That was totally not our experience at all. They mentioned once they accepted tips but said that leaving them positive reviews was even more important. We did tip because we felt they went above and beyond but felt zero pressure to do so.
As for the excursion, we met onboard and then right when we got off boarded open air buses. The buses took us to the other side of St Thomas so we got to see the island. When we arrived at the marina they split us on to two catamarans. Each had a captain and two young crew. They were so friendly and helpful. We had a safety briefing and were off. Great views as we sailed and because we left from the other side of the island it was much smoother. They gave instructions on snorkeling and talked about all the islands we could see.
The trip over took maybe 40 minutes and we pulled up off shore to honeymoon beach on St. John. It was absolutely beautiful and uncrowded and just great! Most people went down the stairs into the water to snorkel including my DH and 14,11 and 8 yo kids. They saw coral,many fish and some turtles. They also offered a dingy boat ride to shore which my 5yo and I took. We had about 90 minutes at the beach which was just right.
On the trip back they turned up the music and we had fruit,cheese and bread as well as water,punch,rum punch and champagne as much as you wanted. They walked around refilling glasses. We then took the same buses back to the ship.
It was a really great time and they were so friendly,we were really impressed. My hard to impress husband wants to do another eastern just to do this again!
