mississauga

Have heard that El Cid is within walking distance from Puerta Maya Pier ( where Carnival docks ) and has a pool and a beach. Has anyone been and can commend?

On 11/30/2022 at 11:43 AM, Guest TopoChico said:

We’ve been to St Lucia more times than we can count, and always find the same thing happens.  There’s a very limited number of beaches that can be easily and reasonably done cost wise.  Naked Fisherman is great if you want to spend an exorbitant amount of money. $160 just in cab fare for a 50 minute each-way drive for two people, plus at least a few hundred for lunch and drinks. In my opinion, and only my opinion -it’s nice - but not worth the cost to me for a few hours of beach time if you’re not interested in a very pricey lunch. The beach is lovely but very small. The drinks are very good very expensive.  
Reduit and Vigie are the two main players.  We’ve done both more than once.  
Know upfront that cabbies will talk you out of Vigie because it’s cheaper to get to.  They 100% will try to talk you out of it, pretending they’re wanting to take you to the “superior beach.”
Reduit is always more crowded because cabbies make more $ taking passengers there.
on the beach, they line the chairs right up to the waters edge, so close together you’re literally on top of each other.  The chairs slope downward in the sand making it very uncomfortable. We have found the staff to be very rude on multiple visits. 

 We started realizing the deal when we started choosing to go to Vigie. Cabbies will try to talk you out of it every time. Don’t let them.  Vigie is nicer, more roomy with semi-friendly staff.  The bar/restaurant is reasonable with some good bbq options. The beach is pretty and really long for a nice walk. 
Bring a few single dollars because there is a $1 charge to use the restroom, and the woman there is rude.  Ignore her. You’re just there to pee.

 

St Lucia is by far our least favorite cruise stop. And after talking to others, it seems most people agree. 
We’re on Vigie as I write this. Next time we’ll likely stay on the ship, but if not, Vigie is perfectly acceptable.

 

 

Thanks for sharing. How much would a cab be to Vigie Beach?

On 12/23/2018 at 2:25 PM, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Easy way, taxis at the pier. Fare about $25 each way.

Nice swimming if the sand in sea is not churned up.

Beautiful views. Not developed.

Beds and umberella $10.00 but quality not great (Old)

Small single changing room.

Simple beach bar. Generous pours of local Rum.

Plenty of taxis for return. Outward taxi will return for you.

Is it $25 per taxi or per person?

John Heald just posted  that it is not true.

On 5/30/2019 at 2:37 PM, crewsweeper said:

That would be my suggestion as well.  However, it's not that far of a walk back and once you reach the road entrance to Jack's Shack before the port gates, you can head over to the beach. Fares are around $4 per person each way.

 

Crewsweeper, are you saying Governors Bay is just past Jack’s Shack. Had read there was a beach just past Jack’s Shack?

On 5/23/2019 at 11:20 PM, Banks822 said:

Yes! It is a great place to get sea glass. We go there every time we cruise to Grand Turk and we love it. You can also do some good snorkeling around the big washed up ship. 

How did you get to Governor’s Beach? Walkable or have to take a taxi?

On 4/27/2019 at 1:56 AM, kaiiak said:

We were at Governor's Beach last week and absolutely loved it. There is not food/drink service but that was fine for us.  We brought a few cold drinks from the ship.  It cost us $4 each one way in a taxi (tourist van) and was a quick ride there. The water is beautiful and calm. We paid somebody to rent two chairs for $20. There was a bathroom nearby.  My 10 year old absolutely loved it and said it was the best beach ever (we live in Southern California and go to the beach often too).  It is so hot that 2 hours at the beach was plenty for us and then we returned to the port area, looked at the shops and headed back to the ship for a late lunch (that is free). I highly recommend Gov Beach. The Margaritaville area looked like a madhouse with so many people.

Was it hard finding a taxi back to the pier area?

Has anyone walked past Jack’s Shack. Heard there is another beach, more private? Anyone have info or experience?

15 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

You need to walk, or take a street trolley, to the Embarcadero BART station -- its 1 mile between the cruise terminal and the station.  

The BART ride is about 35 minutes and costs about $10 per person.  Street trolleys cost less than $3.  

Thank you!

How long is the BART ride to /from SFO? Any tips on taking BART from the pier to SFO? We did BART from the pier to SFO many years ago and it worked out ok but cannot remember the details plus things may have changed. TIA

McDonalds is about 5 mins walk from port and as always has free wifi

How does one get to Cabbage Beach DIY please?

Maybe it was stingray....lol. Did not pay too much attention. Just saw a group in the water. Going in February with my grand daughter So now interested. Price for stingray interaction please? She would be interested in either one. Thanks

Last time we were on HMC, we saw a group doing a dolphin swim. Has anyone here done this? If so, could you share the price of this excursion? TIA

I believe that most if not all Caribbean ports of call take US dollars. We have been to most and they have all taken US dollars. Antigua certainly does.

On 3/12/2019 at 1:19 PM, mamabearjp said:

We were on the Carnival Breeze and we booked with Carnival. It was our first time to Cayman and we didn't feel comfortable booking with anyone else yet. (fairly new cruisers lol, only taking our third one this year). Not sure what company they used if they source that out. They were great, had plenty of time. shore excursioner probably has some available. Not sure on price comparisons.

Did you have young children with you? Bringing our grand daughters age 5,3 and 20 months. Would they like it? Even if you didn’t have children with you, did you observe that it was an ok excursion for the young ones? Did parents hold the child or did they go in with swim aids?

On 7/10/2019 at 8:00 AM, aml3679 said:

Loved this tour - you will not be disappointed.

Did you have young children with you? Bringing our 3 and 5 years old grand daughters. If you didn’t have your own, did you notice if the parents were carrying the children in or were they using swim aids?

On 7/16/2019 at 6:49 PM, PumpkinPatches said:

 

I realize this post is very old and the OP has likely cruised by now... but I saw this and just had to say something.

 

I took my 10mo daughter on a cruise last year and it was so much fun!  We took her to Stingray City and had a blast.

OF COURSE the baby won't remember it, or care about it.  But the parents will remember and enjoy it.  Yes it will have its challenges but everyone will have a great time.  If fellow cruisers will be "miserable" in the presence of a child, then maybe they're the ones who shouldn't be cruising.  The only thing that has put a damper on my vacation was listening to people whine and complain about nonsense throughout the cruise.

Did you just carry the baby into the water ? Were swim aids allowed?

Yes, all can board the shuttle

Great review so far and more so for a first time cruiser.

5 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Finally some edible food!  I don't understand just 60 seats when she holds over 5k people, that doesn't make any sense to me.  We will be 13 people so far....I wonder if they offer take out boxes where we can eat somewhere else?

It may have to do with the # of chefs assigned to the restaurant. I once asked why I was not able to get the reservation time I requested as clearly  the venue was not full and had many empty tables. I was told they only book for as many as the chefs would be able to cook each dish fresh for each dish ordered.

Made perfect sense to me.  

Thank you MaryBeth for this fantastic review. Very detailed and love all your pics. You are an amazing photographer!

2 hours ago, boblerm said:

Happy to help! 

Cab fare is $5 per person for 4 or more, $6,I believe, for less. Cab fares are fixed by the govt. 

Gail arranged for a cab to meet us right off the pier, a super friendly reliable driver, the whole experience was seamless. 

Thank you again. You have made our decision to go there nect time a lot easier.

Thank you Bob. You answered all my questions. Just one more...lol. How much was the cab fare to get there? Thank you for all your help!

4 hours ago, boblerm said:

Let me add an additional thumbs up for  BeachLimerz!  We were there last week, Gail took care of everything for us, it was seamless.  We all agreed that it was the highlight of our cruise.  We were 2 seniors (yikes, I can't believe I'm saying that) with our our grown children and 2 year old grandchild.

I would call it the quintessentially perfect Carribean beach day!

Happy to answer any questions.

Bob 

 

 

Great pics Bob! I asked my questions in the above post. Can you help with any of the questions I asked?