PAcruiser19372

We went to Buck Island on a private charter with Caribbean Sea Adventures. We took a catamaran sail boat but it looked like they had lots of other options. Our Captain Grant knew everything about St. Croix and Buck Island. Best of all with our group it was cheaper to take our own boat and skip the crowds than the regular tour price. Highly recommend these guys.:)

I did wind up booking with Caribbean Sea Adventures, really looking forward to it!

I see you are booking the 11 night Southern Caribbean Cruise on the Serenade in sailing 04/09/18. We are from PA and have also booked this cruise. You mentioned grandchildren in 1 of your posts. We have 5 and as much as we love them it will be nice to "get away". In 2018 my wife and I are celebrating our 50th. wedding anniversary. Actual date isn't until September of 2018 but prices and weather are better in April. Have sent a "friend" request. In what part of PA do you live ? We live in South Central, PA.

We are in Chester County. We did Serenade this past April and have to say it was probably our best cruise to date. We will be on next April for a 10 day as well as the following April for an 11 day. Not much chatter going on on either of the roll calls yet.

Hello everyone! I am a long time lurker here, and now am ready to ask for some advice! We (Mom, 54, and I, 24) are booked on a 10 night Southern Caribbean cruise next April on Serenade of the Seas (our 1st cruise!!!). We booked it initially because we waited too long last year (got too expensive), so we didn't want that to happen again this time around.

 

However, now we have a dilemma. I am a big planner, and am having serious trouble getting excited or interested in two of the five ports: Dominica and Tortola. I figured when we booked that I would be able to find shore excursions to suit our interests and abilities, but now that seems less likely.

 

We both have some problems with our joints, so have no interest in the hiking tours that seem common in Dominica, and the treks down to the Baths at Virgin Gorda seem to be too difficult based on some of the descriptions and reviews I have read (although it does look appealing). The river tubing in Dominica looked promising until I read reviews saying there's only 4 inches of water, and some people were getting banged up from the rocks. Now we're nervous to try that, too.

 

So, I need your help! Any other excursion ideas or suggestions? We both love the water and are strong swimmers. We love adventure (we've done tubing and tidal bore rafting etc), but hiking/climbing is a problem for us.

Thank you!

We're on the same cruise with you as well. While we usually use local tours vs ship excursions Dominica is the one place we just could not feel excited about any of the recommended tours and what not...seem to have experienced the same hesitancy that you are feeling. We're going to wind up doing a simple ships tour in Dominica. On Tortola we're booked with Aristocat Charters, #1 on Trip Advisor for boat tours. Good Luck!

If you check elsewhere in the Dominica thread, you will find other reviews that may be more helpful with more details. From our experience, the water in Titou was too cold for me - i'm a chicken and get too chilled quickly, and not a great swimmer so my hubby stayed with me. He would have gone otherwise.) This is a 2 way experience - you come out where you went in. ANd yes, if you don't want to do the Gorge, you can wait at the edge where they enter until they come back. It's not that long a wait, I don't believe. We took a little hike while the rest were in the water, and came back after they were out, so I don't know exactly how long it took. That created a whole other problem, as our guide was not particularly concerned that we were missing from the group, and we didn't know where the rest went. Near panic ensued. From that point on, we decided to stick to the guide like white on rice. Those that went, however, said it was well worth the chill for the experience.

 

 

As to Champagne - it's a great, fascinating snorkel. We've done it twice. Entry was very tricky however. The rocks are rounded, 4' to 8" diameter, and there is no sand at all. I have tender feet, so I wore my water shoes into the water and put on fins when I got far enough out to float a bit, then heaved my shoes back onto the shore. Fortunately, they made it, otherwise I would have been had to go back to shore to retrieve them. If there is no surf, it's not bad. There are days when the waves are virtually non-existent, so entry isn't so hard. We had some small, 1 to 2' waves which pushed us back and forth making exit and entry quite challenging. We decided that if we ever went back, we would try to go via boat rather than land. But the experience is so unique that I would definitely try it. The first time we went, there was a separate guide for the snorkeling part, who was very knowledgeable and pointed out all sorts of things. There's alot there if you know what you're looking for. The second time we were on our own, and didn't see nearly as much, with nobody there to point things out. But the bubbles are cool.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, i appreciate your feedback. I was leaning against this just for the reasons you mentioned and this pretty much tells me to find something else to do while there. I'll keep looking...thank you again!

I spent one great day with levi.....snorkeling for over an hour...he would dive down and show us cannons and fish and squid awesome!!! Then on the the gorge.....wow!! i jump in about 30 feet..into 70 degree water soo much fun swam to a water fall and watched levi jump in then swam back very much fun and a little scary.....we went to the falls after that what a view!!!! then to the gardens and then up to the top for a wonderful view if the city....All along the way levi would tell us soo many things about the island the plants trees fruit it was the best day for the cruise for me....almost 6 hrs of great fun PLus Beer!!!!!50 buck plus tip......Please tip him!!!! he is alot of fun Jim

Hey Jim, I've been holding off on booking this tour, I am 59, wife is 69 and not a very good swimmer. While she will do the snorkeling, I'm nervous about her in the gorge. You say the water temp is 70, that is doable but just don't want to get there only to have her file for divorce when we return. Your thoughts?

We are an older couple, late 50's and sixtys, how rocky is the beach for snorkeling and how cold is the gorge? Is there a way to do the tour without going thru the gorge?

Anyone?

Another vote for Stingray Sailing. After reading about them on Trip Advisor we booked with them and they really lived up to the billing. When Capt. Chip brought the boat to the bar the stingrays started coming to his boat. Now there were already a few boats there some with a large number of passengers but we only had 8 of us that day. Once in the water the rays continued to swarm us as they really seemed to recognize Capt. Chip's boat. They were basically only at his boat! His mate who was fantastic, shame i forget his name, had names for about 8 of them...truly amazing. Another post mentioned how they treat the rays and that is so important. They looked at other people and how they let their passengers man handle the rays and just shook their heads. A snorkel stop followed our stop with the rays. If we were ever to back to Grand Cayman and want to do the rays, we would not think twice about going with Stingray Sailing!

Another vote for Stingray Sailing. After reading about them on Trip Advisor we booked with them andthey really lived up to the billing. When Capt. Chip brought the boat to the bar the stingrays started coming to his boat. Now there were already a few boats there some with a large number of passengers but we only had 8 of us that day. Once in the water the rays continued to swarm us. They were basically only at his boat! His mate who was fantastic, shame i forget his name had names for about 8 of them...truly amazing. Another post mentioned how they treat the rays and that is so important. They looked at other people and how they let their passengers man handle the rays and just shook their heads. A snorkel stop followed our stop with the rays. If we were ever to back to Grand Cayman and want to do the rays, we would not think twice about going with Stingray Sailing!

Thank you both, will check them out. Had seen Caribbean Sea Adventure and Sailing Belinda but still looking. Thanks again for your input!

The way we did it a couple of years ago was thru RC BUT we did the St. John on your own excursion. This was a 6 hour excursion. We basically just used the RC ferry to get to St. John, then took a taxi to Cinnamon Bay, spent the afternoon there and then took a taxi back to Cruz Bay and walked around the shops for awhile before boarding the ferry back to the ship. A couple of things to consider is this way guaranteed us that the ship had to wait for us as we were on a RC excursion and we had plenty of time on the Island. We did the four hour beach thing years ago and recognized right away that there had to be a better way to do it. Good luck!

We are an older couple, late 50's and sixtys, how rocky is the beach for snorkeling and how cold is the gorge? Is there a way to do the tour without going thru the gorge?

Will be visiting St. Croix and understand the snorkeling is supposed to be very good and to go to Buck Island. Can any of our esteemed members recommend the best snorkeling companies? Not seeing that much on Trip Advisor. Appreciate any and all replies.

Sort of on topic...I was under the impression that the casino was non smoking on formal nights, but this was not the case on Freedom a couple of weeks ago. Is my memory failing?

Had them on Serenade in April and last week on Freedom. The Willy Wonka pie is wonkalicious! Kinda like a pecan pie without the pecans.

Agreed, was just in Barbados on our cruise a couple of weeks ago and went with Calabaza Sailing Cruises. They picked us up at the port and took us to their CAT. First up, snorkeling with the turtles. Then onto snorkeling over wrecks, both were excellent. After snorkeling we sailed up the coast a bit and then anchored while a buffet lunch was served. Gina was great with email questions and booking, crew on the boat was great! They are also rated #1 on Trip Advisor for things to do on Barbados. They do book up fast and limit the number of people on their boats (they have two), each limited to 12 people.

Just off an eleven day Southern Caribbean cruise on Serenade. Always enjoyed the bed and bedding on RC ships, not this time. I'm the one with the bad back but wife woke up each day with a back ache. Asked Stateroom attendant for an egg crate however she had said she had no more left but put an extra comforter under the sheet. Why would RC get rid of such comfortable beds for ones that are obviously sub par?

Thanks for the feedback guys, appreciate the info on the crowds. I was on their website and thought the admission fee was only $21.00?

Had finally made up my mind about what to do in Cozumel, was going to go to Chankanaab but now knowing there will be 5 ships in port looking for info from those familiar if this will be overly crowded with the 5 ships in port. If folks think that this will be overly crowded please feel free to offer up other suggestions. Much appreciated!

Thanks Charlene!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, still up in the air on this one!

Thanks for the feedback. With the conditions being windy I'm assuming the water was rough, how did the boat handle the wind?

We're looking at a 10 Southern Caribbean on Serenade in April of 2017. Doing an 11 day next year on Serenade. While i love my 7 grandkids i also love giving them back to their parents after a weekend. This cruise leaves on Friday, a week before Easter, and returns Monday, the day after Easter. I'm hoping the ship will not be full of Spring Breakers or other little ones during a week off from school. My hope is a 10 day cruise is too long for families with little ones and/or the ship itself is not a draw for families. Your thoughts are appreciated!

Hello there, going to Antigua next spring for the first time and looking for the perfect excursion as we all do. I've searched on Cruise Critic but have not found anything on Sea Escape Tours as I believe they are a new business having just started up in January. On Trip Advisor they have less than 20 reviews, but all but one are very good. I was looking for the community at Cruise Critic to provide any info on this company. Any help is appreciated!

I figured as much....thanks again for the info though, just what i needed.

Yes, from Thorndale, but my sn gave that away, wasn't sure about the date though, lol. Thanks again for the info, just what i was looking for!