Allure in St. Thomas

[caggfamily]

We are cruising on Allure in June on on Eastern itinerary, and I'm trying to plan a beach day for St. Thomas. We intended to go to Magen's Bay since we are traveling with teenagers and grandparents. If it was just DH and I, we might take a cab to one of the smaller beaches with fewer amenities. however, it meets the requirements of this group (i.e., chair rentals, bathrooms, and food). Here's my dilemma. I just checked and the day we are in St. Thomas, so are Carnival Conquest and Norwegian Getaway, for a total of 13,100 cruise passengers in port.:eek: Since Allure doesn't dock until 10:00 am, I am worried that by the time we take a cab and get there, it will be completely mobbed and we won't be able to even rent chairs. Any experienced St. Thomas visitors or residents out there who can offer advice?

[39august]

I assume you know that Allure docks at Crown Bay? If I were you, I would cab it to Emerald Beach which is much closer to Crown Bay.

[GTO-Girl]

We are cruising on Allure in June on on Eastern itinerary, and I'm trying to plan a beach day for St. Thomas. We intended to go to Magen's Bay since we are traveling with teenagers and grandparents. If it was just DH and I, we might take a cab to one of the smaller beaches with fewer amenities. however, it meets the requirements of this group (i.e., chair rentals, bathrooms, and food). Here's my dilemma. I just checked and the day we are in St. Thomas, so are Carnival Conquest and Norwegian Getaway, for a total of 13,100 cruise passengers in port.:eek: Since Allure doesn't dock until 10:00 am, I am worried that by the time we take a cab and get there, it will be completely mobbed and we won't be able to even rent chairs. Any experienced St. Thomas visitors or residents out there who can offer advice?

 

Honestly......3 ships in St Thomas is nothing! We have been there where there were 7 or 8.

 

Magan's shouldn't be any more crowded than normal...

 

We were just on the Allure in November......wow what a wonderful ship!! Enjoy your cruise!!!!

[caggfamily]

I assume you know that Allure docks at Crown Bay? If I were you, I would cab it to Emerald Beach which is much closer to Crown Bay.

 

I did know that Allure docks at Crown Bay, but Magens Bay is the beach I hear the most about. Closer is definitely better, but what kind of amenities does Emerald Beach have?

[matj2000]

We were on the Freedom a few years ago and there were 7 or 8 ships in St.Thomas.

I believe it was somewhere around 22,000 cruise passengers.

Enough that Disney had to tender out.

There was alot of people but it wasn't much of a difference than the other times.

Ship times are staggard with people always coming and going.

And crowds are spread out everywhere on the island.

You should be fine, make your plans as usual....

[KGSB11]

I did know that Allure docks at Crown Bay, but Magens Bay is the beach I hear the most about. Closer is definitely better, but what kind of amenities does Emerald Beach have?

 

Emerald Beach is nice. Is it Magens? No. But a Caribbean beach nonetheless. There are hotels on the beach which rent chairs (of which there are plenty), hotel bars, and watersports for rent (kayaks, paddleboards, and jet skis).

 

Here is my brief insight on Emerald Beach from August (sorry in advance for the truncated review...haven't had time to finish it :p)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1909768&page=8

 

Take a look at this website as well from the main hotel on the beach.

http://www.emeraldbeach.com/watersports.html#simple3

[Life is Good Cruising]

I did know that Allure docks at Crown Bay, but Magens Bay is the beach I hear the most about. Closer is definitely better, but what kind of amenities does Emerald Beach have?

 

I know you want to go to Magen's Bay, in case you change your mind we enjoyed the day at Emerald Beach 2 months ago. We ate and drank at the beach bar, food was good and reasonably priced and has all the amenities. It's a 5 min taxi ride from Crown Bay to the beach at $5 pp.

[caggfamily]

I know you want to go to Magen's Bay, in case you change your mind we enjoyed the day at Emerald Beach 2 months ago. We ate and drank at the beach bar, food was good and reasonably priced and has all the amenities. It's a 5 min taxi ride from Crown Bay to the beach at $5 pp.

 

Thanks for the helpful info and opinions. To be honest, I really like the idea of a 5 minute taxi ride. I'm all for seeing a beautiful beach like Magen's Bay, but as long as Emerald Beach is also nice, it sound like a better (and closer) option. Thanks,

[Dave85]

We were in Magen's this past week on Allure with a port load of 16,000 and Magen's was not crowded at all. Weather turned lousy on us, but otherwise no issues.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Oville]

We were in St T last Wednesday and the Allure, Getaway, Carnival Freedom and Conquest were there. We arrived at Magen's around 11:00 and the beach was not crowded. Had no trouble renting chairs and there was plenty of shade spots. If I were you, I wouldn't worry.

 

Enjoy, we love Magen's Bay

[caggfamily]

We were in St T last Wednesday and the Allure, Getaway, Carnival Freedom and Conquest were there. We arrived at Magen's around 11:00 and the beach was not crowded. Had no trouble renting chairs and there was plenty of shade spots. If I were you, I wouldn't worry.

 

Enjoy, we love Magen's Bay

 

How long does it take to get to Magen's Bay from the Allure and how much is a cab? We'll have 6 people

[Oville]

How long does it take to get to Magen's Bay from the Allure and how much is a cab? We'll have 6 people

 

It's $8/person each way, $4pp entrance fee and chair rentals were $4 and $5. There are picnic tables.

 

The rides about 15 minutes. We were not on the Allure but the two piers are about equidistant from Magen's Bay.

[hgmizzou]

We were just on St. Thomas off Allure the first week of May and went to Magen's Bay. There were two other ships docked with Allure that day.

 

We didn't do any other excursions so we got off the ship about 10:45, caught a cab right at the port and headed straight to Magen's Bay. The cab ride was $8 per person and the entrance fee to MB was $4 per person.

 

When we got there (about 11:15 - the walk from the ship to the cabs was a bit of a distance so I'm including that time as well) the beach was not crowded. We had no problem renting chairs (and towels since we forgot to take them off the ship) and found a delightful spot to enjoy the beach.

 

The one thing I will say is that by the time we decided to eat lunch (around 12:30), it had gotten much busier and we had to wait a little for our food and couldn't find a table. We just took our food back to our chairs and ate.

 

The food was not that great but the drinks were fantastic!

 

When we were ready to leave we just caught another cab and headed downtown and did some shopping before heading back to the ship.

 

We loved our time on MB and didn't feel crowded or anything. If you decide to head there - you should be just fine.

 

Have a great trip!!

Edited May 19, 2014 by hgmizzou

[awhcruiser]

Take a taxi to Secret Harbor..Quiet beach and hardly any cruise ship passengers.

[negc]

Our experiences at Magen's Bay mirror most of the other comments and we didn't find the beach overcrowded despite the number of cruise passengers in Charlotte Amalie when we were there.

Edited May 19, 2014 by negc

[cruisinfanatic]

Thanks for the helpful info and opinions. To be honest, I really like the idea of a 5 minute taxi ride. I'm all for seeing a beautiful beach like Magen's Bay, but as long as Emerald Beach is also nice, it sound like a better (and closer) option. Thanks,

You hear about it because everyone flocks there. Was once voted one of top 10 beaches in the world. They all get a turn IMO.

I won't go there unless someone in my party insists.

Emerald is very close to Crown Bay, usually uncrowded, cost little to get there, and no entrance fee. Has bathrooms both ends of beach with food and bar.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2014 by SeaUs

[BecciBoo]

I assume you know that Allure docks at Crown Bay? If I were you, I would cab it to Emerald Beach which is much closer to Crown Bay.

 

Ditto, we went there, and my review with pictures in on the main board...has everything you need.

 

Oops... SeaUs yours are fantastic!

Edited May 19, 2014 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

MAGEN'S IS GORGEOUS BUT CAN GET QUITE HECTIC WITH MANY SHIPS IN: