first cruise

[carmal]

My family & I are going on the Carnival Valor March 09. We are going to Nausau, Bahhamas, St Thomas & St Marteen. We are plannig on doing the Dolphin Excursion in Nausau. Interested in Orient Beach in St Marteen & possibly SaphireBeach or Megans Bay in St Thomas. Would also like to do some shopping. Any help on how to get to these beaches & back to the ship in a resonable time. Are there resteraunts & bars along the beaches? Are there shops near the beaches? Any recommendations would be helpful since this is our first experience.

[bunkie1]

I was just in St Mrteen and we took a water boat for $10 round trip to a great beach and within walking distance you were right in the shopping area. I also went to Megans Bay it is very nice but expect to pay alot in taxi fees. I am thinking about also doing the Dolphin excursion in Cuzemel I am going on the Valor in January.. Hope this was helpful

[Boring Bob]

Planning to leave for the Eastern Cruise, via Valor on Nov 30th. Need info on costs for trip to beaches, etc.

 

boring bob

[kRN25]

Hi. All of the islands have great shopping. St thomas is a 5 dollar cab ride into town, and it drops you off at the "blue tent market" which is full of knock off/second hand purses. They are great quality and pricing if you happen to be shopping for that. I would recommend Dawn Beach in St Martin, however, when you dock there, after you tender in, there is a gorgeous beach right there.. We stayed there last time, rented jet skis, and sat along at a couple different bars.. I'm not sure it's worth cabbing to the other side of the island. In St thomas we took a kayak tour last year, and let me tell ya, you kayak out to the most gorgeous lagoon ever! I would strongly recommend it.. Nassau is a short stop, and I would recommend just walking around the local straw market for shopping. If your a shopper there is plenty of it throughout. Hope this helps =)

[Martini Mom]

Carmal,

 

We loved loved loved the Eastern Caribbean ports!

 

We didn't stay on St. Thomas, but instead took the Red Hook Ferry to St. John and went to Trunk Beach. I would HIGHLY recommend it. It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen! It looks like a picture from a postcard or calender. Beautiful water, soft white sand, great snorkeling, lifeguards, and the beach is lined with lush greenery. I posted a pic of the beach below. It was taken from the safari bus that dropped us off.

 

In St. Martin, we went to Orient Beach and LOVED it! We sat in front of Friendly Bar and rented a set of lounge chairs and an umbrella for CHEAP. We sat on the beautiful beach and drank beer and local rum that was infused with various flavors. The bartender would even bring our drinks out to us while we were standing in the surf. Amazing! My husband wants to do a long land vacation there in the future. Later, we went back to town and did a little shopping (not my big thing). My avatar picture was taken there.

[celbercrz333]

The Bahamas have a website you might want to check out just to see what's on it. I like to check out places that I'm going to by the chamber of commerce sites. Some even have yellow pages online in case you want to find something specific.

[Sheffie]

In St. Maarten, there are LOTS of taxis at the end of the pier that can take you over to Orient Beach. Once there, there are lots to bring you back to the ship. Orient has many places to eat, drink, and all kinds of shopping. I got a great bowl made from a palm frond. The man just made it as we were talking.

 

I have not been to Sapphire Beach, but want to try it next time we go to St. Thomas. I have read that there is good snorkeling there. Taxis at the pier can take you there.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Martini Mom]

We arranged to have the taxi mini van that dropped us off come back to pick us all up at a predetermined time. It worked out great. He was there exactly on time and it gave us an easy way to stumble off the beach without effort.;)