excursion help

[My Bud Pud]

Booked on Celebrity Summit March 2015. First time to St. Maarten... any recommendations on excursions? we have also considered just either walking Philipsburg on our own (if feasible) or renting scooters and self exploring.

 

thoughts? ideas?

 

I posted a similar inquiry on the St. Kitts thread. I guess another question would be if we were going to book an excursion at one and "do the town/shopping" at the other - any ideas on which is better for either?

 

any info is much appreciated.

[dz63]

Booked on Celebrity Summit March 2015. First time to St. Maarten... any recommendations on excursions? we have also considered just either walking Philipsburg on our own (if feasible) or renting scooters and self exploring.

 

thoughts? ideas?

 

I posted a similar inquiry on the St. Kitts thread. I guess another question would be if we were going to book an excursion at one and "do the town/shopping" at the other - any ideas on which is better for either?

 

any info is much appreciated.

 

I don't know which island would be better for shopping, but for our stop in St. Maarten we booked a speedboat tour with Robinson's. They have lots of excellent reviews on TA. Another popular option is a land tour. Bernards Tours tends to come highly recommended.

Edited June 16, 2014 by dz63

[Karysa]

Booked on Celebrity Summit March 2015. First time to St. Maarten... any recommendations on excursions? we have also considered just either walking Philipsburg on our own (if feasible) or renting scooters and self exploring.

 

thoughts? ideas?

 

I posted a similar inquiry on the St. Kitts thread. I guess another question would be if we were going to book an excursion at one and "do the town/shopping" at the other - any ideas on which is better for either?

 

any info is much appreciated.

 

Smiling. Your two choices are like night and day. They are about as oposite as you could have picked. One is very safe and calm and possibly a tad boring and the other is, well let's say at the very least, an adventure on a busy, hilly island such as St. Maarten/St. Martin. I have seen an accident involving a scooter and I have seen dozens of close calls caused by scooter/motorcycles on the island.

 

What are your interests? Do you like beaches, quiet meal with a great view, catamaran ride, you drive boat to rent and explore the lagoon in, jets landing right over a beach or Ziplining? The island offers all these and more. If you tell us your interests and if there will be children traveling with you then we will be able to help you better.

[prim8keeper]

If you are trying to decide which island, St. Kitts or St. Martin would be better for shopping, St. Martin would win hands down. We have been to St. Kitts twice and there is not a ton of shopping there, at least not when compared to St. Martin. That said, St. Martin is a much better beach island than St. Kitts. I guess it just kind of depends on your interest.

[My Bud Pud]

Smiling. Your two choices are like night and day. They are about as oposite as you could have picked. One is very safe and calm and possibly a tad boring and the other is, well let's say at the very least, an adventure on a busy, hilly island such as St. Maarten/St. Martin. I have seen an accident involving a scooter and I have seen dozens of close calls caused by scooter/motorcycles on the island.

 

What are your interests? Do you like beaches, quiet meal with a great view, catamaran ride, you drive boat to rent and explore the lagoon in, jets landing right over a beach or Ziplining? The island offers all these and more. If you tell us your interests and if there will be children traveling with you then we will be able to help you better.

I would have to classify us as shoppers/sightseers. Beaches are good, but we are not ones to spend endless hours at one. Ziplining is definitly out - not enough alcohol to get my wife to do that. It will just be us - mid to late 40's - no children.

 

thanks again

[My Bud Pud]

If you are trying to decide which island, St. Kitts or St. Martin would be better for shopping, St. Martin would win hands down. We have been to St. Kitts twice and there is not a ton of shopping there, at least not when compared to St. Martin. That said, St. Martin is a much better beach island than St. Kitts. I guess it just kind of depends on your interest.

Sounds like St. Maarten may be the better option for shopping/strolling town and St. Kitts for the sigtseeing via scooter or atv??? Especially since I learned we may be able to find sangsters on St. Maarten!

Edited June 16, 2014 by My Bud Pud
additional information

[merinski]

Booked on Celebrity Summit March 2015. First time to St. Maarten... any recommendations on excursions? we have also considered just either walking Philipsburg on our own (if feasible) or renting scooters and self exploring.

 

thoughts? ideas?

 

I posted a similar inquiry on the St. Kitts thread. I guess another question would be if we were going to book an excursion at one and "do the town/shopping" at the other - any ideas on which is better for either?

 

any info is much appreciated.

 

I found there is lots of shopping right off the cruise in St. Kitts. Also liked shopping in St. Martin though. In St. Martin you can take the water taxi to get to shopping.

[dperki1]

We did a tour with Royston in St. Kitt, it was an island tour, with a stop at some gardens (that had a gift shop) and the fort that is there. Brief beach stop to grab a quick bite and see the mongoose and monkeys right by the beach....included a bite (some kind of wrap) and a cooler full of drinks.

 

The tour included a lot and gave a good overview of the island.

 

Island tour - Romney manor, Brimstone hill fortress, Black rocks, the

peninsula, Basseterre, rain forest, beaches & lots more.

$45

[genealogyfan]

Booked with Twin Island Excursions for a sightseeing and plane spotting tour. There were only 4 of us on the tour. Got the recommendations for this company on this board and glad I did. We had a great tour guide and as I mentioned only 2 others on with us. Our tour guide took us all over the island – it rained but only when we were in the van. Went to the French side too – stopped several places including the beaches and had an hour at one of the beaches too - and stopped at one of the towns. The last stop was at the beach near the airport and we were there long enough to see several planes landing and one taking off

[CruisingWithTheTide]

Just got back from a cruise that went to St. Maarten. We did Bernard's Tours after reading about it on CC. We had a party of 8- the parents/grandparents did option 1, and the four "kids" (18-25) went on option 2. We LOVED it. The drivers were very knowledgable and we got to get out of the car and really see St. Maarten. It was great to stop at Orient Beach, Maho Beach, the French capital, etc.. Highly recommend doing this tour!!

[Life is Good Cruising]

Just got back from a cruise that went to St. Maarten. We did Bernard's Tours after reading about it on CC. We had a party of 8- the parents/grandparents did option 1, and the four "kids" (18-25) went on option 2. We LOVED it. The drivers were very knowledgable and we got to get out of the car and really see St. Maarten. It was great to stop at Orient Beach, Maho Beach, the French capital, etc.. Highly recommend doing this tour!!

 

When asked, I often recommend Bernard's Tours. We've been using them for many years and have always been very pleased with their tours and their guides. Glad to hear that everyone enjoyed themselves, thanks for the update.