St. Thomas Excursions

[Charm2018]

Well I booked our cruise after much research and I hit my first snag. :o The cruise is going to be my 11 year old daughters Christmas present and I'm dying to tell her but I will keep it "zipped". Anyway, I booked our cruise going to St. Thomas specifically because my daughter wants to try parasailing and Carnival listed it in St. Thomas as one of it's top things to do. Awesome! Anyway, I'm all booked and go to manage my booking and book parasailing and it's not listed.:( Our cruise isn't until January, so do you think it will be added? I haven't cruised in many, many years and I can't remember how it works. I know I can book privately and did that on my last cruise but with it being just my daughter and I travelling I get nervous doing the excursions without using Carnival. Even though it is a bit more expensive, I like the fact that the boat can't leave without us by using Carnival (insert crazy Mom symbol)

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[BoDidly]

Just go with the local excursion and save a dollar . Most of the time it's some of the same people that Carnival will use. Just make sure your aware of the time frame for the intended excursion. Enjoy. I have only done two Carnival excursion over the years :)

[Charm2018]

Yup, it's the same people Carnival use because I've gone to their website and they have a link right to each of the cruise companies. I'm sure that is what I will end up doing but I was pretty disappointed that Carnival would list it prior to booking and once booked it isn't there. Pretty confusing to me. I tried to call Carnival but of course I booked through a travel agent (first time I have done that too) and they can't help me and directed by to my travel agent AND of course my travel agent is stumped as well. Oh brother!!:rolleyes: LOL

[A&Jfamily]

No need to worry in St. Thomas. Look on the ports of call board and TA and find a reputable provider. If all else fails, book the Fury and go snorkeling with sea turtles. My boys loved it!

[ontheweb]

Yup, it's the same people Carnival use because I've gone to their website and they have a link right to each of the cruise companies. I'm sure that is what I will end up doing but I was pretty disappointed that Carnival would list it prior to booking and once booked it isn't there. Pretty confusing to me. I tried to call Carnival but of course I booked through a travel agent (first time I have done that too) and they can't help me and directed by to my travel agent AND of course my travel agent is stumped as well. Oh brother!!:rolleyes: LOL

 

I believe if you can get them to put you in touch with the excursion people at Carnival, they are allowed to speak with you even though you used a TA. We always have used a TA, and I know I have spoken to excursion people (though I'm not sure it was Carnival). Possibly your TA knows the extension for excursion information.

[summersigh]

We always use a TA for our cruise bookings but setting up the excursions IS something you can do on your own so CCL should talk to you about them. If the person you talk to says they can't help ask for a supervisor.

[sanger727]

2 things to keep in mind. Literally any beach in the Caribbean will have people offering parasailing so it's not something that has to be done in st thomas. Second, the parasailing doesn't actually take that long, would guess it's a 2 hour excursion between pickup, drop off, and set up. I would plan a beach day for you and your daughter and just do parasailing as part of that. St thomas is one of the safer islands to explore on your own.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Kermit426]

No need to worry in St. Thomas. Look on the ports of call board and TA and find a reputable provider. If all else fails, book the Fury and go snorkeling with sea turtles. My boys loved it!

 

Oh! That sounds good. Is this an excursion through Carnival or an independent. Would love to see Sea Turtles!

[coevan]

I am very knowledgeable on this subject as my son lived in St.Thomas for 3 years as a Captain who did day trips. Yes, the same company takes cruise passengers and hotel guests. He worked for 2 companies, Top Sails which has the pirate boats in Charlotte Harbour and Captain Nautica. The pirate boats sail to Turtle Cove, about an hour from the cruise ship, lots of turtles. They did not contract with Carnival at the time. The trip for hotel guests was $55, RCL shore excursion was $75, exact same trip. Captain Nautica has 3 different trips, they had power dinghies which took a tour of the mangroves and then to Christmas Cove to snorkel. The other trip was kayaking through the mangroves. The last option is parasailing. It's a Carnival fear factor about missing the ship. My son had all the cruise ships phone numbers. He might have 4 different cruise ship passengers and hotel guests on his boat.

[OCruisers]

As mentioned by others, you can find an independent for parasailing in St. Thomas.

Which other ports of call will you be going?

[Charm2018]

I am very knowledgeable on this subject as my son lived in St.Thomas for 3 years as a Captain who did day trips. Yes, the same company takes cruise passengers and hotel guests. He worked for 2 companies, Top Sails which has the pirate boats in Charlotte Harbour and Captain Nautica. The pirate boats sail to Turtle Cove, about an hour from the cruise ship, lots of turtles. They did not contract with Carnival at the time. The trip for hotel guests was $55, RCL shore excursion was $75, exact same trip. Captain Nautica has 3 different trips, they had power dinghies which took a tour of the mangroves and then to Christmas Cove to snorkel. The other trip was kayaking through the mangroves. The last option is parasailing. It's a Carnival fear factor about missing the ship. My son had all the cruise ships phone numbers. He might have 4 different cruise ship passengers and hotel guests on his boat.

 

Perfect! I never had the fear of booking private excursions until I was a single mom travelling by myself, with my daughter. It's the weirdest feeling to feel like this, as I'm a very independent person. Oh well, what can you do!! I will wait until I can book with the company online and go from there. Thanks a bunch!

[Charm2018]

We always use a TA for our cruise bookings but setting up the excursions IS something you can do on your own so CCL should talk to you about them. If the person you talk to says they can't help ask for a supervisor.

 

I thought it was strange too. Maybe I caught the person on a day where they weren't feeling very helpful!;p

[Charm2018]

Which other ports of call will you be going?

 

We are going to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and San Juan as well as St. Thomas. I am very excited to see all of them.

[A&Jfamily]

Oh! That sounds good. Is this an excursion through Carnival or an independent. Would love to see Sea Turtles!

 

Independent. Just look up Fury Charters in St. Thomas. The captain was great and even had my then 12 yo sail the boat back, along with a couple of other kids. Its a fun ride out to Little Buck Island on a true sailboat (you can sit in the cockpit but much more fun to be up on the bow on the high side - warning - you will get wet - but you are going snorkeling, right?) to the "natural turtle nursery;" the turtles are all less than about 20 years old because they are still eating sea grass and have not switched to jellies.

 

Its a fairly easy walk from the cruise ship to the Fat Turtle (a few blocks down the cruise pier and then a few blocks left along the water front) where the charter picks up. This has been one of our all time favorite short excursions.

 

What are your other ports? as others have noted, plenty of places to para-sail.

[OCruisers]

We are going to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and San Juan as well as St. Thomas. I am very excited to see all of them.

 

Grand Turk is another port you might want to consider for parasailing.

Their location is only 150 yards from the Cruise Center.

Google ... grandturkwatersports.com

[Organized Chaos]

Since you do have some time, you might want to wait a little while because your excursions should begin to appear in your cruise manager. Over time, more will be added. If you feel more comfortable booking it through Carnival, there's nothing wrong with that and I don't think it'd hurt to give it a little more time to see if it shows up. I think ours took about a month and a half to begin to appear. Granted, that was about 14 months out from our next cruise, as opposed to you being 5-6 months out. I understand how you feel. I know how a lot of people feel about booking excursions through Carnival, and even though we may not do it all of the time, we'll probably continue to do it for many of them. There are plenty of people who say they buy Cheers, not because they drink a lot, but because they simply like the convenience and the sense of security it gives them by not having to worry about the expense later. I think people see booking excursions through Carnival in a similar manner, it's convenient and provides a sense of security. To each their own.

[Charm2018]

Grand Turk is another port you might want to consider for parasailing.

Their location is only 150 yards from the Cruise Center.

Google ... grandturkwatersports.com

 

Thanks! I will look into this as well!

[Charm2018]

Since you do have some time, you might want to wait a little while because your excursions should begin to appear in your cruise manager. Over time, more will be added. If you feel more comfortable booking it through Carnival, there's nothing wrong with that and I don't think it'd hurt to give it a little more time to see if it shows up. I think ours took about a month and a half to begin to appear. Granted, that was about 14 months out from our next cruise, as opposed to you being 5-6 months out. I understand how you feel. I know how a lot of people feel about booking excursions through Carnival, and even though we may not do it all of the time, we'll probably continue to do it for many of them. There are plenty of people who say they buy Cheers, not because they drink a lot, but because they simply like the convenience and the sense of security it gives them by not having to worry about the expense later. I think people see booking excursions through Carnival in a similar manner, it's convenient and provides a sense of security. To each their own.

 

Couldn't agree more. I am hoping that it will show up on Carnival but I will also look into the ones that some posters have recommended. I booked a mixture of Carnival and private on my last cruise and this is a weird new feeling that since travelling with my daughter I am nervous to do the private. I may just have to "suck it up" and do private if it doesn't show up - put on my big mom panties, as they say.:')

 

Thanks everyone for the responses!:D

[winddawn]

When I booked my New Year's cruise a few months ago, there were hardly any excursions showing in my cruise manager. Now there are several listed that weren't there before. Keep checking online. Be aware it's very difficult to get anyone at Carnival to help you pre-cruise with excursions. Even the PVPs can't book them for passengers. Excursions pre-cruise have to be booked online in cruise manager with the exception of one excursion in Alaska. I understand what you mean about being cautious when traveling alone with your daughter. I cruise solo a lot and feel the same way when I do. I only book excursions through Carnival. The peace of mind is worth a few extra dollars to me. I hope you have a great cruise with your daughter.

[Charm2018]

When I booked my New Year's cruise a few months ago, there were hardly any excursions showing in my cruise manager. Now there are several listed that weren't there before. Keep checking online. Be aware it's very difficult to get anyone at Carnival to help you pre-cruise with excursions. Even the PVPs can't book them for passengers. Excursions pre-cruise have to be booked online in cruise manager with the exception of one excursion in Alaska. I understand what you mean about being cautious when traveling alone with your daughter. I cruise solo a lot and feel the same way when I do. I only book excursions through Carnival. The peace of mind is worth a few extra dollars to me. I hope you have a great cruise with your daughter.

 

Thank you! I really hope she loves it so we can do more!

[kc58ab]

Glad you asked this question on this Carnival board. I posed one on the ports of call board here and never have anywhere near the luck as the Carnival one on replies. I too was trying to figure out why an excursion for my cruise next year that was listed on the Carnival website wasn't on my booking manager. I was wondering if it was due to the arrival was at 1pm in San Juan. It is nice to hear more options may show up, not many choices currently on this cruise for any of the stops.

[SeaScout]

2 things to keep in mind. Literally any beach in the Caribbean will have people offering parasailing so it's not something that has to be done in st thomas. Second, the parasailing doesn't actually take that long, would guess it's a 2 hour excursion between pickup, drop off, and set up. I would plan a beach day for you and your daughter and just do parasailing as part of that. St thomas is one of the safer islands to explore on your own.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Just a point of reference for what it's worth. We've been to St. Thomas numerous times. I don't believe I have ever seen parasailing offered at Coki Beach or Sapphire Beach. If it were me, I would feel quite comfortable booking an excursion with a private vendor in St. Thomas. (we typically just grab a taxi to one of the beaches or the ferry to St.John). St. Thomas is still "in the States" so that tends to simplify things in the very unlikely event that something goes amiss.