Excellence Catamaran

[sltb47]

Does anyone know if the Circumnavigation Tour offered by Tropical Adventures is the same as the tour offered by Princess on the Excellence? If anyone has done this private tour or the one offered by Princess I would appreciate your review of the tour. Thanks for your help.

[BirmanGal]

We just returned from a cruise on the Carnival Freedom. While in Antigua, we sailed on the Excellence and circumnavigated Antigua. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Be ready for a bumpy ride for about 20 minutes as you sail the Atlantic, but it is well worth it. I took some motion sickness meds before leaving and very glad I did! The views were unbelievable. I took over 200 photos. We stayed at the private beach for a few hours. The crew prepared BBQ chicken and served us a delicious lunch before continuing our journey. This excursion is worth every penny it costs and more. When I return to Antigua in the future, I will definitely book this excursion again. It was the best I have ever been on. My sister and niece have also been on the Excellence and they feel the same.

[FLA Cruiser]

We just returned from a cruise on the Carnival Freedom. While in Antigua, we sailed on the Excellence and circumnavigated Antigua. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Be ready for a bumpy ride for about 20 minutes as you sail the Atlantic, but it is well worth it. I took some motion sickness meds before leaving and very glad I did! The views were unbelievable. I took over 200 photos. We stayed at the private beach for a few hours. The crew prepared BBQ chicken and served us a delicious lunch before continuing our journey. This excursion is worth every penny it costs and more. When I return to Antigua in the future, I will definitely book this excursion again. It was the best I have ever been on. My sister and niece have also been on the Excellence and they feel the same.

 

 

This is great information - as we're thinking of this tour as well. Can you tell me approximately how many folks were on the Excellence?

 

-Lisa

[BirmanGal]

I would guess around 40. We rode on the front of the catamaran and it didn't seem crowded at all. We even hung our legs over the edge and enjoyed the splashing water. That is, until we entered the Atlantic! When we got to the beach, some went snorkeling and others spent time on the beach (that is what we did) so neither group was overcrowded. I don't know if the inside of the catamaran was crowded. I never went in there. I didn't want to miss a minute of the beautiful views. My sister told me about this excursion. She also thought it was amazing. I think you would love it!

[maxs mom]

This excursion IS very good. We very rarely book excursions through the ship, but we booked this one a few years ago. Seeing Antigua this way is FAR superior to a land excursion. The food is also very good. Just back from a B2B on the Serenade and while in Antigua, I was realxing on my balcony....and in comes the Excellence! Everyone was singing...."Hot, Hot Hot!"

[BirmanGal]

You are right about the lunch. When we saw the crew at the grill, we thought they were probably grilling hot dogs. We were so surprised when they served the grilled chicken. It was SO good that my husband, who is a fantastic cook, asked if they would share what the sauce was. They would not. All of the accompanying salads were just as yummy. This was the first excursion we had been on that we actually enjoyed the lunch. There just wasn't anything bad about our time on the Excellence.

[LPut714]

Is there a web site for this tour?

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Is there a web site for this tour?

 

Yes I would like to know also! :)

[BirmanGal]

I don't know of any website. I booked it directly through Carnival after reading the description of the excursion on their website. Also, it was recommended to me by my siser and niece. They both went on this excursion at different times. It is wonderful! I wish I was there today.

[marys350]

Hi,

This is the website for Tropical Adventure which offers the Excellence Catamaran tour as well as other excursions. I found it with a "Google" search.

 

http://www.tropicalad.com/

 

Mary

[CrusingGolfers]

Does anyone know why Carnival's website has it for $10 cheaper than the Tropical Adventure website? Carnival is usually more expensive. But what I can see they offer the same thing?

[sdcasun]

Does anyone know why Carnival's website has it for $10 cheaper than the Tropical Adventure website? Carnival is usually more expensive. But what I can see they offer the same thing?

Princess is also cheaper than Tropical Adventure. I was wondering the same thing!:confused:

[sdcasun]

Does anyone know why Carnival's website has it for $10 cheaper than the Tropical Adventure website? Carnival is usually more expensive. But what I can see they offer the same thing?

Princess is also cheaper than Tropical Adventures. I was wondering the same thing.:confused:

[elsje]

Royal Caribbean's excellence catamaran tour is also cheaper. My DH and I have done this tour as few years back and it is still one of the best excursions we have ever done. Simply amazing.

[63galaxie]

What made this excursion unique from others? Just curious in case we want to book it.

[smoosh21]

Princess is also cheaper than Tropical Adventures. I was wondering the same thing.:confused:

Their Website may offer the price in the Eastern Caribbean Dollar. In this case, it would be a lot cheaper for a direct booking as EC$110 is only US$41

 

Does anyone know if this is the case?

 

I see that Royal also offers the tour for $92 and a 100% markup would seem about right for the cruise line.

[smoosh21]

I went ahead and contacted the vendor directly, and this is what I received:

 

Hello sir ,

Our rates on the website are in US$110.00 per person for our circumnavigation tour.

The circumnavigation tour is the same trip around the island , as offered through the ship.

 

this is the first time where I have ever seen it cheaper through the ship. So, I am booking through the ship.

[mari10]

Does anyone know if this would be suitable for a non swimmer in our group?

Could they just stay on the boat while others snorkeled or swam?

It looks like a great day!

 

Mari:)

[zaks pack4]

We had a terrific time on the Excellence catamaran 2 years ago - we booked it through the ship. So, in less than 2 weeks we are sailing again (on Princess, again) and repeating the Excellence trip through the ship. Princess is charging $98.00 pp. It is worth every penny! You can get off the boat and swim, stay on the boat, sample the drinks (or not), enjoy the music - just have a wonderful, relaxing day. And the lunch was delectable. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

[DGNewton]

My wife doesn't swim and I don't have the best legs, so we were wondering how hard is it to get off the boat to swim once on the island. Is the water over our head?

How do we get on and off the boat once on the island stops? The picture looks like they beach the boat nose first.

 

I imagine that the boat pulls up to the ship for the excursion or do we go from land?

 

 

We also had this post from our Freedom March 24th roll call forum

any and all help is greatly appreciated!

 

 

:)Hello to all fellow March 24th Freedom cruisers! My name is Janet there will be six of us on this upcoming cruise! My Mom, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Niece, Nephew, and Moi! We are so excited all of us are past Carnival Cruisers except my Niece and Nephew 15 and 18yrs old.

Because of cost we are looking to do one excursions at least all as a family. We have decided that we will leave Nassau just for exploring. Can anyone suggest a great excursion for one of the 3 remaining ports?

We were looking at the Excellence in Antigua which has amazing reviews BUT we are questioning it because of the "very rough waters get out your sick bags 30 minutes through the Atlantic Ocean part"? I get motion sickness and yes I can take gravol but not sure I want to and the rest of my group is very weary of that part too? Any suggestions?

We love the itinerary Catamaran, music, beach, snorkeling, lunch, open bar, party atmosphere etc...anybody book something similar? it does not have to be through the cruise line but something reasonable in the $100ish each range. Any help would be great! Please drop me a line and maybe we could even have a beverage together and celebrate!!

Thanks a ton to all that reply only a few days left till BON VOYAGE :)

 

We are thinking of the Catamaran and well. An excellent price for a good long day. I was a bit concerned about the rough waters and motion, but we are wearing the patches to prevent sea sickness anyway. I think this one sounds good. Just wondering who else could comment about this excurations as well. Maybe we should post this in the other Port of Call forum. Please let me know what you find out.

I too have been working way too much and need a break! Just my wife and I on trip.:cool:

[Janey]

I am sitting here on Dickenson Bay and see the Excellence every day coming in to pick people up from the beach. First of all it is very busy, maybe 80 people at least by the time it gets up here. It comes right into the beach bow first and lowers a very sturdy ladder down for people to climb up, you wouldn't have to go into more than 2 feet of water to get onto the cat. The crew are always there to lean on if you feel unsteady. We have been on it twice to Barbuda and it was excellent. I think the reason for the price change is the offer group bookings of 10 or more which is cheaper and obviously the ship's prices will be cheaper. I would book with the ship every time just in case of problems with it running late for whatever reason.

[blue_water]

The Excellence excursion remains one of our all-time favorites. The sail along the coast is amazing as is motoring through English Harbor. We (4 couples) all highly recommend this one, she is a beautiful 20-deck cat and is docked right by the cruise dock. Some of the bluest water we've seen throughout our many travels...

[DGNewton]

Thanks and we booked it...good thing as the excursion is sold already....we found pictures of the ladder in front and were relieved....we were concerned with rough waters as the trade winds are up, but we're on the beach fro 3 hours so Im sure we can handle a spotty 20 minutes or so...thanks again for your comments / post...:D

[nomad824]

We booked this tour through a Celebrity Cruise this past January. It was the highlight excursion of our trip. There were probably 40 people on the boat which didn't even seem crowded. There are also bathrooms on the boat. The crew was extremely attentive and helpful. There were 5 guys helping out with various responsibilities.They genuinely wanted us all to have a great time. If it gets too rough or you don't want direct sun, you go inside. Most of us loved hanging our legs over the edge. The 20 minutes in the Atlantic were a blast. It's just big waves and more like an amusement park ride. We traveled half way around Antigua, it was gorgeous. We stopped on Green Island for Swimming (shallow water) Snorkeling (optional) and a delicious lunch. The return trip was around the other half of the Island, stopping to see Nelson's Dockyard. For about $100pp, the entire excursion was 6 hours and the drinks kept flowing, if that's important to you. The boat was also lively with music. We were a party of 4 including two 50 somethings along with my 85 year old father and 72 year old mother. They didn't snorkel, but enjoyed everything else. *Please be careful of the powerful sun* I used sunscreen, but was in the water a lot and it probably washed off and I ended up with a bad burn. For anyone who wanted to join in, the crew led the congo line back into port. We had a beautiful sunny day and I took tons of pictures. ENJOY!!!!

[blue_water]

We booked this tour through a Celebrity Cruise this past January. It was the highlight excursion of our trip. There were probably 40 people on the boat which didn't even seem crowded. There are also bathrooms on the boat. The crew was extremely attentive and helpful. There were 5 guys helping out with various responsibilities.They genuinely wanted us all to have a great time. If it gets too rough or you don't want direct sun, you go inside. Most of us loved hanging our legs over the edge. The 20 minutes in the Atlantic were a blast. It's just big waves and more like an amusement park ride. We traveled half way around Antigua, it was gorgeous. We stopped on Green Island for Swimming (shallow water) Snorkeling (optional) and a delicious lunch. The return trip was around the other half of the Island, stopping to see Nelson's Dockyard. For about $100pp, the entire excursion was 6 hours and the drinks kept flowing, if that's important to you. The boat was also lively with music. We were a party of 4 including two 50 somethings along with my 85 year old father and 72 year old mother. They didn't snorkel, but enjoyed everything else. *Please be careful of the powerful sun* I used sunscreen, but was in the water a lot and it probably washed off and I ended up with a bad burn. For anyone who wanted to join in, the crew led the congo line back into port. We had a beautiful sunny day and I took tons of pictures. ENJOY!!!!

 

yes, everything was as excellent as you described, cannot recommend this excursion enough. We (4 couples) considered it the highlight of our 8 day cruise and we did alot that trip including my wife and I renewing our vows and spending a week in the Turks & Caicos after the cruise. Wonderful day on the water around Antigua!