Captain Morgan's Sailing Adventure

[lionheart]

HAS anyone done this through RCCL. I am on the adventure of the seas.

 

thanks

[mjyanne]

Just returned from the Serenade of the Seas (Mar 17 - 22). We pre booked the Captain Morgan's Sailing Adventure (4 ½ hour excursion; $82/person). The description provided is “Join Capt. Serge and his professional crew on this traditional sailing experience around the Southern coast of St. Maarten. A BBQ lunch and time for swimming and snorkeling will be available on this exclusive sailing adventure. Minimum age to participate is 3 years old. Capt. Serge and his professional crew will take you to experience traditional sailing, on a discovery of the beautiful southern coast of the island. You'll see Cay Bay, Simpson Bay, and Maho. Also enjoy sailing to Baie Longue, one of the island’s most beautiful and peaceful white sand beaches, where you will anchor for BBQ lunch and swimming or snorkeling (snorkeling equipment provided). Baie Longue offers total tranquility and with this stunning backdrop everybody can ‘de-compress’ with the occasional dip in the crystal waters and regular visits to the floating bar. If your goal is simply to relax and do as little as possible, you can recline in comfort on Capt. Morgan’s large on-deck sun lounges while sipping the special rum punch and soaking up the sunshine listening to the wonderful Caribbean music. Then you set sail and head back to Philipsburg being pushed along by the trade winds. Relaxing music, a complimentary bar and a tropical fruit salad gets you back to the cruise ship pier. Captain Morgan is not as big as the party boats. Leaving the crowds behind you, Capt. Morgan welcomes a maximum of 20 passengers to ensure an ambiance of private luxury. That leaves plenty of room on the deck with spots of shade and lots of sun. All cruises on Capt. Morgan are staffed by a friendly crew who will accompany you throughout your tour and treat you to fabulous service.” There were 20 of us on this excursion as well. In my opinion, 20 people is too many for this boat as there is really not enough seating and really no place to lounge on the boat (except for a small cushioned area that will accommodate maybe 4 people max (2 sitting and 2 laying down). This was definitely more of a relaxed sailing and we definitely felt the waves and rough water as we sailed towards the French side of St Maarten. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice sail but if you are susceptible to seasickness you may want to reconsider this excursion (we actually had one person who spent the last 30 minutes of the trip “feeding the fish” from the French side to the Dutch side of the island). Once we got to Baie Longue, we anchored, swam, and snorkeled (not a great snorkeling site) (snorkeling gear, noodles and waist belts were provided). The water was calm, clear and cool in places. While we swam, lunch was prepared and after 30 minutes or so, we returned to the boat for a very good chicken lunch accompanied by a delicious potato salad and green salad. Scrapes were fed to the few fish that were in the area. Overall, a nice day and nice excursion. Having done it once, don’t think I would do it again but if you are looking for relaxing sail this would fit the bill.

[xraygal38]

we just got back from a sail on the mariner of the seas. our excursion in st. martiin was also captain morgan's. 8 people from my party went and we all loved it. the sail over to the cove was beautiful, the cove was wonderful and the water was awesome. capt. serge and kiki were terrific and capt. serge fixed us a great lunch. kiki fixed us great rum punch. snorkeling was fun and the sail back was very relaxing. there was nothing about the trip we didn't like. would highly recommend it to anyone.

[hcat]

Can anyone provide an update on this excursion. We are signed up for it in January for our Jewel of the Seas cruise . The beach it goes to looks very nice & we are looking for a relaxing sail, a bit of snorkeling & the lunch-- but I am wondering if anyone else experienced rough seas ?

[jerick]

Can anyone provide an update on this excursion. We are signed up for it in January for our Jewel of the Seas cruise . The beach it goes to looks very nice & we are looking for a relaxing sail, a bit of snorkeling & the lunch-- but I am wondering if anyone else experienced rough seas ?

 

I can't give an "update" per se, but I have also been on this excursion - in October, 2006. The beach is nice, the sailing and the boat itself are very nice, and the lunch is good. I enjoyed the experience for the most part, but am somewhat susceptible to seasickness on small boats and was a little green on the return trip. The water was not very rough, but there was enough motion to get to me. If I did it again I would take ginger tablets beforehand. Others in my family had a wonderful time and were not affected at all by the motion.

 

On an earlier visit I did the 12 metre yacht race, which was a blast, but by the end I'd had more than enough.

 

I was in St. Maarten again a couple of weeks ago. The water was very rough, probably due to the early effects of TS Noel, and I was glad not to be on a waterborne excursion. I'm afraid rough or smooth seas are just not predictable.

 

Do the excursion, but take some ginger just to be safe.

 

Jeff

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the info.

[TYMAN]

hcat....we're doing this excursion in December on the Mariner, I'll give you an update when we get back.

[hcat]

I am looking for the update--we are still booked for January on this trip--I like the idea of going with only a few people.

Only time I felt seasick in the past was on the tranfer from St Thomas to St John's over a large open area of water--but i will prepare ahead of time with the ginger...

 

So anyone on this trip recently pls give me your thoughts! Was there any shade on board? Was the crew nice? Did you have fun?

[auggiemom]

Wish I could give you an update, but because of sea swells, our excursion for this last week got cancelled. However, would still love to know how it was, so if you get to go, give us an update when you get back.

[hcat]

Sea swells--not too encouraging--was this after a storm or just how it is on that side of the island? What did you do instead?

 

When people say to take ginger--where do you get it?

[2Ports]

the "Lord Sheffield Pirate ship" tour discussed in:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=673255

 

??

 

We'll be in SM twice in 3 weeks and am looking for cool stuff to do.

[hcat]

actaully Lord Sheffield's is a different ship than Cap Morgan's . OUr cruiseline offers both. Based upon the very solid reviews of Sheffield's we cancelled Capt Morgan's & re-booked Sheffields...It seems to go to calmer places closer to the port & the hours will work out for us to do some shopping in St martin...

[auggiemom]

Both had been cancelled on our cruise, however keep in mind, we also cruised directly through tropical storm Olga last week. So it was rough. I hope no matter which you choose, you have a good time.

[marleneb@nckcn.com]

We just got back from a cruise on Jewell of the Sea. Stay away from Captain Morgan's adventure. It was more like "Guilian's Island Three Hour Tour" truly not knowing if we were getting back safely. There were three of us and at no time did we have fun. A waist of our money.