How is the private island? I have heard that the Cococay beach area can be so crowded and that we might be better off staying on the ship. Is this true? Also does anyone know if they sell any booze native of the Bahamas in Cococay? Should we take a volleyball? Our own floaties?
Any good excursions in St. Thomas? Anyone golf there before?
How about St Maarten? ATV excursion any good?
I would greatly appreciate any input we are cruising next month!!! WHOOHOOO!!!!!
Coca Cay is a great beach day, so need to stay on the ship. Lots of room on the island... and the floaties are available for rent. There's volleyball areas set up, with balls.. so no need to drag any of that along.
ST Thomas has Mahogony Run golf course. It's a beautiful course, and you can book direct, or with the ship.
St Mart - I haven't done the ATV excursion. Its an easy island to get around, so we've always rented our own vehicle, and headed out to explore, with stops at various beaches.
Thank you so much!!!! You are saving us a LOT of EFFORT!!!! The island sounds like a blast!!!
Do you just rent a vehicle when you get off of the ship in St. Maarten at the dock? And what do you generally rent? A bike, scooter, etc.? And what is the price range?
We loved Coco Cay. The 1st beaches that you come to are crowded, but we found that as you continue past the bigger beaches, there are smaller, less crowded ones. We got in the water and saw all kinds of fish, animals, conches and sting rays, about 20 feet from the shore. It was awesome. Plus, try the coco loco drinks, they are amazing.
Coco Cay can get crowded but if you keep walking you can find more secluded places to hang out. You will not escape the waiter selling coco-loco though.
You do not have to bring your own beach toys because you can rent most everything. We brought our own snorkeling equipment for sanitary reasons.
On St. Thomas all I ever want to do is shop. You can take a taxi to the beaches. There's a cable car ride by the dock that gives you a breathtaking view from the top.
I guess we will be forced to try a Coco Loco then.... darn!
We saw the cable cars on the list of excursions for ten dollars but were thinking maybe we will just get off and venture around on our own. I assume we will be able to buy a ride in the cable car when we get to St Thomas if we so choose!? Is this a good choice? we are fairly new to criusing if you can't tell and don't want to make any bad choices!
Any store suggestions for jewelry shopping? I heard that is the place to buy the jems!
The top rated excursion in the Caribbean is at St. Maarten - the America's Cup Regatta! We did this on our last cruise and LOVED it! You crew a boat that was in the REAL America's Cup and race against anothe boat crewed by cruisers. We were lucky enough to get to sail the Stars and Stripes, and we beat the True North!
__________________
Michelle
Mariner of the Seas 3/30/08
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain
Hi,
We are going to the same destinations as you on the Radiance of the Seas March 12/06... I was there in Oct also and we did our Jewelry shopping in St. Maarten.. We shopped at a store called "The Place" and when we got back and had our Jewelry appraised it was worth 5 times what we had paid!!! So we were very pleased, also a good friend of ours told us about it since she goes to St. Maarten every winter and buys everything she needs for Jewelry there. Hope this helps... Maggie
in St. Thomas if you dock at Havensight you can walk to the Paradise Point Tramway, its about a 5-10 minute walk. Paradise Point has a web site that will give you all the information you need.
Hit the beach in St. Thomas! - Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas proper or if you want to make a little effort get over to St. John island for some of the most beautiful beaches you will ever encounter, and really good snorkeling. go to www.vinow.com for beach info & ferry schedules.
St. Maarten - Golden Eagle Catamaran Sail is the best !
im doing the same stops next week on the mariner! ill be happy to tell you about them!
in st. thomas you gotta shop and in st. maarten we did the americas cup also...SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!
i wanted to do it again, but my mom said that shed rather see more of the island!
I can't wait to hear all about it!!!! I am also anxious for you to tell me about the weather too (if you would)!!!!
Have a great trip!!!
I was told that there is a great restaurant to get ribs and another to get lobster... at Orchid beach in St Mart., but I am not sure where Orchid beach is. Anyone have any ideas what this person was talking about?
Last week's cruise was the first where we were actually able to get to Cocoa Cay. It is by far the prettiest private island I've been on. It did not become overcrowded at all. We had a great time there.
In St. Thomas, we did the mini-boat excursion and it was a blast. St. Maarten we did the Golden Eagle catamaran and it too, was a great time.
__________________
Mary Lou Scanlon
NCL Pride of America April 24, 2010
NCL Epic February 12, 2011
RCCL Allure of the Seas - September 18, 2011
Celebrity Eclipse - February 11, 2012:
RCCL Navigator OTS - February 9, 2013
Could you please tell me about your mini boat excursion, we were looking at that as one of our choices!!!!
My husband and I were looking in to doing this, but we would like our own boats.... Do you know if it is mandatory that there are two people in the boats? I know that it says max. 2 people, but it doesn't say anything about a min.?? Thanks!
The mini-boats are so much fun. I'm not sure if they would allow just one person in the boat or not. My only thought as to why they might not would be purely a financial reason. If they have only one person in a boat, the are missing out on approximately $80. [img]C:\Documents and Settings\Mary Lou Scanlon\My Documents\My Pictures\Mariner of the Seas 2-5-06[/img]
__________________
Mary Lou Scanlon
NCL Pride of America April 24, 2010
NCL Epic February 12, 2011
RCCL Allure of the Seas - September 18, 2011
Celebrity Eclipse - February 11, 2012:
RCCL Navigator OTS - February 9, 2013
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Cococay, St Thomas, St Maarten
You can take a taxi to the beaches. There's a cable car ride by the dock that gives you a breathtaking view from the top. 
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