Eastern Excursion Experiences...links added.

[DMoss3377]

Hi all,

I was a little suprised that a thread had not been devoted to excursions so that us newbies could do some research before booking. I am hoping some of you would be so kind as to share your excursion experiences to help me, and others make a better informed decision on excursions provided through DCL.

I'll start off with some specific excursions. The following are the excursions my group(all adults/ages 24 - 26, celebrating wedding anniversaries) is interested in, so any info would be greatly appreciated.

St. Maarten

Golden Eagle Catamaran
French Riviera Beach Rendezvous
St. Maarten Island and Butterfly Farm Tour


St. Thomas/St. John

St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel Tour
St. Thomas Sapphire Beach Day
5-Star St. John Snorkel and Beach Adventure
Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel
Wild Thing Beach and Snorkel Excursion


Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I added a post with some links on page 2 for other threads that apply.

 

[macbasset]

Hi, we have done eastern cruise twice; once in summer and once in winter over new years. we did the trunk bay beach and snorkel both times; it was our main reason for repeating that cruise! one of the worlds most beautiful beaches! underwater national park with markers to point out fish, etc. unfortunately in the winter, the seas were too rough, so we went by, but had to go elsewhere to snorkel and swim. we also did the golden eagle catamarran and it was fabulous! beautiful boat, playing rock music as they sail, anchors off the beach and big staircase down into water. snorkeling equipment provided on both excursions. they served submarine type sandwiches and i think it may have been an open bar on that excursion. it was a lot of fun-- would definitely do it again! Barb

 

[DMoss3377]

Thanks Barb,

My DH and I did a catamaran snorkel adventure on the Wonder last October and loved it, so we're definitly interested in doing a snorkel excursion this time. There are just so many choices on the Eastern cruise.

I'll definitly keep you're recommendations in mind.



Hope to hear more about the other excursions too!

 

[DMoss3377]

bump...

 

[AnnMorin]

we did the five star st. John trunk bay snorkle and it was GREAT! I thought it could not be topped until we did captain marvins in grand cayman the next year. In all likelyhood we will be doing the 5 star again this December. As for St. Martin the golden eagle gets high marks. We are doing the dolphins in Anguilla this year.

 

[jkovick]

I am interested in these excursions too!! *Bump*

 

[DMoss3377]

Thanks for the bump...still hoping to get some info on the other excursions.

 

[4myguys]

We did the butterfly farm tour and my kids were somewhat bored. It is very informative though. Next time we'll do water excursion. Highly recommend any tour on St. John (beautiful!!!).
The French Riviera tour sounded nice but we have two kids and I didn't want them to get an eyeful.

 

[bahama97]

My dh & dd12 did the Golden Eagle Catamaran at St. Marten & LOVED it. Both said they would do it again.

 

[slmjam]

We did the catamaran at St. Marten and had a great time. Our kids (DD 12 and DS 7) sat up front on the netting and were soaked before we even made it to our snorkel spot. There was an open bar and sub sandwiches on the way back, very festive atmosphere, and we were all singing YMCA as we ended the trip. We would definitely do this one again. We also went on the 5 Star at St. John; the snorkeling was incredible! It's a good thing you go to St. John after St. Marten; otherwise you would be disappointed with the snorkeling on St. Marten. St. John is absolutely beautiful; you will love it!!

 

[DMoss3377]

bump...keep them coming

 

[DMoss3377]

bump.

 

[jrabbit]

We heard that St. Maarten gets a lot of wind and that cuts down on the snorkeling because of underwater visability going down to not much. We had a couple of snorkeling excursions cancelled out from under us because of visability problems. We went to Orient Beach on our own. It's a lot less expensive than Disney's excursion there - especialy if you can fill a cab with people to share the fare there and back. Ask to be dropped off on the section of the beach that meets your desires - from the nude, to the topless to the appropriatly attired. Granted if you are on the "family" beach you are likely to see some women topless and some people in the nude. Remember, for the most part it is NOT Playboy. Your children will not be scared for life, your teenage boys will not get overly "excited" because there really is not a lot to see (most of the nudity has been out in the sun for a long time and looks like cracked leather or old wall pannelinig, and that that hasn't is usually very sunburned - a good object lesson in sun screen)..

If snorkeling is not your primary goal,the Golden Eagle Catamaran sounds like a great excursion - you make get some snorkeling in, have fun sailing, have a beach party, and when you return to the harbor your goal is to make everyone else wish they were on your excursion.


St Thomas - Barefoot Catamaran Snorkel and Sail - a good fun sail trip to a reef in St Johns with some pretty good snorkeling. The boat was made by a family and they crew is friendly.

 

[clarabelle]

Hi- here is my trip report from April- There are things about the butterfly farm and the Sapphire beach outing down at the bottom (It is a long report)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=357048

 

[Favorite Auntie]

I did the St John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel Tour. We tried to get the 5 Star snorkel trip, but it filled up. I was disappointed in the tour we took. They basically took you on a boat ride to St John (about 45 minutes), then a quick bus to Trunk Bay, which is gorgeous! Then they dumped you on the beach and told you to have fun with your equipment. There was not much to see under water at the beach, I think I saw two finsh - no exagerating. We ended up sitting on the beach and chatting the whole time. It was pretty, but the snorkeling stunk.

 

[DMoss3377]

Still looking for informaiton on some of the other excursions.

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far, looks like the snorkeling at St. John's is a big hit. Can't wait to try it.

 

[WHITEHC]

We did our own excursions (there were 4 adults and 1 child). St. Maarten we rented a convertible jeep and did our own island tour and spent the afternoon at Dawn Beach. We ordered sandwiches, chips and cookies from room service and packed that for lunch.

We took the Winifred Daysail from St. Thomas to St. John. There is a max of 6 passengers which was wonderful. We spent 6 hours sailing, eating, snorkeling and we went ashore at one of the secluded beaches at Caneel Bay. It was the highlight of our trip.

 

[Spud]

whitehc - We're thinking of the doing the same sort of thing on St. Marteen. Did you arrange the rental ahead of time or just find a rental agency at the dock?

Dana - this is a great thread. Thanks for starting it. It's getting me even more excited for our cruise!

 

[DMoss3377]

No problem Spud...I was really surprised there wasn't already a thread at the top of the board dedicated to excursions...this board is always packed full of information.

WhiteHC, I'd love to know too. My DH and I had a jeep a few years ago, but had to sell it when we couldn't stand not having AC any longer, we miss it immensly and I'm sure my DH would love the opportunity to drive a jeep around St. Maarten.

Thanks everyone...keep them coming.

 

[4nana]

Our group also decided to do our own thing in St Thomas
and our adventure was one of the main highlights of our trip.

We arranged (via internet) for 'Godrey Tours' to meet us 8:30 am
with a large A/C van. The price was very reasonable, $300 + tip for the day for 14 of us (2 babies were free)! Godfrey gave us choices and we were allowed to plan our own 8 hr day. First we toured the island, then the men went parasailing while the girls took the kids to Coral World, (both events X $'s). Later we all met at nr by Coki Beach to swim and have a picnic we'd brought from the ship. The aqua water was calm, cool and crystal clear. Afterwards we had a 1 hr shopping spree. We all had the most wonderful day and made some very special memories.