Alaunt Day Sail

[elizabeth77]

I just wanted to put my two cents in about the Alaunt day sail. Jon and I booked the Alaunt last week during the Radiance Eastern Caribbean cruise and it was definitely the highlight of our trip!

 

I booked via e-mail about a month previously and the response was prompt and our questions were thoroughly answered. The price quoted for us was $125 per person if you pay with a credit card or $115 per person if you pay in cash the day of. The day was worth much much more than that! Fortunately for us (maybe not for Capt. Ron and Carol re: money) we were the only ones booked for the day as we were hoping for, and enjoyed, a quiet and relaxing day. (They can accept up to six people.)

 

We were a little worried we wouldn't make it to their dock by 8:30 (local time) so we e-mailed them the night before and they quickly responded that they would just wait for our phone call when we arrived at the dock especially since we were the only ones booked that day. Our worries were completely unfounded as we arrived early. As mentioned in other posts, the cab ride is $8 per person one way, plus tip if you feel inclined.

 

During the first part of the trip Capt. Ron and Carol told us a bit about how they ended up in the day sail business, history about the Alaunt*, and since we had never been to that part of the Caribbean before they also told us some history and other interesting facts about the different islands. Carol offered us some delicious date nut bread and fresh pineapple for breakfast; and she offered us a variety of drinks as well.

 

The weather was absolutely perfect! We really couldn't have had a better day in that regard. It was a bit sunny for Jon who is extremely fair skinned so they put up an awning for him so he would have some shade. They took us to two different spots for snorkeling, one before lunch and one after lunch. Since we had never snorkeled before, Ron gave us a lesson and Carol went to shore with us to make sure we had the hang of it before we went out deeper. (You can bring your own snorkeling gear or they will provide it for you.) We snorkeled at our leisure and when we were done they even had a warm/hot fresh water shower for us!

 

Lunch was absolutely delicious! That alone was worth the price of the entire day! (Ironically, we paid that much for a beautiful lunch the next day in Grand Case in the French side of St. Martin and I have to say that Capt. Ron's lunch had it beat!) They served us a wonderful roasted chicken, cuban rice and beans, and bananas flambe (supposed to be plantains but the plantains weren't ripe enough to eat). They also offered a caesar salad. I don't even like beans and I thought the rice and beans was delicious! I really can't say enough about the food. And Carol also offered us cookies in the afternoon for a light snack.

 

They returned us by 3:30/4:00 local time which gave us plenty of time to get back to the ship (or even do some shopping or ice cream eating before heading back).

 

As I mentioned earlier, we were just looking for a peaceful and relaxing day (away from the cruise ship and it's gazillions of people) and that is exactly what we got. If you have a family or friends you want to bring along and increase the level of excitement, you can do that as well. :) Ron and Carol are two of the nicest people and will give you a really great day of sailing with some of the best food in the caribbean! We felt the day was worth much more than they asked and would have compensated them as such if it wasn't for the limited amount of cash we had on us (and lack of credit cards with us).

 

Anyway, I'm not sure if I covered everything but I wanted to write this while I had time. I highly recommend this trip and hope you have the opportunity to enjoy it as well!

 

*The sail boat is beautiful. You can see pictures of it on their website, www.alauntcharters.com.

[love2sub]

Elizabeth,

 

We sailed with Ron and Carol on the Alaunt Christmas Day and it was the highlight of our trip as well. We couldn't have been happier. I'm so glad you went with them and loved it as much as we did.

 

Lisa