Buck Island via Celebrity Cruises

[DanielBu]

Hello,

 

has anybody tried the Buck Island excursion offered by Celebrity Cruises?

 

Their advertisement says "enjoy a relaxing 40 minutes powerboat ride touring the north shore of St. Croix...". Does that mean they are using those "hell mashines" for trips to a marine park? :eek: I hope somebody can tell more about it and that this is a mistake because we don´t like those kind of boats.

 

I also would like to know if there is time for the beach as well after snokling.

 

Thx. for any advice given.

 

Daniel

Berlin / Germany

[Lsimon]

We did Big Beards tour last March. But this link is to a photo of a boat from a cruise ship excursion that was leaving the reef area as we were arriving, along with some pictures from our tour. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the beach we stopped at for lunch after Buck Island. http://simon-pics.smugmug.com/Cruises/Caribbean-March-15-2010/St-Croix-Big-Beards-Buck/11693611_2jVeD#825048055_vLbmf

[Goldeneye]

Hello,

 

has anybody tried the Buck Island excursion offered by Celebrity Cruises?

 

Their advertisement says "enjoy a relaxing 40 minutes powerboat ride touring the north shore of St. Croix...". Does that mean they are using those "hell mashines" for trips to a marine park? :eek: I hope somebody can tell more about it and that this is a mistake because we don´t like those kind of boats.

 

I also would like to know if there is time for the beach as well after snokling.

 

Thx. for any advice given.

 

Daniel

Berlin / Germany

 

I'm not sure what you mean by a 'hell machine' It's just your typical nothing fancy with no bells and whistles that gets you from a to b.. We had a nice trip through the cruise line, although we are thinking of doing Big Beards this year, once I find out more about it....

[Goldeneye]

We did Big Beards tour last March. But this link is to a photo of a boat from a cruise ship excursion that was leaving the reef area as we were arriving, along with some pictures from our tour. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the beach we stopped at for lunch after Buck Island. http://simon-pics.smugmug.com/Cruises/Caribbean-March-15-2010/St-Croix-Big-Beards-Buck/11693611_2jVeD#825048055_vLbmf

 

 

Lsimon, What did you think of Big Beards, my concern is getting there by 9:00 am... Did you have any problems getting a taxi/arriving on schedule?

We will be on The Summit arriving at 8 am ..

 

I received a e-mail response that said ...

 

'Thank you so much for your inquiry regarding our tours to Buck Island!

 

In order to better serve our Cruise Ship passengers we are now offering a

Full Day Tour and two Half Day tours to Buck Island.

 

Full Day Tour (9:30 am – 3:30 pm):

 

Check-in time is by 9:00 am for our Full Day Tour (snorkeling and

All-U-Can-Eat barbeque!). You would need to leave Frederiksted by around 8:00 – 8:15am to join us on this tour.

 

NOTE: In order to get to where we are in Christiansted, you can utilize a

cab for transportation. (Go to the Taxi Federation Booth at the end of the pier and ask for Derrick), or any other taxi is fine. The ride is about 25 minutes and the fare is about $16.00 Round Trip per person.

 

Also, if you are arriving from a foreign country/island, you will need to go

through customs after disembarking the ship.

 

To make a reservation we require a 50% deposit.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

 

Would love to hear from anyone who has done this tour...

 

Thanks

[Lsimon]

Lsimon, What did you think of Big Beards, my concern is getting there by 9:00 am... Did you have any problems getting a taxi/arriving on schedule?

We will be on The Summit arriving at 8 am .. ...

 

Loved the tour and we had no problems getting back. Email them and let them know you're schedule and any concerns you have - and also so they'll also know you're coming. We had the same schedule and the timing worked out fine. The taxi's are very organized and Derrick was more of a dispatcher. They collected fares and drove the taxi for a group (they'll put the group together) to Christiansted. Tell the driver you're schedule and what you're doing and they'll know where to take you. The driver dropped us off and pointed out the parking lot where we'd catch the taxi back. We had enough time to purchase tickets and use the rest rooms and such a big beards (a few doors up the street from the docks) office without rushing. The tour was nice and when we returned we found a taxi waiting for us - they maintain a headcount of how many people to bring to, then return from, Christiansted so they know if they need another taxi there or not so they were all ready. We were a little nervous on the return trip as we hit a lot of traffic as you pass a large oil refinery and they were getting out of work as we passed, but we returned to the ship with time to spare.

 

I don't know about the customs. We traveled from San Juan to St. Thomas to St. Croix - so we only had US Territory stops until after St. Croix.