Sunshine 2/24/17 sailing review w/some photos and link to menus

[momin05]

So far, our plan is exactly the same as yours...beach day in GT, walk around old San Juan, and I have Thenford Grey reserved in St. Kitts! Can't wait to hear what to did in St. Maarten! I am curious if your Thenford tour guide offered to take you to any other beach. I got the impression they usually go to a different beach that is wider with more amenities.

[Dreamer115]

following along. Great review, debating on cruise itinerary and ship so enjoy all info I can get.

[CruisingMainer]

Enjoying your review! We booked the Sunshine for the exotic southern Caribbean for next year!

[Dreamer115]

I have a question reguarding the Sunshine. It looks like most venues on board are quite small, are they as small as they appear, looks like a lot of crowding in the videos I've seen on youtube. The thing I like best in the videos is the serenity. Looks huge.

[DES07]

Love the review.

 

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[flagmom]

I am curious if your Thenford tour guide offered to take you to any other beach. I got the impression they usually go to a different beach that is wider with more amenities.

I read some threads comparing the beaches in the port of call forum for St. Kitts, and how some people preferred the newer beach (maybe named Cockleshell? not sure) and others liked the more rustic one. Our guide didn't given us a choice, but I didn't get the impression that any of the passengers were disappointed.

[flagmom]

I have a question reguarding the Sunshine. It looks like most venues on board are quite small, are they as small as they appear, looks like a lot of crowding in the videos I've seen on youtube. The thing I like best in the videos is the serenity. Looks huge.

The Liquid Lounge (the main show room) and the Limelight Lounge (where they hold the Punchliner Comedy shows) are both the smallest I've ever seen on a cruise ship. In fact, probably 1/3 of the seats in the Limelight Lounge are actually around the corner from the stage, so the audience in those seats has to watch the performer on TV screens.

 

The Serenity area is very nice, and is located on three decks. It has its own pool with a waterfall. It was also usually quite full.

[flagmom]

St. Maarten

 

We chose Amigo Tours for our day on St. Maarten. We booked their St. Maarten Highlights tour online in advance. The cost was $42 per person for the approximately 5 hour tour. A deposit of $34 was charged to our credit card at the time of booking, and we paid the $50 balance at the time of the tour. Our tour guide, named Wellington, was excellent. There were only 8 passengers on the tour, so we had lots of room to spread out on the bus. This company provides free beverages--water, soft drinks, beer and guavaberry rum punch. Here's a photo of Wellington serving the punch, which was delicious.

Some of the highlights we saw on the Dutch side were the salt pond where they once picked salt as an export, and a stop for photos overlooking the beautiful Oyster Bay area. Then we crossed over the border to the French side of the island, St. Martin. We made a couple of stops for photos along the way. One was to pet iguanas (if you were so inclined), and another was a lookout point overlooking Coralita Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It's a beautiful bay, and there were a couple of guys paraboarding, which was fun to watch.

 

[flagmom]

St. Maarten, continued:

 

Our next stop was the Kontiki Beach Club at Orient Bay. This is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on. The water was the most beautiful shade of turquoise. Sadly, we only spent about 35 minutes here.

 

We drove through the French Quarter, through Grand Case, and stopped in the capital city of Marigot for lunch and a stroll through the marketplace. Unfortunately, we only had 45 minutes to spend here which wasn't nearly enough time.

From here we drove back across the border to the Dutch side, and on to Maho Beach (sometimes called the airplane beach because it is right across the roadway from the Princess Juliana International airport.) We had 45 minutes to spend here, and it was great fun. The planes come in every 10 minutes or so, and there are all types. Of course, the ones that get the most interest are the big jets because they seem so close as they pass right over your head to touch down on the runway.

 

 

But the big excitement is when one of the large jets takes off because they always take off in the opposite direction of the beach, which allows the spectators to stand in the blast of the jet engines. Some hang on to the fence, and others just let the blast blow them across the beach. It's hilarious to watch.

At the end of the tour, you could choose to be dropped off in the downtown area of Philipsburg for shopping, or go back to the port area. All in all, we really enjoyed the tour because we got to see highlights of the entire island on both Dutch and French sides--something we had not been able to do the last time we cruised to St. Maarten 40 years ago! I just would like to have had a little more time for lunch/shopping in Marigot. And if you are looking for a great beach day, which I would probably do next time around, Amigo has a tour that spends a couple of hours at both Orient and Maho Beaches, which I think would be great. I'll try not to wait another 40 years!

[Crusin Karen]

Does Amigo have a website? We were in St. Martin last March and did an excursion with Bernard's Tours. It sounds like exactly the same thing except I think we were at Orient Beach for an hour or a bit longer. Thought to do a SEA excursion when we go back in January, but not sure if I'm really up to it lol. So I'd be interested in looking at Amigo. Thanks for any help.

[Crusin Karen]

Never mind, I googled it and found the different excursions. Two questions: how far from the ship is his van/pick up? And at Orient Beach, does he include lounge chairs or do you have to rent them on your own? THANKS!

[flagmom]

Never mind, I googled it and found the different excursions. Two questions: how far from the ship is his van/pick up? And at Orient Beach, does he include lounge chairs or do you have to rent them on your own? THANKS!

The van pickup is on the outside edge of the port area. Sorry I can't help you with the cost of lounge chairs since we weren't there long enough to use any.

[Crusin Karen]

The van pickup is on the outside edge of the port area. Sorry I can't help you with the cost of lounge chairs since we weren't there long enough to use any.[/quot

Oh, that stinks. I know we were at Orient for at least an hour. I'm not sure if we were supposed to PAY for lounge chairs, but there were tons that were empty, so we just plopped down on them and noone said anything. Everyone on the excursion did the same. We didn't have umbrellas, tho. Probably would have been charged for them.

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review.

[Czecholady]

Really enjoyed your review as we are doing this cruise in May 2018

Not sure what we will find in St. Maarten. [Our last trip in Nov.2017 gave us Antigua in place of St. Maarten]

Thanks for the hints on San Juan shuttles. We chose not to get off in this port in Nov. as we were the 1st ship to call on San Juan & stories talked of trouble after the storms. I hear now that the city is okay but many problems still outside of downtown.