Hey guys, we were on the Fantasy 10/4-10/11, visiting St Maarten & St Thomas... thought I would post a few thoughts.
Our goal was to avoid crowds and have a mellow time relaxing at the beach, so we didn't book any excursions. Instead, we walked off the boat and took a cab to our destinations, and in both cases it worked out great. The experience was hassle-free and relaxing, plus we got to meet some of the interesting (Hey mon!) locals along the way.
St. Maarten - Here we took a cab over to Little Bay. This was a great, quiet medium-sized beach. There are a couple resorts facing the beach with a bar that serves lunch nestled in between them. The bar is called Gizmo's, named after the parrot(s) that hang out there. The kids loved checking out the bird, the parents loved the blended beverages. Anyway, we rented a couple recliners and an umbrella @ $15 and had a great relaxing day at the beach. The kids and I rented a 3-seater jet ski ($60/30 min... although the 30 minutes was pretty loose, everyone there is so relaxed about time!), and had a great time blasting around the bay. We also jetted around the corner of the bay so we could see the cruise ship, but we didn't stay over there long, since the water was choppier. But it was very smooth and pretty in Little Bay. On our way out we did the 10-15 minute hike to the old fort that is at the top of the hill between the two bays. Fantastic views of pretty much everything, including the ships that were in port at the time. Only caution with Little Bay is that there will be a timeshare person trying to sell you stuff right where the cab drops you off. Smile and nod, and walk on by, the beach is public so you don't need to speak to anyone before settling in and enjoying yourself.
St. Thomas - In this case, we took a cab to Crown Bay and boarded the ferry to Water Island. Cab was maybe 15 mins, ferry about the same. Our destination was Honeymoon Beach... dare I say we liked it more than even the legendary
Castaway Cay? It's pretty close (and we had a cabana at Castaway!). After getting off the ferry, there's a short 5 minute walk up a hill. Once reaching the top, you are greeted with a fabulous view of the beach. 5 minutes down the hill and you are at the beach - what a place! It was completely deserted when we arrived. There's a place to rent snorkeling gear on one end, and two choices of food. We ate lunch at Heidi's, which is basically a couple locals hanging out grilling and mixing drinks. They had fish tacos to die for!! Everything here was a bit overpriced, but in our minds very much worth it. Three set of snorkels @ $35, plate of tacos for $10, etc.
We saw a couple of the party boats come and go (they stay about an hour), but we were able to get about 4 hours at this fabulous place before packing up and heading back to the ferry. No cautions of note here... just a great time. Do note that the ferry leaves the mainland every hour in the morning, EXCEPT at 9am. So get there a bit before 10 (we arrived around 9 and had to wait... however there was a restaurant @ the ferry area w/bar and bathroom, so no big deal). I believe the return trips are at :15 after the hour (we left via the 2:15 ferry). Oh actually there is one caution - apparently traffic on the main drag gets real bad at around 3:15 when the schools let out, so it's best to be heading back to the ship between 2:30-3:00 so you don't get stuck in it (they want you back to the ship by 4 for 4:45 departure).
We've been on 3 Disney cruises, and so far St. Thomas is #1 on our list of places we'd like to come back and visit for a week. What a beautiful island. I have a few pics I could upload, but I don't quite have 10 posts on this board, so apparently I can't post them yet. I'll try to find something else to say, then add the pics to this thread...
That's about it for my short update, feel free to reply if you have questions, I am subscribed to the thread
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