Orient Beach to cruise port: How much time to allow?

[knicola11]

We will be taking a taxi from Orient Beach back to the cruise port on a Wednesday. There will be 10 cruise ships in port that day(!!) Is going to Orient Beach still a good idea? Also, if we go, how long should we allow to get back? Thanks.

[SnorkelAway]

If we go to Orient off a ship on a port of call, we would get a taxi and leave 90 minutes or a little less before the all aboard time. The taxi ride itself should not take more than 30 minutes or so. 10 ships is amazing. What day are you going to be there?

[lovevacadays]

Oh my! 10 ships in port. It is only about 30 minutes or so from Orient Beach, which was the last stop on our private tour, back to the ship. If it were me I still would want to leave about an hour and a half before "all aboard".

[gtaylor]

I agree with the above.

 

I would ALLOW 45 and hope for 30 minutes.

 

Remember, that's after they fill your selected taxi-van.

 

There should be a lot of them around (and a lot of cruisers) as it gets close to all-aboard time.

 

gary

[knicola11]

Thanks for your help! We will be there March 8th, 2017. Hopefully orient beach won't be too crowded.

[SnorkelAway]

The Port website shows 6 cruise ships on March 8, 2017 - which is plenty.

[Karysa]

No chance I would leave only 45 minutes from Orient to get back to the ship with 10 ships in port if my all aboard time was 4:30 or 5:30. Its always good to know how many ships have the same all aboard time as you because if there are 4 or 5 expect traffic congestion just getting in to the port. Personally I would get off the ship as early as possible and come back a little earlier than I might normally when 5-6 ships are in port. Even if a couple of ships are staying late or even overnight I would anticipate that a lot of folks would be coming back in the late afternoon to clean-up for dinner. Giving up a half of hour of beach time would not be worth the stress for me.

[SonLuvr]

No chance I would leave only 45 minutes from Orient to get back to the ship with 10 ships in port if my all aboard time was 4:30 or 5:30. Its always good to know how many ships have the same all aboard time as you because if there are 4 or 5 expect traffic congestion just getting in to the port. Personally I would get off the ship as early as possible and come back a little earlier than I might normally when 5-6 ships are in port. Even if a couple of ships are staying late or even overnight I would anticipate that a lot of folks would be coming back in the late afternoon to clean-up for dinner. Giving up a half of hour of beach time would not be worth the stress for me.

 

 

 

Agreed. The first time we were on St Maarten we went to Orient Bay. After we'd been there a little while, and had gotten up from our chairs to get a drink and a souvenir, hubby noticed a taxi van that was almost ready to go. He wisely advised we take it even though it was earlier than we wanted to leave, just because it was the only taxi available at the time. (This was many years ago.) However, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the beach, and I was sure we could simply catch the next taxi. Well, the next one took most of an hour to fill up and leave, we got caught in a major traffic jam, and we ended up running for the ship with all our might just as they were pulling in the boarding ramps, yelling like crazy people to hold the ship. Never again! Now when my hubby says let's leave, I say okay, even if it's 3 hours early.

 

 

 

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[sweets2323]

How can I find out how many ships will be at the port?

 

 

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[dna529]

Cruisetimetables.com

 

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[volk904]

Like other said it is a 30 min ride but you have to plan for delays. We usually give ourselves at least 90 minutes. if all goes well we have a drink and shop near the dock.

[navybankerteacher]

10 ships seems unlikely; but regardless, it is a 30 minute ride under the best of conditions. On a heavy cruise ship passenger day, 45 minutes to one hour is fairly likely - and that means once you are in the taxi and it is starting. You want to be picking up your stuff and looking for a taxi at least 90 minutes before all aboard time.

[Harrylinden]

10 Cruise ships?? I don,t think there's enough room for 10 cruise ships at one time. I never saw or heard of that many cruise ships in port at one time!!!:eek: