Knot@Work

Thanks to everyone for your responses.  As I said above, I have parked offsite in Miami once before but couldn't remember where it was and it was also a bit less than desirable, it was a bit as Capt_BJ described, but it worked.  

I scanned through the Port Of Miami threads and couldn't really find much info.  Google led me to a cruise oriented blog that had a couple of recommendations.  I ended up booking Premier Cruise Parking at 250 SE 3rd Ave. Miami, FL, 33131.   It's a multilevel secured garage and only cost $58.41 for the 7 days (which works out to $8.34/day).

If this turns out unfavorably,  I will definitely spring for the official port parking on the island next time.

Does anybody have off-site parking recommendations?  $22/day is a tough pill to swallow when just off the port island you can park for $6-8 per day.  I did this years ago but just don't remember where I parked.

Thanks in advance.

Well, no one has chimed in here but I will update with the latest.

Island Marketing responded to my two emails today.

They stated that their original response to me included info as to which excursions were conducted on which days. The day we were going to be in St. Thomas was not a day that they offered the full day cruise. They wanted to know if I would like to keep the brunch reservation or cancel for a full refund.

So I kindly replied back that I did not recall the info that they just presented (likely my own fault) and that since our original intent was to book a Full-Day snorkel and sail we would like to go ahead and cancel.

While this was going on I replied to an earlier email that I had received from an inquiry with New Horizons (http://newhorizons.daysails.com/index.php?l=t&pageStewardLink=2876) and they still had an opening so I booked with them for the day.

I'm afraid this is not a good one.

I believe I had booked something through this company before and had no problems, however this time is proving to be different.

We were looking to book their full day Catamaran Snorkeling Tour (The 7 hour one). I also inquired with other similar "sailing and snorkeling" excursions and chose the Island Marketing one for a couple reasons, primarily that it was on a Catamaran and not a mono-hull.

Now to the problem. I first sent an inquiry email to them asking about availability of the full day cruise and got a reply a day later saying that it was available but they were vague about which one was available. I filled out the online reservation form and stated in the comments that I wanted to make sure it was the FULL DAY cruise and not the "brunch" one or a shorter one. After a couple days of no response I sent an email and the next day I got a confirmation and everything looked fine. This was June 2nd. Tonight I decided I was going to organize my thoughts and notes (Yes, I'm anal) on our trip and looked at my printed confirmation. I realized that the total charge wasn't on par with the prices of the full day sail/snorkel that I had intended to book. Then I saw that it was the Brunch cruise they had booked me on.

On top of that the email clearly stated that I was charged $47.50 as a deposit and I went to my charge account online to confirm it and BAM, they charged me $57.50, not the $47.50 that their email stated.

Tonight I sent two emails to them, one when I discovered that they booked me for the wrong excursion. Then I sent another one regarding the wrong charge with a small screenshot showing the line item hitting my account. I told them in the second email to cancel my reservation.

Hope this gets resolved quickly, because now I've gotta find another sail/snorkel excursion with availability to book.

Thanks for letting me vent...

Tom

BTW, (excuse me for a moment while I get on my high horse) after having trouble with posting from my imgur albums, I did a quick search and everyone that uses imgur seems to have the same problem here on Cruise Critic. Though i can't find anywhere on the website where it explicitly states that imgur is disallowed. This is especially frustrating because imgur is free and there are no bandwidth limitations. This coming from an IT guy.

Ok, I'm following you. Yea, we weren't planning to go to Great Bay for the beach, I remember reading what you mention about the contamination. We will be going to Mullet Bay.

Was just looking for options to lessen the walking because at the end of the day when we're in Phillipsburg, I'm sure we won't want to walk all the way back to the pier. So we can either take the water taxi or a street taxi. Good to have options.

I've also read about bernards. It does sound like a good tour, we were just keeping this stop low on the budget, so a "self tour" was in order.

If we like this itenerary, I'm sure we'll do it again. Then we'll be able to do the stuff we miss this first time.

Edit: Ok, I tried to link an image directly into my post and the forum software is not allowing it. WTH?

http://imgur. com/rdMz4p7

Let see if it messes with that try!

It is, it's blocking my IMG link attempt. I put a space in there so it would leave it alone.

At the end of the pier is the Information Center and behind that is where the taxis are located. You would have a 20 min. walk to back street if you are interested in catching a bus.

 

Don't know if a bus goes to Mullet bay, but the taxi will get you there much quicker. The taxi for 2 people to Mullet Bay is approx $20. Taxis like to fill up with passengers and in that case it will cost you much less per person.

 

There are ferries in both St Maarten (Dutch) and St Martin (French) which will take you to Anguilla or St Barts.

 

I believe the ferry you are talking about is the water taxi that many passengers board that will take you from the pier to downtown Philipsburg.

 

There are plenty of stores to go shopping on front street in Philipsburg. Is it worth while you ask, it all depends on what your interested in buying. I was just there last week and found alcohol, cigarettes and perfume to be a cost saver compared to prices at home.

Thanks so much for the input!

I guess we'll probably be taking a taxi from the ship when we arrive, then maybe a bus back, or a taxi, who knows.

So, you're saying there is a ferry (water taxi) that simply takes you across that small bay? Does it go to that dock that appears to be on the beach there? (see attached image). Do you know how much that short ride costs?

As far as shopping, I don't know that we're looking for anything particular, we've never been there before, just like to see what they have to offer that isn't gimmicky.

Looking forward to just going to the beach there. Pics I've seen of Mullet bay look nice!

Hi all,

We will be in St. Maarten for the first time in Aug on the Carnival Liberty.

We are planning to go to Mullet bay beach first thing and then walk over to Sunset bar and grill for some plane watching.

Then head back towards Phillipsburg for some light shopping and then walk back to the ship.

So, the root of my questions revolve around transportation.

I've read that you walk from the piers to philipsburg to catch the bus for cheap, but it's a slightly long walk.

So here comes the question overload:

Can you catch a cab right at the end of the piers?

Does a cab and the bus get to Mullet beach in roughly the same amount of time?

As my title suggested... What is this ferry that I keep hearing about. Why would I need it if the ship is on pier?

Is there any shopping worthwhile in Phillipsburg?