Opinions wanted on St. Thomas tours

[CariBear]

Hi all!

 

I would like to go ahead and pre-book our tour excursion in St. Thomas...as they usually fill up pretty fast. Just trying to get some opinions on a couple of excursions. Your help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!

 

Champagne Catamaran Sailaway to St. John: This might or might not be taken with our 3 year old daughter. My parents are also on the cruise and have volunteered to watch her for part of the day.

 

Full Day Sail to St. John w/Lunch : Our 3 year old would be on this tour with us.

 

Captain Nautica Power Boat : My husband and I went on this tour 4 years ago and loved it! Of course, our 3 year old is too young and would not be going on this excursion.

 

Our 3 year old loves the water and can be happy at the beach for a whole day, but I am just wondering if anyone has seen any little ones on any of these tours.

 

Thanks again for any comments or suggestions!!!

Cari

[Iamthesea]

I would not book a tour with the cruiseline. We have taken our own tours to St. Johns a few times. We prefer to go to Trunk Bay State Park. Good beach and great snorkeling. Good beach for a little one.

 

I am not sure that a 3 year old would be welcome on the tours, especially the Champagne Catamaran Sailaway.

[LARGIN]

Might get more info on the St Thomas Board..

[beachlovergirl]

CariBear- I posted this response about the Full Day Champagne Catamaran tour we did last October.....there were only adults on our tour:

 

Coral - We just did the full day champagne catamaran sailing to St. John on our Oct 16th Caribbean Princess cruise. The catamaran was "Heavenly Days", which is actually owned by the resort, Bologna Bay, so you may want to contact them directly to ask about Erin and the dinghy to the beach. On our excursion, there were just 26 passengers, plus Captain Ron, who has been doing this for 17 years, and 2 crew members. The catamaran was right there at the pier....at 9:15 am our group just walked around the front of the CB to a wooden dock and got on the catamaran. It's barefoot only, so they collect your shoes in a big bag before you get on the catamaran. You can sit anywhere you want....either inside or outside. Once we got out of the harbor, they raise the sails and it's a 2 hour sail over to Honeymoon Beach, Caneel Bay, on St. John. On the way it's unlimited rum punch, minosas, soda, etc. When we got to Honeymoon Beach there was another catamaran just leaving....I guess they have it timed?? The snorkeling was excellent!!!! We even saw a huge sea turtle. If you don't want to snorkel you can swim to the beach (about 100 feet) or they'll take you to the beach in a small motorized boat. Where they anchor the water is at least 15 foot deep, it definitely was not waist deep! I had even asked one of the crew members how far off the beach we anchored and she said about 100 feet. They provide the snorkeling equipment, including vests. They have instruction for first time snorkelers. They also have those noodle things if you just want to float in the water. Honeymoon Beach is very isolated....lots of palm trees....postcard pretty!

 

When you get back on the catamaran there is a fresh water hose to rinse off. A lunch of sliced roast beef, turkey, cheeses, rolls and bread for sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, sliced tomatoes and lettuce, chips, cookies, and unlimited liquor, soda. We were there for about 2 hours before sailing back. The sail back was faster, and we got back to the pier around 3:15. Enough time to do some shopping at the stores right there at Havensight. The tour was $119. per person. We had an excellent day and would highly recommend it. Sorry this was soooo long...

 

We really enjoyed the day and would do this tour again ! :D

 

Dee

[camperhawk]

Best tour we did on the eastern route! http://www.bobusvi.com/index.asp

[OCruisers]

Absolutely agree with "Dee" in the above post with the wonderful description! HEAVENLY DAYS is great!

 

This excursion has been around for quite a while and is worth every penny!

 

The FULL DAY is soooooooooo much better!

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[JUSBRENFL]

Sunny Liston tour is lots of fun and cheap $20.00

[Totally Addicted]

We did the afternoon Champagne Catamaran and it was absolutely wonderful!!! Our favorite excursion on that trip!! There was a young girl on our boat but she was 8 or 9. Might be a little scary with a 3 yr. old. I've forgotten the name of the boat we were on--it was wonderful but I personally wouldn't take a 3 yr. old, but it would be a wonderful!!!trip for mom and dad while grandparents enjoy the little one!! :D

[Hobson's Choice]

Please let us know which tour you have selected, and we will send along some of our more vocal forum participants to provide you with a wide range of opinions on any subject of your choosing. Or have I misunderstood the question?

[mpdahmer]

We also did the catamaran to St. John and had a great time...well woth the money. This is however NOT a trip for young children. I thought that you had to be 18 to sign up for this trip but I could be mistaken as it was 2001 when we did this excursion.

 

Have you thought about Coral World? There is plenty for everyone to do and see.

 

Happy sailing...

 

Mark D.