We stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami – Downtown. Very nicely sized room with views of the Bay. We booked a stay and sail package that included breakfast in the morning (very nice buffet) and a shuttle ride to the ship. If you don't book the package, you can still sign up for the shuttle. I think it was $6/person. Location is good with plenty of restaurants near-by including an outdoor mall/market right across the street that had a ton of bars and restaurants. We had a drink there, then headed back about a block from our hotel to CVI.CHE 105, a Peruvian restaurant. Highly recommend.

We didn't book an excursion. We walked off the ship at the Crown Pier (?). It's about 2.5 miles from downtown St. Thomas. There a shopping area there. (Fun fact, the area used to be a U.S. Navy submarine base). You can also catch a jingo taxi (pick-up truck modified with benches) to downtown. Cost was $4/person each way. We took the taxi downtown and wandered around for about 30 minutes. Wow (and not in a good way). Very pushy vendors and guys hustling to get you to go into store A or store B. Inside the shops, the staff were nice, but there are a ridiculous amount of jewelry stores (like every other store is a jewelry store). There are also some bars/restaurants but we'd had enough of saying “no thank you” every three steps only to have the guy follow you down the street, so we headed back to the ship. We talked to some folks that took a catamaran/snorkling trip and they loved it...so...maybe choose accordingly. I'm sure there is a nice part of St. Thomas, but downtown isn't it unless you love browsing jewelry shops and constantly getting hustled.

You've seen the commercials, but the transformation is truly amazing. If you like “old CocoCay,” it's still there, you just have to walk out a bit further. The waterpark is similar to those in the U.S. and looked like they did a good business while we were there. Judging from the crowd at the swim up bar in Oasis lagoon, I'd say most people did the half-day ticket in the morning. There were lines we could see but not crazy long and things seemed to be moving pretty well. We didn't do the waterpark, but I didn't hear anyone complaining either. Ashore they have beach wheelchairs. They tended to be lined up near the bathrooms, and that made it pretty easy to get to areas that weren't paved with cobblestones. Staff are posted around the park with “Ask me Anything” shirts and they're very helpful too. You can get to a lot of places without needing the beach wheelchair, but not every where.

We rented a cabana at the Oasis lagoon. Had a ceiling fan, two chairs, a big couch, a cooler/table with 6-8 water bottles, and 4 sun loungers. They'll also bring you lunch if you order from the menu in the cabana. Bar tenders come around, but as we were just across from the swim up bar (there's a walk-up side too), it wasn't an issue.

Never did see the balloon go up...