which catamaran

[Peter Birks]

Thank you,

We are curently waiting to hear back from Shasa, they sound really good. We can still check Ron.

 

Did you hear back? are you going to go with them? We were thinking of the same after some of the trip advisor reviews, but decided in the end to stick to what we knew. Let us know if you go!

[simonbagger]

I have just booked silver moon for December, the agent who was from barbados said silver moon and calabaza are the top choices....

[merinski]

Did you hear back? are you going to go with them? We were thinking of the same after some of the trip advisor reviews, but decided in the end to stick to what we knew. Let us know if you go!

 

Yes we are going with Shasa Jan.18/12.

[frito58]

We just returned from the Victory and did Calabaza , wow what can you say that hasn't been said about Gina and her crew. In 13 cruises best excursion we have ever taken and I never even got off the boat:) I too have some health problems , we were a group of 6 the rest enjoyed snorkeling and most of us were first timers , there are some great pictures in the link under my name. But I had a blast just sitting on the back steps , Chad brought some turtles right over to me. They kept me in rum punch or beer and I had the time of my life. The food was great, Barbados is a gorgeous island.

[homeinboca]

Great information on this thread. I've tried many operators and they are booked during the day I am in Barbados - Jan 2, 2012 on the Emerald Princess.

 

Calabaza - Booked up

Silver Moon - Booked up

Shasta - Booked up

 

El Tigre - Available

Cool Runnings - Available

Island Marketing - Available, but I think they are agents for these operators.

 

I am leaning towards Cool Runnings, but does anyone have a strong opinion either way? It seems all these tours go to the same places...

 

Thanks

[BabySis]

We just got back from visiting Barbados on the Serenade of the Seas. We've done Silver Moon and loved it. This time we chose Calabaza Sailing Cruises dot com

 

OMAGOSH!!!! It was fabulous!! Very private with only a few passengers.... maybe 10. Swam with the turtles, great sailing and snorkeling and onboard lunch. Very personal ..... they were the best. I would certainly rank them right up there with Silver Moon.

[aggiemom11]

Anyone been on the Jammin catamaran? How crowded was it? What about Cool Runnings? How does it compare?

Thanks

[Riversedge]

We've done both Cool Runnings and Silver Moon. They were pretty much identical as far as the service and lunch. Both were attentive, in fact we thought Cool Runnings was more so. We are going to go on Cool Runnings again this month. This will be the 4th trip, 2 on Silver Moon and 2 on Cool Runnings. It's a great day.

[aggiemom11]

Cool Runnings said they have a limit of 46 passengers. Silver Moon has a limit of 24. That is a big difference. Are the boats the same size? What about the trip- were there lots of boats at the sites they took you to snorkel?

[ibcnusoon]

Yay!! I'm sooo happy. Of all the islands we are visiting I couldn't decide what the family would enjoy in Barbados, which beach, what tour, etc. I knew most in our family wanted to swim with turtles and the others would enjoy the atmosphere and seeing the turtles and fish from the boat, because we are a family aged 15-81 and we (ok, I) decided to book Calabaza 12-passenger and we're IN!!! I know we are way off, not cruising until Thanksgiving, but we were able to book this tour with Calabaza!

 

It was a toss-up between Silver Moon and Calabaza, both receiving excellent reviews. The deciding factor was that during my search I saw a few posts where people mentioned paying the price of a 12-passenger on Silver Moon and being "bumped" to the 24-passenger, even after paying the higher price of a 12-passenger. I would not want that to happen to me (us) so that's why I decided to book Calabaza.

[MichaelZ]

http://www.barbadoscruiseexcursions.com/BarbadosCatamaran.html

anyone been on this snorkeling trip? it seem like the same tour as the other companies but it's cheaper

 

We went on this tour and had fabulous day on the water, blue skies, nice boat, excellent lunch and the crew were really friendly. We were able to book last minute, which was awesome, and since this is part of the Island Marketing tour company, i had a lot of confindence in having a good experience. We had used Island Marketing before for our mexico / belize / grand cayman cruise. All 3 tours were top notch and we received excellent customer service both last time and this time. From my experience, this is a great tour.

[mom2kandz]

I have to put my two cents in for the Boladour catamaran sail. The day we sailed there were only 9 passengers on board and a wonderful crew of two, Geoff and Michael. They limit the number of passengers to 14 and the catamaran can hold up to 44 (?) It was a wonderful sail....Michael got in the water with fish to attract the turtles. snorkelers from other tours flocked to where we were....tons of turtles. so cool.

 

we went to another spot to snorkel, had a fabulous lunch and thouroughly enjoyed our day.

 

lisa

[grgsgrl]

We just returned from the Victory and did Calabaza , wow what can you say that hasn't been said about Gina and her crew. In 13 cruises best excursion we have ever taken and I never even got off the boat:) I too have some health problems , we were a group of 6 the rest enjoyed snorkeling and most of us were first timers , there are some great pictures in the link under my name. But I had a blast just sitting on the back steps , Chad brought some turtles right over to me. They kept me in rum punch or beer and I had the time of my life. The food was great, Barbados is a gorgeous island.

 

I could not agree more - we have been to Barbados twice now on the Victory and the 2nd time was primarily because of Gina and her crew. My Mom has lots of trouble getting in and out of the boat. They could not have been nicer and more helpful - This is the way to go

[BruceOhio]

:DCalabaza is simply THE BEST! We just got back from our cruise and chartered the Calabaza. What sets it apart from the others? The FOOD, DRINKS, and SERVICE. Simply devine! The crew has to be the most friendliest on the planet.

 

Yes of course you swim with the turtles! But they take your pictures underwater and email the link the next day! So if you don't have an underwater camera you still get the shots!

 

Group is also limited to 12 on a 45ft Cat! so plenty of space to spread out. They pick you up/drop you off at the DOCK so there is no walking anywhere.

[monicajay]

:DCalabaza is simply THE BEST! We just got back from our cruise and chartered the Calabaza. What sets it apart from the others? The FOOD, DRINKS, and SERVICE. Simply devine! The crew has to be the most friendliest on the planet.

 

Yes of course you swim with the turtles! But they take your pictures underwater and email the link the next day! So if you don't have an underwater camera you still get the shots!

 

Group is also limited to 12 on a 45ft Cat! so plenty of space to spread out. They pick you up/drop you off at the DOCK so there is no walking anywhere.

 

Great to hear!

 

I have book this for a group in November. Gina was so quick to respond and every review I have seen was great.

[grangergirl]

We are scheduled to spend the day with Calabaza in June. Very excited after reviewing all the awesome reviews!

[Let'sGo!]

We were on the same tour as BruceOhio... I agree, I think this was the most top notch tour I have ever booked on an island!

 

The crew was incredibly attentive... taking care of your every need. The Calabaza catamaran is large and keeping the group to 12 people is just perfect. The food was perfect, with lots of choices. And the rum punch was about the best I've had in the Caribbean!

 

The captain was pretty picky about snorkeling spots. It pulled up to one area and decided it was too murky, so he moved on to another spot, where the water was crystal clear. A member of the crew got in at all of the snorkle stops to take photos with his underwater camera. Gina emailed them to us the next day! (Aong with some recipes for Bajan favorites and of course - rum punch!)

 

I can not say enough about Calabaza and this tour. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

Ann

[Karysa]

We had an excellent time on Cool Runnings last week. The crew were awesome with us while we snorkeled with the turtles and they seemed to really love the turtles and introduced us to them and told us about each of the turtles and about their personalities. At first I was skeptical but I soon realized that all the crew called the same turtles by their names and had similar tales to tell about the personalities of the turtles.

[luvthetropics]

:DCalabaza is simply THE BEST! We just got back from our cruise and chartered the Calabaza. What sets it apart from the others? The FOOD, DRINKS, and SERVICE. Simply devine! The crew has to be the most friendliest on the planet.

 

Yes of course you swim with the turtles! But they take your pictures underwater and email the link the next day! So if you don't have an underwater camera you still get the shots!

 

Group is also limited to 12 on a 45ft Cat! so plenty of space to spread out. They pick you up/drop you off at the DOCK so there is no walking anywhere.

 

Calabaza is SIMPLY the BEST hands down, we only sail with Gina and her crew. Will be seeing them again in a few days:D