St. Kitts, St. Marteen, San Juan and Grand Turk

[chell75@aol.com]

Hi, we are going on the Carnival Conquest May 31st to St. Kitts, St. Marteen, San Juan and Grand Turk. Money will be tight so we are looking for cheap or free things to do in the ports. Maybe beaches or interesting things to see. My husband and I are in our 40s and our daughter is 12. Thank you for any tips!

 

 

 

Thank you and have a wonderful day! :)

[evandbob]

Hi, we are going on the Carnival Conquest May 31st to St. Kitts, St. Marteen, San Juan and Grand Turk. Money will be tight so we are looking for cheap or free things to do in the ports. Maybe beaches or interesting things to see. My husband and I are in our 40s and our daughter is 12. Thank you for any tips!

 

 

 

Thank you and have a wonderful day! :)

 

St Kitts: taxi with another family to split the cost and go to Carambola's Beach. If you don't want to reserve pay for their day lounger, there are other local vendors down the beach.

 

St Maarten: get to town and walk around and shop, eat.

 

San Juan: take bus shuttle or wlk to El Morro, the old fort.

 

Grand Turk: get off tender, and enjoy the beach right there.

 

Most of all have fun! It's a great itinerary. I just did this on the Freedom in December.

[wdnoble9999]

St Kitts: taxi with another family to split the cost and go to Carambola's Beach. If you don't want to reserve pay for their day lounger, there are other local vendors down the beach.

 

St Maarten: get to town and walk around and shop, eat.

 

San Juan: take bus shuttle or wlk to El Morro, the old fort.

 

Grand Turk: get off tender, and enjoy the beach right there.

 

Most of all have fun! It's a great itinerary. I just did this on the Freedom in December.

 

All great ideas, here. Just to add to it a bit, for St. Maarten, there are any number of close beaches within relatively short range of a taxi (Dawn Beach is one that comes to mind). But the last couple of times we've been there, we've enjoyed simply taking the water taxi across the harbor and spending the day on the beach that fronts Phillipsburg. The water there is beautiful, food is readily available as are chairs and umbrellas, and you can walk the town whenever and as much as you like.

[trvlgirlmq]

We are doing this exact itinerary on Breeze in May. We have been to 3 of the 4 ports but also need to be budget minded this trip.

 

San Juan - You can walk to San Cristobal or El Morro. Depending on how long you are in port you can actually walk between them but I think focusing on one would be better. If this is your first time in SJ then San Cristobal may be the better choice because you also walk past a lot of the great architecture and through some fun squares with lots happening. Cost: $3 entrance fee per adult and your child is free

 

Grand Turk - This is not a tender port you will dock right off the beach. The beach is free is and Carnival has a cruise center here so the chairs are included. There is a giant swimming pool also included at Margaritaville. Do not feel obligated to buy any food/drink. We go back to the ship for lunch. Cost: free

 

St Maarten - You can water taxi or walk to Great Bay Beach right in Philipsburg. You can go through all the shops and check out the wild chickens in the main square. You can also taxi to a slightly nicer beach at Little Divi Bay. Cost: free to about $40

 

St Kitts - We've never been so we are doing a tour as our big splurge through Thenford Grey. Includes Brimstone Hill, batik factory and beach time for $48 per person. Other choices are taxi to beach or Brimstone Hill. Cost: taxi fare but not sure how much

 

Hope this helps you figure out your plans.

[evandbob]

We are doing this exact itinerary on Breeze in May. We have been to 3 of the 4 ports but also need to be budget minded this trip.

 

San Juan - You can walk to San Cristobal or El Morro. Depending on how long you are in port you can actually walk between them but I think focusing on one would be better. If this is your first time in SJ then San Cristobal may be the better choice because you also walk past a lot of the great architecture and through some fun squares with lots happening. Cost: $3 entrance fee per adult and your child is free

 

Grand Turk - This is not a tender port you will dock right off the beach. The beach is free is and Carnival has a cruise center here so the chairs are included. There is a giant swimming pool also included at Margaritaville. Do not feel obligated to buy any food/drink. We go back to the ship for lunch. Cost: free

 

St Maarten - You can water taxi or walk to Great Bay Beach right in Philipsburg. You can go through all the shops and check out the wild chickens in the main square. You can also taxi to a slightly nicer beach at Little Divi Bay. Cost: free to about $40

 

St Kitts - We've never been so we are doing a tour as our big splurge through Thenford Grey. Includes Brimstone Hill, batik factory and beach time for $48 per person. Other choices are taxi to beach or Brimstone Hill. Cost: taxi fare but not sure how much

 

Hope this helps you figure out your plans.

 

Appreciate you correcting me on Grand Turk, I don't know why I said tender!

Thanks!

[Sandy Sails]

St Kitts has a fun beach called South Friars Bay Beach - monkeys everywhere. $10 for a taxi - have them drop you off at Shipwreck Bar and then tell them when to pick you up to go back to the ship. Less than 10 minutes away, you can rent 2 loungers/umbrella for $10. There are several beach restaurants/bars nearby.

 

St Maarten - save some money and skip the water taxi. You can walk instead. Go left after you leave the dock and head to all the beaches you see. Lots of little restaurants, shops.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Sandy Sails

[OCruisers]

Grand Turk .... Easy, just enjoy the beach right there. Also, the huge pool at Margaritaville is at no cost. You do NOT have to buy drinks or food to use it.

 

San Juan .... Walking to see the forts and Old San Juan is a good thing to do.

 

St. Maarten .... Taking the inexpensive water taxi into town and Great Bay Beach would work for you.

 

St. Kitts .... Find an excursion you think you would enjoy and book it or take a taxi to a beach.

 

Look forward to having a wonderful time! :)

LuLu

[L&J]

In St Maarten, Maho beach is an amazing experience with the planes coming in right over your head. Truly incredible. Mullet Beach is short walk from Maho and it is a better beach for lounging and swimming and the water is great as well. On our last trip there we went to Mullet first so the kids could swim and play and then walked over to Maho if the afternoon when the big planes usually arrive.

[luvtheships]

In St Maarten, Maho beach is an amazing experience with the planes coming in right over your head. Truly incredible. Mullet Beach is short walk from Maho and it is a better beach for lounging and swimming and the water is great as well. On our last trip there we went to Mullet first so the kids could swim and play and then walked over to Maho if the afternoon when the big planes usually arrive.

 

Do you know what the cab fare was from philipsburg harbor to maho beach?

 

We took a saili ng excursion that stop there for a swim but next time I would just go there.

 

Prices for loungers and umbrellas ? would you recall?

 

 

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[ProfCruise]

We did this same itinerary in December and spent almost nothing at the ports (maybe $30 total). I wrote about what we did at each port and posted photos in my review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2140134&highlight=freedom

 

Have fun! Let me know if you have any specific questions about what we did.

[L&J]

Do you know what the cab fare was from philipsburg harbor to maho beach?

 

We took a saili ng excursion that stop there for a swim but next time I would just go there.

 

Prices for loungers and umbrellas ? would you recall?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Can't recall exactly but someone else has posted $10 pp each way. I think our kids rode on our lap last time and were free. I believe the lounge chairs were $10 each last year.

[L&J]

Found this.

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gtaylor/media/Taxi/sxmtaxirates.jpg.html

[loriepta]

St Kitts has a fun beach called South Friars Bay Beach - monkeys everywhere. $10 for a taxi - have them drop you off at Shipwreck Bar and then tell them when to pick you up to go back to the ship. Less than 10 minutes away, you can rent 2 loungers/umbrella for $10. There are several beach restaurants/bars nearby.

 

St Maarten - save some money and skip the water taxi. You can walk instead. Go left after you leave the dock and head to all the beaches you see. Lots of little restaurants, shops.

 

Is South Friars Bay Beach a nice one for kids to play in the sand and water or is it rocky? This August will be my first to St. Kitts also.:)

[smrn]

Chell, I am on this cruise too and I don't want to spend too much as well! I am excited! My kids want to see the planes land in ST Maarten. I am not sure about the others yet!

[Elaine5715]

The cost of the forts in San Juan is $5 for adults/kids free. The admission is for both forts. The trolley between the two is free but it is a short direct walk.

[smrn]

Thanks Elaine

What does it cost to go to the "plane" beach?

[jamon]

Does shipwreck bar have a regular bathroom or a port a potty? Is the sand shelly or rocky? How about the sand when walking into the water? Did I read correctly that the distance down the beach from shipwreck to carambola is about a 15 to 20 mi9n walk?

[paul58]

The bathrooms at Shipwreck are regular bathrooms. Unisex-three separate stalls with toilet. There is one sink near the entrance. The distance from Shipwreck to Carambola is about 750 yards- walk along the beach or the road behind the beach.

[jamon]

Thanks paul58.....is the beach rocky/shelly and how about the walk into the water. Seems like you might have been there...any other things to know about it?

[kassimer1]

there is a free trolly in san juan. here is the trolly map http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/wp-post-images/trolley-map-big.jpg

 

you can hop on and off, we are going to do this in may too.

 

like everyone said the beach at grand turk is right at the cruise terrminal. there is also a pool at margaretaville. they dont charge to use it. the food and drinks are a bit pricey there. there is also some shops and a tiny astronaut thing because one of the spaceships splashed down there. its at the end of the shops.

 

st thomas has alot of shops close to the port. beaches are free so you can just grab a cab

[pretzellover]

Very helpful

 

 

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[Joanna-N-KY]

BIG THANKS to everyone who posted info on this post!!! Doing this cruise with 4 kids (17-21) this summer - need all the $ saving ideas I can get!

[nabetsi]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[misssea]

In Grand Turk, you can walk a short distance down the beach to Jack's Shack. They have a dog named Topher who spends all of his time digging for sand crabs. Very entertaining. I've been there twice and I split my time between Margaritaville and Jack's.

[Buffettfan 225]

An inexpensive family thing to do in San Juan is flying kites on hill area that faces El Morro fort. Popular with locals. No problem getting kites up in air with ocean breeze. We brought our own inexpensive Walmart kites, but heard can be purchased there. Next trip bringing one with stronger string and a a better way to wind it in.

Also if I to photography - some really great shots of ocean and if not creeped out, the cemetery by fort has amazing carvings. Breath taking.