St. Maarten Tours

[doorcountydi]

Apparently the search engine is down yesterday and today in Cruise Critic, or I would have done a search, BUT....

We'll be in St. Maarten on Wednesday, Dec 15 this year and none of the HAL shore excursions grab me. Has anyone taken a great tour on the island that isn't through HAL? I looked at the Golden Eagle catamaran tour that sounded wonderful, but they're only Tues. & Fri.

Any help is appreciated! :o

Diane

[tooalto]

Joyce Prince!!! By all means, go to her website - princepersonal.com - and chekc her out. She's a super lady and very knowledgeable about her island.

[aliaschief]

Apparently the search engine is down yesterday and today in Cruise Critic, or I would have done a search, BUT....

 

We'll be in St. Maarten on Wednesday, Dec 15 this year and none of the HAL shore excursions grab me. Has anyone taken a great tour on the island that isn't through HAL? I looked at the Golden Eagle catamaran tour that sounded wonderful, but they're only Tues. & Fri.

 

Any help is appreciated! :o

 

Diane

 

If you go to Ports of Call and click St Maarten there will be some blogs on different tours taken. Our cruise to the Southern Caribbean is not until October 18 so will have to defer to someone else. You might also try the different Roll Calls for Hal ships going to the Caribbean. They often have quite a few ideas as to what others are choosing.

 

Google- St Maartin tours also brings up many ideas.

[dorothyl]

We booked with Bernard. You can find him on the St. Maarten section of ports. He was great and informative with a real winning personality. We would definately book him again.

[CDRMark]

I always recommend the 12 Metre race. It is a wonderful experience.

Cheers

Mark

[mamaofami]

I love just grabbing a taxi and going to Orient Beach. Tried Little Divi Beach CLub, but we didn't like the beach. It was on the bay. Orient is great. We went to Bikini Beach.We were in St. Martin for a land vacation several years ago, so we pretty much have seen the island. Some great restaurants are in Grand Case and I also love Marrigot. Great chocolate croissants to be had there.

[orangearmy]

We were in St. Maarten last February and had a wonderful time there. We took a tour over to the French and Dutch side (through HAL). The tour was fun but just wanted to say that traffic on the island can be quite heavy at times. A sea tour may be a great alternative and probably a good way to get around as opposed to the roads. We loved St. Maarten!!! Have a great time there.

[Sunsailor]

I always recommend the 12 Metre race. It is a wonderful experience.

Cheers

Mark

 

Same recommendation - it's the most exciting and the most fun. Before or after - just walk around Phillipsburg or hang out at the beach- it's right there in town! Phillipsburg also has the best liquor prices in the caribbean!

[wwinfl91]

If you want to see the island from land, there are taxi's available right outside the cruise port that are affordable and safe. My wife was recovering from chemo treatment but we wanted to get off the ship and see how the island had changed since we had last been there (about a 10 year gap and before the cruise dock was completed). We also didn't want to be with a group so we got a taxi for just the two of us. While it would have been nice if his A/C had worked better we did get a good tour of both the French and Dutch side of the island and the $50 plus a tip was well spent for the almost 3 hours we spent with the driver.

 

Have agreat next cruise.

[muffin]

Not about tours, but needed to tell all your folks that buying Cheese is St Maartens is amazing!! We had a large group of Puerto Ricans onboard a TA with our last stop before San Juan being Phillipsburg. At breakfast I asked our tablemates, four couples from PR, what should we be looking to buy on St Maartens. They replied in unison "Cheese".They said if they did not buy cheese for theri friends and family, they would be in deep trouble! You get the big round wax-covered wheels for about $22.00 each and they weight 10 pounds!! the butterfat content is 42% and the Gouda cheese is phenomenal. It even freezes well.( but is a little crumbly after being frozen). Several stores sell it, and some even deliver it to the ship for you, for free, so you don't have to cart it around. We wondered if we would ever see it again, but there it was in our room when we returned. Made a wonderful Christmas present for our SIL who loves to cook. Makes quite a conversation piece!!

[timothy998]

We honeymooned in Grand Case, St. Martin in 1994 & next spring our E. Caribbean cruise on Westerdam will stop there. It'll be fun to return to Grand Case with our three kids in tow! We rented a car while there, and some people on these boards have suggested a rental car company where you can rent at the cruise terminal, which we plan to do.

 

It takes about an hour to circumnavigate the island via car. Expect topless beaches as the normon the French side...sort of like the mobile telephone commercial about "why doesn't that lady have any clothes on," but the French side does have great beaches & if you want to wander through a French Caribbean town...and/or shop for the latest, then Marigot is it. Orient beach is the clothing-optional one, in sections, yet people do wander across the entire breadth of the beach.

 

One of our memories is walking along the road in Grand Case and being practically run-down by all the cruise-ship buses. St. Martin has more to offer than just being on a bus tour. There's a hill above Phillipsburgh that can be climbed quite easily and gives a good view of the Dutch side & Phillipsburg. People are very friendly and helpful. We're looking forward to lunch at the Grand Case Beach Club, where we stayed, as the restaurant had burnt to a crisp only a few days before our honeymoon, so we "had" to eat breakfast on the beach. Oh woe were we.

 

You can also take Catamaran rides to St. Bart's. I believe they lasted about 45-minutes or an hour each way (not exactly sure) but that was an interesting introduction to how the "other half" lives.

 

Hope these comments help out, and enjoy the island...we certainly did.

[mamaofami]

We honeymooned in Grand Case, St. Martin in 1994 & next spring our E. Caribbean cruise on Westerdam will stop there. It'll be fun to return to Grand Case with our three kids in tow! We rented a car while there, and some people on these boards have suggested a rental car company where you can rent at the cruise terminal, which we plan to do.

 

It takes about an hour to circumnavigate the island via car. Expect topless beaches as the normon the French side...sort of like the mobile telephone commercial about "why doesn't that lady have any clothes on," but the French side does have great beaches & if you want to wander through a French Caribbean town...and/or shop for the latest, then Marigot is it. Orient beach is the clothing-optional one, in sections, yet people do wander across the entire breadth of the beach.

 

One of our memories is walking along the road in Grand Case and being practically run-down by all the cruise-ship buses. St. Martin has more to offer than just being on a bus tour. There's a hill above Phillipsburgh that can be climbed quite easily and gives a good view of the Dutch side & Phillipsburg. People are very friendly and helpful. We're looking forward to lunch at the Grand Case Beach Club, where we stayed, as the restaurant had burnt to a crisp only a few days before our honeymoon, so we "had" to eat breakfast on the beach. Oh woe were we.

 

Don't recall the year, but we also stayed at Grand Case Beach Club, but the restaurant hadn't burnt down. We had a two or three room suite right on the beach and I used to make our breakfast and we'd carry it a few steps to the beach and eat it there. It was heaven. That was one of our favorite vacations. We could walk right into town for great restaurants. Funny, I don't remember cruise ship buses.

[KeysRes]

Did you check with the Golden Eagle people anyway? I'm pretty sure that runs more often than twice a week...but maybe booked by another cruise line. If you emailed them, maybe they would be able to get book you with their passengers from another ship on the day you want?

 

Not everyone's 'thing', but my husband and I had a blast on the Segways while on a cruise last December. If the ship doesn't offer it, you can still rent one right on the beach in Phillipsburg. I think they were located beachside behind the Holland House?

[Hplar]

We went to Grand Case (gourmet capital of the Caribbean) a small town on the French side and snorkeled with Octopus Diving. They picked us up at the pier and drove us back. We had a great time. Google their name for their web site.

[doorcountydi]

Wow! Thanks, everyone. It will take me a bit to research all your suggestions, but it certainly sounds like there's plenty out there and a lot of fun to be had. :p

I've been to Orient Beach and it was a VERY nice beach. Did the 12 metre race but in St. John, and that was a lot of fun, too. Gouda cheese, you say? Oh yum. Adding an extra 10 lbs. to the luggage might be rough, though. We'll look and see if they ship it altogether!!

Thanks again, folks... you're great! ;)

Diane

[JimVrhovac]

We have done it twice and would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

One of the best outings in the caribbean

 

Ruth & Jim

[doorcountydi]

P.S. I did check with the Golden Eagle people..Debbie emailed me back to say that they work through Holland America so check with them. But the 6 shore excursions they show have nothing to do with Eagle Tours or Golden Eagle, so I emailed her back with that info.

Would they still have some out there that they haven't posted as available for a December sailing? :confused: I'd hate to get all settled in a tour and then see three more pop up on the HAL selections.

Diane