RCCL excursion: Captain Morgan's (St. Maarten)

[skiiergirl]

Has anyone done the Captain Morgan's excursion in St. Maarten through RCCL? I think it is a relatively new shore ex on the RCCL list. I may have just missed it before but don't remember seeing it in years past. Has anyone taken it as an RC shore ex? If so, how is it? We usually do the Golden Eagle or the America's Cup in St. M but would like to maybe do another exursion this year.

(MODS: Please do not move this to the ports board. I realize it is kind of a port topic but I put it here for two reasons. First, because I specifically want to ask if any folks have done it through RC. While I am interested in opinions/thoughts/comments by folks that have done it on their own or through any other cruiseline I also want to know about anyone that has booked it through RC. Secondly, because the ports boards don't get nearly as much traffic as the RC boards. Wish they did...but they don't....as least to my knowledge! Thanks!!!!!)

[jerick]

Edit - I posted here before I realized that you have already seen my comments on the St. Martin forum.

[skiiergirl]

Edit - I posted here before I realized that you have already seen my comments on the St. Martin forum.

 

jerick....thanks again for your info. Yes, I read your replies on the St. Martin forum. But you are the only one that has replied there so thought I'd post it here too. I appreciate your response and hope others have some insight too. Thanks again.

[skiiergirl]

Has nobody else done the Captain Morgan's in St. M? Through RC or otherwise? Comments and suggestions appreciated. Ok then....what about the Lord Sheffield....has anyone done it on your own while on a RC cruise (or otherwise)?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Have a Happy Halloween and a great week!

[Ella2]

Yes, we did the Captain Morgan excursion in early July.

 

It's a LOOONG story, but to boil it down:

 

- The boat itself is very nice, the crew (I forget their names, the woman is something like Tiki, forget the other one's name) was very friendly...but the CAPTAIN I had issues with.

 

- Nice sail to Baie Longue; you pass that beach where it looks like the planes land directly OVER you at St. Maarten's airport. That was very cool.

 

- The food was average for this type of excursion. In Baie Longue, you are able to snorkel or swim to shore and hang on the beach. Unlike other snorkeling excursions I've been on, on this one, they are POURING rum drinks for the snorkelers while they snorkel. :cool:

 

That all leads to the HUGE problem we had with this excursion.

 

Aside from the fact that the CAPTAIN himself was pounding back the brewskis while he made the BBQ lunch (I've done countless catamaran and snorkeling excursions and have NEVER, EVER seen the person in command of the boat drinking while working) it led to an ever bigger issue.

 

As we left Baie Longue, it became obvious as we rounded the bend that the weather had turned VERY quickly. The wind was whipping, the seas were HUGE for a 65-foot schooner (8 feet), and we were faced with a LONG, VERY VERY rocky trip back. On this excursion we had some children, including my 13-year-old, and another family had even younger children.

 

I ended up in the cockpit with my daughter, trying to shield her from the huge waves that were crashing over the boat. And there was the CAPTAIN, still pounding back the brewskis, with his back TURNED from the wheel, trying to explain to the people behind us that he THOUGHT it might be bad weather that day, but he decided it would be okay after all. :rolleyes: Hello, Captain, can you please STEER the damn boat and quit talking to people behind you? I have sailed many times, and there ARE ways to minimize the effects of waves and heavy seas while sailing...he barely even held the wheel.

 

Long story short, we ended up having to ABORT the trip back (we never would have made it to the ship in time), so instead of sailing back we had to land in Simpson Bay (this was still a good 45-minute white knuckle ride), and they then had to take us on the little inflatable dinghy to shore and get a bus to take us back. From the dinghy we had to hoist up about 5 feet to get to the dock; my little and very spry 72-year-old mother ended up getting a nasty gash on her foot from it...she's only 5 feet tall and it was just too high a jump for her.

 

Okay, I said I would make this short and I didn't. :p To summarize, NO, I would not take this excursion again. I do think the crew, ship and excursion itself are fine, and I know the weather was a fluke...but I have NO tolerance for someone in charge of an excursion boat DRINKING while in command, especially in what turned out to be basically an emergency situation. We were all very calm during the whole thing, but it EASILY could have been a disastrous situation. I have never felt unsafe on a boat excursion (and I've done MANY) but I did in this instance.

 

And no, I didn't report them to RCCL...I probably shoud have, in hindisght.

[gbgalnow]

Yes, we booked the Capt. Morgan's Sailing Adventure. In hindsight, not my cup of tea and not sure I would do it again.

 

As we prepared to sail, we were told that because of the choppy seas, we would need to stow all our bags so they would not fall off the sailboat. Not a problem, but I didn't realize we couldn't get to the bags til we reached the beach which was a 90 minute ride on very rough waters. Needless to say, my sunscreen was in my bag, and I burned very badly. I spent probalby 60 of those minutes flat on my back as they have nothing to give persons who are seasick. :(

 

Once we got to the beach, I thought we would be brought to shore and able to take our towels, bags, etc with us. Not the case. We anchored 500 yards off the beach and had to swim to shore. Once ashore, we soon discovered that this was a Topless Beach :eek: . Im sure it was to my husbands liking, I however could've done without the view. Im sure the parents of the very young members of our boat had lots of explaining to do! After about an hour at this beach, we had to swim back to the boat, against the current.

 

Another part of this "adventure sailing" was the lunch, which I thought would be served on shore. Also not the case, after swimming you sit on the boat in your wet suits and whatnot and they give you a plate of food. As good as it looked, I wasn't able to eat any of it because we were sitting on a rocking boat that was once again making me sick. The trip back to the ship was just like the trip out. Very Rocky and again, I spent most of it on my back staring up to the sky.

 

Don't get me wrong, my husband said he had a really good time, but he felt bad because I was soo sick and now lobster red.

 

To confirm the other posters accusations of the captain drinking during the sailing....yes, he was, but not abusively that I noticed. Of course, I was on my back most of the time. :rolleyes:

[skiiergirl]

OMG.....Thank you to all of you. I think that puts a big "NO" for them in our shore ex list. Thanks so much for the info!

[yogadi]

My husband and I took a group of 16 American teenagers to St.Martin where our hosts recommended Captain Morgan's charter. To say the least we were exremely satisfied with our adventure. Our group is used to being pampered and were definitly not disappointed with the schooner, Captain Serge and Tiki, the fabulous food and the amazing waters off St.Martin.

I have had plenty of these types of excursions over the past twenty years and this one ranks very high on my list. I promise you that you'll not find a friendlier crew, cleaner boat or better food. Don't miss Captain Morgan's adventure while docked at St.Martin. It is so much fun and a real bargain as well!:D

[glossygal121]

I have to agree! This was our best excursion ever! The crew was the best we ever had, too. We went on this excursion this past Jan. while on the Serenade. We did have beautiful weather and calm seas and no children on board; we had about 12 to 15 adults on board - very private & relaxing. There where no other people on the beach while we where there, so no topless sunbathers.........LOL. I picked this excursion because it said it's for people that want to "decompress" and it definitely lived up to our expectations. My favorite part was floating in the water with my delicious rum drink that was served while we were all floating around in the water - loved it!!!!!!!!!! And all you can drink too! The food was also very good.

 

This was my experience and it sure was heaven!!!

 

If you have any more questions, just ask away.

 

Sue

[CoolCruiser6]

I totally disagree with these comments. A group of 10 family and friends on mine sailed with Tiki and Serge last year. We had a wonderful time!!!

They were very concerned with our safety. I never saw either one of them drink anything but water. They would not allow any of us have any alcohol until after we snorkeled, and we begged believe me!!!

We had several children with us and they were very helpful in making sure that they had the right snorkeling equiptment for their size. They also answered the many questions that they had about the boat.

Tiki prepared this delicious barbecue lunch for us. Right in the middle of the ocean. It was awesome!!! We were very hungry after snorkeling, and she had more than enough for everyone.

We went back to St. Maarten this year and tried to take their excursion again. They were committed to RCCL, but Tiki helped me find an alternative. We had fun, but I would have preferred Captain Morgan's.

These comments are totally ridiculous!!! Don't believe them!! They seem to prefer to find the negative in that trip than the positive. Unfortunately, weather can play a part in the success of an excursion like that, but they shouldn't blame the hosts.

Captain Morgan's Rocks!!!!!

[gbgalnow]

You know, each of us has had different experiences, and I believe that future travelers would want to hear the truth, the good and the bad. My experience was not that great, your experience was different than mine. But I wouldn't discredit anyone elses experience because quite simply YOU WERE NOT THERE for each and everyone of them! There was another family on my particular trip that also was unhappy that day, so I know it wasn't just me with the same experience!

 

I will agree with you on One Point of your Post and that is anyone snorkeling was not allowed to have the Rum Punch til afterwards, however, the rest of us NON-Snorkelers were able to drink as we swam to shore.

 

I believe the experience I had was less than I had anticipated due to the advertising we read. It was misleading and alot of the experience was not explained fully.

 

As for the drinking on the sailboat by the staff.....perhaps they didn't feel like drinking on the day you went...but they sure were on the day we were. That could be the difference between your experience and mine, and maybe others as well.

 

Glad you had a Nice Trip!