Catamaran w/Snorkling & Beach Excursion - Montego Bay

[johneeo]

My husband and I just got back from our cruise. We did this snorkeling tour with Denise, Marvin, and Glen. I contacted Denise through the email dptgonefishing@hotmail.com What I particularly liked about this tour was that we were met directly behind our cruise ship.

 

Glad I found this thread. I cannot stand buses or taxis or touring or shopping.

 

I just want a cat or sailboat at the dock, and off we go.

[Bdgsag]

Just booked this excursion today can not wait will be ther 2/29. has anyone done this trip recently?

[johneeo]

Just booked this excursion today can not wait will be ther 2/29. has anyone done this trip recently?

 

Please report back on your experience.

 

Thanx.

[5waldos]

Thanks for the great pictures- we are booked on this in late March- it was just what I was looking for and I am so happy to see nice reviews of the trip. They seem to be lovely lovely people and of all our excursions planned- this is the one I am looking most forward to!

[levardis]

We've signed up for the snorkeling/doctor's cave beach excursion in early March. Will report back on how it goes.

[westcoastfun]

This morning I emailed them had a reponse within a couple hours. Emailed back to them and said i wanted to book it. They sent a paypal form to me right away. I am booked and will be there May 2nd! Will let you guys know how it was..Hopefully with pics too:D

[MangoFamily]

Please report back on your experience.

 

Thanx.

 

We just did this tour on Feb 1st 2012 off the Conquest. Pictures posted by previous poster are exactly spot on! It was very nice to just walk off the gangway, go behind our ship and board the Freestyle. The Captain and two deck hands were very helpful and nice. We had our 21 year old and 9 year old sons with us. The snorkeling was pretty great, but it was a bit choppy that morning so we were all pretty exhausted after about 45 minutes in the water. We had 10 total passengers on this tour. We all opted for the beach and not Margaritaville. We paid 20 bucks for 3 chairs and a sun umbrella at Doctors Cave Beach and just soaked up some sun for a few hours while the kids swam in the water. Beach service isn't great..had to go looking for a beer. The beach sellers were present but not aggressive at all. .Our captain picked us back up at the prearranged time at the dock and we sailed back to the pier. It wasn't a party boat.. there were free soft drinks, rum punch (pretty strong!) and they sold Red Stripe for 3 bucks a bottle..they did play some music on the sail back, such as the Macarena, and the woman deckhand did her best to get some dancing going on!

[johneeo]

We just did this tour on Feb 1st 2012 off the Conquest. Pictures posted by previous poster are exactly spot on! It was very nice to just walk off the gangway, go behind our ship and board the Freestyle. The Captain and two deck hands were very helpful and nice. We had our 21 year old and 9 year old sons with us. The snorkeling was pretty great, but it was a bit choppy that morning so we were all pretty exhausted after about 45 minutes in the water. We had 10 total passengers on this tour. We all opted for the beach and not Margaritaville. We paid 20 bucks for 3 chairs and a sun umbrella at Doctors Cave Beach and just soaked up some sun for a few hours while the kids swam in the water. Beach service isn't great..had to go looking for a beer. The beach sellers were present but not aggressive at all. .Our captain picked us back up at the prearranged time at the dock and we sailed back to the pier. It wasn't a party boat.. there were free soft drinks, rum punch (pretty strong!) and they sold Red Stripe for 3 bucks a bottle..they did play some music on the sail back, such as the Macarena, and the woman deckhand did her best to get some dancing going on!

 

Thanx for the info.

 

What time did you get on the catamaran (start time) and what time did they have you back to the pier?

 

This sounds like my kind of excursion!

[Prius2012]

This looks like it might be just what DH and I would want to do with our 2 teenagers in March. Do they pick you up from the port in Falmouth? Does anyone know how it compares to the catamaran trip offered by Royal Caribbean? My kids would love to snorkel I just don't want them hassled too much at the beach, they won't enjoy it if they are bombarded by pushy sellers.

Many thanks for any insights.

[johneeo]

This looks like it might be just what DH and I would want to do with our 2 teenagers in March. Do they pick you up from the port in Falmouth? Does anyone know how it compares to the catamaran trip offered by Royal Caribbean? My kids would love to snorkel I just don't want them hassled too much at the beach, they won't enjoy it if they are bombarded by pushy sellers.

Many thanks for any insights.

 

Take a look at their web site -- Sailing Jamaica -

 

http://www.jamaicawatersports.com/cruise.htm

 

 

Looks like they leave right from the ship.

 

How old are your teens? I have 15 YO son and he wants to do sailing and snorkeling.

[johneeo]

Does anyone know how it compares to the catamaran trip offered by Royal Caribbean? Many thanks for any insights.

 

From what I have read it is a lot cheaper. Also, probably not as many people on it, and it could probably be customized to what those on it want to do, snorkel, beaches .... NO VENDORS OR TOURING;)

 

I don't know where the RCI excursion leaves from, so it might be a bus ride. Personally, having done RCI excursions and booked my own, I have found booking my own work out much better, cheaper, and more flexible.

[5waldos]

This looks like it might be just what DH and I would want to do with our 2 teenagers in March. Do they pick you up from the port in Falmouth? Does anyone know how it compares to the catamaran trip offered by Royal Caribbean? My kids would love to snorkel I just don't want them hassled too much at the beach, they won't enjoy it if they are bombarded by pushy sellers.

Many thanks for any insights.

 

They are based in Montego Bay- don't know if there is anything similar in Falmouth.

[Prius2012]

Take a look at their web site -- Sailing Jamaica -

 

http://www.jamaicawatersports.com/cruise.htm

 

 

Looks like they leave right from the ship.

 

How old are your teens? I have 15 YO son and he wants to do sailing and snorkeling.

Thanks for the site I will look into it some more. My kids are 16 & 14 and much better swimmers than I am!!

[Pretty-N-Pink]

We just got back from Jamaica and had a horrible experience with Freestyle and their crew. To make a long story short, we chartered the vessel for the afternoon and were told we would be snorkeling at 2 spots and then stop by Margaritaville when we were done and then do the typical booze cruise back to the dock. We were lied to by the crew and the lady that helped set the cruise up in Jamaica. We snorkeled for about 30 minutes at one spot and then were dropped off at margaritaville for the rest of the afternoon. The boat left us there and went back and picked up more guests. They were double dipping. We were told that the vessel was ours for the afternoon but we were apparently misled and lied to by the booking agent and crew of the Freestyle. We had to take a taxi back to the cruise ship as we didn't trust the ships crew to come back and pick us up. Be ware when dealing with Freestyle in Montego Bay. They are dishonest and totally ripped our group of 38 off. Avoid this company at all costs.

[Bdgsag]

Went on this excursion on Feb 29 it is cheaper for a reason stay away. The staff was very rude and the boat is very beat up along with the snorkel gear. The capitain almost ran over a fishing boat when me and my 4 year old son was sitting on the nets up front. When I said something to him his answer was he was not suppose to be there. It was not that he did not see the guy everyone on the front of the boat was screaming at him. Then where they anchored to go snorkeling was a long swim just to get to the reef. Rum punch sucked worst I have ever had. Then they pulled up to the beach they did not want to bring us to Margaritivlle which we told them that is where we wanted to go earlier when we got on the ship. They did finally bring us after having to argument about it the instead of 3 hours at the beach or Margaritiville it was on 2 hours. After getting off the boat everyone was talking about how horrilbe it was. I would stay far away from this company.