BEWARE Royal Caribbean's Scenic Tour of St. Croix

[Ktwofish]

Just got back from the June 19th Southern Caribbean sailing on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. I will post a complete review of the cruise (which is positive), but I wanted to warn any would be RCI cruisers about the ship's excursion "Scenic Tour of St. Croix". What a joke! We paid $69 for an overpriced shuttle ride to Christiansted. The grass along the road was so high that you could not see over it at the "scenic overlooks". At one stop, we looked down at factories...yes you could see the ocean/sea, but there was nothing scenic about it. Our driver's accent was so thick that many had difficulty understanding him when he talked, and he spoke very rarely. He would point out the name of the road we were on...really?!?!

 

We caught up to a van/bus in front of us that was the same tour. The driver was stopped pointing out something in the trees. Our driver stopped behind him and never said a word. When we moved on, I saw that the driver of the leading van was pointing out a very large termite nest, which would have been interesting to those who had never seen them. The leading van driver stopped again and got out and pulled a branch from a tree and got back on the van. Again, our driver just pulled up behind and waited and never said a word.

 

When we got to Christiansted, we had 1 hour to shop. When we got back on the van/bus, a supervisor got on our bus and asked how we were enjoying our tour so far. There was dead silence. The supervisor said something to the affect, "Uh oh, I guess you are not having a good tour." I said there was nothing scenic so far, and she said she didn't understand. Someone else explained that the grass was so high, that we could not see anything. Several others also complained. You could tell that the supervisor was very uncomfortable. The couple across from us complained about the ants that were under their seat, too! Yikes!

 

The driver was a little more talkative on the ride back. I'm sure he was concerned because of the complaints to the supervisor. I spoke to a couple other family members who just took the $16 round trip shuttle ride to Christiansted. Their drivers were very talkative and informative. Sounds like they saw many of the same things we saw, too.

 

FYI, several people complained to the tour supervisor on the return and to the Royal Caribbean tour desk. I never heard back from the RCI excursion desk.

 

Yes, we had a poor tour guide/driver. But, beware...pay the $16 for the shuttle ride. I would not take a chance on the "Scenic Tour of St. Croix."

[cheaptravel]

Just got back from the June 19th Southern Caribbean sailing on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. I will post a complete review of the cruise (which is positive), but I wanted to warn any would be RCI cruisers about the ship's excursion "Scenic Tour of St. Croix". What a joke! We paid $69 for an overpriced shuttle ride to Christiansted. The grass along the road was so high that you could not see over it at the "scenic overlooks". At one stop, we looked down at factories...yes you could see the ocean/sea, but there was nothing scenic about it. Our driver's accent was so thick that many had difficulty understanding him when he talked, and he spoke very rarely. He would point out the name of the road we were on...really?!?!

 

We caught up to a van/bus in front of us that was the same tour. The driver was stopped pointing out something in the trees. Our driver stopped behind him and never said a word. When we moved on, I saw that the driver of the leading van was pointing out a very large termite nest, which would have been interesting to those who had never seen them. The leading van driver stopped again and got out and pulled a branch from a tree and got back on the van. Again, our driver just pulled up behind and waited and never said a word.

 

When we got to Christiansted, we had 1 hour to shop. When we got back on the van/bus, a supervisor got on our bus and asked how we were enjoying our tour so far. There was dead silence. The supervisor said something to the affect, "Uh oh, I guess you are not having a good tour." I said there was nothing scenic so far, and she said she didn't understand. Someone else explained that the grass was so high, that we could not see anything. Several others also complained. You could tell that the supervisor was very uncomfortable. The couple across from us complained about the ants that were under their seat, too! Yikes!

 

The driver was a little more talkative on the ride back. I'm sure he was concerned because of the complaints to the supervisor. I spoke to a couple other family members who just took the $16 round trip shuttle ride to Christiansted. Their drivers were very talkative and informative. Sounds like they saw many of the same things we saw, too.

 

FYI, several people complained to the tour supervisor on the return and to the Royal Caribbean tour desk. I never heard back from the RCI excursion desk.

 

Yes, we had a poor tour guide/driver. But, beware...pay the $16 for the shuttle ride. I would not take a chance on the "Scenic Tour of St. Croix."

 

We will be on the Serenade 9/25 voyage. I look forward to your review ... will it be here or on the main boards ? I am still struggling with what types of excursions to go on, we don't usually go with private operators but haven't always had great luck with ship tours !!

Thanks ! Oh, and do you have copies of the compass ?

[Ktwofish]

I'll review on in the "Cruise Reviews" section.

 

We did a mixture of private and ship excursions.

 

My husband LOVES to snorkel, but I don't. Fortunately we had a large family group so he had company, but he would go alone on a group tour (so he really wasn't alone). We booked 2 private snorkeling trips for him an my son. One was in Barbados with Silver Moon (silvermoonbarbados dot com). They snorkeled 2 sites--one with the turtles and a shipwreck. They loved the turtles and the lunch! They picked them up and took them to the boat Only 12 people on that one. In St. Croix, we booked with Black Beard. My husband took the ship's shuttle to Christiansted and back. They went to Buck Island and said it was the best snorkeling of the trip. My husband snorkeled on every island but one.

 

In Antigua we booked a helicopter ride to Montserrat with Caribbean Helicopters (caribbeanhelicopters dot com). I don't think we save any or much money, but we had the entire 6-passenger helicopter to ourselves. Very expensive, but my 75 year old mother really wanted to go :) It was amazing! The volcano on Montserrat was so interesting to see, and the views were fabulous!

 

Ships tours--I did the Atlantis submarine in Barbados, which was fun for my 2 young nephews (10 and 11). I thought it was interesting, too. As I mentioned, avoid the ship's Scenic Tour of St. Croix. The $16 shuttle ride will be just as good!

 

In St. Lucia we took a taxi to the Craft Market, where the good are much cheaper than the pier for souvenier-type stuff. It's very hot, though, and you don't need more than 45 minutes. We arranged for the taxi drive to pick us up at 12 noon (1 hour - 45 min. after drop off), and he was right on time. The ship's maps are very misleading and not to scale. We thought we could walk, but we were so glad we took a taxi! We then took a taxi for a 2 hour tour of the island with another drive, which was not much more than a 2-hour drive. I'm sure it depends on the driver, but ours was not very informative and he stopped at an outlook with vendors who were VERY, VERY PUSHY. In St. Martin, we shopped! It is right off the boat and there are lots of nice shops on the main street.

 

Hope this gives you some ideas!

 

Re: The Compass I'll check with my husband. He likes to save the newsletter (Compass), but just tossed them. He usually digs them out of the trash and sticks them in his backpack :-))))

[tigger-ttfn]

Just got back from the June 19th Southern Caribbean sailing on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. I will post a complete review of the cruise (which is positive), but I wanted to warn any would be RCI cruisers about the ship's excursion "Scenic Tour of St. Croix". What a joke! We paid $69 for an overpriced shuttle ride to Christiansted. The grass along the road was so high that you could not see over it at the "scenic overlooks". At one stop, we looked down at factories...yes you could see the ocean/sea, but there was nothing scenic about it. Our driver's accent was so thick that many had difficulty understanding him when he talked, and he spoke very rarely. He would point out the name of the road we were on...really?!?!

 

We caught up to a van/bus in front of us that was the same tour. The driver was stopped pointing out something in the trees. Our driver stopped behind him and never said a word. When we moved on, I saw that the driver of the leading van was pointing out a very large termite nest, which would have been interesting to those who had never seen them. The leading van driver stopped again and got out and pulled a branch from a tree and got back on the van. Again, our driver just pulled up behind and waited and never said a word.

 

When we got to Christiansted, we had 1 hour to shop. When we got back on the van/bus, a supervisor got on our bus and asked how we were enjoying our tour so far. There was dead silence. The supervisor said something to the affect, "Uh oh, I guess you are not having a good tour." I said there was nothing scenic so far, and she said she didn't understand. Someone else explained that the grass was so high, that we could not see anything. Several others also complained. You could tell that the supervisor was very uncomfortable. The couple across from us complained about the ants that were under their seat, too! Yikes!

 

The driver was a little more talkative on the ride back. I'm sure he was concerned because of the complaints to the supervisor. I spoke to a couple other family members who just took the $16 round trip shuttle ride to Christiansted. Their drivers were very talkative and informative. Sounds like they saw many of the same things we saw, too.

 

FYI, several people complained to the tour supervisor on the return and to the Royal Caribbean tour desk. I never heard back from the RCI excursion desk.

 

Yes, we had a poor tour guide/driver. But, beware...pay the $16 for the shuttle ride. I would not take a chance on the "Scenic Tour of St. Croix."

I am going on Aug 28th and was going to do the Panoramic drive same price to Christiansted. maybe rethink this . Thanks

[Host Faith]

There's not really much to see between Fredericksted and Christiansted. I would stick to nature tours or beach time in St. Croix. We took a shuttle to Christiansted our first time on St. Croix and saw exactly the same thing Ktwofish saw. Beach days, ATV tours, or Snorkel excursions are the way to go in St. Croix IMO.

[QuitMyDayJob]

About the $16 shuttle, is it something you arrange through the ship or is it like a taxi service at the port? How many people will it accommodate, and is there a chance it would hold a fold-up wheelchair?

 

There may be 15 or 20 of us wanting to go, and many of us were considering the Panoramic tour, but now are rethinking it. The shuttle might be a better option.

 

For a group this size, maybe there are other options to get to Christiansted for a bit of shopping and walking around?

 

Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks!

 

Jane

[lovevacadays]

There's not really much to see between Fredericksted and Christiansted. I would stick to nature tours or beach time in St. Croix. We took a shuttle to Christiansted our first time on St. Croix and saw exactly the same thing Ktwofish saw. Beach days, ATV tours, or Snorkel excursions are the way to go in St. Croix IMO.

 

Absolutely. I lived there for about a month. It's really about the beach and water activities. Although I did enjoy visiting their small rain forest and the areas of the island that I don't imagine ship's tours will take you to. I loved St. Croix.