dz63

After lunch the boys couldn't resist making a splash into the water.

 

While DH and I walked down to the far end of the beach.

 

DayDreamer 7 at Pinel Island.

 

Approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes later, it was time to wade back through the water and climb back on-board the DayDreamer 7 to get to our next snorkelling stop--Creole Rock.

 

Arrival at Creole Rock

 

We spent 20 minutes here!

 

Then with a honk of the boat’s horn, it was time to climb back onto the speedboat--our next adventure awaits!

 

continues...

From Tintamarre we were off to our second stop-- Pinel Island and lunch.

 

Anchoring off the shallow waters of this tropical island we waded to shore—carrying anything we didn’t want to get wet over our heads!

 

Lunch and water at the Yellow Beach Restaurant were included in the price of this tour. Any other drinks could be purchased.

 

Waiting for our lunch at the Yellow Beach Restaurant

 

…but we weren’t the only ones wanting lunch!

 

Lunch is served!

Ribs and Ratatouille. Doesn't that look yummy?

 

or maybe you like chicken better?

(The catch of the day was another option).

 

continues...

Once anchored at Tintamarre Island, we put on our snorkel gear or could use the gear provided, grabbed a float if we wanted one and jumped into the water for snorkelling. Tintamarre is well known as a spot where turtles hang out and many have had the opportunity to swim with the turtles...however they must have been hiding the day we were there as we did not see any! However, my youngest DS did find a conch shell!

 

The DayDreamer 7 anchored off the shores of Tintamarre Island.

 

Any sign of a turtle?

 

We had between 1 - 1½ hours here before it was time to climb back onboard.

 

continues...

Captain Mike’s boat was equipped with an audio system for music. Whenever Captain Mike provided narration, he turned the music off, put the boat into slow speed and stood to the side of the boat and spoke.

 

We passed under the Simpson Bay Bridge on the Dutch side of the island and entered Simpson’s Bay Lagoon.

 

Soon after were on the French side of the island and passed under Sandy Ground Bridge.

(click on photo to view video)

 

Here we are cruising by Marigot, the capital of French St. Maarten.

 

Soon after, we approached the open seas and Captain Mike prepared us for our first big adventure. Reaching speeds up to 45 miles per hour (which felt like 65 miles/hour to us) and bouncing over 3-4 foot waves (which looked like 8-10 foot waves to us), and with the bow of the boat rising up and crashing down, we sped off to our first snorkelling stop--Tintamarre Island.

 

continues...

Back in April, we reserved a speed boat tour with Captain Mike from Robinson's Speed Boat Tours. We were very impressed with his customer service, wit and speed in answering emails and we looked forward to an exciting adventure exploring St. Maarten by sea with Robinson’s.

 

Four months later, the day of our tour was finally here! We arrived in St. Maarten on August 14 off Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. Once we exited the cruise port, it was a short walk through the cruise terminal and port shops to get to the street.

 

 

This way to the Marina! Heading towards the direction of Philipsburg, it is approx. a 5-minute walk from the port exit to Chesterfield’s.

 

When you see this sign, you know you have arrived at Chesterfield Marina!

 

The meeting place is infront of the Chesterfield Restaurant. Check in was 9:30 am. with a departure time of 10:00. However since everyone checked in on time, our adventure on the seas with Captain Mike could begin right away!

 

Here is a picture of Captain Mike’s boat, the DayDreamer 7 docked at the Marina, just before we boarded at 9:30 am.

 

His speed boat is equipped with three, 275 Mercury engines.

 

Everyone is required to remove their shoes before boarding. All shoes were put in a mesh scuba bag and stored in a cubby compartment located on the floor of the boat. Captain Mike joked that tomorrow we could find our shoes on Ebay!

 

continues...

Why world they check bags to get BACK on the ship? What is on the island that they would not want aboard? ?

 

When we were in CocoCay a man wanted to bring a coconut back to the ship but was told by one of the cruise officers that that is not allowed, so agricultural items is something they are checking for.

The Sulphur Springs volcano and mud baths are basically just down and across the road from each other. If I remember correctly, you should be able to see the main crater with the sulphur steam rising on the way to the mud baths (you will definitely smell it!)...if not just ask your driver to drive by it since you are right there!

 

For a better understanding what the Sulphur Springs volcano and guided tour is all about, feel free to check out my YouTube video of our visit there.

 

[YOUTUBE]z7MBXklo5L4[/YOUTUBE]

We were in CocoCay off the Freedom of the Seas August 11 and had no wind or wave issues to prevent tendering. Before boarding the tender in CocoCay everyone's bags were screened by security.

 

Tender on its way to CocoCay

 

The long line to board the tender. To the far right, you can just see the side of a blue and yellow roof--that's the building where our bags were screened by security.

 

The Cabana's at CocoCay

I've read a bunch of the review threads for cave tubing in Belize City. I haven't heard any reviews here about Cave Tubing R Us. That one popped up on a TripAdvisor search when I started looking at excursions, and had good reviews. I'm reading mostly about the .BZ and .COM companies on this board, and noticing a few differences (mainly the pictures of CTrU look like black inner tubes, while both the others companies have headrests and look newer). Also, I'm unsure if CTrU includes a meal or not, while the others do.

 

I'm wondering if anybody would recommend switching to one of the other companies or if folks here have gone with CTrU and can tell me anything about your experience with it.

 

Thanks in advance! I sail August 24 on the Navigator of the Seas.

 

ETA: One person wrote that they didn't have time to do anything but the cave tubing, and another said they got back to port with something like 2 hours to shop. My mom and I are interested in visiting the MOHO Chocolate Factory - is that something that we should have time to do after a cave tubing expedition?

 

 

We used Cave Tubing R Us for our river tubing excursion back in 2011. One of the main reasons we choose this company was because they had wonderful reviews on Trip Advisor and because they offered the luxury inner tubes that tied together...so there was no hanging on by feet and armpit required. Although we did enjoy the luxury inner tubes, we ended up walking away disappointed with our experience. Our guides rushed us through the rainforest with no narration and did not point out interesting sites along the way (we were not even shown a tarantula nor a termite mound which you hear so much about from other reviews). We knew lunch was not included in the rate, but they normally stop at a local restaurant which we were looking forward to experiencing as well. When we asked if we could also stop there, we were told there wasn't enough time--yet we were given 45 minutes to spend at the park at the end of the cave tubing. We were not able to go through all three caves and bottled water was only offered during the last 20 minutes on the drive back. Our cave tubing experience from start to finish was 5.5 hours, yet we felt we did not get to experience this excursion to the fullest the way others had.

 

I have written a review on Trip Advisor as well as posted a review with photos on Cruise Critics and put together a YouTube video of our experience, which you can check out for more details.

 

Trip Advisor

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g291967-d1761615-r141609717-Cave_Tubing_R_us-Belize_District.html#UR141609717

 

Cruise Critics, post #87-#93

http://50.57.1.63/showthread.php?t=1704270&page=5

 

YouTube

[YOUTUBE]ua8XttdbhFk[/YOUTUBE]

 

If we had the chance to do this excursion again, we would likely book with a different cave tubing company. bz now offers the luxurious inner tubes as well and the cost of their excursion is less than Cave Tubing R Us and includes lunch, water, soda and rum punch.

 

If you have any more questions about our experience with Cave Tubing R Us or require any further clarification, just ask!

Thanks dz63.

You gave me a great perspective of the layout/logistics.

 

Glad to help.

 

If you're interested to see more photo's and video clips of Fort Rodney, Signal Hill and Pigeon Point, please check out my YouTube video.

 

[YOUTUBE]uEr3GTU9ZM4[/YOUTUBE]

Has anyone done the Sky Safari excursion? How far it is from the port and did you enjoy the excursion?

 

We did the Sky Safari zipline back in 2009...and loved it!

 

Sky Safaris in St. Kitts offers five lines with the longest line extending 1350 feet. Reaching speeds up to 80 km (50 miles) per hour while zipping 250 feet above the forest floor of a tropical rainforest was truly an exhilarating, daring and adventurous experience! Ski Safaris advertises they have the safest cable ride system in the world and riders are brought to a stop through a modern spring-breaking system. When approaching the platform at the end of each run, this breaking system requires you to bend your knees, spread your legs apart and lean back. Unless you have physical/mobile capabilities, you should have no problem doing this.

 

For a more detailed description and to see photos of our zipline adventure, please check out my review by clicking on the link below and reading posts #154 - #156.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1038334&page=8

 

I have also put together a YouTube video of our zipline excursion.

[YOUTUBE]6jmN2y5NPuc[/YOUTUBE]

Thank you dz, it does look like a journey. I guess the good news is if we like St Lucia half as much as we think we will, we are just going to have to return for a week long trip and explore some more then and check out the rain forest! :)

 

We had a similar dilemma on our first cruise visit to St. Lucia. We wanted to do the zipline in Dennery and also see the Pitons...but since this was too far apart, this option was not feasible. We ended up going on an island tour that took us down to the Pitons that included Sulphur Springs, Toraille Waterfall, a banana plantation and beach time at Jalousie Beach which is located between the Pitons. St. Lucia is a very lush and mountainous island. We enjoyed St. Lucia so much, that we did return on a land vacation and explored more of what this island has to offer.

Oh, and I just thought of it, maybe if we get off the ship fairly early we could just take a quick trip by taxi to the Pitons and back to the ship area to take the cruise tour to the rain forest at noon? I'm not familiar with the logistics of St Lucia yet so I'm not sure if this is possible? Thanks!

 

Actually to get to the Pitons from the cruise terminal in Castries, will take 1 - 1 1/2 hours by taxi one way making it difficult to be able to see the Pitons and also take in the Tram Ride in Babonneau.

how was the hike,i dont know if i should do that or the bike ride

 

The hike was a nature walk through the rainforest. Our guides showed us Jungle M&M’s and let us taste them too. We saw mango, nutmeg, grapefruit and a type of fern that leaves a stamped image on your skin! We also got a short lesson on the proper way to chop bamboo with a machete! After that, it was a short hike down the river bank and across the river to get to Errand Falls.

 

 

The surroundings here were simply beautiful—no wonder Errand Falls is considered to be the most scenic falls on the island! The water was cool and refreshing and it was such a wonderful way to end our day at the Treetop Adventure Park. We spent approx. 1 1/2 hours on the nature walk with Errand Falls stop.

 

Here is our video of the Nature Walk and Errand Falls.

[YOUTUBE]xG2vRWFb2QA[/YOUTUBE]

thanks for the information,nice video also,thats the one i will be doing..is the challenge course already combined with the zipline canopy adventure or is it with the hike?..we plan to do the treetop day of adventure with two tours included

 

The challenge course was a separate activity which TreeTop Adventure Park offered. Looking at their website now, it appears as if the challenge course is no longer offered, as only the zipline, cycling and hiking options are available.

theres the Adrenaline Zipline Adventure in the rainforest where the arial tram is

or

theres TreeTop Adventure Park

 

has anyone been to these and knows which one is better

 

the rainforest one is about $30 more expensive than the adventure park

 

We have zipped at the TreeTop Adventure Park in Dennery. We choose this zipline over the zip at Morne Coubaril Estate in Soufriere or the Rainforest Sky Tram Park in Babonneau because the zip at TreeTop offers the highest and longest lines in all St. Lucia. We zipped on 12 lines with the longest line extending up to 800 feet. We had combined the zipline with the challenge course and rainforest hike to Errand Falls. The actual zipline itself, took us 1 1/2 hours to complete.

 

Some of the zipline platforms are high and require you to climb stairs to get up to the line--so I would not recommended this if you have mobility issues.

 

To read my review and see photos of our zipline experience in St. Lucia, check out my review on Trip Advisor and/or watch my youtube video:

 

Review with Photos: "Awesome Day from Start to Finish"

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g1959515-d1417315-r118179567-Treetop_Adventure_Park-Dennery_Dennery_Quarter_St_Lucia.html

 

Video: Ziplining at TreeTop Adventure Park, St. Lucia

[YOUTUBE]O-tLZxC9Gew[/YOUTUBE] (Length 3:03)

Hi folks,

I'm looking for information on Pigeon Island. Anyone been there who would recommend it (or not)?

Thanks

 

We visited Pigeon Island in 2011. George Rodney fortified Pigeon Island in order to monitor the French fleet in Martinique. Pigeon Point is located on the northwestern tip of St. Lucia and today houses the remains of Fort Rodney which dates back to 1778.

 

It is a moderate climb up a winding path to get to the top of the Fort.

 

At the top of Fort Rodney Hill are the remains of a small fortress.

 

Gunpowder Magazine

 

If you're up to a steeper climb, you can cross the ridge and make the 359 foot climb up to the top of Signal Hill.

 

Looking back through cactus towards Fort Rodney.

 

At the top of Signal Hill (that's Fort Rodney in the background). From the top of Signal Hill, Admiral Rodney was able to observe the French naval base on Martinique.

 

Back down at the bottom of the hill, is an interpretation centre and the ruins of military buildings and soldier barracks.

 

After this, we went for a swim at the beach located here. You can see Fort Rodney at the top of the hill.

 

If you like great views and scenic vista's while exploring a little bit of the history of St. Lucia and the importance of this national landmark, than a visit here is recommended. Since there are steep grades and some climbing involved, comfortable shoes are recommended.

I'm a very iffy swimmer and we're doing the Dunn's River Falls, tubing, and Blue Hole excursion from Peat Taylor Tours. I asked him if there would be life jackets available and he said yes. Still a little nervous about jumping in though. My fiance is a great swimmer so I think he will love it.

 

We did the same three excursions with Peat Taylor Tours and had an awesome time. There are also opportunities to jump off a platform or high embankment during the tubing excursion, however as with the Blue Hole, you are not obligated to make the jumps if you are uncomfortable with this.

 

If you're interested, I have attached my video's of our experience River Tubing and Dunns River Falls.

 

River Tubing

[YOUTUBE]uN0stc_n5TE[/YOUTUBE]

 

Dunns River Falls

[YOUTUBE]1ELKsoLnx50[/YOUTUBE]

We are going to Belize, Roaton, and Cozumel

 

Although we have not used Shore Trips, here is what we did in Belize, Roatan and Cozumel.

 

In Belize, we went river tubing. We booked this through Cave Tubing R Us--a private independent company. cavetubing.bz. cavetubing.com and VIV are other very popular cave tubing operators. A visit to the ancient Mayan ruins of Altun Ha is another possibility.

[YOUTUBE]ua8XttdbhFk[/YOUTUBE]

 

In Roatan we used the services of Rony's Tours. We went ziplining on the Pirates of the Caribbean Extreme, Extreme zip line, visited the Monkey Stop and then relaxed at Mahogany Bay Beach. Victor Bodden is another well known tour operator.

[YOUTUBE]GgiCAc2EEpw[/YOUTUBE]

 

In Cozumel, we hired a taxi and made our way to Paradise Beach. There we enjoyed the water toys and floats that this beach had to offer. Chankanaab and Mr. Sancho's are some other well known beach spots.

[YOUTUBE]imVdisSZ4kE[/YOUTUBE]

 

In the past, we have also been to Xcaret and Tulum. Since this requires a boat transfer to the mainland from Cozumel, I would recommend booking this through the cruise line.

 

Xcaret

[YOUTUBE]l8uuaSlTVUM[/YOUTUBE]

We (DW & I) will be going to Montego Bay In about a weeks time on the Dream and was wondering what choices of AI resorts or Beaches we would have and what would the costs be? Also can we book them on arrival?

 

Regards,

Police46

 

 

Check Resort for a Day. They offer all-inclusive day passes which includes round trip transportation to the Grand Palladium, Sunset Beach and Hilton Rose Hall in Montego Bay.

The tender from the ship to the shore was approx. 20 minutes.

 

The photo below will give you a rough idea how far the Belize terminal is from the ship.

 

The Carnival Legend as seen from the shore.

Wow! Great job on your holiday video...and you did an amazing job matching your clips to the music too.

 

It is obvious you had an awesome time on the Freedom of the Seas. We're looking forward to our turn on this ship next month.

 

Thanks for sharing!

Does reserved dining in the main diningroom apply on the first day of sailing?

Does anybody know of a nice all inclusive beach resort we can go to for the day?

 

Or at least one with food, facilities and chairs/umbrellas

 

Transportation information to and from said beach also.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Have you checked "Resort for a Day?"

This is a company that offers resort passes to cruisers. For St. Maarten they offer a day pass to the Westin on Dawn Beach. Although you are provided with a guest room and have access to all amenities, this one is not an all-inclusive package. You can check out the resort on Resort for a Day's website for more details and see if this is what you are looking for.

[quote name='dapaddo']Does anyone have a picture of the port from the ship? I for the lifr of me can't remeber what is there. Thanks for anyones help.[/QUOTE]

Here are two photos of Havensight Mall from the ship.
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[URL=http://s582.photobucket.com/user/mitziz/media/Carnival%20Victory%20Cruise/StThomas/CarnivalVictoryCruise559.jpg.html][IMG]http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss266/mitziz/Carnival%20Victory%20Cruise/StThomas/CarnivalVictoryCruise559.jpg[/IMG][/URL]