What to do in port?

[SCOUT172]

We enjoy doing things on our own in port. Can anyone help me with ideas on what to do or see in the following ports?
St.Maarten
St.Thomas
San Jaun
We are considering booking the BOB underwater adventure in St.Thomas. This will be our first time ever booking an excursion. We dock at 7:00am and I want to know what time the excursion starts. Any help is appreciated.

 

[magooq]

I went to St. Maarten and St. Thomas in May. In St. Maartan we took the ferry to the town $5.00 all day pass in the morning and then took the orient beach tour in afternoon. Don't be fooled by all the raving about Orient Beach. The water is much nicer and calm around where the ship docks. The weather was beautiful until we went over to Orient beach. This beach is on the atlantic side. No great shakes.

In St. Thomas did the morning shopping in town thing and took the St. John tour. Same thing happened with weather. We were supposed to snorkel but the weather did not cooperate and water was on the atlantic side. If you would like to visit St. John do it on your own. The charge for the cruise tour package was $49 each person; which we found later much more expensive than if we did it by ourselves.

St. John was a nice island. Quiet but scenery was worth the trip.

 

[Don527]

In St Thomas, we took a tour with godfrey tours. He charges $20 per person and the tour is the entire day. He takes you downtown for shopping (either 2 or 3 hours, depends if you want to be picked up from the ship at 9 or 10am) , then you get a drive tour of the island, then finally you spend 2 hrs at Sapphire beach (very nice). So for $20, you get a 6 or 7 hr tour. well worth the money. My wife and I went, so for $40, it was great (kids didnt come up us)

In San Juan, we just walked from the ship (RCCL Navigator of the seas) to the fort morro and spent a few hours there (took 15 minutes to walk). Then we walked back to old town san juan. It was very humid, but if you carry water, no problem (also, you can buy drinks almost anywhere)

Thx Don

 

[sailboat]

In both St. Thomas and San Juan, it's helpful to know where the ship docks. Sometimes the ship will dock at the old sub base, which means you pretty much have to take a tour or cab if you want to go anywhere. A better spot is near the Havensight Mall--a "heavensend" for those who want to shop but dont' want to trek into the town or who have been there/done that already. You basically walk across the "street" from the ship to all the shops. We always like taking a small sailboat tour out to Buck Island just for the sheer heaven of being on a small craft. Other options include Sapphire Beach and Megan's Bay.


In San Juan, you can easily walk into town for sightseeing and shopping if your ship docks near Old San Juan. The other dock (name escapes me) is a much longer walk, but doable if you are in reasonable shape. I love the blue cobble stone streets, street vendors, lunch at El Convento. If you have time, a tour of the Bacardi Rum factory is fun if somewhat dizzying--all those rum fumes fermenting away! I've never had time to "do" the rain forest, so can't comment. San Juan is hot hot hot-- you'll come to love all those shops that blast A/C out into the street, so take plenty of water.

If you've never been to St. Maarten, you may want to take a cab tour just to see the two different faces (Dutch/French) of this island. Roads vary from horrible to ok, depending on where you are. The French side as I recall is pretty quiet and reserved. The beaches on the Dutch side are nice and taking a cab to the beach is what we usually do when there.

 

[elcruzer]

Agree with previous poster re Godfrey Tour in St. Thomas. We booked him online and he met us at the ship at prearranged time. He took us into town for shopping and then a wonderful tour and finally a stop at any beach of our choice and then picked us up for return to ship. And the great thing is you don't have to pre-pay or give your credit card #.
In San Juan, we flew in the day before and took public bus (25 cents) from our hotel to Old San Juan and walked all around and then hopped on free bus that takes you to different tourist attractions like the fort. You can get off at any point, tour, and then take another free bus to the next attraction. If you are not flying in before, at least try to get to walk Old SJ.

 

[cruizeblues]

St. Maarten is our fav. port! Very easy to do things on your own...port sponsored taxi service right outside port area w/helpful info. on all beaches and set rates for each. We told cab driver what type of beach we were interested in and he hooked us up! We wanted quiet, no venders type of beach w/facilities & bar. He took us to Guana Bay beach, and asked us what time we would like him to come back for us. Think that the taxi was less than $10 each way. The beach was gorgeous! The waves were huge (wavy side of ocean) no snorkling, but BEAUTIFUL scenery. $10 for two lounge chairs w/umbrella, $1.50 for bottled water. Had the beach practically to ourselves...maybe 10 other people in all (AWESOME!) Then at around noon a van full of people came...they were from the ship's "away from the crowds beach tour!" think RCI charged over $30pp for this excursion! LOL
Also, in the afternoon, do some shopping in town. Best bargains we saw anywhere in Caribbean. Bought jewelry (both times) from Kays downtown. The owner is in the store and very willing to give a good bottom line on unusual jewelry, we bought white & blue diamonds...very nice Good bargains also on t-shirts, etc.
St. Thomas this year we booked a daysail on line. Took us to a secluded beach on St. John for great snorkling and lunch. A bit pricey at $110 pp, but we had a nice day--not as crowded as ship tours..this one only takes six people out (no flippers in your face!)Saw turtles, stingrays, & lots of fish & coral. Last year we did Megans Bay beach on our own. We were a bit disappointed by the beach after all the hype. But is was easy to get a cab back & forth, and not expensive.

 

[Longshotcruiser]

Been to St Maarten and St Thomas and both are very cool. On St Thomas you have to visit sapphire beach. Absolutely gorgeous!!! Also if you like frozen drinks and really good food go to Duffys Love Shack. Great drinks plus it's close to sapphire beach so it all works out. Do your shopping in St Maartens. Great prices on alcohol and jewelry and the people will take no for an answer. Both places are fun to explore on your own especially if you can get away from the masses. Hope this helps and have a great cruise.

 

[SCOUT172]

All of your input is so helpful. I appreciate you taking time to tell me what you all think.