Things to Do Off the Ship ALONE - Eastern Carib. 5/16

[PollyannaFlwr]

Hi all,

I booked myself on the Mariner on May 16 to the Eastern Caribbean, and I'm looking at the off the ship activities, and trying to figure out which ones would be okay to do alone... Any reccomendations would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Family of 14]

If you are going to St. Thomas, I think you can safely go to Sapphire Beach alone. There are usually taxi's with a group going. When we went, we got off the ship ASAP and there were two more couples with us. The beach was beautiful as well as the views. Very few others were on the beach until later in the day. The taxi came back for us at a specified time.

Shopping can always be done safely.

What stops do you make?

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=1913020557&r=1913020557#1913020557"]Are you sailing on the Mariner 7/18/04?...Click here! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img][/url]
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=4933032747&r=9113028567#9113028567"]or HERE! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img][/url]

Disney Wonder 3/2000 ~ Disney Magic 9/2000 ~ RCI Vision 2/2001 ~ Carnival Victory 12/2001 ~ Celebrity Millennium 3/2003 ~ RCI Adventure OTS 9/2003 ~ RCI Mariner OTS 7/18/2004 ~ RCI Serenade OTS 9/26/2004

[Cruise Miriam]

If you haven't been to any of the islands, you can do island tours that leave you time for shopping afterward. If you like just walking around and shopping, I've had no problems walking around alone in St. Thomas and Phillipsburg -- or anywhere else I've been.

You may find new friends on the ship and want to do some excursions with them, too.

Host Miriam
Community Supervisor
[email]ldrscruisemir7@aol.com[/email]

[Snow Queen 32]

If you are interested in snorkeling you could do the sailboat/snorkel excursion in St. Thomas. They have a max of 6 people on the sail boat so you would be with others. You sail for approx. and hour out, snorkel for an hour and then sail back to the ship.

[PollyannaFlwr]

Is it safe to walk around and shop on your own? I keep hearing mixed reports on stuff like that.


Also, Snow Queen - is sail boating and snorkeling on St. Thomas the best place? I know its available on Nassau and also St. Marteen, I just needed to decide where to do it.

Thanks!

[Cruising89143]

As soon as you get off of the ship, there is a small mall called Havensight. They have most of the stores that are downtown. Very safe to walk around. Also I feel that downtown is safe as long as you stay on the main streets near the water but DO NOT walk from the ship to downtown. First of all it does not look that far but it is and second it is not safe as you have to go through a low income area. A taxi is not that expensive to and from downtown. I believe that it was three or four bucks a person each way last month on the Triumph.

Also just a short walk from the ship and also safe, is the tram that goes up to Paradise point. This is a view not to be missed. They also have a drink called the "Bushwhacker" that is awesome. I have some photos in my link below taken from Paradise Point.

Gordon

[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/cruisingator"]http://community.webshots.com/user/cruisingator[/url]

NCL Starward-86, Starship Atlantic-91, Caribe-92, Seabreeze-93, Fantasy-93, Norway-94, Celebration-94, Sensation-95, Imagination-96, Destiny-97, Celebration-98, Triumph-99, Victory-00, Majesty of the Seas-01, Fascination-01, Carnival Pride-02, Majesty of the Seas-02, Carnival Legend-02, Fantasy 7-03, Glory 9-03, Fantasy 11-03, Triumph 3/04.

Navigator of the Seas 12/04/04
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;12;04;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[yarlenna]

You don't say what you normally like to do, or what sorts of things you'd like to try. There are tons of things to do on cruises. My DH and I enjoy our intimate moments and the stuff we both love to do, but if he or I want to do anything the other doesn't want to - we're solo for the time being. We enjoy the stuff that makes us different from each other - and notice a lot of other people not glued to their spouses. So, don't feel like you will be a 5th wheel, unless you want to be.

Work like a dog. Live like a pauper. Save all your money. Then Cruise!

[PollyannaFlwr]

I'm pretty much open to anything....I LOVE to shop, but I don't want to spend my whole time off the ship shopping, I know I DEFINITELY want to snorkel at least once, and I'd love to see the Atlantis, etc. in Nassau. I'm not much for the beaches in New York, since they always seem so dirty and are over crowded, but I also enjoy sitting by the ocean, and just being mellow.

Thank you all for your feedback, I appreciate it.

[CAPinBoynton]

One of the excursions that you might enjoy is the Dolphin Encounter or the Dolphin Swim. We did the Encounter while in Nassau, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are pictures of it on our website, along with other ports you will be visiting. The link is below.

As for shopping, in St. Thomas go to Imperial Jewelers for quality pieces at good prices. We have traded with Karen and Lenny since the mid 1980's.

Enjoy,

[img]http://www.thepreismans.com/donalddck_freebird.gif[/img]


See our reviews and pictures at [url="http://www.thepreismans.com/"]Mike and Carol's Website[/url]

Costa Classica 3/94
Celebrity Mercury 4/98
Carnival Destiny 4/99
Crown Princess 7/01
Norwegian Star 11/01
Grand Princess 12/01
Sun Princess 3/02
Celebrity Constellation 11/02
Brilliance of the Seas 6/03
Navigator of the Seas 11/03
Jewel of the Seas 06/04
Tahitian Princess 02/05

[KellyJean]

In Nassau, I've done the Dolphin Encounter. If you can get the boat trip alone over to Blue Lagoon Island, the beaches are nice.

In St. Thomas, I took the tram up to Paradise Point and just chilled out and enjoyed the view for a while. I had no problems walking around downtown or at Havensight(sp?) mall at the pier by myself shopping. Just as you would in the US, just be aware of your surroundings and use common sense.

Kelly

My Cruise Pics: [url="http://community.webshots.com/user/kfrancis5"]http://community.webshots.com/user/kfrancis5[/url]

Cruise Critic Partae Pirates Cruise
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2005;02;13;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
[img]http://hometown.aol.com/build17/myhomepage/partaepiratessmallsmall.gif?mtbrand=AOL_US[/img]

Carnival Miracle 02/13/05
Sovereign of the Seas, Cabin #4057 - 9/21/03
Brilliance of the Seas, Cabin #8670 - 11/09/2002
Paradise, Cabin E194 - 09/01/2001
Atlantic, 12/1991

[Snow Queen 32]

We were told that the best place to snorkel was in St. Thomas by the excursion manager or whatever his official title is. We loved the owner of the sailboat we went on. Very colorful man. His wife was the captain. If you are interested his sailboat was called the Mariah. You book the excursion and then as soon as you get off the ship someone is right outside with a sign. He moves you down a bit and then will put all the people booked on the excursion into groups of 6. We requested that we not be in a group with children. We ended up on our sailboat with only one other couple.
You then walk to the end of the ship and get into a rubber boat right off the pier and it takes you out to the sailboat. No shoes are allowed on the sailboats and they make you put your shoes into a bag as soon as you get into the rubber boat.

For what it's worth we saw groups of people who had booked the beach excursions through RCCL lined up in groups so if you booked that way you might feel safer than grabbing a taxi on your own.

Also you will feel safe shopping in St. Maarten. Just stay on the main shopping streets. You can tell if you go to far as the crowds thin out.