Silver Moon vs. Tiami Catamaran

[hokie78]

Sorry for the repetitive nature of this post. Lots of positive raves about Silver Moon and am strongly considering it. Can someone please confirm that this is strictly an "on your own" excursion and not bookable through RCI?

I usually prefer independent arragements anyway. The description of the RCI excursion with Tiami Catamarans on Barbados sounds very much like the day on SM. Any comment on that would also be appreciated.

[wrp96]

The Silver Moon is definitely only bookable independently. The maximum number of people allowed on the Cats is 12 people, 18 on the SM II. Either way it is highly worth it.

[Sheffie]

Yes, this is a "strictly on your own" excursion. I am not sure of the price difference, but this excursion is worth every penny!

[Hypnotize]

After taking the tour last week, take the Silvermoon tour! The tours are very similar but the Tiami catamaran was way too overcrowded. On Silvermoon we got a great lunch, had free alcohol, and the staff was attentive and professional. You will not be dissapointed by the Silvermoon tour, I guarantee it.

[Sunniebgi]

I'm sorry to say, but all the catamaran sailings are the same.. We just don't have that much of usable coast line and sailing seas around those coast lines to be able to vary the experience. These days it seems the Turtle excursions are the most popular so they all go to the same beach.

 

When we as locals plan a day like that we stop at different places up and down the west coast, places that the tourist excursions go to.. not sure why, just how they do things.

[OPSoccermom]

We were in Barbados last week (Thursday 4/20) on Serenade. Sunnie is correct in that all of the tours basically go to the same places. The big difference is in price, service, and the number of people on board. Last week, we book Heat Wave (owne by the Boatyard). It is the same tour on a large catamaran as the other catamaran tours, but we paid $75, and we were the ONLY 3 people on board with a crew of 3, a great lunch buffet, and an umlimited open bar! Because it was only three of us, they were able to to do what we wanted after we did the turtles and shipwreck snorkeling. Our crew loved it when Tiami and El tigre pulled in with there large number of passengers. In fact, they stirred up the fish just watch them jump in the large grour of snorkelers - lots of flailing and screaming!

 

Since there were only the three of us, we had lots of individed attention from the crew, and lots of people on the other tour groups staring at us, wondering how these 3 people had a catamaran all to themselves. It's not hard, if you book it independently!

 

What a fantastic day!

[ParrotTops]

Sunni is absolutely correct in saying that the coastline (and turtles) are the same no matter which catamaran you take--that's why is EVEN MORE important to book a tour that sets it apart from the rest...the Silvermoon does just that! It was the best tour we booked on our 11 day RCCL cruise! It's also the first time in over 12 cruises with RCCL that we booked an independent tour...the ones we booked with ship this time around were terrible for some reason--I usually have better luck with the ship's excursions. The train in St. Kitts was broken down yet the ship sent 200 of us all the way to the station anyway--in spite of the fact they knew the train was still being worked on and thus wasted our whole day at that port, the snorkeling trip we took in Aruba was on a filthy boat and the tour boat in St. Lucia ran out of gas in the middle of the ocean and we had to wait for another boat to come rescue us and were late boarding the ship!! We also booked the much touted Eli's Eco tour in Antigua and although it was better than the ships excursion, it was really over-rated in my book. If you want to feel like "the rich and famous" and get 5 star treatment--book the Silvermoon!

[jtmalt]

Sunni is absolutely correct in saying that the coastline (and turtles) are the same no matter which catamaran you take--that's why is EVEN MORE important to book a tour that sets it apart from the rest...the Silvermoon does just that! It was the best tour we booked on our 11 day RCCL cruise! It's also the first time in over 12 cruises with RCCL that we booked an independent tour...the ones we booked with ship this time around were terrible for some reason--I usually have better luck with the ship's excursions. The train in St. Kitts was broken down yet the ship sent 200 of us all the way to the station anyway--in spite of the fact they knew the train was still being worked on and thus wasted our whole day at that port, the snorkeling trip we took in Aruba was on a filthy boat and the tour boat in St. Lucia ran out of gas in the middle of the ocean and we had to wait for another boat to come rescue us and were late boarding the ship!! We also booked the much touted Eli's Eco tour in Antigua and although it was better than the ships excursion, it was really over-rated in my book. If you want to feel like "the rich and famous" and get 5 star treatment--book the Silvermoon!

 

ParrotTops, how did you go about booking from that Cat from the Boatyard? Was it something you did spur-of-the-moment, or had you arranged it in advance?

 

I realize this is an old thread, but perhaps you're still subscribed to it?

[Rural11]

Actually, it was OPSoccermom that posted about the Cat at the Boatyard. Their website can be found here: http://www.heatwavesailingcruises.com/

[jtmalt]

Actually, it was OPSoccermom that posted about the Cat at the Boatyard. Their website can be found here: http://www.heatwavesailingcruises.com/

 

Thanks for catching that, Rural, and thanks for the link. I'll check it out!