St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail and Snorkel

[lizajune]

Looking for some reviews from those of you who have gone on this excursion. Did you enjoy it? Several in our group get seasick. Is the ride on the catamaran pretty choppy? If you took this excursion, was getting to the beach okay for small children. I read you either snorkel in or get in a raft. I appreciate any info you can throw my way as one family in our group wants to do this and one does not.

 

[Dave1442397]

I haven't done that exact excursion (as far as I know) but we stay on St. John and have done pretty much every excursion by now.

If it's one of the big catamarans it's usually a very nice ride, but I would still recommend that anyone susceptible to seasickness wear a patch. My wife gets them with a prescription and puts one on 24 hours before we go on a boat. She has never had an issue once she does that.

The big cats get fairly close to the beach, and yes, you can either swim/snorkel to the beach or have them shuttle you in and out on the raft.

 

[331LXEric]

I'm very interested to see the replies to this as we booked this excursion for our upcoming cruise.

 

[WiscBill]

We did this excursion about three years ago. The pictures on the DCL website are accurate for the size of the boat. We went in May and the sea was absolutely smooth and ride was wonderful. No seasickness from anyone. When you arrive in St. John's, you can snorkel around the bay (they are very good about giving you directions on the currents and where the best spots are) or you can choose to swim or be ferried using a rubber dingy to the beach. The beach is the some one you hike to on the eco-hike excursion. After about 90 minutes or so, you head back for the boat. You can either swim back or take the dinghy. You then sail back to St. Thomas and take an open air jitney back to the dock (I think there may have been an option to being dropped downtown). On the sail back, they have champagne, beer,and soft drinks, along with cheese and crackers. On our trip, we motored over and then sailed back, but that varies. As with all DCL snorkel excursion, you must wear a snorkel vest, but don't have to inflate it. We thought it was one of the best excursions we have done on DCL. Our DD was 7 at the time and had no problems, even though this was the first cruise she snorkeled on .

 

[Crocus]

Thank you! We booked this excursion for first cruise May 5 on the Fantasy and I'm happy to read your review. Sounds a good choice!

 

[331LXEric]

WiscBill - thanks for the informative post! Sounds like it's a great excursion. Looking forward to it.

 

[Rest&Relax]

Bump

We are booked for this excursion for December. Looking for some reviews from people who did this and what did you wish you took with you on this excursion.

Thanks

 

[bobbiwoz]

This is the one I was thinking about for next August! Glad to hear such good things about it.

 

[HsvTeacher]

My DH and I went on this excursion in June, and we LOVED it!

The excursion was the highlight of our cruise. The open-air taxi ride to the marina was an adventure in itself, and the catamaran sail over to St. John was so much fun. We went to Honeymoon Beach, and it was gorgeous!

Honeymoon Beach:

Coral:

After a quick lesson on snorkeling, the guides gave you the option of diving right in, or they would take you to the beach in a little dinghy. We were able to snorkel for about an hour and a half. There were lots of fish, stingrays, sea turtles, and coral.

On the way back, there was champagne, rum punch, soda, and water. They also had breads, crackers, cheeses, and fruit to snack on.

I highly recommend it!

 

[SueTGGR]

We were on this excursion in June (not sure the same as HsvTeacher) and we had a few who felt a little seasick either on the way over or back. But for some reason the DCL ship itself was not very steady this trip. Could have to do with Hurricane Debby that followed us in! I agree with all of what has already been said, I loved it as did DH and DS. Our 12 yr old is just getting used to snorkeling (good swimmer just breathing through a tube in your mouth is tough for him) and it was nice as he swam up to the beach and then sat for awhile while DH and I snorkeled close by. The dinghy's were going back and forth with people the whole time. We didn't do anything on the shore except coax our son back in to swim back to the catamaran as he was fine playing at the shoreline.

One word of warning is the Rum Punch! It will sneak up on you if you aren't careful! The crew is VERY generous with keeping the adults cups full after our snorkel. I saw one woman being helped back to the ship afterwards and it was not seasickness. But then she could have had both Champagne and Punch. Not a good combo. Plus, the bus trip to the marina and back to the ship are almost as good as a WDW ride! Hold on tight.
Last word of advice is to go as early as possible as waters are typically calmer earlier.
Later,
Sue

 

[Rest&Relax]

One word of warning is the Rum Punch! It will sneak up on you if you aren't careful! The crew is VERY generous with keeping the adults cups full after our snorkel. I saw one woman being helped back to the ship afterwards and it was not seasickness. But then she could have had both Champagne and Punch. Not a good combo. Plus, the bus trip to the marina and back to the ship are almost as good as a WDW ride! Hold on tight.
Last word of advice is to go as early as possible as waters are typically calmer earlier.
Later,
Sue

Thanks for the warning! I'm sure between the rum & the Champagne and just a little food it could hit you hard. We do have an early excursion just hope it's not too cold that early in the morning.

Thanks HsvTeacher for the beautiful pics! Looking forward to seeing it in person!