Catamaran through Island Marketing Ltd. ?

[Carolina5o]

We will be in port on 3/20/17 on the Carnival Fascination. I'm trying to decide between a DIY to St John or a Catamaran excursion. All through Carnival are too short for us. I found an option through Island Marketing Ltd. that is 7 hours. My only concern is being able to get back to the ship. The excursion ends at 4 and we leave at 5. The website says to allow 30 minutes for travel. Has anyone booked an excursion through this company or have any knowledge about them? All feedback welcome.

 

www.stthomascruiseexcursions.com/CatamaranSailing.htm

[Kamloops50]

We will be in port on 3/20/17 on the Carnival Fascination. I'm trying to decide between a DIY to St John or a Catamaran excursion. All through Carnival are too short for us. I found an option through Island Marketing Ltd. that is 7 hours. My only concern is being able to get back to the ship. The excursion ends at 4 and we leave at 5. The website says to allow 30 minutes for travel. Has anyone booked an excursion through this company or have any knowledge about them? All feedback welcome.

 

www.stthomascruiseexcursions.com/CatamaranSailing.htm

 

The ending time doesn't give much room for a problem occurring that delays you.

[sunny2runner]

We will be in port on 3/20/17 on the Carnival Fascination. I'm trying to decide between a DIY to St John or a Catamaran excursion. All through Carnival are too short for us. I found an option through Island Marketing Ltd. that is 7 hours. My only concern is being able to get back to the ship. The excursion ends at 4 and we leave at 5. The website says to allow 30 minutes for travel. Has anyone booked an excursion through this company or have any knowledge about them? All feedback welcome.

 

www.stthomascruiseexcursions.com/CatamaranSailing.htm

 

We are also looking at booking this excursion for our April cruise on Royal Princess for the same reasons. We want a longer than 3 hr snorkel and sail. We have done one that we only had 1 hr of snorkeling and it went so quick. We want to be able to be out there longer.

[msweezie]

I am trying to find the times located on that link you put above, considering a half day in April. Why can't I find the times anywhere? Do you see them?

[Carolina5o]

Just wanted to take time to report back on this excursion. It turned out to be one of the best catamaran tours we have ever taken. Once you book it will confirm your meeting spot at Sugar Bay resort just passed Red Hook. We grabbed an open air taxi with other cruise passengers and it took about 20 minutes to get there. The excursion leaves from the beach area at Sugar Bay so if you get dropped off at the resort entrance they will shuttle you down to the pool/beach area. You will meet the staff at a white gazebo right on the beach.

 

The catamaran wasn't large but, there were only 20 or so people on board. The crew of Captain Andrew and Damon were great. They were very friendly and provided impeccable service. The first stop was for snorkeling at Lavonga which was very beautiful with many coral heads and plenty of fish, even large tarpon.

 

The next stop was at absolutely beautiful Maho Beach at St. John for more snorkeling and swimming with turtles. Andrew will even boat you into the beach if you desire. Then it was on to Honeymoon Beach for more beach time. This was my favorite stop as it had to be one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever been to. The sail back crossed from the Caribbean to the Atlantic where we passed magnificent rock formations. Andrew provided tons of great information and history about the surrounding islands during the entire tour. He already knew we were on a time crunch as I contacted the company to inquire about times and made sure we were back to Sugar Bay by 4:00. He also made sure we were first off the boat.

 

(MSWEEZIE, I can't find the times on the page now either. If I remember correctly I emailed the company and asked about the tour for the day we were in port and the times were provided then.)

 

After returning to Sugar Bay we encountered a staff member that was more than helpful in calling us a taxi. We were concerned about the traffic issues that many have talked about but, it only took about 20 minutes to get back to the pier where we were dropped off right next to the gate. Taxi fair was $10 each way a piece. We even had time to go into a couple of shops for souvenirs before getting back on the ship.

 

(Sunny2, if you haven't book another excursion I would definitely consider this one. Aside from being a little apprehensive about the time this was an amazing day for us.)