Would like reviews on the stingray adventure in Blackbeard's Cay in Nassau

[dugoutdiva]

We've booked the 9/23/07 Valor cruise to Eastern Caribbean for our 20th anniversary. We're virgins (never cruised before) and need advise on excursions to Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. There are so many choices:confused:

[JetWestInc]

Nassau: Blackbeards cay is great. Take the thriller powerboat if you get the chance. They have stingrays, jetskis, a bar/grill, and a nice beach and snorkel equiptment.

 

St. Maarten. ATV's are cool. Scenic ride around the island that stops at a French beach. Also did the Shipwreck cove snorkeling. Great location, but water can get choppy. Guides were great, though, and lots of wildlife and several wrecks. Have also taken a cab to Sunset Beach, which is at the approach end of Princess Julianna International Airport. 747's and other large aircraft literaly buzz the beach, sometimes as low as 50'. Best days to view are Tues, Thurs, and Sat afternoon (between 1 and 4 pm island time).

 

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0323096/M/

 

St. Thomas. Check put paradise point. Absolutley breathtaking views and the "Bushwacker"....Mmmmm. Also Parasailed here and took the Sea Blaster snorkel tour. Both HIGHLY reccomended.

 

Don

[POOHISME2]

I did this last year and Loved it so much I booked it again for the end of this month. The stingrays are wonderful and de-barbed. The beach is besutiful. The whole island is very clean.

[dugoutdiva]

I think the stingray thing sounds neat but scary! Are the stingrays in a pool inside a building? I'm trying to picture this whole thing.....then you go to the beach and snorkel? I'm also thinking about the ultimate island tour in St. Thomas and the See and Sea tour in St. Maarten...any input?

 

Thanks,

Kris

[MrPete]

We saw the stingrays, but we just beached it. It was so peaceful. I felt like I was on Gilligans Island.

 

[POOHISME2]

I think the stingray thing sounds neat but scary! Are the stingrays in a pool inside a building? I'm trying to picture this whole thing.....then you go to the beach and snorkel? I'm also thinking about the ultimate island tour in St. Thomas and the See and Sea tour in St. Maarten...any input?

 

Thanks,

Kris

 

They are sectioned off in this area.

 

St Thomas Check out my webshot link. Do a goolge search for Sunny Liston. Less $$ Then the Ultimate island and much better, I have done both. :)

[dugoutdiva]

Thanks for the pictures...worth a thousand words! Those look great! Now I'm more excited than ever!!!!!

[MamaParrotHead]

I think the stingray thing sounds neat but scary! Are the stingrays in a pool inside a building? I'm trying to picture this whole thing.....then you go to the beach and snorkel? I'm also thinking about the ultimate island tour in St. Thomas and the See and Sea tour in St. Maarten...any input?

 

Thanks,

Kris

 

You spend more time on that damn bus than anywhere else the entire day. The driver (atleast on our tour) only stopped once for pictures and obviously really wasn't interested in giving much of a guided tour. The Atlantis thing was cool, but honestly, 99% of the fish you see are all the same kind...Sargent Majors, because they're at the top of the food chain near Creole Rock. Pretty boring as well. Definately not worth the $, and is one of 2 Carnival excursions that turned us off of ship sponsored excursions all together. The other being the Yellowbird to Blackbeard's Cay, LOL.

[dugoutdiva]

Oooohhh, thankx for that info....I will trust your judgement! Do you suggest anything else in St. Maarten?

[MamaParrotHead]

and I hope to, since we LOVED St. Martin (probably my favorite port so far), I'd go to Orient Beach and do some shopping in Phillipsburg. I wouldn't go out of my way to get to the French side, I didn't see anything there I was overly impressed with. JMHO.

[dugoutdiva]

Your pictures are great! Did you go deep sea fishing and catch a shark? My husband and I went while we were in Cabo a few years ago and caught a 300 lb. blue marlin....that was so fun! Your pictures of the ship are the best I've seen so far. How did you like the Valor compared to the other ships you've been on? I hope you don't mind, I could pick your brain forever. Thanks! It's really nice to talk with people who are as excited about this thing as I am.

 

Kris

[MamaParrotHead]

That shark is a fake one hanging downtown Miami at Bayside Marketplace. I have gone deep sea fishing before, when I nannied, and the family I worked for went to their house in the FL Keys. Didn't catch a shark but we did catch a few good sized baraccudas!

 

We loved the Valor, couldn't have asked for anything more on a ship. I'm afraid we were spoiled, and our expectations set kind of high, as the Triumph really kind of paled in comparison. A secret tip...on sea days, go up the stairs next to the aft pool bar, up to deck 10. It's an EXCELLENT location, usually if you get there halfway early (8:30-9:00), there are chairs available and it's SUPER conveinent to the top deck of Rosie's (where there's a drink dispenser right inside the door with fruit punch, lemonade, etc.) and plenty of bar servers around. Also a quick jaunt down the small flight of stairs back to the Lido deck near the aft pool is where all the food, the bar and the restrooms are.;) But try not to go beyond the first set of wind breaks on either side...there is little to no air movement through there and you just BAKE.

 

As for Nassau...my problem with Blackbeard's Cay is that is takes quite a while to get there, and atleast on our excursion, we were only AT the beach for an hour and a half (and it took that long to get there). If I had to do it over again, I'd honestly probably just wing it and hop a cab over to Atlantis to poke around, hit the Straw Market for a bit and grab a drink somewhere local. I wasn't real impressed with Nassau in general, honestly.

 

Ooooh...one more tip about St. Martin. If you're looking for somewhere good to eat and drink, head to "The Greenhouse". It's RIGHT at the water taxi stand on the water (I think it's Front St.? I forget). EXCELLENT drinks, food and service. VERY reasonable.

 

I don't know what you have planned for St. Thomas, but Godfrey's tour was EXCELLENT. It was so good, he's sold us on independent tours (unless I want to do something REALLY bad I can't book anywhere but through the ship). WELL worth the money and our favorite excursion on that cruise. If you do look into Godfrey, I'd recommend Sapphire Beach...as Coki Beach is kind of in a crummy area (loaded with street vendors all over the place, and I think there was even a cemetary across the way if I remeber correctly) and there wasn't many facilities at Megan's Bay (or so I've heard).

 

Any other questions, please feel free to ask!:)

[dugoutdiva]

HA HA obviously I don't get out much, I guess it would have had to of been jaws to be that big and real! Yeah, we don't have many hanging sharks in Missouri......totally just a hick!

 

I have read several opinions about Nassau and most of them say the same thing you did..not their favorite port but most seem to lean towards Atlantis....we'll probably just wing it. The only advantage of the excursions through the ship that I can see is that the ship will wait on you if you get hung up by something unforseen.

 

Does sapphire beach have parasailing and all that stuff? My hubby has always said he would like to parasail...I'll watch. I'd really like to do some snorkeling (my DH doesn't care for that too much, but he agreed to do some of it for me) Which beach do you think has the best snorkeling or is it all pretty much the same? On one of these reviews someone said they saw a baraccuda while snorkeling....I think I'd go into cardiac arrest! Would Coki beach have more water sport stuff than Sapphire? The cemetery thing doesn't bother me, I'm an embalmer.

 

We will be in St. Thomas from 9 am until 8 pm and it's our anniversary day so I'd also like to find something kind of quiet where we can relax and have an evening drink or something.....see now instead of driving my husband crazy with this, I'm working on you - sorry!

 

I'm going to print this off so I can take your suggestions with me because I definitely will not remember all of this if left to memory.

 

Thanks again,