If it's Wednesday,This must be St. Thomas & SNUBA!!!

[nannylori]

We're in cabin 7004. Big window, 3rd cabin from the front(oops,bow) of the ship,port side. Being so far forward was never a problem in terms of movement until Thursday,but that's another report. The ship was running so smooth, that there were times I had to walk to the window to see if we were moving-usually we were, and I never felt it.So,I look out the window this morning and there we are-St. Thomas!! For the last 5 months or so, I've been e-mailing Tammy at Coral World about our SNUBA ressies and here it is!! We have 10:00 ressies for the 3 of us and I'm one of those annoying persons who likes to get to places early,so at 9:00 we're on our way. I wanted one of those open air cabs, but we got herded into a van. There I was, enjoying the scenery,when,wham!! I get an attack of calf spasms.My whole day just took a bad turn. Neuro-muscular spasms are different from other types. They don't go away if you rub your leg. They don't go away if you get off your feet(which I was anyway). They don't go away until your nerves decide to stop sending confusing messages to your muscles, then your legs are sore for the rest of the day-they can come and go anytime, many times a day. We get to Coral World where DH drags me over to the table where Tammy is waiting,for us and another couple. I tell her I can't go out and Tammy gets really ticked. She says she turned down two other people this morning and if she had known I wasn't going they could have gone. I understand her view and try to get her to understand that I had no forewarning about this or I would have called ahead. She says I'm just dehydrated and it'll go away. I try to explain that I'm having central nervous system problems,no amount of liquid will help me at this time and I really didn't think this was going to happen, as I was doing pretty good until now. I'm apologizing profusely,feeling very bad about having to bow out, but it was obvious that Tammy wasn't the least bit pleased. DH & DS sign some forms, learn hand signals to "talk" underwater and she checks their equipment to make sure it's adequate(we brought our own).Then the other couple shows up,she goes over it all ,onto thebeach we allgo.I lag behind,dragging my weaker left leg, looking like Igor,hobbling through the castle,looking for his master.They stay in shallow water for about 15 minutes, until she's sure that everyone knows what to do and they head out,slowing turning towards the aquarium, where they'll go deeper. I pay a guy $10 for two lounges and take as many pictures as I can until they disappear underwater. Now all I can do is wait. Coki Beach is a very nice, small beach,located directly next to the aquarium-Coral World. It's a very nice aquarium,lots of feeding times for sharks,turtles sting ray,etc. You get free admisson to Coral World,good for all day when you do SNUBA. SNUBA only takes a total of about one hour,so it's a really nice start to a beach day.The beach was somewhat crowded,but it was fun to people watch and the weather was beautiful.After about 20 minutes, I could see the two rafts that the air tanks were on coming back,so I knew they were heading in. As they got closer, I saw DS in one of the rafts. Apparently,his legs were getting tired,trying to do so much walking underwater, instead of just bouncing and gliding and swimming, so Tammy let him ride back in.DH, DS & the other couple sounded thrilled with their underwater,not quite snorkel, not quite scuba, experience. DS said they saw fish he wasn't familiar with, which was exciting for him. They got to feed some fish and they said it was better than snorkeling because you got more of a feel of swimming alongside the fish for a sustained amount of time. Everyone was ecstatic with their adventure.Being attached to an air hose gave you just the right amount of freedom without having to get technical with scuba gear.Not wanting to be a total party pooper, I dragged my limbs back to Coral World, so we could tour the area and see a shark feeding. Iguanas roamed freely and workers were around with lettuce to give to them-that usually kept the tourists from feeding them stuff they should.'t have. I filled out a postcard to ourselves so it could be mailed from here. They stamp it with their"underwater post office" seal and I thought that would make a neat souvenier for us when it arrives in about a week. We watched the turtles get fed and I headed back to the beach,as I needed to sit for awhile,but not before getting the souvenier cup, filled with their"Shark Bite" contents. Not sure of the ingredients,but it was really good.I'm into souvenier cups. I'm also into drinking-the two go together so well!

 

[bbyost]

Nannylori,
Great minds think alike! We were at Coral World around 10 am and did SNUBA at noon. It a shame you didn't get to do it because it was the highlight of our trip. My DD and DS now want to take scuba lessons. Hopefully on one of your return cruises you'll feel up to it. I can't wait to hear what you did on Thurs. We were probably somewhere nearby!
Brenda

 

[NZ KIWI]

Thanks for the great report! I am curious if there is an age limit/requirement for the SNUBA excursion? Also, what is the cost per person?

Thanks!

 

[bbyost]

I think you have to be 8yrs. old to do SNUBA. The website is www.visnuba.com. It has all of the information and pictures, too. It really is No. 1 on our top 10 list of favorite vacation adventures.

 

[NZ KIWI]

Thanks for the webiste link, it was very informative!
We have a 6 year old, so won't be able to enjoy it this time, but gives us an excellent excuse to book another Disney Cruise!!

 

[poopie]

I really enjoyed reading your reports!!

I can't wait till my own trip in Jan.

Rachael

 

[Sirius214]

I'm not sure if I am missing it but I can't seem to find the cost anywhere on snuba. Also is it really as easy to get to as it sounds? We've never been to St.Thomas and have stuck to ship planned excursions in the past.

 

[bbyost]

Getting to SNUBA was extremely convenient. We got off the ship and walked over to the line of Taxis that were waiting, told them where we were going and off we went. There were also taxis waiting at Coki Beach for our return to the ship. We left the ship about 9:30am and spent some time at Coral World before doing the SNUBa at 12:30. We stayed at the beach for a while my DD had her hair braided. They have showers and restrooms and lockers available also! I sorry I don't remember the cost. If you go to the website and e-mail Tammy she will send you times available and the price.
It really was the highlight of our trip!

 

[tezb]

Nannylori...I'd be interested to know what happened on thursday and your room location. Curious because this time we are in the aft of Deck 8 and last time were midship. am a little concerned if the motion is any worse....

 

[ilovemky]

nannylori, you said you brought your own gear--where did you buy it and what did it cost? i would prefer doing that as to using someone else's-----if you know what I mean?