10-day Volendam Southern Carib. Excursions

[DINKS]

I just don't have the energy to research and arrange private excurions for our upcoming cruise in February. I did it for our prior 2 cruises and just don't feel like doing it again this time....especially with the CC restrictions for tour info in threads now. Also, it seems that the HAL prices are not as pricey as compared to our Celebrity and Princess cruises.

 

Would anyone care to review their experiences and any details on the ship-provided excursions...both good and bad?

 

We are considering the following (by Port of call):

 

Aruba - Catamaran Snorkel & Sail Getaway or Jolly Pirates, or Hike & Beach Snorkel Adventure.

 

Curacao - Curacao Beach Express

 

Dominca - Jeep & Swimming at Ti Tou Gorge or Layou River Tubing

 

St Thomas - Mini Boat & Hidden Beaches or Champ. Catamaran Sail/Snorkel

 

Thanks in advance for your time and input. DINKS

[Krazy Kruizers]

Curacao Beach Express - I can't help but wonder if this is the same one we took last March - I can't remember the name of it. We were taken to a beach on a "FUN" bus - a very old school bus decorated with palm fronds, sheels, etc. When we got to the beach, it was very rocky - we were not warned to bring agua socks - in fact about 80% of us didn't have them. Thus it made it very hard to get to the water.

[michmike]

we're not fans of ship board excursions, preferring to do our own, so can't really recommend pro or con. If you look at the Dominica board there are many glowing reports about an independent tour guide named Beno. We have booked him for our 1/22 Volendam cruise. He's charging us $50 a person which is in line w/ what the ship would charge, but there will only be the 4 of us and we can stop where we want, won't be waiting for stragglers and won't risk having someone's whiny kid along. If interested, you can contact him at benox265@hotmail.com

[localady]

We had a lot of fun on the Jolly Pirate sail in Aruba earlier this month!:)

The staff was wonderful and the ship is really amazing. For those that enjoy the rum or poured drinks, those as well as all kind of soft drinks were served. It was a really fun day, the snorkeling sites were great and I also "walked the plank" (Okay maybe it was Swung off the plank, but it was a hoot!) :D I really recommend it for a really lovely day.

[TidePrideGA]

....especially with the CC restrictions for tour info in threads now.

 

What restrictions? What did I miss? I'm very conscious of the rules and I have been raving all over these boards about a couple of the private excursions we took earlier this month - am I committing a no-no?

[the2ofus]

If you enjoy a snorkel excursion you may want to check out the kayak and snorkle excursion offered in Dominica. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[seashell]

i am going in february too.

 

i appreciate the comments so far. I am going to look into Beno for dominica. I was there a few years back and took the ship excursion and had a great guide and driver.

 

In st. thomas i went to St. John's to Trunk Bay to snorkel. it was too wavy for decent snorkeling. nice beach but no time to look at shops near dock. I took an independent taxi driver to Magen's Bay for an afternoon. Nice beach if that's what you're interested in. It wasn't very crowded. no snorkeling there if you want to see fish.

[the2ofus]

On our most recent visit to St. Thomas we had a chance to spend some time at Sapphire Beach. What a beautiful place, much more so than Coki Beach. I don't know how the snorkeling is. I think the water gets deeper faster than at Coki Beach.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'll be interested in any responses here, too. We're taking this cruise next November and it's never too early to plan!!!:D

 

Dinks, one of the the things I really recommend in St. Thomas is getting over to St. John if you can. That is the most magnificent island!

 

Aruba, depending on what you're looking for, is a wonderful place to just have a beach day. Just have a cab take you over to Bucuti Beach Resort area ... the most magnificent beach I've ever seen: Bucuti.com : Home. It's on Eagle Beach, not far from Palm Beach but less crowded. We absolutely loved it. There's a restaurant at the resort called Pirate's Nest right on the beach. If you give the guy about $5 per chair, they'll let you use the beach. They have wonderful thatch roof umbrellas that provide plenty of shade. Just don't tell anyone about it because it's my secret place;)

[Randyk47]

We're on the Volendam for the 21 February sailing and just finished booking our excursions. Maybe it's the islands we're stopping at or just that we've taken a few....enough?....excursions that we weren't particularly impressed with or interested in the selection this time. We did book a cabana for Half Moon Cay and the Ticket to Paradise tour in Aruba. That's about it for this cruise for us.

 

Not aware of any prohibition about talking about tours, ship provided or private, on CC. Could be and I missed it but I'd be surprised and a bit disappointed as this site is a great place to share experiences, including tours, and doesn't seem to be in violation of the no-TA talk rule. :confused:

[DINKS]

Thank you for the responses. Please keep them coming....

I misinterpreted the posting restrictions about private tours....so never mind about that statement.

Dinks

[gizmo]

What restrictions? What did I miss? I'm very conscious of the rules and I have been raving all over these boards about a couple of the private excursions we took earlier this month - am I committing a no-no?

 

No you are not committing a NO-NO. I think the first link may be what was referred to.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/announcement.php?f=198&a=26

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/announcement.php?f=198&a=23

[Stevesan]

We had a lot of fun on the Jolly Pirate sail in Aruba earlier this month!:)

The staff was wonderful and the ship is really amazing. For those that enjoy the rum or poured drinks, those as well as all kind of soft drinks were served. It was a really fun day, the snorkeling sites were great and I also "walked the plank" (Okay maybe it was Swung off the plank, but it was a hoot!) :D I really recommend it for a really lovely day.

 

What she said about Jolly Pirates (Hi, Localady:) ).

 

Despite their name, this is not just a party boat, but has an excellent staff and includes two excellent snorkel stops. The first is near town, just off the coast adjacent to an old pier. Lots of fish (huge Parrot Fish) and some coral. The second, over the shipwreck Antilla yields literally thousands of fish of every variety. I've never seen so many fish in one place. It's truly astounding!!

 

Here's Jolly Pirates web site:

 

http://www.jollypirates.com/tours.htm

[robstrash]

i am going in february too.

 

i appreciate the comments so far. I am going to look into Beno for dominica. I was there a few years back and took the ship excursion and had a great guide and driver.

 

In st. thomas i went to St. John's to Trunk Bay to snorkel. it was too wavy for decent snorkeling. nice beach but no time to look at shops near dock. I took an independent taxi driver to Magen's Bay for an afternoon. Nice beach if that's what you're interested in. It wasn't very crowded. no snorkeling there if you want to see fish.

 

We tried St. John a few years ago and after spending some time to get there, found out there was a warning due to waves. Then found out that since it's a US Park, there is a # you could have called and get information on the current wave status. I don't know the # but I am sure you can look it up on the internet and should have US cell phone in port.