It is really too far to walk to Atlantis from the pier, you can see it though. It has been said and I have experienced it myself..
Do Not Take The Water Taxi !
You will still have to walk a long way.
Take a regular Taxi Van over to the front door.
As Nancy said, on St.Thomas, Duffy's is over on the Red Hook side of the island. Another option is The Green House downtown across from the water on Veteran's Dr.
About the jewelry shops on St.Thomas, they are everywhere. It is the best place to buy jewelry in the caribbean. There are shops at the pier at Havensight Mall.
I stayed on island for a few days once and shopped, and with a reccomendation from a fellow cruiser I went to Ballerina Jewelers 6 Main St. And she was right I got my best deal there after I had compared quality and price, and haggled a little too. Ask for James. Here is a link:
Definitely visit Atlantis in Nassau. Trunk Bay in St. John is awesome, amazing, gorgeous, wonderful, beautiful, worth every moment to get there. Orient Beach is ok if you want to kick back. There are a lot of clubs on the beach, you need to purchase a drink ticket so you can use their restrooms. You will be charged for chairs on the beach. You will see naked people strolling up and down, usually these are the ones that should be covered from head to toe! The shopping is good in St. Maarten as well. Not one of my favorite islands, but the drinks are good
I appreciate the response and just added Trunk Bay to my itinerary for St. John. I don't have a problem seeing naked people as long as they're not sitting next to me on a barstool at one of the beach bars..
Anyway..can ya tell me about some of your favorite bars at Orient Beach. I've read of one (but can't remember the name of it) that is famous for cheeseburgers..and $1 beers.
Ok...we have been to all those ports so here goes.
First of all Nassau. I agree with the previous poster...do NOT take the water taxis. They are tiny overfilled boats that could easily become a death trap. It is however, to far to walk.
If you are arriving at 7AM, I would grab a land taxi and head to Atlantis first. If you want to see the Aquarium, go down the stairs from the main lobby and open the doors. They do not start selling the wristbands until 8AM...so you can basically tour it for free. Tour the aquarium and grounds and then walk next door to the beach. Back to the ship in time for lunch...no problem.
Sounds like the other ports have been covered. I will just agree that they are very taxi accessible and easily done without a formal excursion.
TarponMan, I don't remember the names of the clubs that we visited. One of them was painted a lime green and had good margaritas and rum punches. One of them was painted white. The green one had tickets for 2 drinks/a lounge chair and 1 use potty pass for $26/pp. They charge $2.50 for using the bathroom unless you purchased another 2 drink ticket which was $20/pp. There are quite a few as you walk up and down the beach. There is a section that is clothing optional, but most of the au natural guests roamed up and down the beach. I didn't have one sit next to me while having a drink, in fact, I think they make you wear a cover-up in the bars (I could be wrong). I don't have a problem with naked people, unless they're my age or older. One of the men I saw was like 90+ and believe me, he should have been covered. The only lady I saw that had a decent figure had a see through cover-up on, nothing underneath, but at least her boobs weren't down to her waist. Oh well, none the less, Orient beach is a nice beach. Absolutely no snorkeling worth paying for on the island. Best wishes!
when you say st. johns you are probably talking about antigua's st. johns and not the U.S. virgin island of st. johns which has trunk bay...it is reached by ferry from st. thomas as cruise ships dont dock there...in antigua's st johns there is a good casino near the dock, it is called kings or queens i think (we won a little there both times we've been)...also won at a local casino up the hill but was the only tourist in there and after hitting a $200 jackpot everyone in there was giving me the evil eye so we ran across the street to a bank to convert our winnings back to dollars, then went to the one near the ship...antigua looks a little scary when you get out of the tourist market near the docks...next time we may get a cab to tour the island or go to one of the 365 beaches they are so proud of.
st. maarten we went to little divi beach which is only $10 cab ride from ship and can be done on your own to save money over ship's tour. drinks there are expensive but they have a beach bar with a big parrot named gizmo. they also have a beach activity booth with rental stuff.
A good trick is to bring a soft sided cooler and ziplocks...order a sandwich from room service before you leave, then you can skip the expensive buffet lunch at the beach. also no naked people to speak of there.
Thanks Penny and Wise2u..that info is very helpful. Seeing that this will be our first cruise to the islands all the helpful hints posted here are invaluable..!!
And with that said - whatever else anyone wants to contribute here will be most appreciated!!
I'll report back with a full review when we return..
TarponMan, just wanted to add this in case also. Where the ship docks on STT there is a drug store for any needs and they have big bottles of cold Evian for less than the ship. It is at the end of the shops on the left and is called Havensight Pharmacy. There are directory boards all through that area as is a mall type thing.
..Thanks.
Linear Mode
