St John Tours

[vickihd]

We are looking for a tour to take with our son who will be 19 months old when we sail. We've been trying to figure out what low key, toddler friendly tour to take.

 

Some of the island tours mention using these "open-air safari taxis"...What is that exactly? Does it have a covered roof? Is it toddler friendly?

 

I would love to hear some feedback from those who have done the done the tours that DCL offers on St. John. Recommendations or "warnings, never again, etc". Thank you.

 

Also is it possible for us to just leave the ship and walk (with the stroller) and explore and shop close to where we are docked. Or is the shopping area a cab ride away.

 

Ugggg...it's so hard to plan if you've never been to this port before.

Thanks

[woody73]

 

. . . Also is it possible for us to just leave the ship and walk (with the stroller) and explore and shop close to where we are docked. Or is the shopping area a cab ride away. . .

The Magic docks (or tenders) at St. Martin. If you want to go to St. John and are not taking an excursion, you will need to take the ferry.

 

Woody

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Hi,

ok I have been many time on the Eastern cruises so perhaps I can offer some help.

St. Johns island tour has open air buses. These are like a over sized jeep. No doors on the ends, many hard bench seats, with a roof over your head. I may have a picture of one, if so I will post it after this post.

It is a big step into the vehicle, no room for a stroller, unless you have a small umbrella type that folds really small. They pack you into the vehicles and no extra leg room, to speak of. The tour i a lot of driving and several quick stops where you step out of the vehicle and stand there to observe the view. A child could do it, but would have to be seated between you and be able to sit for long periods of time, No seat belts. Great tour though.

Most tour vehicles are all made the same. Plus you take a large ferry boat to St. Johns which is kids friendly.

 

St. Maartin has a tour to the Butterfly farm which is wonderful for young kids. Our youngest grandkdis did this one, ages 18 months and 3 years old. Umbrella stroller will work on this one. You walk to the end of the pier and turn right to large air conditioned buses, which are like a grey hound bus and that tkaes you to the farm. Of course your child will need help getting on and off the bus, but you will see many young kids on this excursion. You can also take a taxi there and pay admission when you arrive, dont know the cost. But I would take the bus, just to make thing easier for you. other than beach days, thi si the only little kids friendly excursion I know on St. Maartin.

 

Now for shopping, you have 3 choices at St. Maartin.

1. just behind where the large tour buses are parked there is a short walk to the road, there is a sign that points down the sidewalk which say shopping a 20 minute walk. It is an easy walk, but this is an out of the way part of town you walk along, like old industrial area some what. but you do see many people walk it.

 

2. take a cab, dont know the price and the drivers are nuts there! Always get the set price before you get inthe cab, They usually quote per person price.

 

3. At the end of the pier, on the left there is a water taxi. $5 per person round trip, all day long as many times as you want to use it. If you have a stroller, they will have you board without it and then when everyone is on board they put the stroller on board by the driver. It is a good size boat and you do step down to sit, but is very safe for kids. Only about a 10 minute ride.

There are 2 stops at the shpping area. Most just get off at the first stop and walk the several blocks of stores to the other stop, get back on there to go back to the ship.

as you walk off the pier, most shopping is one block ahead, then right or left, also one more block up has some more stores. Be prepared for lots of people to offer tours, cabs and hair braiding to you as you walk along the pier area. Just say No thanks and walk on and it will be ok.

 

Also there is a sidewalk along the beach that goes right and left, both sides you will see lounge chairs and umbrellas. The beaches are nice, clean and free, but you rent the chairs. Many shop a bit then rent umbreallas and chairs and relax and enjoy the beach. Sometimes if kids get fussy, one parent stays and plays or watches them nap while the other shops nearby. Plus this is NOY a clothing optional beach area, so no worries about that. Many beaches are that way on the islands!!

So this would be very easy for you!!!

 

St. Thomas, I cant think of any kids friendly excursions, accept for beach excursions, watch out for nude beaches or clothing optional they call them, if that bothers you.

Shopping is easy there, it is right next to the port, just push the stroller and your all set. There is even a free trolly bus to take you to the other shopping area downtown. (2 main shopping aras there) Plus if you dock and dont tender in you can walk to the tram that goes up the small mountain and buy a ticket and go to the top for a beautiful view of the ilsand if you want, plus a bird show is there. Maybe your child would like that.

 

If you tender, where they let you off is right across the street from the main shopping area. Some shops are on little alleys off the main road, dont be afraid to walk these alleys, lots fo people do and they are safe.

Some outdoor tents for shopping too. The trolley from the pier will come along there and take you to the pier shopping too, if you want, for free.

 

Hope this helps some, i am going to go and look for the picture and I will post it soon, I hope,

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[mom x4,grandma x4]

hope this wokrs, if not i will try again.

 

 

IMG]http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g212/sixtoedfrog/eastern112506085.jpg[/img]

[mom x4,grandma x4]

oops, hopefully it will work better this time.

This is the open air safari bus

 

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g212/sixtoedfrog/eastern112506085.jpg

[mom x4,grandma x4]

That goodness it owrked that time.

all the open air buses are built like this., this one had rails on the far side so you could only get on and off one side, we have been on a couple that were open both sides, but I dont remember where it was at. Plus it was a few years ago, so they may not even have them now.

 

Remember if you take a private tour, NOT a disney excursion it is up to you to get back in time to board the ship by all aboard time. In other words, if your on a private tour or take a taxi somewhere, if traffic delays you, the vehicle breaks down or you forget about the time and your late, the ship will NOT wait for you!!! If your on a disney excursion and have a problem they WILL wait for you.

 

Traffic gets really bad late afternoon. Last november our excursion was over an hour late getting back, we made it with 3 minutes to spare, of course it was a disney tour so they would of waited, but it was not a good feeling.

We have left people behind 4 times over all my cruises. At least 3 of those times people hired a boat to run them out to the ship as we were out to the edge of the bay area. That would be very expensive and very scary to board that way. I have watched them below my balcony before!!!

So keep that in mind when you are out and about!!

 

Hope this helped you some, please dont hesitate to ask any more questions you may have. I remember how confusing it all can be the first time, but DCL really makes it easy to do and to have a great time, so try not to stress!!! Once your there, just sit back, relax and let DCL take care if everything, they are experts at it!!!

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[mom x4,grandma x4]

oh, I wanted to say one more thing you may not even think about.

Bathrooms on the islands and water.

 

All excursions will have at least one bathroom break. Take a travel size seat cover and toilet paper in your purse, and hand sanitizer too.

Most bathrooms on the islands dont have covers and it seem they are out of paper every time I go in and NO soap or paper towels in a lot of them.

 

The ferry boat to St. Johns has a bathroom on the outer deck in the rear of the boat and one restroom off the side of the dock, that was it for our 5 hours on the island. You are No where near the bathrooms once you start your tour, they stop on the way out, thats it. On the other islands the casinos have free public restrooms and a few of the excursion stops will have free bathrooms, however if you find one of the few public restrooms they will have someone collecting tips and they are serious about it, they say tip, but really it is a pay to use charge. Plus last time that happened to me, the bathroom had no soap, no toilet paper, no towels to dry your hands and it was dirty. I think their standard of public restrooms are not the same as ours. We had several bad experiences over the years with filth. I have read they are working on that because people complained about it and they want the ships to stop at their port, so they are cleaning up. But I havnt seen it yet.

 

So just to be safe, take travel size necessities and be safe.

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Boy I must be alseep this morning, I for got to talk about water.

 

They sell bottles of drinking water as you get off the ship on deck 1. Take some with you or your own. You wont find water fountains on the islands. Water is precious and very expensive to buy a bottle on the islands. It is humid there and you will need water. Take it from the ship or you wont have it without buying it and it's hard to find.

 

You can buy a beer for a buck but water can go a high as $5 a small bottle.

Just thought you might like to know,

 

mom x4,grandma x4

[vickihd]

momx4,grandmx4,

 

Thank you !!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!! Thank you!!!! Your post are always so helpful and informative. I really appreciate the detail and time you spend answering my qustions. You are really a fountain of knowledge!

 

All your postings have given us a better idea and a sense of things to come.

 

Thank you again,

Vicki

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Vicki,

 

Your welcome, glad it helped you some,

just give a yell if you have anymore questions

 

Kathy AKA mom x4,grandma x4

[vickihd]

Thanks Kathy,

 

I will do that. I'll be so prepared for our Feb 08 cruise. Nothing like starting early on the planning :)

 

 

Vicki

[mom x4,grandma x4]

With having a family it is a good idea to plan way ahead of time.

 

my first cruise I had no time to plan . My husband surprized us with it and had about a week to decide on an excurion or two and go!! I was so lost!! I knew nothing of cruise boards, but my son was 18 at the time which made it easier. We stopped at Freeport and Nassau, and still had a great time exploring.

But I remember wondering, how do I know when and where to eat, how do I find my room, what are the dress codes for dinner, How hard is it to find my way around the ship, where do I go for my excurion?? Just tons of little things, but I soon leaned that DCL makes it all very easy!!! I didnt even know that they gave you a newpaper each day to keep you informed about stuff.

Now after 13 cruises, I can hardly believe the things I stressed about my first cruise. It all runs so smoothly.

 

So if I can do it with NO planning, you should have it really easy with planning this far in advance.

 

Wish I could stow away and tag along!! I have to wait until April to go again!!!

mom x4,grandma x4