Magic- St Maartan, St Kitts, Puerto Rico and Grand Turk

[jess1218]

I've gone through 8 pages of reviews and can't find any with this Itinerary. Is it a new sailing? I wanted to not only read reviews about the ports but also find the Fun Times.

[KPfromCT]

Following!!!:D:D

 

We are doing this same itinerary in June.

 

St. Kitts is the only new island for us, but since this is for DD's HS graduation, she has already made it CRYSTAL clear that she wants to go to a black sand beach. Now to find the best one........:rolleyes:

[trvlgirlmq]

Magic is taking this over from Breeze due to their port swaps. We did this itinerary in 2015. We had been to all the ports except St Kitts and it turned out to be our least favorite. We might have liked it more if the beach our tour went to was better. Small and very seaweedy. The fort was very cool though.

Edited October 17, 2016 by trvlgirlmq

[cruisinkelsey]

Following!

I'm doing the same itinerary on Vista in January :)

[Domino D]

I've gone through 8 pages of reviews and can't find any with this Itinerary. Is it a new sailing? I wanted to not only read reviews about the ports but also find the Fun Times.

 

As someone else mentioned, the Magic is taking this route over, so I don't know if you will find an exact match. We were considering this same itinerary on the Sunshine sailing 12/18, but it didn't work out.

 

Anyways, you can find funtimes for this route but they will be from different ships. Do you care if they are from another ship?

 

Try googling "funtimes carnival Port Canaveral 8 day St Kitts". You should find some from other ships. I looked at one from the Pride and one from the Breeze, I think.

[Jenny in TX]

We are doing these exact same ports in less than a month on the Conquest. Can't wait. St. Maarten & St. Kitts are both new ports to us. We have booked private tours in each of those ports. I looked at the port pages for ideas on what to do in each port.

[GoGoJules]

We visited these ports with Celebrity in 2014. In St. Kitts we did an ATV excursion that was really fun (even for those in our family that are seasoned riders). St. Maarten the town is an easy walk or ferry ride from the pier, with plenty of shops and great beach areas. I didn't quite get the hoards of people waiting in line to buy cheese. Other than that I'd have happily stayed there forever. [emoji41][emoji484][emoji267]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[coevan]

if you are adventurous in St.Martin, they have local buses which run regularly around the island for $1. They are vans and the license plates asy bus. You can get right to Maho Bay by bus, the beach where the airplanes land and the Sunset Grill. It's easy to kill a few hours there.

[jess1218]

Thanks for all of the tips!!

[Ajat0921]

following also. we are on this one June 24th 2017.:D

[joyful34]

We are taking this cruise on the Sunshine Feb 11. If you can wait until then I will post a review with fun times.

St Kitts -we are taking an island tour and then going to discovery beach bar. It is a new bar on a black sand beach, just down from the expensive cambriola club. Our tour agent said it wouldn't be very busy, had good food, and a view of the sunset since we are there until 8pm.

[krismas_tina]

I can't help with the Fun Times, but we did this itinerary on the Breeze in March, and it is my favorite along with the Southern Caribbean route!

 

In Grand Turk we stayed on the ship. We've been there several times. I recommend power snorkeling if you're not into Margaritaville.

 

We were in San Juan in the afternoon/evening, so we just wandered around town and had dinner. Last time we went to El Morro, which is one of the forts. It was very interesting but we didn't feel like doing it this time.

 

For St. Kitts we booked a tour with Thenford Grey and it was one of the best days. We had a great driver, a comfy van, and got to see all the sights. We ended at Carambola Beach Club which was great. St. Kitts is a beautiful island and I can't wait to go back.

 

In St. Maarten we took a taxi to Orient Beach. The taxi stand is right where you exit the port and it is very organized there. They also offer island tours. On Orient Beach, we went to Bikini Beach. I don't remember how much the chairs were but they were comfortable chairs. Orient is probably the most beautiful Beach I've ever been to.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jess1218]

We will be on the Magic on Nov 26! I've never booked a cruise that was only 6 weeks out so I'm cramming to get all of the info I need! I really appreciate all of your posts!

[sweenbean21]

Love the vibe of shipwreck beach in St Kitts, been twice and will definitely be back!

[Namelocg]

I did this itinerary on the Splendor in August. I have all the fun times but since I am working tomorrow and sailing again on Saturday I don't have time to post them now. I can try to answer questions now and post them in early November when I get home.

[KPfromCT]

following also. we are on this one June 24th 2017.:D

 

 

We are on the same cruise!!!!!! :D

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ray98]

I have my eye on this one sometime in Jan or Feb. The itinerary is intriguing since we have been on too many Western Caribbean cruises recently.

 

I am ready for something different.

Edited October 21, 2016 by ray98

[Anyislandwilldo]

St. Kitts.....go to the Batik factory if you are into that sort of thing. They have lovely items to buy. The items are made on site. I bought a beautiful pillow cover there that lays on my bed. Great memories. The landscaping around the area is also very beautiful. I took many pictures during that tour.

[momin05]

Joyful34, Please post those fun times in February! We are booked on this itinerary on Sunshine in April and I would love to see the Fun times. I would also love to see the menus to help decide on when to do specialty dining. Since this itinerary doesn't start on Sunshine until later, I am patiently waiting to hearing from the people who take it early next year.

[mistyinca]

I'm on the same sailing with you! Have you signed up for the meet and mingle yet?

[evandbob]

I've stayed on St Kitts at the Marriott and made several port stops while cruising. I've enjoyed the cat sail/snorkel to Nevis, the scenic lookouts esp. the place that overlooks the thin strip of land separating the Atlantic from the Caribbean.

 

While it's not black sand, I do enjoy Carambola's beach club, nice calm water and a sandy beach, as well as great grilled grouper or lobster salad sandwiches for lunch.

 

Grand Turk has several great snorkel tours just offshore, and Jack's Shack and other vendors down the beach to the better sandy and less crowded section. Most people just congregate right off the pier and Margaritaville. Many don't know that the town of Cockburn on this isle is the capital of Turks and Caicos.

 

St Maartens has the best beaches like Orient and Dawn on the French side. Good shopping in Phillipsburg, just take the water taxi right off the pier to get there. Great food, esp. if one ventures to Grand Case.

 

San Juan is historic, has the forts, good shopping and so so beaches. I've been careful there lately since Zika, dengue and chikungunya is prevalent - use repellant!

[qshari]

We will be on the Magic on Nov 26! I've never booked a cruise that was only 6 weeks out so I'm cramming to get all of the info I need! I really appreciate all of your posts!

 

We are on this sailing also. We did the same itinerary on Breeze the last couple of years. Do you have any specific questions? Getting closer, I for one can not wait to get onboard!

[pghsteelerfan]

Following!!!:D:D

 

We are doing this same itinerary in June.

 

St. Kitts is the only new island for us, but since this is for DD's HS graduation, she has already made it CRYSTAL clear that she wants to go to a black sand beach. Now to find the best one........:rolleyes:

 

There is a black sand beach in St. Kitts. It's on South Friars Bay, where both Carambola and Shipwreck are located at opposite ends of the beach. We were in St. Kitts last September (2015) on a cruise and spent part of the day at Shipwreck because we also wanted to experience the black sand. We loved it and I'd definitely return, but I will admit that Shipwreck is not the beach for everyone.

 

It was a very narrow beach, just enough room for one row of loungers/palapas. The water does come up close to the loungers, and the water was very calm the day we were there. The palapas had large nails in them to hang your belongings from. But the color of the water with that black sand was just gorgeous! If you'd prefer to stay at Carambola for the the day, Shipwreck is about a 10 minute walk down the beach.

 

I don't know if there are any other black sand beaches in St. Kitts or not. We've also been to Cockleshell (Valor 2013) and it wasn't black sand.

[CruisingBeans]

We are doing these exact same ports in less than a month on the Conquest. Can't wait. St. Maarten & St. Kitts are both new ports to us. We have booked private tours in each of those ports. I looked at the port pages for ideas on what to do in each port.

 

I'm looking at the same itinerary on the Conquest for Feb 2018. So far out so I'm still shopping around. I'd love your thoughts about the cruise and ship when you get back. Happy Cruising!!

[sunshinemom17]

We are taking this cruise on the Sunshine Feb 11. If you can wait until then I will post a review with fun times.

St Kitts -we are taking an island tour and then going to discovery beach bar. It is a new bar on a black sand beach, just down from the expensive cambriola club. Our tour agent said it wouldn't be very busy, had good food, and a view of the sunset since we are there until 8pm.

 

We are also going on the Magic on November 25th. We are planning to do Discovery Beach Bar, as well. Do you know how you are getting there? Would you like to try to share a taxi? I contacted the Beach Bar and he said it would be $10/per person round trip for transportation with a minimum of 4 people. We have 4 people but thinking it may be cheaper if we get another mode of transportation. I've never been to St. Kitts so I'm not sure, though. He originally quoted me $15/pp.