What to do after America's Cup Challenge

[GSRDPM]

My family will be on Serenade of the Seas in March and be in St Maarten on a Monday, March 14th. We are signed up for The America's Cup Challenge and the the excursion is scheduled for 10AM to 1:45PM. The Ship is scheduled to depart at 5:30. Originally, we were planning on seeing the planes land at Maho beach, but I understand that traffic is bad returning towards the dock and we should leave the beach by about 3:30PM to play it safe (Is this correct?) It would seem that that does not leave us much time to enjoy the sights at the beach or even get something to eat. Given the timing of our excursion and departure time, is it not worth it? What would be an alternative for our family (including a 12 YO daughter and 15 YO son)? our family is not into shopping....

[gtaylor]

That 10:00 - 1:45 really chops up your day. You'll probably need to be back on board at 4:30 for a 5:30 sailing?

 

I don't think that you'll have time to go to Maho, and even if you did, I'd be out of there by 2:45 - 3:00, not 3:30.

 

If you want to spend some beach/water time, I'd suggest Divi Little Bay, as it is closest to the Cruise, and it's an OK beach. If you'd settle for beach time without the swimming, then Great Bay Beach is right there.

 

gary

[Karysa]

My family will be on Serenade of the Seas in March and be in St Maarten on a Monday, March 14th. We are signed up for The America's Cup Challenge and the the excursion is scheduled for 10AM to 1:45PM. The Ship is scheduled to depart at 5:30. Originally, we were planning on seeing the planes land at Maho beach, but I understand that traffic is bad returning towards the dock and we should leave the beach by about 3:30PM to play it safe (Is this correct?) It would seem that that does not leave us much time to enjoy the sights at the beach or even get something to eat. Given the timing of our excursion and departure time, is it not worth it? What would be an alternative for our family (including a 12 YO daughter and 15 YO son)? our family is not into shopping....

 

There is a nice restaurant close to where you are doing the excursion from that is at Great Bay Marina and it has an "old sea, nautical feel" and many boaters come in for a bite to eat or cocktails. It is reasonably priced and has very good food and it would be like a theme day for your family. It is called Chesterfield's.

[crewsweeper]

My family will be on Serenade of the Seas in March and be in St Maarten on a Monday, March 14th. We are signed up for The America's Cup Challenge and the the excursion is scheduled for 10AM to 1:45PM. The Ship is scheduled to depart at 5:30. Originally, we were planning on seeing the planes land at Maho beach, but I understand that traffic is bad returning towards the dock and we should leave the beach by about 3:30PM to play it safe (Is this correct?) It would seem that that does not leave us much time to enjoy the sights at the beach or even get something to eat. Given the timing of our excursion and departure time, is it not worth it? What would be an alternative for our family (including a 12 YO daughter and 15 YO son)? our family is not into shopping....

 

 

I think you might be confusing the length of this excursion with the 2 times for the regatta. They usually have 4 regattas a day. I'd venture to say your choice of times are either @10AM or @1:45PM. If you take the 10AM,you'll be back on the 12 Meter 's dock around noon or 12:30 PM. That's still not enough time to head for Maho and see the planes. You could go to Maho early and then catch the 1:45 ACC, but you may not see many if any planes.

 

Unless your family is into sailing and interested in racing and willing to do something besides iceberg lookout, your kids may have a better time at Maho. I liked the excursion a lot, but can tell you none of the teens or tweens on either boat racing looked like they had a good time.

 

There is a kayak center on Simpson's Bay that might be a good alternative and you'll be close to the airport to see any planes or stop briefly at Sunset Beach Bar and watch a couple before heading back. http://www.sxm-activities.com/trisport/kayak.html

 

Check around these threads or the web for flight times to see how many planes will potentially be landing or taking off before 2:30-2:45, if Maho is what your family would like to do.

[Karysa]

I think you might be confusing the length of this excursion with the 2 times for the regatta. They usually have 4 regattas a day. I'd venture to say your choice of times are either @10AM or @1:45PM. If you take the 10AM,you'll be back on the 12 Meter 's dock around noon or 12:30 PM. That's still not enough time to head for Maho and see the planes. You could go to Maho early and then catch the 1:45 ACC, but you may not see many if any planes.

 

Unless your family is into sailing and interested in racing and willing to do something besides iceberg lookout, your kids may have a better time at Maho. I liked the excursion a lot, but can tell you none of the teens or tweens on either boat racing looked like they had a good time.

 

There is a kayak center on Simpson's Bay that might be a good alternative and you'll be close to the airport to see any planes or stop briefly at Sunset Beach Bar and watch a couple before heading back. http://www.sxm-activities.com/trisport/kayak.html

 

Check around these threads or the web for flight times to see how many planes will potentially be landing or taking off before 2:30-2:45, if Maho is what your family would like to do.

 

Along this line there is an excursion through island marketing that you can rent a sailboat and sail the lagoon and the cost for 4 plus a skipper is only $180.00 and I think it is for 3 hours. Again this is a very short taxi ride to Maho beach where the planes land.

[GSRDPM]

I think you might be confusing the length of this excursion with the 2 times for the regatta. They usually have 4 regattas a day. I'd venture to say your choice of times are either @10AM or @1:45PM. If you take the 10AM,you'll be back on the 12 Meter 's dock around noon or 12:30 PM. That's still not enough time to head for Maho and see the planes. You could go to Maho early and then catch the 1:45 ACC, but you may not see many if any planes.

 

Unless your family is into sailing and interested in racing and willing to do something besides iceberg lookout, your kids may have a better time at Maho. I liked the excursion a lot, but can tell you none of the teens or tweens on either boat racing looked like they had a good time.

 

There is a kayak center on Simpson's Bay that might be a good alternative and you'll be close to the airport to see any planes or stop briefly at Sunset Beach Bar and watch a couple before heading back. http://www.sxm-activities.com/trisport/kayak.html

 

Check around these threads or the web for flight times to see how many planes will potentially be landing or taking off before 2:30-2:45, if Maho is what your family would like to do.

 

I just checked my reservation on the RCCL site and they show the time for the excursion as 10 AM and duration as 3 hours so I guess were are doing the 10AM regatta. I wounder how much they will let my kids do. Both kids would prefer to work during the sale no matter how physical the activity would be. My wife will definitely be on Iceberg patrol. She is doing this for my sake ;).

 

Where is the venue located and how long would it take to Maho from there. Do you think we would have time to take a cab to the Sunset Beach Bar and grab a late lunch, watch a few planes and then head back the ship. (How long a wait is there typically at the Bar to get seated and served?)

 

We will be relaxing on a beach all day at Jost Van Dyke the day before and will be relaxing on our next day in St. Kitts, so I don't mind running around as much while in ST. Maarten.

 

 

Thanks everyone for responses so far!

[crewsweeper]

You can volunteer for positions. Depending on the size of your children, they can at least handle the backstays, or be a jib grinder (2 per side) and maybe the mainsheet grinder (2) if large enough or winds are light. You have to work fast for 20 seconds every tack.

 

They pick you up at the water taxi pier next tot he dock (but that area was undergoing construction last spring so it may have changed a bit. They drop you off at the 12 Meter dock, so you can get your glass of punch and buy t shirts, etc. It's about 3/4 the way from the shipdock to the near end of the shopping in in Phillisburg so maybe a 5 minute walk to town or a 10 minute walk back to the dock area. You can flag a cab in town at the Courthouse if you don't see one go by you. Don't recall any standing by the 12 Meter dock. But they might be able to call you one. About a 20-30 minute cab ride to Maho from that point if traffic is good.

[GSRDPM]

You can volunteer for positions. Depending on the size of your children, they can at least handle the backstays, or be a jib grinder (2 per side) and maybe the mainsheet grinder (2) if large enough or winds are light. You have to work fast for 20 seconds every tack.

 

They pick you up at the water taxi pier next tot he dock (but that area was undergoing construction last spring so it may have changed a bit. They drop you off at the 12 Meter dock, so you can get your glass of punch and buy t shirts, etc. It's about 3/4 the way from the shipdock to the near end of the shopping in in Phillisburg so maybe a 5 minute walk to town or a 10 minute walk back to the dock area. You can flag a cab in town at the Courthouse if you don't see one go by you. Don't recall any standing by the 12 Meter dock. But they might be able to call you one. About a 20-30 minute cab ride to Maho from that point if traffic is good.

 

Thanks for all the great information. Have you (or anyone else) done this with an excursion booked through a cruise line (in our case, Royal Caribbean)? What was your schedule like. (My reservation states 10AM-1:45) What time did you meet on or off the ship to transfer over to the 12 meter dock. I assume that if we are scheduled for the 10AM regatta, we will be meeting significantly earlier, right? If we are done by 12-12:30 and it takes about a half hour to get to Maho. Is it feasible to have lunch at the Sunset Bar or will we be stressed out about having to get back in time?

 

Thanks again!

[gtaylor]

The 12 Metre Website says it is a

, so by their timing you would finish at 1:00. I suspect that the trip to Maho would take longer than 30 minutes with mid-day traffic, and MUCH longer on the return.

 

Each Regatta takes approximately three hours. On some days, this is subject to wind and water conditions, but every effort is made to keep to this schedule. Guests are requested to arrive 15 minutes before the departure time.

 

gary

[GSRDPM]

The 12 Metre Website says it is a

, so by their timing you would finish at 1:00. I suspect that the trip to Maho would take longer than 30 minutes with mid-day traffic, and MUCH longer on the return.

 

Each Regatta takes approximately three hours. On some days, this is subject to wind and water conditions, but every effort is made to keep to this schedule. Guests are requested to arrive 15 minutes before the departure time.

 

gary

 

Thanks. Nice website, too. I makes me want to participate that much more. I am going to show it to the family tonight and see what everyone thinks. (Also funny how the "three hour tour" you posted sends me to a link of the Gilligan's Island theme!)

[GSRDPM]

Well, my daughter is all about doing the America's cup challenge. My son is having some second thoughts and is leaning towards Maho. My wife doesn't care. I'm really torn but am leaning towards the America's cup challenge. I guess if we continue with our present plans, going to Maho will give us a reason to book another cruise that will bring us back to St. Maarten.

 

Any more info out there on what we could do for the three hours before returning to the ship.