caly603

We just got back. We took a city can tour right outside the port. We told the woman where we wanted to go and she switched the itinerary of the regular city circle to include maho. Honestly the 30 minutes we were there was enough. We saw three planes land and one take off.

City Can Tour? Is that a company? We're there next week and I'm exploring options for Mullet/ Maho transportation.

Thanks!

I know this thread has been inactive for a long time, but I'm trying to locate the recipe for Maryland Corn Chowder. I lost my copy and the thread that was listing recipes has some sort of malicious junk on it, so I couldn't finish the thread. Anyone?

I've been on this thread looking for recipes, only to find that from page 14 on, it's got some kind of malicious content from who knows where. I can't find a recipe for the corn chowder that was so delicious. Does anyone happen to have this? I had it but lost it :(

St. Kitts: Several times, twice last year on the Breeze and the Valor, and on the Valor in 2013.

 

A couple/few times prior to that.

 

gary

Gary,

Do you "explore" the island on your own or on cruise excursions? We are looking for a good tour/beach day without paying a fortune.

thanks,

Jeanine

In St. Maarten the difference between a bus and a taxi is the price not the vehicle. They look the same. :)

Karysa,

The buses have a sign in them, right?

That seems fine logistically as long as you are adventurous (not many cruisers take the local bus :) ), but I really don't recommend swimming at Great Bay Beach, which is the one right downtown where the Water Taxis operate. I have concerns over pollution. GREAT shopping there, though.

 

Since you want to visit Maho beach, I would suggest that you take a look at Mullet Bay Beach, the one adjacent to Maho. You would ride the same bus as to Maho but stay on just a few minutes longer. The sign in the bus window should read "Mullet/Maho" or perhaps "M'Bay/Maho" or such. Confirm as you board the bus.

 

You'd have to walk back to Maho from there, but it's a level walk that should take on the order of 15+ minutes or so unless you dawdle at the shops or ice cream store on the way.

gary

Gary, Thank you so much! We've taken a number of buses when we've been in ports. It's kind of interesting to see the city from a bus rather than the back of a taxi. The Mullet Bay idea is a good one, now that I'm more familiar with where it is. We're coming up on 3 weeks, so time to figure it out, I guess. Ever been to St Kitts?

Jeanine

caly603,

 

No, I don't live there, but I've spent over 20 cruise-related days on St. Maarten and, in addition, have stayed on the island a total of 57 weeks.

 

I don't see any posts from you other than the two in this thread.

 

gary

Gary, My apologies. I must have asked in another forum. I was curious if it made sense to water taxi to the 1st beach (don't know the name), then bus to Maho so the kids can see the planes, then bus back to the beach we first stopped at to swim, shop, etc. then water taxi back to the ship. Does that sound like something we'd be able to accomplish without too much fuss?

TIA!

Jeanine

That was Meg's last post, back in April, nearly three months ago.

 

Perhaps you should ask someone else, like maybe gary? :)

 

Without going back through the entire linked threads to see what I posted years ago, I will simply say that the bus fare from Philipsburg to the Mullet Bay/Maho area is $2 per person, each way. There have been discussions about raising the fares, but so far I believe that it hasn't happened, as the majority of the riders are locals, not tourists. Taxi rates may rise shortly, though.

 

(click)

 

gary

 

p.s. By the way, per regulations, children 3 and under and seniors are supposed to ride for free. Personally, I wouldn't take advantage of those fares if we had qualified passengers, as it is a great deal with paying the fare. :)

Gary, Thanks for the response. I asked Meg because her trip was pretty current. I didn't realize you were up to date. Do you live in the area? I asked a couple of questions about traveling in St Martin on another thread as well. Maybe you would be able to answer them as well?

Jeanine

Hi Gary,

 

I just wanted to thank you so much for all your wonderful port tips, but specifically your directions to catch the bus to Maho Beach. The group I was with was very impressed with the ease, and cost for our day trip! With the beach closing now, I am thrilled that we had the opportunity to experience it :)

 

Thanks again,

 

Meg

Meg, Can you tell me what the costs are now? Gary's post is from years back and I'm sure the prices have increased.

Thanks,

Jeanine

Good, thanks!

I was in Puerto Vallarta less than 2 weeks ago for our first visit, and we had a great time. Me and my wife walked out the front of the cruise facility (facing Wal-Mart) and turned right, and walked up the side walk about 50 yards to the bus stop. As we approached the bus stop, a city bus pulled up with CENTRO in the windshield. We got on and I gave the driver $2. When using american dollars, you won't get any change, and the driver gave me 2 blue tickets. Later, after a couple more stops, another guy came around and checked to see if we had tickets. After paying the driver, make sure you get a seat quick, because he doesn't wait for you to get a seat. Yeah, the seats had some tears, and yes, there was a dog laying in the floor beside of us (he didn't bother anyone), but come on, we rode to town and back for a total price of $4. That's a great deal, and there's no doubt I would do it again. We got off the bus near the Malecon, and checked out the shops, the sculptures and the great view from the Malecon. At the end of the Malecon, we crossed over the bridge and walked down Olas Atlas. We stopped at the Sea Monkey and had a coke and some nachos. We mainly went there for the free Wi-Fi, so we could "face time" with our kids. After the Sea Monkey, we walked down Basilio Badillo and then took another left at Aguacate. We walked to the end of that street, and took a right on Aquiles Serdan. We walked about 50 yards and turned left and crossed a swinging bridge. There were kids crossing the bridge when we did, and they were shaking it, and me and my wife laughed, because it was shaking alot. The bridge led us to Isla Cuale, where we took a left and walked to Insurgentes. We then took a right and walked over the bridge and went to the Mercado on the left. After the Mercado, we walked back toward the Malecon, to the Guadalupe Cathedral. Took some pictures there and walked a little farther north, and caught a city bus. Great day! Loved Puerto Vallarta!

Do you know how often the busses come by (either way?)

Thank you so much! I did not realize until a few days ago that tipping was not necessary. (And of course none of the drivers mentioned that!)

I love the idea of taking a water taxi- I heard you can also take one for whale spotting. I'm going to try that because it was quite inexpensive and we've already done the fancy catamaran last year. It was awesome but a water taxi sounds fun as well.

Just curious if anyone knows what the rate is for taxi and bus rides to the pier from the Malecon? Also, I saw someone mention walking on the beach to get there on foot. Is there an actual beach or just shoreline?

Pelican Beach is good, but there are no facilities there (Cantinas, restaurants, or bathrooms.)

If it were me, I would either grab a water taxi to Medano (Tabascos is our favorite, as we've never been "exposed" :D to wet t-shirt contests, and it seems a "bit" tamer than several of the other Cantinas.)

Very good (and inexpensive) food, cold beer, all of the Margaritas that you can consume, and bathrooms at Tabascos!

As stated above, you can take a water taxi there for $2-3US per person, or a land taxi for about $12 for up to 6.

If you take a water taxi (and we love the water taxis!), expect to disembark in ankle-knee deep water. The same goes for the return trip.

One of the benefits of a land taxi is that you will get to see some of Cabo that you might otherwise miss.

My best bet? Grab a land taxi at the Marina, enjoy the beach and the Cantinas, watch the other folks boarding the water taxis, and then decide how to get back to the Marina.

Don't overlook the Marina area, though. We spend 10 days twice a year in Cabo, and we spend a lot of our time wandering the Marina. Lots of really great Cantinas and restaurants. A great "people watching" place.

Just my $0.02Pesos worth.

Thanks for the info you posted. I am going to Cabo in 5 weeks and I wanted to explore another beach besides Pelican, which we already visited last year. Can you clarify please: water taxi is $2-$3 pp and land taxi is $12 for up to 6- is that total or is it $12 pp?

Also, we didn't do all that much walking around town other than down the shoreline in town. Is that not downtown or is there more we could have walked to easily? I like a walking tour as long as it's not too far (ie 3 miles or more)

Oh, my, I almost forgot! Those amazing Cappuccino muffins!!

Just got back from a great cruise on the Splendor and I am looking for a couple of recipes. If anyone has the following, would you please share them?

Baked Apple

Warm fig, date and cinnamon cake

Braised style short ribs

Norwegian Salmon with Dill Mousseline

Salmon with Lemon Dill Sabayon and steamed Julienne Vegetables

Also, if you are new to the thread and looking for a recipe, please read the thread before posting. Most of the recipes that have been requested numerous times have already been posted on here. You never know, you might find something else while looking- I did!:D

Your welcome!

 

I am sailing Liberty Western on 3/12 and I will try and scan Funtimes and will certainly do a review when I return. This will be my second sailing on the Liberty and I am really looking forward to it!

Any chance you scanned the funtimes? The link provided shows some but not all of the days. If you have the funtimes still, could you possibly scan and post them, please?

Your welcome!

 

I am sailing Liberty Western on 3/12 and I will try and scan Funtimes and will certainly do a review when I return. This will be my second sailing on the Liberty and I am really looking forward to it!

oops

K, I breezed thru this thread quickly and just wanted to ask Pineapplegirl, do you have the recipe for chilled cream of mango soup? Also, could you repost the index of the book please? It was not readable when enlarged and my eyes just couldn't focus on that tiny print. Thank you soooo much for all this work.

Sideline to other posters:

The posted recipe for the Penne in Tomato Cream with Vodka and Caviar is a bit different from the cruise's recipe. It is prepared with chicken stock (Glace de Poulet) and garlic. I have the ship's version which is for 100 servings- I can post it but if someone has it scaled down, that'd be nice :)

Also, the recipe request for the coffee dessert was directly below the Cappucino Pie. Is that what you were looking for?

Finally, the Flourless Chocolate Cake and the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake are 2 different recipes. There are lots of recipes for both out there. I was particularly interested in the Melting Cake and have researched it pretty thoroughly- you can buy kits at the grocery store now. They're called Duncan Hines Signature Desserts- Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. You can use cupcake tins (I have a muffin tin) or buy ramekins at a kitchen store. For the less baking inclined, there is an alternative called Betty Crocker Warm Delights. It comes in different flavors and microwaves in under 30 seconds. DD bought some for us last week. I did the first one for the full 30 and it didn't have much goo, so I did the 2nd one for 23 secs and it was pretty darn good for a store bought treat.

TY for the patience

blessins,

Caly603