Are excursions a must?

I will be cruising on the Oasis of the Seas in August, to Nassau, St Thomas, and St Martin. If we don't want to book an excursion in advance, is there anything to do or anywhere to go, on foot, when we get off of the boat on these islands? Or is it necessary to at least book a taxi to go somewhere ? Thanks.

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Of course not! A guidebook is a great resource for DIY days....you need to know something about the places you'll visit...so pick on up at your library (or buy one)..and make notes on what interests you! All of your stops have stuff within walking distance, depending on what you want to do.

We almost never book anything....unless there is something quite far away or involves many different means of transport, such as going to St. Johns from St. Thomas....GORGEOUS beaches, but you will need to get to the ferry, then take a ferry, then get transport to whatever beach, so a "tour" is simply easier.

On St. Thomas, you can walk off the ship into a huge shopping area. The downtown area is a short cab ride away. But near the port is a skyway tram with great views, restaurants and shops.

On St. Maarten, walk off the ship and hang a left as you near the shore and take the water taxi into town or the beach nearby.

Port of Nassau, tons of shore excursion purveyors will be onshore wanting to sell you shore excursions or you can just walk around town or go to Junkanoo beach for free - just a short walk away.

On St. Thomas, you can walk off the ship into a huge shopping area. The downtown area is a short cab ride away. But near the port is a skyway tram with great views, restaurants and shops.

 

On St. Maarten, walk off the ship and hang a left as you near the shore and take the water taxi into town or the beach nearby.

 

Port of Nassau, tons of shore excursion purveyors will be onshore wanting to sell you shore excursions or you can just walk around town or go to Junkanoo beach for free - just a short walk away.

This is misleading, as if your ship were docking at Havensight you would walk off to the huge shopping area and the skyway tram. But Oasis docks at Crown Bay, a lengthy ride to the larger shopping area, although there is one at Crown Bay. EM

You don't need to book excursions in advance.

What you want to do once there will determine if a taxi is needed or not. ;)

I will be cruising on the Oasis of the Seas in August, to Nassau, St Thomas, and St Martin. If we don't want to book an excursion in advance, is there anything to do or anywhere to go, on foot, when we get off of the boat on these islands? Or is it necessary to at least book a taxi to go somewhere ? Thanks.

 

 

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Having been to all three islands a number of times, there is no place that I would want to walk to from the ship.

If you do not want to do an excursion or take a taxi my suggestion is to enjoy the ship with the few people that will be on it. The Oasis is fantastic.

You can also go to your Roil Call and check if your cruise mates have similar plans like yours and may want to share information.

You do not need to book an overpriced excursion. But you do need to focus on what you want to do on each island. If you just want a beach day you can easily grab a shared taxi (this saves money) and go to the beach of your choice. On St Maarten you are within a 20 min walk into Phillispburg...which is the best shopping town of the Caribbean. If you prefer to explore an entire island then you will need a tour or rental car. It is actually possible to walk to beaches on Nassau and St Thomas if you really want to go cheap. On St Thomas it is possible to walk (not an easy walk) to Lindbergh Beach (near the airport) although we think walking along the road is somewhat dangerous because of the lack of sidewalks.

Bottom line is that there are multiple options on each island and the choice is yours. There are no language problems on any of these islands and US Dollars are accepted everywhere.

Hank

If you go to the "Ports of Call" section on here, you'll find a lot of information and ideas about things to see and do at each of the ports you'll be visiting. Trip Advisor is also a good web site to visit when researching the ports.

I will be cruising on the Oasis of the Seas in August, to Nassau, St Thomas, and St Martin. If we don't want to book an excursion in advance, is there anything to do or anywhere to go, on foot, when we get off of the boat on these islands? Or is it necessary to at least book a taxi to go somewhere ? Thanks.

 

 

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We have been to St. Martin and St.Thomas many times since 1994 .We always walk to and from town on both islands. It is a wonderful walk,

Just go on line and search things to do in each port. We usually find beach or resort excursions. Our first cruise we had 8 ports and only booked excursions on three. The other ports we found we were unprepared and had no clue and got bored fast. Research the heck out of each port and have a plan is my suggestion.

Start researching 'walking tours' and other information about the ports. It will give you an idea of what is close and what you may be interested in. Some ports you can walk off the ship and find things to do, others you will have limited options without a scheduled excursion.

Seldom do organised excursions now.

In addition to researching the ports in advance, you should talk it up on your roll call to get ideas from people planning to be there with you - and possibly joining a do-it-yourself tour.

I prefer to hire taxi's near the ship and have them take us around. All the previous post give great ideas. However, ensure that someone has a watch set to ships time. Do not trust your cell phones time, it may change depending on where you are docked. Ships will not wait for you if you are late and not on one of their tours.

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I will be cruising on the Oasis of the Seas in August, to Nassau, St Thomas, and St Martin. If we don't want to book an excursion in advance, is there anything to do or anywhere to go, on foot, when we get off of the boat on these islands? Or is it necessary to at least book a taxi to go somewhere ? Thanks.

 

 

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My personal $.02

If this is your very first cruise, I would recommend choosing a RCCL excursion in St Thomas. I know this may seem expensive, but for this particular island I think it's worth it and right now RCCL is having a sale on their excursions.. Plus, whenever we go cruising we typically choose only one excursion on one island- don't feel like you need to do it all because the Oasis itself is a destination. The traffic gets very congested at certain times of the day, and you don't want to miss the ship if you get stuck in traffic- THE SHIP WILL NOT WAIT FOR YOU unless you are on an excursion booked through the cruise line. This would be a great way to get a feel for the island without constantly worrying. Last time we were there we did a Kayak/Snorkling tour and it was wonderful.

In Nassau, it's fairly easy to find a few free things to do within walking distance to the ship. There's the Queens Staircase and a small Fort nearby (don't remember the name, sorry) both free, and also there's markets with souvenirs right when you walk off the ship, and along the main road many shops to wander and restaurants to eat if you desire.

St Martin could be your designated "beach day" if you like that type of thing. (Like St Thomas, the traffic can get very congested and you don't want to miss your ship) When you get off the ship, maybe take the water taxi across the bay to the main beach/shopping area and enjoy the day at the beach, and maybe browse the nearby shops. Then you can hop on the water taxi back to the ship. No charge for the beach but tipping and maybe a few bucks for a beach chair. The water taxi costs money but remember to get a round trip or an all day pass.

Whatever you do, put a copy of the Cruise Compass in your bag before you get off the ship as it has the US Embassy phone numbers printed on it.....just in case. Like I said before- if you book an excursion through the cruise line the ship will wait, but if you go out on your own- you're on your own. Watch the time and know the difference between "ship's time" and "island time" as there may be an hour difference.

Maybe I'm just a scardy-cat and I may get some flack from other posters on this thread, but we didn't have enough "guts" to book a private tour or hire a private taxi until recently. Although it's nice to see the Islands, there may be parts of the island that you shouldn't be going to unless you're a local. Always be aware of your surroundings and do some research online about the ports before you go.

One word about the Oasis- when you're wandering around the ship, don't say to yourself: "I have all week, so I'll do the carousel later" (or whatever is in front of you) because there is so much to do and see, you may never get back to it. When it's something to experience- do it then, and you'll be able to relax the last sea day while others are running around trying to "get everything in".

Enjoy your cruise!

I will be cruising on the Oasis of the Seas in August, to Nassau, St Thomas, and St Martin. If we don't want to book an excursion in advance, is there anything to do or anywhere to go, on foot, when we get off of the boat on these islands? Or is it necessary to at least book a taxi to go somewhere ? Thanks.

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I'm going to give you a little different advise then the others. I don't disagree with them but I think you need to give this some weight. You went on a vacation to a new location where you have never been before. You paid for the ship, air fare, probably bought a few new outfits. You have now arrived at your new location and what do you do? You worry about spending $20 (the cost of a per person meal at home). So when people ask you how you liked St Thomas your answer is, "I don't know. I walked around the pier and got back on the ship. I can't tell you one single thing about where I was".

I'm not saying go out and spend hundreds of dollars per port. I'm just giving you an alternate way to look at it. I've been to Chicago. I saw the airport. That is virtually what you would be doing if you only went 100 feet from the ship.

Trip adviserror is your friend... we almost always book stuff in advance, but not through the cruise line. I do highly recommend a st John on your own tour combined with a taxi to trunk Bay however through the cruise ship. Cheapest way to do trunk bay.

When we first started cruising, we weren't comfortable doing our own excursions and we were confused about the choices on some of the islands and decided to just walk off the ship and shop. We found out that we often missed out on some great things on the islands we had visited and had an entirely different experience by going away from the port area. Do your research on the islands you will be visiting. Only you know what appeals to you and what doesn't. Go to your roll call and see what others are excited about. Many of these folks have previously been to the island before and can share their experiences and give you some insight. We took a last minute, short cruise in December knowing that we had visited the ports many times and thinking we would just stay on the ship since only one was a favorite (Key West), where we would want to get off the ship. My Grandson took a friend who had never been on a cruise or visited the ports. She wanted to do a walking tour of Nassau and wanted us to go along...our least favorite island. We agreed and once we got off the ship, we found that we were enjoying seeing some of the things we hadn't seen in years, found some really pretty spots for photos and had a great time. We never hesitate to use a taxi. What some consider an "easy walk' is often uphill, in the heat and turns out to be difficult. I'm willing to pay $5 o $10 to get there quickly and in a bit more comfort. Everyone has a different idea of how they want to explore the ports but to really see most of the islands, you need to go further than a 'short walk from the ship.'

I rarely go on excursions when I cruise, partly because I'm a budget traveler, but partly because I like doing my own things. It takes more planning is all. :)

You certainly don't need to book excursions. But, it's always fun to have something to look forward to and it makes your time ashore that much richer when you've seen the sights and learned about the culture.

St. Maarten

We always book the cruise ship transfer to Orient Beach. This is a beautiful white sand beach with turquoise water. They usually offer a three and a four hour trip around $43 a person for the three-hour which includes transportation round trip, beach chairs and comp cocktails at the beach.

Nassau, Bahamas

We visited there for the second time this past February and took a wonderful food walking tour. Great, interesting tour featuring stops in authentic Bahamian restaurants, beautiful hotel.

https://www.trubahamianfoodtours.com/

This should be booked ahead of time as they sell out fast.

St. Thomas

We like to take a cab up to the Marriott Frenchman's Reef hotel just five minutes away. Great view of harbor, nice place to have a drink and soak in the surroundings. You can also get a day pass for the private beach here $75 for adults and $55 for children 6 to 12. The fee includes use of the beach, pools, volley ball, ping-pong and wifi.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sttfr-frenchmans-reef-and-morning-star-marriott-beach-resort/

If you decide on an excursion book it well ahead of your cruise because they will sell out.

A little bit of planning can really make your cruise trip that much more enjoyable.

Have a great cruise.

Jonathan