CruisIng17

10 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Aqua 80 … I thought there used to be two rope lines?  Did they downsize

I was on board last week - saw the first showing on the second Aqua 80 night and there were two ropes, but the second guy fell off halfway through. We had an aquatheater balcony and watched the late show the following night and noticed they only put out one rope and he was missing. (It didn't seem like there was any kind of emergency response to him falling off though) 

These were the on board benefits on the Explorer last month.

53 minutes ago, viking30 said:

Hey there Cruising 17 - we are a family of 4 (kids are 17 and 13) that are there the same day as you and looking for the same thing (are you also on the Freedom?), I am looking at the MysticMan tour now...

Yes we're also on the Freedom. It'd be great if you decided on it, we'd be closer to the 10 person minimum! 😊 (Right now I just have me, my husband and our 2 kids signed up, but my parents are also booked on the cruise and hopefully they'll be able to join us too, health allowing).

On 11/26/2018 at 5:26 PM, z4ltw said:

Thanks Cruising17!

Looks like we're going to do something thru MysticManTours. They have a Cruise Passenger EcoAdventure option and they will pick you up at the cruise dock. $88/person. 43 foot catamaran. It heads south doing whale/dolphin watching  then continues further south down to Pitons and then heads back north along the coast. They also do snorkeling in at least one spot. Includes lunch and refreshments.

Thanks, this tour looks great (somehow I missed this one when looking before)! We've made a tentative reservation with them (for Apr 24), now we just need more people to sign up so that it'll actually go. Fingers crossed.

On 11/24/2018 at 9:16 AM, z4ltw said:

Cruising17, what did you end up doing...I am also looking for a simple view of the Pitons from the water without doing mud bath and waterfalls etc....thanks!

z4ltw, I haven't ended up booking anything yet - our quote from Bateau Mygo was $750 Monohull/$900 Catamaran (2-4 adults + 2 kids) and I've been trying to decide whether it's worth it for me or if I should just find a nice beach to taxi to instead. We cruise in April, so I have some time to decide still.

5 minutes ago, EatonDoolittle said:

The RCI provider for this trip uses a big barge thing, and they pack it very full - guess that's why it is so cheap. 

The return trip gets pretty loud, rowdy and rum fueled, so I am sure not allowing the littles is a safety thing. 

 

You could always ask the on board excursion staff if the little one can come, but I'm  not sure he/she would enjoy it.  

Hope you can find a nice cat sail, I have never had luck finding one either, but I do love seeing the Pitons from the water.

That is why I am familiar with the  "Coastal Cruise" that both RC and Celebrity use. 🍹

Thanks, this is very helpful!

Looks like our best bet is a private charter, but I'd prefer a cat and not a sailboat or powerboat, and of course those are the most expensive... I guess I need to recruit more people :-). 

9 hours ago, reedprincess said:

It will be one of the above.  There's not an endless pool of operators, it's a small island.  Lol.  Age restrict being there's or RCI's won't matter as those chartered to the cruise line usually don't allow independent bookings on those days. 

I just wanted to make it clear that I'm not trying to get around any safety age minimums, it just seems odd that they have one for just a catamaran ride - we haven't encountered this in any of our previous ports. I would call RCI directly and inquire about whether it's a mistake but we all know that their customer service people don't know these kinds of details 🙂

6 hours ago, reedprincess said:

Mystic Man, Carnival sailing, SeaSpray Cruises, Bateau Mygo, Endless Sumner, Bitni Charters, and so on all offer cat tours to the Pitons. They can be comprehensive or just short sails... Jus' Sail does an amazing sail trip also.   Some have age minimims - often a safety thing. 

Thanks. I've looked into all of these and they either include a land portion that I don't want, are only offered certain days of the week (we'll be there on a Wednesday), or are completely private charters. I'll check out the pricing for the private charters but I'm going to guess it'll be out of my budget.

I wish I could find out who runs the "Coastal Cruise to the Pitons" so that I could contact them directly and find out if the age minimum is their rule or Royal Caribbean's.

Hi,

I'm trying to find out if any of the tour operators offer a simple catamaran tour to the Pitons, with maybe a beach or snorkeling stop along the way. We were in St Lucia last year and used Spencer to see the mudbaths and waterfalls, but the rain moved in before we could really enjoy seeing the Pitons, so that's the only part I'm interested in repeating.

I see the Royal Caribbean sponsored "Coastal Cruise to the Pitons" seems to be almost exactly what I want, but I can't book that because the minimum age is 3 and we have a 2 year old in our group.

Does anyone have any other recommendations? A Google search hasn't turned anything up for me :-\.

Thanks.

Do any of you know if cappuccinos are also included in the MDR free after dinner? Or just regular coffee? I've only ever ordered the cappuccinos when I had a drink package (but they never asked for my card), and I'd like to know how much to expect to pay for my nightly cappuccino this go around with no drink package.

They're the same. I don't know why they named "My Family Time dining" so close to "My Time dining", which is different. "My Family Time" dining is traditional seating, but indicating that you want to send the kids to the kids club after 45 minutes and that their food should come quicker.

But I've found that they don't care whether you actually have it selected or not, as long as your kids are registered with the kids club you can bring them to the front of the dining room at the appointed time and drop them with the kids club people.

I just stopped by Cafe Promenade for my afternoon iced coffee and asked the server about “punches” on the 15-drink-coffee-card. He said it depends on the drink, but usually anything in the “Tall” (12 oz.) cup is 1 punch; drinks in the “Grande” (16 oz.) cup, or “Venti” (20 oz.) cup are 2 punches.

 

Also, a couple of times on this trip I have been able to get cans of diet soda with my Refreshment Package at Cafe Promenade and the Blue Moon (VCL).

Thanks for inquiring on my behalf, that was really nice of you!

Did any of you happen to get the 15-drink-coffee-card (for $31)? I'm wondering if cafe promenade was charging 2 punches for grande drinks, or 1 punch. I've read conflicting information and Adventure seemed to be one of the 2-punch ships the last I read (which really makes no sense, since then it's more expensive to use the card than to pay as you go). I know I can just wait until I'm on board to find out and purchase the card then, but if I wanted to get a beverage package instead, it's cheaper to do that beforehand. Thanks!

If you take a look at this 360 picture, you can see the rules on Adventure: https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/adventure-of-the-seas-192/splashaway-bay-363861/splashaway-bay--v397193/

It indicates diapers are allowed. (I haven't been yet, but I'm counting on it to be correct in March!)