castaway girl barefoot sail & snorkel

[decruzer]

We will be sailing in January on the NCL Dawn and we can't decide on what excursion to do, the champagne catamaran sail & snorkel or the castaway girl barefoot sail & snorkel. Can anybody give me some insight to either one of these? We will also have our children along, ages 10 and 13. Also, where does NCL dock when in St. Thomas?

 

 

THANKS!

[simplelife]

We have the same question. Anyone?

[RosiePosie1013]

We were in St. Thomas Nov. 2007 and did the Castaway Girl Catamaran/Snorkel with our two sons, ages 11 and 13. Weather was a bit overcast - not their fault! - but enjoyed Castaway Girl. The crew were alot of fun and made for a very enjoyable excursion.

[JerseyGuys]

Just back from two cruises to St. Thomas on Princess. We did the Castaway Girl cruise and snorkel and had a great time. The weather was beautiful, the catamaran well maintained and the crew young and very helpful. The crew did a guided snorkling tour if you wanted or you could go off on your own. It was a beautiful day and well worth the money.

[OSU6]

We are back from a 12/20-12/27/08 cruise on NCL's Dawn, and the sail & snorkel on Castaway Girl was our favorite excursion by far. We've done catamaran/sailing excursions before, but the crew on this one really made it enjoyable. We had our kids, ages 20, 18, 15, and 11 with us. The crew knows Buck Island well, provided some history about it as well as the nearby shipwreck, and were absolutely hilarious, especially Matty (sp.). The weather was gorgeous, and the snorkeling was lots of fun, too. I highly recommend it.

[LivingLifetotheFullest]

Would there be time to go to Coral World following the Castaway Girl sail?

We'll be sailing NCL Dawn in March.

 

thanks

[juniorsmom]

DH and DS did the Castaway girl snorkling tour and LOVED it. They were sooo impressed with them.

[morecruise4me]

We did the Castaway Girl catamaran snorkel last year in April. It was quite an adventure! The seas were high and it was definitely a roller coaster ride to the island. The crew is young, friendly, and attentive but we did not get a guided tour at the island. There didn't seem to be much to see in the way of fish, etc. Maybe because it was so windy and the seas were rough. The ride back was much smoother with the wind at our backs. The rum punch flowed freely on the ride back. I think we had a lot of spring breakers on our tour.

[keiko618]

Is castaway barefoot the same as castaway girl excursion? I'm curious about the snorkeling, how deep is the water, coral, fish, things to see, any beach time? How long snorkeling? Thanks for any help.

[island guy]

I went on the Castaway Girl and it was the best excursion I have ever been on. The Crew were very energetic and made it a great time for all. We had a guided snorkel tour where the guide picked up and showed us the marine life. We also got to snorkel a shipwreck with tons of fish before sailing back with unlimited rum punch flowing. I would recommend them to anyone.

[1cruiselvr]

How many people does this catamaran hold? I'm considering doing it as a shore excursion that HAL offers but I prefer 10-12 people, not 50 plus. Happy Sailing!

[island guy]

The Castaway Girl Catamaran is 65 ft and i think it holds around 50 people or so. There is a lot of room to walk about even when the boat is full though. I saw some of the boats that only take 6 people, but they are small and it doesn't look very comfortable even with less people. Another thing to consider is that the catamaran has a large seating area with shade. Smaller boats do not and it is nice to get out of the sun sometimes or out of the rain.

[Sandyrella]

How far out do they anchor for snorkeling? I'm a strong swimmer but a little squeamish in deep water (Jaws traumatized me as a pre-teen!). I know, an odd choice for an excursion for me but I've always wanted to do a catamaran excursion. This one gets better reviews than the 1/2 Champagne sail to St. John.

 

Is there any beach time or just snorkeling?

[reallyitsmema]

How many people does this catamaran hold? I'm considering doing it as a shore excursion that HAL offers but I prefer 10-12 people, not 50 plus. Happy Sailing!

We did this excursion off the Mariner two years ago and wouldn't do it again because they crowded so many people onboard. I counted 75 people not including the crew. I don't know if HAL will book that many but RCI sure did.

 

The guided snorkelling was only one person with 75 people following them while swimming over other people. She dove for a few things but was more interested in a couple young guys than anything else. Many people just broke off and did their own thing.

 

The ride back was nice and yes, there was plenty of rum punch for all, including the captain.:rolleyes:

[tocruzagain]

We did the Castaway Girl sunset champagne sail back in 2006 and we had a wonderful time. The crew were a lot of fun and yes, the rum punch was flowing freely. It was about a two hour sail out towards the water islands in Charlotte Amalie Harbor and the sunset was beautiful. It was one of our favorite excursions. This past time to St. Thomas we switched and did a smaller private sail and snorkel trip. We snorkeled in Leinster Bay off of St. John and then headed over to Jost Van Dyke for an afternoon at White Bay at the Soggy Dollar Bar and swimming. It doesn't get much better than that!!! I think we may have found Paradise!!

[nybumpkin]

We went on Castaway Girl in February. This is not the excursion for you if you're looking for an intimate snorkeling experience - there were probably 60 people on our excursion. However, we had an absolutely wonderful time and would book this excursion again in a heartbeat.

 

When we boarded, we were asked to stay in the cockpit area until the crew could brief us on our itinerary and safety procedures. After that, pax were free to stay in the cockpit or move up toward the bow where there was lots of seating space. The crew was a lot of fun, but they really were very professional and well trained in sailing the catamaran. Once we reached Buck Island, pax were divided into two groups for snorkeling, each group led along the snorkel trail by a guide. I didn't snorkel, but DH and our sons enjoyed the snorkel trail although there weren't many fish to be seen on our day. Once back aboard, the crew broke out the rum punch (there was also fruit punch, water and soda along with munchies) and let passengers help with the sails.

 

I have photos from our sail posted starting at http://travel.webshots.com/album/570432541qGWcoi?start=60.

[jiggaly]

Do they provide snokel equipment or do you bring your own?

[reallyitsmema]

They did provide snorkel equipment but we brought our own except for dive vests which we borrowed from them. I, personally, can not use a snorkel that someone else has used, yuck! They did have them in a bucket of "sanitizing" solution but it didn't look very clean.

 

If you have your own mask and snorkel, I would bring them. You can always borrow fins and a vest.

[KENLORJUS]

I don't see a website for Castaway Girl. Is there one? If yes can someone share it? If no, does someone have contact info?

 

Thanks in advance.

[1cruiselvr]

I don't know if they have their own website. It's the excursion usually offered by the cruiseline. Happy Sailing!

[island guy]

Castaway Girls website is http://www.cruiseshipexcursions.net

[island guy]

Castaway Girls website is

 

http://www.CruiseShipExcursions.net

[MamaParrotHead]

Can someone fill me in as to how much this excursions runs pp (any kids' rates?)? Thanks!

[island guy]

I think it is around $55 pp and kids are about $10 cheaper. It also depends on which cruise line your on. I would check their website.

[MamaParrotHead]

I did go, and couldn't find any rate information. I'll look again...