Thread: Nassau/St. Thomas/St. Maarten

In June we are going on our first ever cruise...
We have been trying to figure out what excursions we are interested in.
In Nassau...were only going to be at port 5 1/2 hours. We have never been to the Bahamas before...and may never make it there again. With such a limited amount of time there we are thinking about just hanging out at the beach. I am assuming their is access to a public beach within walking distance from port. Is that correct? What else is at the port that would be fun for a family (kids ages 12 & 6) to do right there at the port?
In St. Thomas... we are going to be there for 10 hours so we are wanting to venture out a little more. We are looking at the "Scenic Pirates Paradise & Recommended shopping". Hoping this will satisfy everyone. Has anyone done this excursion...I realize it is only $39 per person ($156 total) but is it worth the money?
In St. Mararten... once again we are going to be there roughly 10 hours and would like to venture out. Nothing has really jumped out at us. Any suggestions? Just keep in mind wea re traveling with kids...Not to mention my DH is a major remote controll holding couch potato!

Anybody???

So sorry it's taken so long for a reply!! (I'm usually all over the place....)

Nassau: HUGE cruise ship port. Last time I was through, there were 9 ships docked there. Can be very crowded. A short taxi ride away is The Atlantis hotel and resort. I understand you can use their beaches and resort facilities for a nominal fee. I have never gone to the beach there because I always end up shopping there.

St. Thomas....check out the St. Thomas lthreads here, there's a lot of great info. We have gone the the beach here, (cab ride). We have taken a helicopter tour which was amazing. Also, every single time we've been to St. Thomas we have always walked across the street from the cruise ship to the Paradise Point gondolas and taken the ride to the top of the hill for the incredible view. There's a bar/restaurant and some shops up there...but the view can't be beat (except by helicopter!)

St. Maarten/St. Martin: This is one of my favorite islands. There's lots to do. The French side is very quaint and quiet with a few shops and restaurants. The Dutch side is very active with an easily reachable shopping entertainment district. Also, very easy to get around.

Hope this helps....there might be more info on other threads!

Thanks...It does help! Keep em' comin!!

St. Thomas: it is very easy to get a cab to take you where you want to go. I hear that Blackbeard's Castle is just a hotel. (from Cruisecritic) There are lots of great beaches there, and over on St. John.

St. Maarten: have you looked into the America's Cup Regatta? It is the top rated excursion in the Caribbean. We had a fantastic time sailing the Stars and Stripes. Here is a link to our photos from that excursion: http://community.webshots.com/album/528943965HpvFnj

Nassau: we grabbed a tour from the end of the pier. The man took us up to an observation point at the water tower, to Queen's stairs, through the town and over to Atlantis. We went through the casino (fabulous Chihuly glass sculptures!) and to the Digs. We then went back to the ship. $25 pp. We really liked the tour.

Have fun deciding!

The only one we did on St. Maarten was the Delightfully Dutch/Fantastically French one. It is bus tour. I was a little disappointed b/c the driver didn't stop for any beach photos and it was supposed to be a 4 hour tour and it was only 3. We did taxi over to Maho Beach, hoping to catch a 747 going over the beach, which we didn't. Just a lonely Cessna 402.

I've only been on one cruise before and one of our stops was Nassau.

We were there a lot longer than 5 1/2 hours though. We did our two excursions through the ship's excursion program. Our first one was a tour of Atlantis. Very Cool. It included a short tour-boat cruise over to Atlantis, a walking tour of the grounds, admission to the aquarium (with the kids, this will be a definate hit!) and wristbands that enabled us to use the facilities. What was not made clear to us though, was that, when we took the tour-boat back to the dock, they clipped our wristbands (as proof that we were permitted to take the tour boat back to the dock) and kept them, which made them useless to us after we left Atlantis.

Our second excursion was the Dolphin Encounter. I am so glad we did this one. A really enjoyable experience!!! If your kids are not spooked by large dogs or horses, this would be a good one for them. I say this because on our excursion, there were a few kids that were just so intimidated by the dolphin, Sean, that it was clear they did not enjoy themselves.

I can't help you with your other ports. Sorry.

Sure hope you enjoyed that first cruise, and that you found the perfect activity in each of your three ports.

CLF's newly reorganized ports area now has a separate forum for each of those three ports.
Anyone cruising this itinerary in the future might get some good ideas by checking each of them out . . . There's threads about the ports themselves, as well as particular excursions.

If you have specific questions about a particular port, you've got a good chance of getting it answered by posting in that particular port's forum.

Here are the links:

BAHAMAS:
http://www.cruiselinefans.com/bahamas/

ST MARTIN:
http://www.cruiselinefans.com/st-martin/

ST THOMAS:
http://www.cruiselinefans.com/st-thomas/

Enjoy!