St.Thomas/St. Martin with 14 month old

[IloveDobes]

I leave on Sat for our first cruise since baby. I think I am ready, except in all my packing and planning for baby, I haven't really had time to figure out what we are gonna do on St. Thomas and St. MArtin. I know they both have the butterfly farm and St. thomas has Coral world...and of course there's always the option of going to the beach. Anyone have reccomendations of what woudl be good for a 14 month old? Anyone been to the butterfly farm or coral world? Suggestions for beaches that arent overwhelmed with tourists? Thanks!

[tlpeters]

I was just in St. Martin a little over a week ago with my 15 month old. We rented a car for the day and drove around the island stopping at a few places. If you're looking to just do the butterfly farm and the beach it would probably be easier to take a taxi. We were going to stop at the butterfly farm but my son was getting a little crabby so we skipped it. However, it was really close to both Orient and Le Galion beach. We went to Le Galion and if you're planning on doing the beach I would choose that one if I were you. It was a nice little beach, not too crowded and the water was incredibly calm and shallow. My son liked it so much that he decided to eat a couple handfuls of sand to bring back to the ship in his tummy.

[fancy_nance_126]

we did coral world a few years back, before we had a baby. we currently have a 10 month-old and i imagine coral world would be a good place to go with him. there's also a beach right by it that wasn't very crowded.

our last cruise i went to magen's bay. it was beautiful and the water was very calm (good for a baby i'm sure), but it fills up pretty quick. if you do decide to go there, try to get there early!

[YOWmom]

We cruised to St. Thomas in January with our two girls (5 years old and 11 months old). We went to Magens Bay beach in the morning - just asked the dispatcher for a van rather than an open air taxi so we could install the carseat. The beach is quite touristy but I love it anyway, and the water is also nice and calm for baby to play in. We went back to the ship for lunch and then did the butterfly farm in the afternoon. My 5 y/o really enjoyed it and the nice thing is that it's so close - literally right at the end of the pier where the ship docks. It's quite small though so we were only there for just under an hour - I haven't been to the one in St. Martin though so don't know how it compares.

 

A few years ago when we were in St. Martin (without the kids) we just took a local taxi to Marigot and strolled around the town and the market area, which was really interesting. Next time we take the kids, I would definitely do that again. Then we took another taxi to Orient Bay beach for the afternoon (which is beautiful, but might be a little less kid-friendly due to the waves and the "scenery"). Both taxis were newer model cars so you shouldn't have a problem with carseats. They also have the larger van taxis, but if you're not travelling with a big group and going to a less popular destination (like Marigot), they will send you in a smaller "sprint" taxi, which would be ideal for carseats. In both cases, it was nice to go at our own pace and not be tied to a scheduled excursion, so that when we (or the kids) had enough, we could just head back to the ship.