Taxi to Orient Beach, then Marigot?

[trixie54]

We'll be in port 7am-5pm. Would it work to take a cab to Orient Beach for AM - early aft., then cab over to Marigot, then cab back to ship? Or wouldn't there be enough time for this?

[lvstocruise]

You will definately have enough time. I went last year at 8:00 to orient beach and we were the first ones on the beach. We stayed until 11:00 then we went shopping but our ship was in port from 7-2. It was horrible. We were rushing but we got the beach in and only an hour for shopping. this year we will be in from 11-6. so marigot i am going to first from 11-2 then 2-4 at the orient beach and one hour for shopping on the dutch side then back to the boat by 5 for we leave by 6.

hope this helps.

[kal]

...this year we will be in from 11-6. so marigot i am going to first from 11-2 then 2-4 at the orient beach and one hour for shopping on the dutch side then back to the boat by 5 for we leave by 6....

 

You might want to think thru your schedule again as the shops in Marigot close for lunch between Noon - 2:00pm. Then too, depending on mid-day traffic, it will take time to get to Orient and find a place on the beach. Also, don't forget the time it will take to get a cab and travel to PBurg.

[lvstocruise]

Hi-

We have no choice what time because the tour of the dutch and french sides leaves at 11:00 and goes to orient beach after 2:00 so we are in their hands. we are not doing this one on our own. we booked a tour for the day.

so we have a driver and everything. thanks for your input.

bye

[trixie54]

Thanks for your help! Now that we know we'll have time to get to Orient Beach & Marigot in aft. (yeah!), which would be better - cabs or renting a car? I'm wondering about cost, difficulty of driving, parking, etc.

[Kay D]

We have been to St. Martin 5 times on cruises & 2 week-long stays on island, so I speak from experience (just returned home from there!).

 

For a cruise-ship stop, we never rented a car & always used taxis, learning our way around from observing where the taxi went & observing the locals' driving habits-- there are TONS of taxis -- traffic on cruise days is LONG lines moving very very slow -- their driving methods are moderately aggressive & you must get used to that -- only 3 stop lights on the island & lots of T intersections with no stop signs, where people just pull out daring you to hit them or stop -- roads either not marked with signs or not named on maps & sometimes both -- one has to rely on advertising signs to learn where to go -- lots of roundabouts & there are unwritten rules for passage here. Many taxi drivers ask you what time you want to go back to ship & will come back to get you then. The drivers rely heavily on cruise ship passengers for their income, so they know the ships' schedules!!! So my advice is DON'T RENT A CAR & DON'T RENT A MOTORCYCLE OR MOPED!!! You will enjoy the day alot more to use taxis or hire a van/driver.

 

For week-long stay, we definitely rent a car but it takes a couple days to get used to roads, traffic, roundabouts, the locals' driving methods, etc. Plus I'm quite experienced (from my job) to reading maps & figuring out directions in rural places.