Question regarding St. Maarten

[reddirtgirl]

Hi: we are sailing April 10th on Star Princess and will be visiting St. Maarten; instead of booking one of the excursions offered by the cruise boat, my husband & I want to explore on our own; When you get off the ship there, is it a far walk to the shopping area on Front Street?? after a bit of shopping, we want to go to Maho Beach and watch the planes come in, dine at Cheri's cafe which is close by and then do some general sightseeing in that area; My question is how far is it actually from the cruise pier to Maho Beach and how much do you think a taxi would cost to get there? we then want to take another taxi to Orient Beach to spend a couple of hours there before heading back to the cruise pier; we're in port from 10:00am - 6:00pm - is it reasonable to do all this in this time frame? thanks for any advice you can give

[Drews_Cruise]

Its definately reasonable with the amount of time you have in port. I dont know the exact distances but the areas that you want to visit are not that far away from each other. You can also rent a car and then you dont need to worry about waiting for taxis either.

[Toto2Kansas]

I have no idea of the distance to the airport or the easiest way to get there, but the best way to get to the shopping area is to pay the 'day rate' (pay once, ride the ferry back and forth as many times as you would like that day), to shopping in St. Martin. I read where it went up from $5 to $6 per person, but it includes unlimited transfer back and forth from the pier to the shopping at Front Street. It is walkable, it it is quite a distance from the cruise dock to the shopping area. If you decide to walk it, make sure to wear comfortable shoes. ;)

[janie315]

Hi: we are sailing April 10th on Star Princess and will be visiting St. Maarten; instead of booking one of the excursions offered by the cruise boat, my husband & I want to explore on our own; When you get off the ship there, is it a far walk to the shopping area on Front Street?? after a bit of shopping, we want to go to Maho Beach and watch the planes come in, dine at Cheri's cafe which is close by and then do some general sightseeing in that area; My question is how far is it actually from the cruise pier to Maho Beach and how much do you think a taxi would cost to get there? we then want to take another taxi to Orient Beach to spend a couple of hours there before heading back to the cruise pier; we're in port from 10:00am - 6:00pm - is it reasonable to do all this in this time frame? thanks for any advice you can give

 

Reddirtgir...I have been going to SXM for over 25 years now. My suggestion would be go get off the ship and take a taxi to Mr. Busby's on Dawn Beach. Spend some time on the beach. They have chairs & umbrella's for rent. Have lunch at Busby's ...nice beach bar restaurant directly on the beach....great ribs and the best potato salad ever! Spend a few hours at the beach, have lunch catch a taxi back to Front St. But have the taxi drop you off at RIMA which is by the Salt Pond....best place in all of SXM to buy gifts to bring back home. It is all the "stuff" they sell on the beach or on the push carts. Ten minute walk back to Front St. anyone can direct you.... Shop at Rima then walk back to Front St. and look around and shop. Then hop on the Ferry that will take to directly back to the ship for around $3. one way. This is how I always spend my days when cruising. I also spend several weeks a year on the island. The traffic to get to Sunset Beach Bar is horrible. Cheri is a fun place to go to at night time when they have entertainment at lunch time it is dead. Just my suggestions. Have fun!

[reddirtgirl]

thanks for your suggestions but we really do want to see orient beach as opposed to the other beaches available, as it seems to be the "most popular"; as for cheri's, we know they are known for their nighttime entertainment; however, we were impressed with the menu selection they have, so irregardless of time of day, we'd like to try it there - from your experience, is the food good & reasonably priced? thanks again

[DancingPersephone]

I've been researching St. Martin on the excursion boards in this forum. Lots of good information there.

 

Even some good advice on private tour companies.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93

[reddirtgirl]

thanks for sending this link to us; we'll have to check it out; I'm sure we'll find lots of helpful advice. Thanks again for all your help

[deanaw72]

One thing about going Maho to Orient, they are on opposite sides of the island. Depending on the day and time, it may be a long taxi ride from one to the other. Be careful you don't leave Maho too late and have to immediately go back to the pier. Also, somewhere on this board are photos of the taxi stand that is right outside the cruise port. The signs have all of the costs of taxis from here to there. Hope this helps! Happy cruising!

[1 HappyCruiser]

The traffic from Maho back to the pier is always heavy in the late afternoon. Although not all that far in distance, they've been working on the roads for as long as I can remember & it's slow going all the way back. Leave plenty of time. Coming back from Orient beach might be better but we usually hit Orient first since there seem to be more planes landing in the afternoon.

[Northender]

OP, please, please listen to the folks regarding the traffic. There were times we spent 2 hours or more just getting from Philipsburgh back to

our condo. And that is closer than what you want to do.:)

 

Trust me, Cheri's is nothing to brag about, really.....:(

 

I know the Island looks small but in reality it is very tough to get around.

Especially with numerous cruise ships in port.

[mafig]

OK, how much time should we allow for Maho back to the cruise port?

 

Are you saying 2 hours?

 

:confused:

[1 HappyCruiser]

OK, how much time should we allow for Maho back to the cruise port?

 

Are you saying 2 hours?

 

:confused:

 

Probably 45-60 minutes. Just plan on doing some shopping at the pier for an hour or so before boarding the ship.

[janetz]

Hi: we are sailing April 10th on Star Princess and will be visiting St. Maarten; instead of booking one of the excursions offered by the cruise boat, my husband & I want to explore on our own; When you get off the ship there, is it a far walk to the shopping area on Front Street?? after a bit of shopping, we want to go to Maho Beach and watch the planes come in, dine at Cheri's cafe which is close by and then do some general sightseeing in that area; My question is how far is it actually from the cruise pier to Maho Beach and how much do you think a taxi would cost to get there? we then want to take another taxi to Orient Beach to spend a couple of hours there before heading back to the cruise pier; we're in port from 10:00am - 6:00pm - is it reasonable to do all this in this time frame? thanks for any advice you can give

 

 

Hook up with Bernard and you will do all that and more..:) He is great!

 

 

http://bernardstours.shoreadventures.net/

[Northender]

OK, how much time should we allow for Maho back to the cruise port?

 

Are you saying 2 hours?

 

:confused:

 

Probably 45-60 minutes. Just plan on doing some shopping at the pier for an hour or so before boarding the ship.

 

 

The two hours was just letting you know what can happen. An accident on the smaller Streets can cause a BIG tie-up. As 1HC says at least an hour. Now it looks like you want to do Cheri's. If it is not to your liking ther is a small, almost alleylike road next to the side of Cheri's between there and the Casino. At the end there is a Pizza place that serves good Italian food. I don't know if they are open for lunch, but we always went there on our vacations in SXM.:)

[janie315]

Cheri's is a "burger" joint! I would not even "waste" my time even going there if you only have a day in SXM! You have to pass the airport in order to get there. There is a bridge right at the Royal Palm Beach Club that goes up during the day to let the boats go thru....if you get stuck there the traffic it takes forever to get back to the port. Yes, it could take you 2 hours to get there. I would head over to either Orient or Dawn Beach....less traffic, you see more of the island than spending an afternoon at Cheri's. No offense Cheri or Marianna! There are a million place to eat at Orient and a few on Dawn Beach.....you can even walk over the the Westin Hotel from Dawn Beach for lunch if you wanted. Just my opinion!

[geoherb]

The OP's plans seem a tad ambitious to me. I would suggest picking a beach and going there first by taking a taxi. There is a taxi stand right outside the shops at the cruise dock. They'll be lining up people to go to the different beaches. Enjoy a few hours at your beach, eat lunch, then head to town for shopping. You want to be at the point closest to the ship at the end of the day just in case any traffic snarls get in your way. As others have pointed out, there is a ferry that runs from the downtown area back to the dock or you can walk.

[momphoto]

We have always walked into town.....only about a 15 minute walk and sidewalks all the way! There is also a beach you can go to in town though it can get rather busy. This is my favorite island to visit!

[Seal]

Orient Beach--this will be at least our 3rd trip there--we will be using Princess excursion for this as we did once before--as I remember restrooms leave a bit to be desired--but they do have a couple somewhere by the restaurant if my memory is correct--who knows--maybe bright shiny ones now

 

Nancy:D