Oh My - Got Frenchman's Cove LM exchange - need lots help

[TUGBrian]

wife absolutely hated the massage that came with the "spa package" someone bought for her as a wedding gift at the reef...

other than that, the views from the reef (pools, restaurant outside...and the one down the cliff directly on the beach) are WAYYYYY better than the cove....certainly worth the shuttle ride for a day or two (and your can charge stuff to your room even at the reef)

 

[dioxide45]

Hi- How did you get a getaway alert to use your E-Plus.
Never done this before.
Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks
Cyn

Last minute deposits are often placed in exchange and getaway inventory at the same time. So if a last minute getaway pops up, you can often book it also via exchange.

 

[amanda14]

You could do the night kayak tour through the resort. We did it and it was pretty cool to see large tarpon and that was something different as well.

 

[mdurette]

Just received Marriotts welcome email.
Asking if I wanted to sign up for Monday night Beach Party (looks like hamburgers and hot dogs) and Tuesday night Dinner/Open bar on the Cat. Any input on either?

Noticed the option to order groceries - NICE! Love a grocery delivery service. BUT....I'm a bit shocked at the prices and need to know a bit about how much things cost in a grocery store down there. I don't mind taking an hour or two to run the errand if it will save me substantial money.

Example of what I am seeing on the site:
Yogurt: $3.99
Orange Juice: $8.99
one 8 ounce chicken breast: $8.99
16 ounces strawberries: $11.99

Are these extremely overpriced for the convenience or are the close to what I will pay at the grocery anyway?

 

[amanda14]

We never did the delivery service and always by passed the resort run events for dinners. If I recall the price for those was high as well.

 

[Old Hickory]

If you are looking for " not sitting on the beach" then book two boat trips. Bring your passport and do a speed/motor boat tour to the Baths Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke and a second sailing trip from StT to STj gorgeous beaches. That should do it for 7 nights 6 days.

Great Happy Hour at Havana Blue and Sand Bar (could bring kid to sand bar) at Morningstar beach on Marriott property. Spend a day at the Marriott Hotel Pool. Just fabulous. Snorkel "to the right" at the timeshare beach to see turtles. Go to the left to see other fish. Go to Coki Beach at 8 am and snorkel to the right. If traveling with child, go to Coral World right next door.

Love happy hour dinner at Havana blue.
Mims Seaside Bistro has all you can eat shrimp on Thursday??? Go for happy hour at 4:30 at Bluebeard's Castle and watch all the cruise ships leave the port from high up.
And at the Marriott. There is a cruise ship parade every morning and evening.

Spend the day in St John. Go to Trunk Bay -snorkel, relax and then come into town, shop/browse around and have dinner at Rhumb Lines.

Leaving for WEstin St John STJ on Saturday. Can't wait!

This. Schedule at least one boat trip, day-long, to the BVI islands. Ferry to St. John. Water Taxi to downtown.

 

[papertraveller]

Thanks for this thread. I miraculously managed to book this wonderful resort today, and am making careful note of all the tips. We have only ever visited St. Thomas and St. John via cruise ship excursion, and always thought it would be wonderful to be sitting out on the Marriott balcony sipping a beverage and waving farewell to the passengers as they sail off at the end of the day!

More restaurant recommendations please -- as well as beaches on St. John.

 

[Fasttr]

recommendations please -- as well as beaches on St. John.

Trunk Bay on St John is worth a visit.

 

[TUGBrian]

Thanks for this thread. I miraculously managed to book this wonderful resort today, and am making careful note of all the tips. We have only ever visited St. Thomas and St. John via cruise ship excursion, and always thought it would be wonderful to be sitting out on the Marriott balcony sipping a beverage and waving farewell to the passengers as they sail off at the end of the day!

More restaurant recommendations please -- as well as beaches on St. John.

honestly, we ate at the grille by the pool more often than we went "out" to eat! the food was nothing mind blowing, but it was tasty and the drinks more than made up for it! =)

 

[jimf41]

Restaurant recommendations

Oceana $$$$ http://www.oceanavi.com
Banana Tree Grille $$$ http://bananatreegrille.com
Grand Cru $$$ http://www.grandecruvi.com/menu
Amalia Cafe $$ http://www.amaliacafe.com
Fresh $$ http://www.freshbistrovi.com
Smokin Rooster $
Tap N Still $
Fish Tails $$ http://fishtailsvi.com
Island View House $$ http://www.islandviewstthomas.com/index.php
Mafolie $$ http://www.mafolie.com

 

[Numismatist]

I would add, definately head to BVI, Jost, Virgin, or even Anegada if you're adventurous. One of the vest things about USVI/BVI is that there are so many differing islands all close to each other.

 

[amanda14]

I would definitely go to Pesce in Red Hook. Best meal we had in St. Thomas.

 

[papertraveller]

Thanks for the additional suggestions. We snorkelled the Trunk Bay underwater trail last August and I didn't want to leave the water. We also did The Baths at Virgin Gorda, and I've found a catamaran excursion that would include Jost Van Dyke.
Has anyone been to Water Island to go to Dinghy's?
I'm just so keen to explore the area and take advantage of the extra time to soak up the sun and the fun!

 

[chunkygal]

Having vacation envy

 

[Luckybee]

To the OP...this is terrific, we traded for MFC for May and this is only our 2nd trip to MFC with the 3rd being so long ago to another property that it doesn't count(and we hated STT before we tried MFC) so the advice is helpful.
Last trip we tried Mafolie which was nice except for the drive when we made the mistake of following the GPS straight up a cliff road, and Oceana and Mimm's.
We're still looking for that "have to go back to spot" that we tend to find on other islands. Does anyone have opinions on Room with a View ? Or other suggestions for the cant miss dinner ?
Also we didn't do it the last time but we intend to ferry over to St John on a non cruise ship day to hit some snorkeling beaches. Dh is not a strong swimmer but he does enjoy snorkeling if the experience isn't too intense. We once got caught in a current off Huahine and it wasn't pretty so Im pretty careful where he snorkels now. Best suggestions ? From my research Im looking at Trunk? and Maho? (I'd love to see the turtles). Or would we be better off on a small (read =not crowded excursion) . We do tend to prefer doing things on our own, but are open to either renting a boat or joining a small grp but I sort of get the impression that there is some pretty decent snorkeling close to shore in StJohn?

 

[dioxide45]

From my research Im looking at Trunk? and Maho? (I'd love to see the turtles). Or would we be better off on a small (read =not crowded excursion) . We do tend to prefer doing things on our own, but are open to either renting a boat or joining a small grp but I sort of get the impression that there is some pretty decent snorkeling close to shore in StJohn?

Trunk Bay is great for easy snorkeling. We have only been on Cruise ship exfursions and it wasn't very busy. I think only a small percentage of cruise ship guests make it over to St John, I think you would be better to spend the light cruise ship days on St Thomas. I think pretty much every day is a cruise ship day in St Thomas. Best to look at the number of ships in port and the size of them.

 

[Luckybee]

Trunk Bay is great for easy snorkeling. We have only been on Cruise ship exfursions and it wasn't very busy. I think only a small percentage of cruise ship guests make it over to St John, I think you would be better to spend the light cruise ship days on St Thomas. I think pretty much every day is a cruise ship day in St Thomas. Best to look at the number of ships in port and the size of them.

Thanks Dioxide....we're in SXM from the 5th of May until the 12th. I've looked on VInow and it seems at that time of the year which is slower season there are only ships in on the 8th( 1 ship only with 2000) , 9th and 10th(these 2 days are busier) so I've been planning to avoid off property excursions for the 2 busy days.
Dh and I tend to get lazy on vaca and so I know we'll spend a fair amount of time at Morningstar just hanging out....we didn't much like the beach at the cove itself on the last trip .

 

[dioxide45]

Looks like Oasis of the Seas and its 6,000 passengers is in on the 10th. That is like three ships in one. I was looking at CruiseTimeTables.com. It is showing only Oasis on the 10th and two on each of the 9th and 10th.

 

[bazzap]

Looks like Oasis of the Seas and its 6,000 passengers is in on the 10th. That is like three ships in one. I was looking at CruiseTimeTables.com. It is showing only Oasis on the 10th and two on each of the 9th and 10th.

St Thomas does seem to manage to handle incredibly large numbers of cruise ships and passengers visiting.
I have no idea where they all go, although one day we walked to the very far end of Magen's Bay to escape the madding crowds.
After that, we planned our trips out based on the cruise ship timetables.
On one extreme day, as I recall, there were 11 ships with some 35,000 passengers in port.
It is a great island, but this was just crazy.
St John seemed liked a deserted paradise by comparison and we absolutely loved our time there.

 

[jimf41]

Has anyone been to Water Island to go to Dinghy's?
I'm just so keen to explore the area and take advantage of the extra time to soak up the sun and the fun!

Spent the day on Water Island yesterday. Dinghy's will pick you up and drive you to their spot on Honeymoon beach. Heidi's on the other side of the beach has better food IMO. It's $20 R/T and $10 for a child to get there on the ferry. Rachael's Rentals will rent you a golf cart for $40 all day to explore the Island. The carts seat 4 with two facing to the rear on the back seat. The beach is nice but snorkeling is not good.

It's a fun day and my 13 year old grandson loved driving the cart around. Fort Segarra is an old shore battery on the top of the southern tip. It's fun to walk inside the tunnels but bring a flashlight as there is no light inside. Great place for photo's. The carts and the ferry are cash only.

 

[happymum]

I have enjoyed Mim's in the past, especially the all you can eat shrimp, however if you order the curried lobster by the pound - make sure you confirm the cost in advance. We were shocked to get a bill for $150 for one lobster!

 

[mdurette]

We have returned from our trip to Frenchmans - had a very nice time. What beautiful views and clear waters.

For those of you following this thread for your own future adventures here - I placed a fairly long review here on tug.
http://www.tug2.com/ResortReviews.aspx?Marriott's Frenchman's Cove&ID=14019

 

[Fairwinds]

We have returned from our trip to Frenchmans - had a very nice time. What beautiful views and clear waters.

For those of you following this thread for your own future adventures here - I placed a fairly long review here on tug.
http://www.tug2.com/ResortReviews.aspx?Marriott's Frenchman's Cove&ID=14019

Great review, thanks. And a great success/advice on the getaway alerts.

 

[gblotter]

We have returned from our trip to Frenchmans - had a very nice time. What beautiful views and clear waters.

For those of you following this thread for your own future adventures here - I placed a fairly long review here on tug.
http://www.tug2.com/ResortReviews.aspx?Marriott's Frenchman's Cove&ID=14019

Would you mind posting your review here in this thread as well (for those of us without a TUG membership)?

 

[dioxide45]

Would you mind posting your review here in this thread as well (for those of us without a TUG membership)?

Your profile shows you are a member?