Tiami Five Star Catamaran and Turtles

[KNKat]

Have read some negative reviews about this tour company on this site. If you have used them in the past, please let me know how things went. We are debating between it and the swim with the turtles and shipwreck snorkeling tour.

[Big Thunder]

We just did the Tiami on March 3rd. Booked it as a Celebrity shore excursion. Lots of people onboard ( I would say at least 80) though the tour was not sold out. All went well till the lunch when I was yelled at by the bartender for picking up a beverage when I reached the beverage station,(apparently it was supposed to be the last stop while going through the lunch line not the first even though you come to it first) And this is the same guy that sold me a Tee-Shirt at the start of the excursion! I for one will never go on it again.

 

You may want to look into the Catamaran "Silvermoon" If you have enough people (I think they take 12) you can book it independently for about $90 per person and have a much better excursion than the Tiami for less money. I looked into it myself but it was already booked for our date.

 

Tom

[kadey]

We just did this excursion this past Friday and loved it! We found the crew to be very friendly,funny and helpful. When we got on board we were offered juices,scones and banana bread. The turtle swim was fantastic and the lunch buffet was pretty good! Although it was a full crowd there was no wait for lunch or getting in/out of the water. We then went to a snorkel spot and then back on the boat. There was an open bar the whole way back to the dock. Alcohol understandably wasn't offered till we were done in the water heading back to the dock. There was plenty of time for drinking and plenty of alcohol available!

 

I'm not trying to take away from what happened to KNKAT,I'm just telling about our experience._Kade

[ike97756]

We went with them on an NCL sponsored excursion in Feb. 2010 and had a great time. Lots of Turtles and good food.

 

This last Feb. though we decided to just take a cab to Paynes bay (same place the excursions go for turtles) and swim out to the turtles ourselves as well as enjoy the beach and other things on Barbados. We Swam with plenty Turtles on our own if that is your objective. Otherwise I would highly recommend Tiami for the Cat/Food/Turtle experience.

[TrishLoves2Cruise]

Thanks for the sharing your experiences everyone. My DH and I are doing this excursion in May and are looking forward to seeing and being with the turtles. We love to snorkle as well. How was the snorkelling at the ship wreck?

[Sailingscots]

We went on a five hour lunch cruise a couple of weeks ago. We booked directly with Tiami (ie not via cruise company). There were only 25 on the catamaran (we saw some of the other Tiami cats which were much fuller and I assume were the ones carrying excursion passengers). We had a marvellous time, Great crew, lots of rum punch, beer etc available and a beautiful lunch. Two opportunities to snorkel (once with turtles) and a beach stop as well.Best day of our holiday and would highly recommend Cost was $90 per person.

 

Sailingscots

[KNKat]

Thank you so much for the response!

[slapsyru]

I took this excursion with Celebrity and couldn't fault it in any way. Crew were amazing, friendly and attentive, 3 snorkel sites were fansastic, plenty fish and turtles and the free bar had everything. They put plenty food and cakes on for everybody and it was a good long tour and made afull day out.

I'ddo it again any time and would reccommend them to anyone. I sound like an advertfor them now i know, but of all excursions i've ever done i'd say this was number one.

Gemma

[Goldeneye]

Just returned from my 3rd time on Tiami 11, The first time was perfect... The second great and this last time (Thurs) was 'ok' nothing wrong but after my last 2 experiences everything was wrong, if that makes sense..

 

On our previous 2 excursions, there was great crew interaction, they let you know who's house you were sailing past.. For the Brits.. Cliff Richard & Cilla Black... For Americans.. Baseball players etc..

This year the only thing they pointed out was the hotel where Tiger woods got married.. last year they also said how he had taken all the rooms of the hotel so it would be private and how much that cost..

They would dance along if you were inclined and it was a great spirited atmosphere....

 

The previous times, the music was great.. Caribbean... after all we are in the Caribbean !! This time they played a lot of Hip pop :mad: and a little saturday night fever.. I'm in the caribbean not the Bronx so Hip pop was not appreciated... I felt they were trying to pander to large group of college students.. rather than those that woould be leaving the tips... Needless to say we didn't leave a tip.. previous two times we have enjoyed it so much we gave $40 & $50 ... This time nada..

 

The food they serve is as good as ever.. Next visit I feel it's time to jump ship and try the Silvermoon..

I'll be writing to them and letting them know that they need to bring some of the old energy back.. Maybe it's got boring and mundane for them most of the crew are the same..