Confused by the odd excursion schedule

[ccheng6401]

We are taking Reflection to Caribbean in November. Our port time in Tortola is 7am-2:30pm on 11/29.  We are interested in a 3 hour excursion called Destination Highlight: Norman Island Snorkeling. However, the start time is 1:15pm.  That means it ends at 4:15pm.  Will the ship wait for the group to return from the excursion before leaving the port?  Did I misunderstand something? 

 

Anyone attended this excursion before? How do you like it?

 

Thanks

[jelayne]

The ship will not leave until the excursion is back.  More likely the excursion time will be moved up to align with the time in port.

[mullinbc]

On 9/3/2023 at 10:08 PM, ccheng6401 said:

We are taking Reflection to Caribbean in November. Our port time in Tortola is 7am-2:30pm on 11/29.  We are interested in a 3 hour excursion called Destination Highlight: Norman Island Snorkeling. However, the start time is 1:15pm.  That means it ends at 4:15pm.  Will the ship wait for the group to return from the excursion before leaving the port?  Did I misunderstand something? 

 

Anyone attended this excursion before? How do you like it?

 

Thanks

Hi, did you end up going on the Norman Island Snorkeling excursion? How was it? TIA

 

[cruisinsusin]

We did the Norman Island snorkeling excursion in April 2024. There were 2 stops- we thought the caves were just ok- interesting but not much to see fish wise. The other stop was pretty good but you had to snorkel near the rocks for the best fish and coral

[ScottC4746]

I've never snorkeled and the thought of scuba tanks weighing me down panics me.  A friend of mine tried to teach me in his pool and I was freaking out.  Can you do this just on the surface or do you have to have the tanks to go deeper?

[ggo85]

Snorkeling is on the surface.  You can only go deeper if you hold your breath and dive down -- no different than w/o the snorkel, other than you have to blow out the snorkel when you surface.

 

You may be thinking of SNUBA, where you are attached to a "group" oxygen tank and can go down about 15', if memory serves.  You get some of the advantages of scuba (being able to breathe underwater) without the tanks, though you do have a weighted vest so that you submerge.  You can't go as deep and you have to stay in the vicinity of the flotation device holding the air cylinder.

[ScottC4746]

2 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

Snorkeling is on the surface.  You can only go deeper if you hold your breath and dive down -- no different than w/o the snorkel, other than you have to blow out the snorkel when you surface.

 

You may be thinking of SNUBA, where you are attached to a "group" oxygen tank and can go down about 15', if memory serves.  You get some of the advantages of scuba (being able to breathe underwater) without the tanks, though you do have a weighted vest so that you submerge.  You can't go as deep and you have to stay in the vicinity of the flotation device holding the air cylinder.

Yes Scuba that is what I am thinking of.

 

[ccheng6401]

8 hours ago, mullinbc said:

Hi, did you end up going on the Norman Island Snorkeling excursion? How was it? TIA

 

No, we picked another snorkeling excursion but we didn't see many fish. We did see a sea turtle and that's it.

[daybrake]

16 hours ago, cruisinsusin said:

We did the Norman Island snorkeling excursion in April 2024. There were 2 stops- we thought the caves were just ok- interesting but not much to see fish wise. The other stop was pretty good but you had to snorkel near the rocks for the best fish and coral

We are booked on this excursion for our upcoming December cruise on the Apex.  My husband snorkels, but I don't.  Will this excursion be too boring for me to just stay on the catamaran and watch? 

[cruisinsusin]

58 minutes ago, daybrake said:

We are booked on this excursion for our upcoming December cruise on the Apex.  My husband snorkels, but I don't.  Will this excursion be too boring for me to just stay on the catamaran and watch? 

We were in the water about 45 min at each stop so it depends on how much you like to just look at stationary scenery😉. The areas were pretty and the catamaran had enough seats and shade areas. 

[cruisestitch]

7 hours ago, daybrake said:

We are booked on this excursion for our upcoming December cruise on the Apex.  My husband snorkels, but I don't.  Will this excursion be too boring for me to just stay on the catamaran and watch? 

I’m not sure anyone can tell you whether it will be boring or not. Bring a book just in case.😉

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 hour ago, daybrake said:

We are booked on this excursion for our upcoming December cruise on the Apex.  My husband snorkels, but I don't.  Will this excursion be too boring for me to just stay on the catamaran and watch? 

Do you swim? They might allow you just to swim and not snorkel.

 

If you're worried about being bored, is there another excursion you'd be interested in that you could do while your husband does this? My parents (in their 80s, married 54 years) often do separate excursions if one is interested in one thing and the other in another.

[daybrake]

On 5/17/2024 at 9:32 AM, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Do you swim? They might allow you just to swim and not snorkel.

 

If you're worried about being bored, is there another excursion you'd be interested in that you could do while your husband does this? My parents (in their 80s, married 54 years) often do separate excursions if one is interested in one thing and the other in another.

Thank you for your suggestions.  I do believe that I could just swim and not snorkel at the "non-cave" site.  The day we are in this port is New Year's day -- so it does not appear that there are a lot of excursion options for me to go on alone comfortably.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 9/3/2023 at 7:31 PM, jelayne said:

The ship will not leave until the excursion is back.  More likely the excursion time will be moved up to align with the time in port.

 

I know exactly what you mean, in this scenario, the ship won't leave until a scheduled tour returns at its scheduled time.  I'm just pointing out some incredibly rare scenarios in which ships have left ports early due to unexpected fog.  Also, ships can and have left during the scheduled time despite missing a tour that hasn't returned on time.  In the T&Cs, X would take care of accommodations and transportation to get you back on the ship

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 5/16/2024 at 2:24 PM, ScottC4746 said:

Yes Scuba that is what I am thinking of.

 

 

S-N-uba.  Snuba typically uses the same mouthpiece (primary regulator) as scuba diving uses with fins, is restricted to a shallow depth and you will be monitored.  A company called Sea Trek came out with these snuba helmets where you don't don't wear fins and instead, walk.  This is because if the helmets are not kept upright, there's a risk the seal could break