Excursions

[gelson]

Looking for a bit of advice. My family will be sailing on an Eastern Carribean cruise with stops in CocoCay, Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, and Philipsburg St. Maarten. I will be traveling with my wife and 3 kids ages 9, 5, and 3 who all love the beach. What is the best way to get to the beach at each of these ports (and what beaches should we go to). I think it would be much cheaper to take taxis to the beaches but how difficult will it be to find one to get back to the ship? Thanks for any suggestions

[PattyG12]

Well, Cococay is a beach ... that's about it.

 

St. Thomas, there are tons of cabs that can take you to the main part of town. You can go have lunch, shop a little, cross the street and spend the afternoon on the beach. There are many people offering chairs and umbrellas. I don't remember the cost, but it wasn't high. Also, there are cabs tere all the time to take you back to the ship

 

St. Maarten, I think it depends on what side of the island. The French side has some nude beaches so be careful with the kids. All of the main beaches will have cabs available to get you back to the ship.

 

Enjoy your trip ...

[sparky-elpaso]

Try taking a look at each port using Google Earth. You can usually tell where the ships dock and get an idea of what the area looks like.

[johneeo]

Go to the Port of Call threads for each island.

 

Tons of info there.

[GAHart]

St. Maarten take the water taxi (fun for the kids ) to the main shopping area and the beach is right there you can rent chairs and stuff and there is food everything you need right there

[dohertm1]

Looking for a bit of advice. My family will be sailing on an Eastern Carribean cruise with stops in CocoCay, Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, and Philipsburg St. Maarten. I will be traveling with my wife and 3 kids ages 9, 5, and 3 who all love the beach. What is the best way to get to the beach at each of these ports (and what beaches should we go to). I think it would be much cheaper to take taxis to the beaches but how difficult will it be to find one to get back to the ship? Thanks for any suggestions

 

Coco Cay is the cruise line's tiny spit of an island and you just walk a few yards to the beach when you get off the tender. On St. Thomas, Magen's Bay is certainly beautiful, safe and very popular with cruise passengers. Easy to get to by taxi or shuttle and it has amenities. No need to book the ship's excursion. As for St. Martin, if you want to stick close to the port, there are beaches right there -- a water taxi will get you there in a splash. We liked Orient Beach (the non-nude side) but that is on the French side of the island. Another popular beach is Maho, where the jets land just overhead. Not our cup of tea.