Ferry Service from St. Maarten to St. Barts - Question

[ssawjo]

First, has anyone used a ferry from Philipsburg to St. Barts? If so, which ferry did you use and what was your experience? Was it worth it for a day trip? What did you do once you were on St. Barts? Any other pertinent information would be greatly appreciated. We are on the Celebrity Edge on Feb. 28 from 7 AM to 5 PM. Celebrity has an excursion leaving at 10 AM and it is a six hour excursion but I was thinking of doing it myself and saving some money. Once on St. Barts the Edge excursion participants are on their own. The cost appears to only cover the ferry ride.

 

Thank you.

 

Bill and Kathi

I posted this on the St. Maarten board also but to date no responses.

[zqvol]

The only thing that I would say is that the ship excursion will get you back on time. Depending on how often the ferry runs, you might end up with less time on St. Barths and risk getting back in time.

[ssawjo]

On 11/24/2018 at 11:46 AM, zqvol said:

The only thing that I would say is that the ship excursion will get you back on time. Depending on how often the ferry runs, you might end up with less time on St. Barths and risk getting back in time.

Agree, and so we decided to do the ship's tour to St. Barths.  Thanks.

[dawnbt]

On 11/29/2018 at 1:10 PM, ssawjo said:

Agree, and so we decided to do the ship's tour to St. Barths.  Thanks.

How did you like St.Barts? What did you do there? Was everything right at the pier or did you have to travel to your destination once there? St. Maarten is a port stop in our Carnival cruise in August and plan on taking the excursion to St. Barts, but not sure what to expect.

[ssawjo]

13 hours ago, dawnbt said:

How did you like St.Barts? What did you do there? Was everything right at the pier or did you have to travel to your destination once there? St. Maarten is a port stop in our Carnival cruise in August and plan on taking the excursion to St. Barts, but not sure what to expect.

First off, I hope your cruise is not cancelled or diverted for some reason.  As for St. Barts, it is a ritzy place and all we did was walk around.  Should have taken a taxi at the shuttle pier where there were many for an island tour.  We were going to walk over to Shell Beach but the DW's knee was hurting.  Had lunch and a few beers.  Service was not great at any of the places we stopped at.  Can't recall names.  The trip over was very rough and the crew handed out barf bags before we even left St. Maarten.  Several people got violently ill but fortunately we did not.  The trip back was very smooth and people slept or drank a few beers.  Personally, would not do it again but can say we visited.  Good luck.

 

Bill

[princeton123211]

On 5/6/2020 at 12:23 AM, dawnbt said:

How did you like St.Barts? What did you do there? Was everything right at the pier or did you have to travel to your destination once there? St. Maarten is a port stop in our Carnival cruise in August and plan on taking the excursion to St. Barts, but not sure what to expect.

St Barts is a yachting playground for the extremely rich. Everything on the island is extremely expensive and as a day visitor you very much get the impression that the locals would prefer you not be there unless you can afford to dock your yacht or stay in one of the $1500 a night hotel rooms. 

 

That being said its extremely beautiful and easily one of the nicest islands in the entire Caribbean and I think worth at least one visit. To go out and enjoy yourself you just need to be prepared to spend a bunch of money. We took a tender into Gustavia a few years ago and hired a taxi to take us to Eden Rock for lunch, which is one of their famous beach hotels. The 10 minute cab ride ended up being about 70 USD each way. Lunch at the Jean-Georges run casual beach restaurant at Eden Rock was delicious, but ran about 280 Euros for what amounted to be 4 cocktails, a personal pizza, bowl of gazpacho, and a large bottle of sparkling water. Stunning surroundings but the same price as a very nice dinner in New York City for not that much food. 

 

You can walk around Gustavia and not spend money on a taxi but the offerings are fairly pedestrian. If you are going to invest the time in coming over, do it right. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.