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YES, you can get off the ship and do your own thing. In St Thomas there is a very big port area and there are taxi stands right there. But you'll kinda need to know where you want to go and also negotiate a fare for the trip if you just want to ride around. A better alternative if you do not want to do one of the tours that the ship offers is to book in advance online. Use these web sites to help decide what you want to do on St Thomas: http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/beaches_stt/

http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/attractions_stt/

http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/SandL/islandtours.ph...

In St Thomas the two best beaches are Megan Bay and Sapphire Beach. A taxi to each will cost between $8 and $10 US each person each way. There is plenty of shopping right at the pier or you can take a taxi into town for more shops. St Thomas is the best shopping port in the Caribbean.

One word of caution. when you go off on your own on a tour you must be vigilant in getting back to the ship on time, even well ahead of the scheduled departure time. The ship WILL leave you if you are not back; it happens all the time. The one benefit of going on ship's tours is the ship will wait for it's tours if they are late getting back. If the ship is scheduled to depart at 5:00 PM, then you plan on being back no later than 4:00 PM.

In St Martin there is a shopping area right by the pier and also taxi stands. Just walk past the vendor stands to the right and the taxis will be there. The same applies in St Maarten about being back on time. You can use these web sites to look for interesting things to do in St Maarten.

http://www.sint-maarten.net/index.html

http://www.sint-maarten.net/St-Maarten-Beaches/stm...

In St Maarten we went to Orient Beach last time and you can also get a taxi to take you there. Next time I am going to Maho Beach which is on the Dutch side and near the airport, to watch planes take off and land from right on the beach

Coco Cay is a private island with only ship's personnel on it and the cruise ship will bring lunch ashore for you to enjoy starting about 1:30AM. There are no tours to do just water sports related activities and beach.

I've been to these places, also...

1.) unless you're BIG on shopping, avoid Charlotte Amilie.

The biggest attraction in town is the duty-free / tax-free shopping.

If you want swimming / beach time, follow the above advice.

Otherwise, take the cable car up Paradise Point for the view

and the decent li'l restaurant up there.

(If you're of legal drinking age, have a Bushwacker!)

2.) St Martin's big attraction is Orient Beach.

However, Cupecoy Beach & Baie Rouge Beaches are also beautiful

(but without the line of beach bars & shops.)

The Sunset Beach Bar, at Maho beach,

is at the "apron" of the airport runway.

Watch the planes come in... nearly right over-head.

Oh... topless ladies drink free at this bar. ( @ )( @ )

ALL beaches on St Martin are "topless",

and a few spots do allow total nudity.

3.) It's MUCH cheaper to get a cab vs paying for those "shore excursions".

good i obviously cant inform you approximately ALL of the ones island however i can inform you a little bit of Barbados. Barbados ha s beautiful shorelines and amazing surroundings. You will love the individuals right here and the activites that the island has to present akin to scuba diving, snorkling,parasailing and so on. you even get the hazard to swim with the turtles..tons to do right here! =)