TENDER OR DOCK? Where? ST. T/ST.MAARTIN

[Doug&Suzy-Q]

I have read several different statements on where and what.

 

St. Thomas: Dock or Tender? I read most dock in Havensight Pier a 5-10 minute taxi ride to downtown Charolette Amalie. Some dock in C. Amalie harbor??? Then I read this is a tender port??

 

St. Maarten: I have read: Most ships dock on Dutch side in Great Bay at the A.C. Wathey Pier in Pt. Blanche. Pier is about 1 mile from center of Phillipsburg.

 

Help??? We are renting a car in each port so this will depend on what company we rent with & the location/ time of pick up...we will be on the Glory in Sept???

 

Thanks

Suzanne

[Oliver Sudden]

I have read several different statements on where and what.

 

St. Thomas: Dock or Tender? I read most dock in Havensight Pier a 5-10 minute taxi ride to downtown Charolette Amalie. Some dock in C. Amalie harbor??? Then I read this is a tender port??

 

St. Maarten: I have read: Most ships dock on Dutch side in Great Bay at the A.C. Wathey Pier in Pt. Blanche. Pier is about 1 mile from center of Phillipsburg.

 

Help??? We are renting a car in each port so this will depend on what company we rent with & the location/ time of pick up...we will be on the Glory in Sept???

 

Thanks

Suzanne

 

:) St. Thomas is an "either/or" situation depending on many factors. With the expansion of the cruise business, the port facilities have rapidly become overtaxed . . . note all the construction in the Harbor. Last time we were there we docked . . . the previous time we tendered in. Tendering brings you to the center of things without a taxi fair. We have walked many times to this area, and it's no problem for us. As for others ??????

:) No problem at all for St. Maarten. We never tendered in several visits, there are water taxis (reasonable) directly to where you probably will want to go. We always have walked "downtown" from the ship, and will continue to do so while we are able.

:eek: Take a good look at the cliffs across the highway from the dock area and you may see some of the goats that inhabit the caves. They were absent the last time we looked. GOOD LUCK!

[zqvol]

:) St. Thomas is an "either/or" situation depending on many factors. With the expansion of the cruise business, the port facilities have rapidly become overtaxed . . . note all the construction in the Harbor. Last time we were there we docked . . . the previous time we tendered in. Tendering brings you to the center of things without a taxi fair. We have walked many times to this area, and it's no problem for us. As for others ??????

:) No problem at all for St. Maarten. We never tendered in several visits, there are water taxis (reasonable) directly to where you probably will want to go. We always have walked "downtown" from the ship, and will continue to do so while we are able.

:eek: Take a good look at the cliffs across the highway from the dock area and you may see some of the goats that inhabit the caves. They were absent the last time we looked. GOOD LUCK!

I must throw a monkey wrench, sorry. Both ports are either/or and maybe another or.

 

ST. Thomas: You will likely dock at the West Indies COmpany dock at Havensight (most people just call it Havensight), but you might dock at Crown Bay Marina (I think that is the name) (when I was there last April there was nothing there to speak of) your third option is that you might tender in .

 

The last will only happen if both docks are full or if your ship is too big to dock. ( I saw the QM2 there last spring tendering becasue it was too big to dock.)

 

On St. Maarten, unless you are on a small ship (Windstar, SeaDream, etc. ) you will go to the Dutch side and be a Phillipsburg. You will likely dock but if there are too many ships in port you might tender. I have been there twice. We tendered once and docked once.

 

Good luck.

[cjh]

If you are in St. Thomas on Tuesday and St. Maarten on Wednesday then I can tell you that you will dock. I think the Glory was the ship that was next to us in both ports.