Ship's Beach and Sailing Excursions on St. Thomas or St. Martin

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

Looking for ship's excursions on Celebrity Summit in St. Thomas and St. Martin. I'm wanting to stay with ship's excursions since roads aren't completely reliable yet, and I'm afraid of being delayed in getting back to the ship. Has anyone done the St. John Half Day Champagne Cat Sail Beach and Snorkel?

What other sailing or beach excursions has anybody done?

Thank you so much for any feedback about any of the excursions!

[chill6x6]

Looking for ship's excursions on Celebrity Summit in St. Thomas and St. Martin. I'm wanting to stay with ship's excursions since roads aren't completely reliable yet, and I'm afraid of being delayed in getting back to the ship. Has anyone done the St. John Half Day Champagne Cat Sail Beach and Snorkel?

What other sailing or beach excursions has anybody done?

Thank you so much for any feedback about any of the excursions!

 

We did this very excursion the last week in March 2018. I'll give the excursion about a 6.5 to 7. When I purchased the excursion I assumed the catamaran came to Crown Bay where we were docked. Not so... We went to the marina to board....LONG ride in one of the open air buses. Took FOREVER for the buses to organize to get us there. Late leaving lead to getting back just in time. The excursion itself....catamaran was nice....staff was nice. I wonder if we were actually on St John soil more than 30-45 minutes....probably thirty minutes. WAY too short of a time. Actually we thought they were kidding when they said time to come back to the cat. I wouldn't recommend it or do it again which doesn't happen much. I was also disappointed that Celebrity didn't offer a way to rate or review an excursion because I would have written one. My advice? Look for a different excursion!

 

St Maarten....Joyce Hanley Tours is a slam dunk! Love Joyce!

Edited May 30, 2018 by chill6x6
Added info.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

We did this very excursion the last week in March 2018. I'll give the excursion about a 6.5 to 7. When I purchased the excursion I assumed the catamaran came to Crown Bay where we were docked. Not so... We went to the marina to board....LONG ride in one of the open air buses. Took FOREVER for the buses to organize to get us there. Late leaving lead to getting back just in time. The excursion itself....catamaran was nice....staff was nice. I wonder if we were actually on St John soil more than 30-45 minutes....probably thirty minutes. WAY too short of a time. Actually we thought they were kidding when they said time to come back to the cat. I wouldn't recommend it or do it again which doesn't happen much. I was also disappointed that Celebrity didn't offer a way to rate or review an excursion because I would have written one. My advice? Look for a different excursion!

 

St Maarten....Joyce Hanley Tours is a slam dunk! Love Joyce!

 

Thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of thing I was afraid of. I hope you will send an email to Celebrity telling them where they fell short. I appreciate your taking the time to warn me!!

[STIguy]

Damn, just booked the catamaran excursion last week. Maybe the concierge will be able to exchange it on the ship.

[Jamjam44]

Also disappointed to hear that. I will probably cancel as well. Thanks for the advice!

 

 

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[Aunt Tina]

We booked a private boat and captain from a marina in Red Hook a year ago with two other couples from our roll call. They arranged for a van to pick us up as we docked and we were on the water by 9:30 am. We snorkeled and swam with the turtles in two locations including Caneel Bay, then went for lunch at the resort there. We spent time enjoying Trunk Bay too. We headed back to Red Hook at 3pm and were back on the ship in plenty of time. It was a little more expensive than the ship's tour because we limited the group to 6 on a twelve person boat. But we spent 5 hours enjoying St. John. I will check to see if I can find the name of the company renting the boat and captain. You might also want to check on the St. Thomas Board.

 

If Bob Cass is operating his boats in St. Maarten I highly recommend that tour.

[chill6x6]

Damn, just booked the catamaran excursion last week. Maybe the concierge will be able to exchange it on the ship.

 

Also disappointed to hear that. I will probably cancel as well. Thanks for the advice!

 

 

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Yeah I hate it. I believe the excursion time BEGINS when you get on the bus. It's been a long time since I have had a cruise line excursion. I have a LOT of excursions under my belt. This one see very "price conscious" if you know what I mean. WAY below some of the private excursions I've been on.

 

Original plan was to get an excursion out of Red Hook, take a taxi over there. Once I found out we were docking at Crown Bay and not Havensight, I dropped that idea knowing it would take longer to and from Crown Bay. So....CHECK and see which dock you are going to. When I was on the Summit we docked at Havensight. If docking at Havensight you can probably work out something and do something from Red Hook.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

Has anybody had a good experience with any of the Celebrity excursions from St Martin or St Thomas?

[BlueLobster]

We had a nice snorkeling trip to Honeymoon Bay on a catamaran years ago. Not sure if they still do that one.

[Oville]

We booked a private boat and captain from a marina in Red Hook a year ago with two other couples from our roll call. They arranged for a van to pick us up as we docked and we were on the water by 9:30 am. We snorkeled and swam with the turtles in two locations including Caneel Bay, then went for lunch at the resort there. We spent time enjoying Trunk Bay too. We headed back to Red Hook at 3pm and were back on the ship in plenty of time. It was a little more expensive than the ship's tour because we limited the group to 6 on a twelve person boat. But we spent 5 hours enjoying St. John. I will check to see if I can find the name of the company renting the boat and captain. You might also want to check on the St. Thomas Board.

 

If Bob Cass is operating his boats in St. Maarten I highly recommend that tour.

 

But of course this was a year ago and so much has changed.

[cruisin lady ca]

Has anybody had a good experience with any of the Celebrity excursions from St Martin or St Thomas?

 

While on Equinox in 2015, we took a Celebrity excursion in St Thomas that took us to St John. Before disembarking, we were given a tour of St John from the water. Once docked and off the boat, we took a cab to Trunk Bay and enjoyed spending the quiet and natural beach area. There were no chair rentals, no people selling goods on the beach and only a small number of folks strolling the beach, snorkeling and relaxing on towels on the sand. It remains, in our minds, one of the most beautiful beaches we've visited while on a Caribbean cruise.

 

There was only one snack bar at which food could be purchased. You will want to bring water with you since there are no bars either.

 

Bear in mind, the boat ride over to St John (in March) was quite rough, and a number of people were seasick. So, if you have that tendency, you will want to take/do something to prevent a bad start to a beautiful day.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

While on Equinox in 2015' date=' we took a Celebrity excursion in St Thomas that took us to St John. Before disembarking, we were given a tour of St John from the water. Once docked and off the boat, we took a cab to Trunk Bay and enjoyed spending the quiet and natural beach area. There were no chair rentals, no people selling goods on the beach and only a small number of folks strolling the beach, snorkeling and relaxing on towels on the sand. It remains, in our minds, one of the most beautiful beaches we've visited while on a Caribbean cruise.

 

There was only one snack bar at which food could be purchased. You will want to bring water with you since there are no bars either.

 

Bear in mind, the boat ride over to St John (in March) was quite rough, and a number of people were seasick. So, if you have that tendency, you will want to take/do something to prevent a bad start to a beautiful day.[/quote']

Thank you!!

[39august]

I believe all RCI and Celebrity ships now dock at Crown Bay, as RCI signed a 10 year contract with Crown Bay about a couple of years ago.

[STIguy]

Just did the catamaran tour today. As seen elsewhere where people complained about the long van ride. I can confirm that and I can also accuse the excursion staff of being deceptive when asked. I purposely inquired about the van ride and was ASSURED that the catamaran would pick up at the pier. That was completely NOT the case. A 35 minute open air jitney to the cat. No verbal guided tour. 40 minutes + back. The driver got pulled over for running a red light.

I don’t mind because the cat and snorkeling were terrific. But the description was false by omission and the excursion staffer was a blatant liar.

Lie to me once and I will eviserate you.

[hcat]

Why not look for a beach excursion from Crown Bay if that's where the ships now dock. We docked there once and disliked it..It was just being developed, not much for shops. We.went back by cab to the main town area and the cabbies drove very fast and wild! If we went again we would do something nearby the dock...avoids any road condition issues by staying close. Probably more shops at Crown Bay now????

 

. We were lucky a few yrs ago. Took a ship's excursion on pvt ferry to St John which was berthed steps from the cruise ship.( water was a bit rough going over) ...We had a short scenic tram tour and time to snorkel at Trunk Bay...never enough time there,... so beautiful! Too bad they no longer dock at Havensight...great shops, eateries and easy access to main town, etc,,

 

Due to conditions on St Maarten, we signed up for a ships excursion to a beach and bar over toward the airport side of the Island..It was the best we could find.,,our plans visit the French fishing village of Grand Case were a no go...most places damaged or destroyed!

Edited July 10, 2018 by hcat

[sdnich]

We booked a private boat and captain from a marina in Red Hook a year ago with two other couples from our roll call. They arranged for a van to pick us up as we docked and we were on the water by 9:30 am. We snorkeled and swam with the turtles in two locations including Caneel Bay, then went for lunch at the resort there. We spent time enjoying Trunk Bay too. We headed back to Red Hook at 3pm and were back on the ship in plenty of time. It was a little more expensive than the ship's tour because we limited the group to 6 on a twelve person boat. But we spent 5 hours enjoying St. John. I will check to see if I can find the name of the company renting the boat and captain. You might also want to check on the St. Thomas Board.

 

 

 

If Bob Cass is operating his boats in St. Maarten I highly recommend that tour.

 

 

 

I was also looking at the catamaran excursion for next year if you were able to find the name of the company with the private boat I would really appreciate that info hopefully they’re still around

 

 

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[GottaKnowWhen]

We did the St John’s beach & snorkel a few years ago while on a Royal Caribbean raise. A good trip, leaving aside the fact that the marina where the cat is docked is way over there... Last December from the Summit we took the shuttle into town. There was a guy offering a scenic drive at noon, we signed up, wandered the shops, then did the ride in the open air bus. Very good views from some of the stops up on the ridge line. On St Marteen we’ve always done our own thing on foot or with local transport. Except for the very good very pricey Chef’s taste of St Marteen in Feb 2017. Don’t know if that is still on offer.

[Duanerice1]

Has anybody had a good experience with any of the Celebrity excursions from St Martin or St Thomas?

 

We did a St John on your own tour. This is the only cruise line tour we have ever taken in about 15 cruises. Couple of reasons.

 

First, we had OBC to kill and second it was the easiest way to get over to St John from Crown Bay. Basically it was just a boat ride to the island then a pick up at 3pm I think it was. Even then it seemed to take forever because we had to get everyone together then the boat stopped in Havensight to pick up RCCL passengers (same on the way back). So we probably wasted about an hour just because it was a cruise line excursion.

 

But once on St John it was great as we were on our own. Water is fantastic, I'd go again but it's such a pain waiting for everyone to get ready and get on the boat. Ugh!

 

Have fun

[hvbaskey]

I realize you want to take the Celebrity Excursions, as you are thinking about road safety, but I can say that the $10 shared taxi bus to Magen’s Bay was perfectly fine and running on a continuous basis, my blog review is here:

 

Magen’s Bay - St. Thomas, DIY

 

In St. Maarten - you can take the ferry over to a gorgeous beach in Philipsburg. You will have to scroll past our birding/nature tour, but towards the end, you will find info on the ferry (cheap and easy) and photos of the gorgeous beach with umbrellas

 

St. Maarten

 

Heather

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

Thank you all for the great feedback! We are booked for a sailing excursion with Captain Max in St. Thomas, and are going to take the water taxi to Phillipsburg in St. Martin!