Hi, My family consists of two adults, each forty years old, and three children between the ages of ten and fourteen. What are some good excursions for us in San Juan, St. Thomas, Nassau, St Maarten?<BR>Thanks very much<BR>Ken

Ken, please do the following to get the most out of this discussion board.<BR><BR>1) Have you done a search? These ports are very common and many people have posted practically the same question. You will probably find lots of suggestions by doing a search.<BR><BR>2) What you should do would be based on you and your family's interests. Some people do not like to snorkel, others live to snorkel. Some like history and culture, others like to lay on the beach. If you have an idea of what you are interested in, people would be better able to advise.

Sage - maybe he's just seeking out what others have done.<BR><BR>Ken - what we did with our two teens: San Juan - only there for a short time so we walked to El Morro (fort) and looked around and then browsed the quaint shops in old San Juan on the way back to the ship.<BR><BR>St. Thomas - snorkeled at Coki Beach in the morning and then shopped downtown in the afternoon.<BR><BR>Nassau - took taxi to Paradise Island, parked behind the Marriott for a morning of beach, sun and surf and then went next door to the Atlantis and looked around for the afternoon.<BR><BR>St. Maarten - went to Orient Beach (Bilini Beach within Orient to stay as far away from the nudists as possible) in the morning and then shopped afternoon.

Thank you, Sage, I will look under specific searches for the excursions I am considering. Any suggestions though?<BR>Ken

Peter, How was snorkeling at Coki Beach? Would you do anything different next time around? Did you see anything to do at the Atlantis? Better off doing anything else? Any opinion on carriage rides? Have you tried them?<BR>Thanks a lot<BR>Ken

kendu - we did both scuba and snorkeling at Coki. I've done better but there are a lot of fish and some coral. Coral World is right next door and they offer the diving helmets and a walk around the bottom amongst the coral. As far as Nassau - I don't think there is much else to do there. The Atlantis is truly an amazing complex considering the simplicity of everything else there. Their shops are the best in the world - all the name brands. Their casino is to die for if you're into that sort of thing. Their dining room is surrounded by and under this huge acquarium (all the windows in the circular room look into the water).<BR><BR>The only thing I can think of we might do if we get to St. Thomas again (been there six times already) would be to take the ferry over to St. Johns and try out one of their beaches over there.

Thank you Peter and Sage. There are varying opinions on what you can and can't do at Atlantis. Anyone know?<BR>thanks

kendu - Atlantis: we walked over from the Marriott and went in the Casino door, walked to the back of the hotel, down some stairs and out a back door. We strolled thru the caves and looked at the outdoor acquariums. We then reached an outdoor bar/restaurant and had a wonderfull sandwich and drink. They asked us for our room number and we told them we had already checked out and were just killing time. That was the only time anyone asked for id. We didn't go to the pools or waterparks, but I'm sure they would check there.<BR><BR>If you're really into the pools and waterparks, the Comfort Suites across the road has shared privileges with the Atlantis and their day rate is something like $125.

Ken, You can get a list of shore excursions from the cruise line. Then you can see if anything interests you and come back to this board to ask about it. People may suggest a cheaper way to do it on your own. Shopping in St. Thomas seems less expensive if you take a short cab ride to town. You can always stop to look around at Havensight Mall if you have some time before returning to the ship. It is at the dock. We loved Magens Bay and Sapphire Beach for swimming.

On St.Thomas take the kids to a beach.<BR>Sapphire is nice and you can rent chairs for $5.00. Another option is Trunk Bay on St. John's. The ferry at Red Hook will take you there. Plenty of cabs will be available in St. John's.<BR><BR>At Nassau, you could take the Digs tour at Atlantis. You cannot use the water facilities, but the Comfort Inn option mentioned in another post is not a bad deal if you want the beach etc. There is always Blue Lagoon and some snorkle tours offered by the cruise lines.<BR>Check out the tours as dmb suggested and repost.<BR><BR>

Let me clear up something I wrote. If you use the Comfort Inn deal you can use all the water facilities at Atlantis.