Vacationtime Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 My daughters (16 & 22) and I are sailing on the Oasis the week of December 19th with stops in CocoCay, St Marteen, and St Thomas. This is our first cruise and we are so excited, but I'm overwhelmed as well . I have so many questions ... I booked a snorkel excursion on CocoCay, but it says "at your leisure" so I'm assuming the $36 is just to use the equipment for the day. I wouldn't mind buying snorkel equipment, but I don't want to before we fly there. Do they sell or rent equipment on the boat or in the ports? We don't need the fins. It would be nice to have the equipment to use so we could go to a couple different beaches. We're flying in on Saturday to Miami. Was considering stopping somewhere Saturday night in Miami to buy them. Any thoughts? I booked jet skis for us at CocoCay. Is that a good place to do that or would one of the other ports be better for that? What's the most enjoyable thing to do there for older kids/young adults? Pools/beach/water activities? We're not doing the water park. Also, we aren't docking in St Thomas until noon . I was trying to book a 3rd party excursion to snuba or sail or something, but they all depart in the morning, and the ones through RC are sold out. That's the other pro of having our own equipment. I was thinking maybe we could take the Red Hook Ferry to St John's or go to Magen's Bay or Coki Beach and snorkel. What about Coral World Ocean Park? Is that more for smaller kids? Regarding the RC excursions...if they are sold out online, do anymore become available once you are on-board or is that it? As far as Saint Marteen, I reserved a 3rd party speed boat/snorkel excursion, but I don't know if I should keep it or not. Maybe a catamaran is better? Maybe something else? I don't want us to get seasick and I don't want to get sunburnt (I'm super pale), but I don't want my girls to get bored either. Not sure if being out on the water is best or spending more time at the beach is better or should we tour the island? So many choices!! I normally don't mind winging things and finding my way around places, but with one day at each port, I don't want to waste our limited time trying to arrange our activities or navigate in a place we've never been to before. The three of us haven't been together on vacation in years and I'm really trying to get the most out of our time and I don't want to waste money on booking unnecessary things. Any advice is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted December 14, 2021 Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 17 hours ago, Vacationtime said: I booked a snorkel excursion on CocoCay, but it says "at your leisure" so I'm assuming the $36 is just to use the equipment for the day. I wouldn't mind buying snorkel equipment, but I don't want to before we fly there. Do they sell or rent equipment on the boat or in the ports? We don't need the fins. It would be nice to have the equipment to use so we could go to a couple different beaches. We're flying in on Saturday to Miami. Was considering stopping somewhere Saturday night in Miami to buy them. Any thoughts? You are correct. Basically the charge is to rent the snorkel equipment. If you have the time and can find a cheaper option to purchase while it in Miami, it might be a good investment even if you don't end up taking them home with you. I assume you don't want to get them ahead of the cruise because you don't want to be bothered to pack them. 17 hours ago, Vacationtime said: I booked jet skis for us at CocoCay. Is that a good place to do that or would one of the other ports be better for that? The jet skis at CocoCay is actually a follow the leader tour and not just free use of the jet skis. I'm not sure what kind of experience you were looking for when it comes to that, but if you wanted a rent by the hour type of thing, that's probably best accomplished at St. Maarten. 17 hours ago, Vacationtime said: Regarding the RC excursions...if they are sold out online, do anymore become available once you are on-board or is that it? Always check onboard to see if there are more excursions available, but don't count on it. St. Thomas can be difficult to navigate on your own as the Crown Bay area where Royal docks isn't walkable to much, so you have to get transportation to where you ultimately want to end up. They use open air taxis that are basically rows of seats on the back of a truck. They charge per person and usually won't leave until the truck is full. If you're looking to go to the popular areas, it's much easier to get a taxi since they fill up faster. 17 hours ago, Vacationtime said: As far as Saint Marteen, I reserved a 3rd party speed boat/snorkel excursion, but I don't know if I should keep it or not. Maybe a catamaran is better? Maybe something else? I don't want us to get seasick and I don't want to get sunburnt (I'm super pale), but I don't want my girls to get bored either. Not sure if being out on the water is best or spending more time at the beach is better or should we tour the island? So many choices!! You know your family best. If they love to be in the water and snorkel, then probably the tour you already have will be great for them. If you want to just DIY it, there's a water taxi where the ship docks that takes you over to Grand Case Beach and the main shopping area. It's easy enough to pick somewhere along the beach to hang out and there's usually a lot of vendors selling water activities. That would be where you would likely find jet ski rentals. The bonus is you are within eyesight of the ship so you know it quick to get back to the ship. If you want to do a tour of the island and sightsee more, I've heard good things about Bernards Tours (http://bernardsxmtours.com/). I always suggest Maho Beach as something exclusive to St. Maarten and can be fun to see at least once, but it's on the other side of the island so incorporating it into a tour is usually the best way to approach that and get the most bang for your buck at SXM. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacationtime Posted December 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 Thank you. I just booked a catamaran excursion for St Marteen. Just need to figure out St Thomas now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggbert Posted December 14, 2021 Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 Too bad about the speedboat tour cancellation - it is THE best excursion I have ever done in the Caribbean and I am looking forward to doing it again in early Jan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacationtime Posted December 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2021 Yeah, I read a lot of great reviews about it. Just think the catamaran might be better for my back . And my girls really like the idea of the tarzan swing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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