be no toilets, etc. Once on land, we found it not to be a problem. The people in the stores were friendly enough, but most of the stores are VERY high dollar types. And the traffic was gridlock downtown.

 

I didn't see anything that would make me anxious to return, although my next Caribbean cruise is calling there as well. For me, Caribbean cruises are now about who is sailing with me and do I need a break from winter. I mean, how many times does a person need to go to St. Maarten with 25,000 of her closest personal friends???

 

 

I asked a shop owner about the water plant situation and he told me that it was not working very early in the morning, but working well by the time Century arrived. I think that Celebrity was overly cautious as they didn't want us to be surprised.

[Christine Frances]

The population of St Bart's is only around 9,000 people so if indeed they had problems with their water plant, it may not be able to handle an extra 2,000 plus people. I can understand where they were coming from.

[Orator]

Getting a tender back to the ship was the biggest problem for. me. Long line and hot, hot, hot didn't make it a plus for me. Heard one cruiser complain that priority tendering did not exist. This is the one time I would have taken the dirty red carpet to move to the front if that was available. It wasn't. But, I and more importantly my DW enjoys pricy St Bart's.

[Kinofdc]

Getting a tender back to the ship was the biggest problem for. me. Long line and hot, hot, hot didn't make it a plus for me. Heard one cruiser complain that priority tendering did not exist. This is the one time I would have taken the dirty red carpet to move to the front if that was available. It wasn't. But, I and more importantly my DW enjoys pricy St Bart's.

 

Tendering can be a difficult issue for larger ships at Gustavia. It was a great port when we visited it on smaller ships from Seabourn and Windstar.

[BosoxI]

Well, I guess I'm like most in that I've never been there, so I'd like to set foot on it at least once. This is a place for the Hollywood glitterati to vacation, and I'm not one of them, though by all that is right and just, I should be!:) Isn't this where Gwyneth frolicked buck nekked on her veranda? Such an attraction.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BosoxI

[shoesonfire]

Enjoyed reading the responses -- St. Barts sounds beautiful but pricey and not sure having to tender will be worth the time spent going back and forth. Would love to tour the island but haven't found any reasonable tours so far and may settle to enjoy the view from the ship.

[HotRoot]

Enjoyed reading the responses -- St. Barts sounds beautiful but pricey and not sure having to tender will be worth the time spent going back and forth. Would love to tour the island but haven't found any reasonable tours so far and may settle to enjoy the view from the ship.

 

St. Barts is very easy to drive yourself. Alamo will pick you up at the pier.

[Christine Frances]

St. Barts is very easy to drive yourself. Alamo will pick you up at the pier.

 

That's what we did and had a great day. We (the women) chatted for days about what stores we were going to "window shop" at, or so we told our husbands, and then found out the day of arrival that the only thing open on Sundays were the coffee shops and restaurants. Many, many husbands were quite relieved lol It is a beautiful island:)

[We're The Groupnors]

St. Bath's is our favourite stops of all the ports we've done in the Caribbean. It's easy to walk Gustavia and just enjoy some local culture. We headed off the beaten path and found a little restaurant, and seemed to be the only cruise passengers in there. The food was phenominal, and we felt like we were on the Cote d'Azure, rather than in the Caribbean! Sevice was anything but cold in the restaurant and in the shops we visited.

[shoesonfire]

St. Bath's is our favourite stops of all the ports we've done in the Caribbean. It's easy to walk Gustavia and just enjoy some local culture. We headed off the beaten path and found a little restaurant' date=' and seemed to be the only cruise passengers in there. The food was phenominal, and we felt like we were on the Cote d'Azure, rather than in the Caribbean! Sevice was anything but cold in the restaurant and in the shops we visited.[/quote']

 

Which direction did you head to go off the beaten path and can you advise the name of the restaurant you found, menu, and guesstimate of price? Curious!!

[sptrout]

It is worth stopping in St. Barts just to see all the huge yachts. You can walk along near them near downtown or see the really big yachts anchored in the bay. We managed to see a world famous one come sailing right by our ship. If you want to see the top 1%, go somewhere else, this place is for the 1% of the 1%.

[floatplan]

Barts is a great place to walk around and see the natural beauty. Walk over to shell beach. On the way back take the steps up to Fort Karl and see the great views. Just the foundation is left. A little farther is Fort Oscar.

 

The town can be busy with motor scooters but is still clean and very nice to walk around.

[dln929]

Enjoyed reading the responses -- St. Barts sounds beautiful but pricey and not sure having to tender will be worth the time spent going back and forth. Would love to tour the island but haven't found any reasonable tours so far and may settle to enjoy the view from the ship.

You would be crazy to stay on the ship. What a waste. We were at St. Barts in December when on our Azamara cruise. It's a stunningly beautiful island. You can look at my trip report in my signature; posts 67 onward talk about our day in St. Barts and there are a few photos as well. We were lucky enough to get an island tour but X doesn't offer one. I suppose you could hire a taxi to take you around for an hour, which I would absolutely do. I couldn't even begin to describe to you how lovely the island is and how well kept the houses and buildings and gardens are. There's nothing shabby about this island. Yes, it is pricy but who says you have to buy anything? The window shopping is enough of a treat, as are the beaches. The beauty of the island justifies the trouble of getting on the tender. I hope you reconsider and go to St. Barts for the day! I don't think you'll regret it.

[hcat]

we are looking forward to this port on our Connie cruise--even more so now because Tortola has been deleted due to a pier building project in Tortola..

 

we plan to have a nice lunch, see the yachts, walk to the beach area etc..and shop for a small trinket or two..have to remember to bring some Euros

[hcat]

You would be crazy to stay on the ship. What a waste. We were at St. Barts in December when on our Azamara cruise. It's a stunningly beautiful island. You can look at my trip report in my signature; posts 67 onward talk about our day in St. Barts and there are a few photos as well. We were lucky enough to get an island tour but X doesn't offer one. I suppose you could hire a taxi to take you around for an hour, which I would absolutely do. I couldn't even begin to describe to you how lovely the island is and how well kept the houses and buildings and gardens are. There's nothing shabby about this island. Yes, it is pricy but who says you have to buy anything? The window shopping is enough of a treat, as are the beaches. The beauty of the island justifies the trouble of getting on the tender. I hope you reconsider and go to St. Barts for the day! I don't think you'll regret it.

 

Off topic: Thanks for posting here and the link to your beautiful review of Azamara Quest.(have not read it all but have it marked) It has convinced us to try this line..esp with all the Celeb changes going on..Are there any reciprocals with Elite/Elite Plus? and do any points count for X?

Edited June 5, 2014 by hcat

[dln929]

Off topic: Thanks for posting here and the link to your beautiful review of Azamara Quest.(have not read it all but have it marked) It has convinced us to try this line..esp with all the Celeb changes going on..Are there any reciprocals with Elite/Elite Plus? and do any points count for X?

Hcat, thanks for the compliment! We are Elite with X and it was the unique itinerary to the Caribbean that persuaded us to try Azamara. The icing on the cake was that yes, there are reciprocal benefits between Elite and Azamara's top loyalty level Discoverer (there actually is a higher level like Elite Plus but it's new and they haven't applied any perks to it yet). If you go to Azamara's website and click on the "OUR SHIPS" bar at the top of the page it will bring up the link to Le Club Voyage.

 

 

[donaldsc]

We enjoyed our stay at St. Barts although I am not sure that I would want to do it again. We walked around town, drank some wine, spent some time at one of the walk to beaches, and relaxed. We had no problems at all with the tendering. No lines; no problems.

 

I certainly would not stay on the ship. Except for unsafe ports, what is the point of going on a cruise if you do not at least take a peak at the places you stop at?

 

DON

[shoesonfire]

Off topic: Thanks for posting here and the link to your beautiful review of Azamara Quest.(have not read it all but have it marked) It has convinced us to try this line..esp with all the Celeb changes going on..Are there any reciprocals with Elite/Elite Plus? and do any points count for X?

 

Would like to put in our 2 cents worth regarding Azamara: We have cruised Azamara 4 times, once on the Journey and 3 on the Quest -- and loved each of these cruises. Hope you try this line.

 

We actually stopped at St. Barts on our Journey cruise, tendered off this smaller ship without any problems, walked around a busy port window shopping, and took a walk to Shell Beach which was ok. Since we are returning to St. Barts again on Celebrity (another of our favorite cruise lines) we were looking for reviews and information about touring the island, and haven't found anything so far to convince us to spend much more time than we did on our previous stopover. It is a beautiful island but unless you are interested in snorkeling the sightseeing tours and taxis are rather pricey.

[We're The Groupnors]

Which direction did you head to go off the beaten path and can you advise the name of the restaurant you found, menu, and guesstimate of price? Curious!!

 

Most of the cruise ship passengers seemed to stay around the shopping area on peninisula once off the tender, but we walked further around the bend to what I guess you could call the "mainland" where the buildings seemed terraced one above the other into the side of the island as it rose away from the shore. It's not all that far as Gustavia is pretty small. The restaurant we ate at was on rue Charles de Gaulle. It has changed names now, but in the same location now is Pipiri. You can google it and check out the menu and prices, though I don't know if it's the same owners. It was hard deciding where to eat as all the restaurants looked so good, but this particular spot drew us in with their daily <menu>, which featured a main course of Fondue Savoiard. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

[Lsimon]

... I mean, how many times does a person need to go to St. Maarten with 25,000 of her [or his] closest personal friends???...

 

...uh...once every winter would be nice!

 

We're good with just about any port - although like to have a decent beach and/or basic waterfront restaurant for seafood lunch as well. As long as there is no snow and we don't need to wear warm clothes and boots.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Lsimon