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Required Celebrity Shore Excursion in St. Maarten?

stones902

By stones902,
in Celebrity Cruises

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stones902

stones902

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Question for recent cruisers (specifically to St. Maarten):  I'm reading that "on your own" tours are no longer permitted and you might take a Celebrity Excursion if you want to get off the ship.  My question is are passengers permitted to exit the ship and visit the shops only in the port area or is this not allowed either.

 

Just trying to get a feel of what to expect when we sail in October.  Thanks in advance.

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spammie

spammie

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58 minutes ago, stones902 said:

Question for recent cruisers (specifically to St. Maarten):  I'm reading that "on your own" tours are no longer permitted and you might take a Celebrity Excursion if you want to get off the ship.  My question is are passengers permitted to exit the ship and visit the shops only in the port area or is this not allowed either.

 

Just trying to get a feel of what to expect when we sail in October.  Thanks in advance.

Was there last week on Edge.  I asked the same question on board as I LOVE shopping in St. Maarten.  Then answer unfortunately is NO.  You can not go shopping or wander away from your group if you do an excursion.  Unfortunately we stayed on the ship.  From the deck of the ship it appeared all the shops at the dock were closed.  

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Gatordad1967

Gatordad1967

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2 minutes ago, spammie said:

Was there last week on Edge.  I asked the same question on board as I LOVE shopping in St. Maarten.  Then answer unfortunately is NO.  You can not go shopping or wander away from your group if you do an excursion.  Unfortunately we stayed on the ship.  From the deck of the ship it appeared all the shops at the dock were closed.  

shame, as that has to be killing the economy.

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stones902

stones902

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6 minutes ago, spammie said:

Was there last week on Edge.  I asked the same question on board as I LOVE shopping in St. Maarten.  Then answer unfortunately is NO.  You can not go shopping or wander away from your group if you do an excursion.  Unfortunately we stayed on the ship.  From the deck of the ship it appeared all the shops at the dock were closed.  

For what it’s worth, we had friends on the Edge about a month ago prior to this latest policy. They said about 1/2 of the shops in Phillipsburg were closed and many items were short of stock in the stores that were open. I was hoping that the port shops might be available but apparently that’s not an option either. I agree that it’s a shame and will really devastate the local economy. 

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susiesan

susiesan

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How long is St. Maarten going to be closed to go off the ship on your own? I don't care about the shopping, I just want to go to the beach. My cruise is not until December.

 

Is this coming from St. Maarten or Celebrity? Can you cite the specific rule from a St. Maarten web site?

 

If this remains true by the Nov. 29 date of the Millennium sailing I am going to cancel the cruise. If St. Maarten can't be visited on your own it is likely many of the other 5 ports scheduled will have the same restrictions. 

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stones902

stones902

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6 minutes ago, susiesan said:

How long is St. Maarten going to be closed to go off the ship on your own? I don't care about the shopping, I just want to go to the beach. My cruise is not until December.

 

Is this coming from St. Maarten or Celebrity? Can you cite the specific rule from a St. Maarten web site?

 

If this remains true by the Nov. 29 date of the Millennium sailing I am going to cancel the cruise. If St. Maarten can't be visited on your own it is likely many of the other 5 ports scheduled will have the same restrictions. 

It is listed on the Celebrity site but restrictions are imposed by local governments and differ from island to island. It’s a fluid situation so you’ll just have to monitor the situation as conditions change. I’m sure SXM would love to be fully open if they could. 

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fernweh_S2

fernweh_S2

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My brother-in-law is on the Allure right now and as I can see his pictures on Facebook I have asked him about St. Martin. He was there on Sept 8th and he said he "I walked to the beach. Others took the water taxi. Others rented a car. Others rented a regular taxi for the day. And others took private tours."  I hope this helps.  He also just went to St. Thomas.  If anyone has any other questions, I can ask him.  

 

I too am concerned as we have a cruise for January and our biggest problem right now is the 48 hour test as we fly in 2 days early into Florida not our usual 1 day. Our previous cruise was cancelled so we changed to one that leaves a day later because we already had our flights so just hoping things get better and requirements relax.

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canderson

canderson

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4 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

If you are desperate to get off and don’t want to go with a big group, you can book one of the private tours. They are expensive but they are custom made for your needs.

Would do, but see none offered in Shorex section of Cruise Planner for our November visit.

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Duke95

Duke95

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It's called Private Journeys. You design your own tour with the help of a Celebrity tour specialist. 


I have not been very impressed so far with my attempt to get a very simple trip together while in St. Maarten. They have had the request for over 2 weeks now and are still researching the "feasibility" of basically calling a cab for me.

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Jim_Iain "Live from...." Rare

Jim_Iain

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Latest as of this morning.    
 

9F109E83-136D-4856-BC12-2A3D7CF5AAD8.thumb.jpeg.2a5a47095e5f7de2156d3ec6423df698.jpeg

 

They contacted the Government in St Kitts and got permission for private tours.   Lots of co fusion as we are the first ship into St Kitts. 
 

Private Journey accidental booked both but were able to cancel St Maarten. 
 

prices below are per person for 2

 

D5B97186-62A2-4582-82EE-538074F5CC0C.thumb.jpeg.9158f3c247c7b0ae3e86b7bc20e7fdbc.jpeg

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Jim_Iain "Live from...." Rare

Jim_Iain

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On 9/11/2021 at 7:43 AM, Duke95 said:

It's called Private Journeys. You design your own tour with the help of a Celebrity tour specialist. 


I have not been very impressed so far with my attempt to get a very simple trip together while in St. Maarten. They have had the request for over 2 weeks now and are still researching the "feasibility" of basically calling a cab for me.

 

Things have been very fluid but they were able to reserve St. Maarten yesterday.   The Tour Director has been beyond fantastic on getting tours arranged for us with little notice.

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Gatordad1967

Gatordad1967

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1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Things have been very fluid but they were able to reserve St. Maarten yesterday.   The Tour Director has been beyond fantastic on getting tours arranged for us with little notice.

silly question, so if you are vaccinated, you can walk around the port area at the shops?

 

 

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