Full Day Catamaran Sail & Snorkel To St. John With Lunch?

[Nacwolin]

Has anyone been on the "Full Day Catamaran Sail & Snorkel To St. John With Lunch" excursion (through Princess)?

 

This is our first cruise, so I am hesitant to book any excursions outside of Princess (though not opposed if it is a trustworthy group/business). I wanted to snorkel on Grand Turk, but it looks like there will be Carnival ship in port the same day, which I think might make the place a bit too crowded.

 

Thanks for any and all input.

[rdsqrl]

Great excursion, had a fabulous time, I highly recommend it! The half-day excursion doesn't spend nearly enough time at the beach, so the full day is definitely a better option. Doing St. John on your own has always been too problematic for me, with having to worry about traffic, the ferry schedule, etc. So this excursion was the perfect solution. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[Seal]

I presume you mean St Thomas to St. John--one of the best I've ever been on--is the boat Heavenly Daze

 

I had surgery on my leg just a few days before we went--not to get it wet--I was happy on the boat but they carried me onto the beach (the crew)

 

we've been on other Princess cruises there and haven't been able to take the excursion because some other line or whatever had them booked--In desperation we took the 1/2 day excursion--not worth leaving the boat for !!!!

 

Great crew/food/and booze/music--sign up now !!!!You won't be sorry !!!!!

 

 

Safe Travels

 

Nancy:D

[Colo Cruiser]

We tried on 3 different cruises and it was canceled each time. :rolleyes:

 

Maybe one day..

[criuisingurl079]

We have done this twice, and LOVED it! The crew is great, and make it a great day on the water. Just make sure your group can handle sailing, many people on our trip got sick, and it makes for a long tourtured ride if you get sick! :eek:

The only thing that sucked was the gentleman allowed to smoke on the small catamaran, and everyone was breathing it b'c of the small area, and he smoked the entire time. Some people :mad: just have to ruin paradise!

[FishOn55]

Has anyone been on the "Full Day Catamaran Sail & Snorkel To St. John With Lunch" excursion (through Princess)?

 

This is our first cruise, so I am hesitant to book any excursions outside of Princess (though not opposed if it is a trustworthy group/business). I wanted to snorkel on Grand Turk, but it looks like there will be Carnival ship in port the same day, which I think might make the place a bit too crowded.

 

Thanks for any and all input.

 

I too am interested in this excursion that Princess offers when I am in St. Thomas on the Emerald in November. Look closely at the information about the tour on the Princess website. When I recently read it, the tour description offered snorkeling sites that were definitely NOT in the St. John area. I don't know if someone at Princess made a mistake and entered the wrong information on the website for that tour but I'm not going to book it until it's corrected or I speak with someone at Princess directly first.

 

Where were you thinking of snorkeling on Grand Turk?

 

Kathy

[nightworker]

We just came back from St Thomas and did that trip from the Caribbean Princess. The crew on the sailboat were great can't say enough good things about them. The only downside is that many people got sea sick. I assume that this happens alot because they had a talk about it as soon as we left saying if you don't feel well let them know a that have certain remedies for it such as ginger ale and ginger also to stay outside. I have been on many many cruises and never got sick but that day I can't say I enjoyed seeing many people get sick all around me. The beach is nice and very pretty. Coming back was fine because they are going with the currents.

[Toto2Kansas]

We've done the full day cat with lunch over to St. Johns many times, loved it each time. But just a warning since this is your first cruise, it can get quite rough on the sail over and back. We have seen many a passengers spend the entire day with their heads in a bucket or hanging over the side, which can make for a very long day. But if you are sure you don't get seasick, or you can take medication to prevent it, then go for it. It is a lovely excursion if you enjoy the waves and the water.

[vmom]

WE loved this excursion. The ladies in our group all took a Bonine with breakfast that morning, they guys were both fine without anything, so none of us felt the least bit quesy.

 

The snorkeling was not very good at Honeymoon beach where we went. The beach was great and we had a great time swimming and on the beach but my husband was disappointed in the lack of fish.

 

I think that was the reason for the slight change. We were on this excursion in December 2007. I noticed that now they make a snorkel stop. Its likely due to not having good snorkeling at the beach they go to.

 

I would highly recommend this excursion. I also think the full day is better than the 1/2 day since you board the catamaran right by the dock that Princess docks at, where as the 1/2 day excursion takes you on a bus to get to the catamaran.

[julia]

We've done the full day sail on a private tour and loved it....(here's the link to my review of it, see page two) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=614318

 

The full day excursion is by far the best choice, as it takes quite a while to get to your preferred snorkeling destination(s), and you don't want to be rushed once there. A private tour will only have 6-8 people and that really appealed to us.

 

Good luck!

[eagletwo]

Heavenly Daze was great. I am not a sailer. Rolling seas can make me ill. My wife on the other hand likes 7-12 foot seas. I took the sea sick pills at breakfast, did not have anything greasy or with a lot of acid and was fine. Even had a few glasses of Rum Punch on the return. The crew was great, food was cold cuts, chips and cookies. Open bar from the time we departed until we returned. Water was beautiful. I would book this trip again in a minute.

 

Was surprised when we boarded to find out this was a "bare boat charter". What this means is you surrender your shoes to the crew upon getting on the boat. You are barefoot the entire time. I guess it keeps people from marking up the boat with their dirty shoes. Not a problem, unless you don't like to go without shoes.

 

The trip out to St. John was great. Seas running 2-4 feet. Enough to move the boat up and down at times but really not bad. Captain said an average day. The trip back was even better. We had a real trooper on board this trip. A young lady who was pregnant was fine going to St. John. After a long day in the sun, swimming for two hours and the start back to St. Thomas, she finally got sick. The crew gave her ginger mixed with water and plenty of ginger ale. About an hour on the return home, she finally lost it. After a few times of "bucket duty", she was OK. Biggest smile I have ever seen on a face when she got off the boat.

 

One thing to keep in mind and our Captain reminded us every hour, use plenty of sunscreen. Even the Captain re-applied sun screen every 45 minutes. He has been on the same boat for 20 years. The wonderful breeze while sailing hides the harmful effect of the sun. My wife and I really covered each other with sunscreen before we got on the boat and during the trip. Did not notice the areas we missed until later back on the ship. The shower that night was very interesting. Hope you will enjoy this excursion, we thought is was well worth the $$.