Catamaran day cruise to Soufriere -- RCCL. Thoughts on this?

[njterp]

We are travelling on the AOS/RCCL in late July/early August and have signed up for this excursion. Does anyone have any experience with this particular tour?

 

This will be our second cruise. The first was 20 years ago on the Chandris Line -- MS Victoria. I have no idea what to expect on the cruise so am looking for all the information I can gather. Thanks.

[Cruising Lions]

My wife and I really enjoyed this one. The rum punch is very good on the catamaran but strong.

[njterp]

Thanks for the response. My wife, children (14 and 9) and I are scheduled for this shore excursion. Will the kids enjoy the "drive-in volcano" and the working farm? Do they have soft drinks on the catamaran for the kids? Was your day cruise very crowded or do they keep the numbers manageable. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Cruising Lions]

I think your kids will enjoy all parts of the excursion. Yes there are sodas available. The catamaran was not a drunken affair even though it was all you want to drink. The numbers were not large. Wear your bathing suits because you have an opportunity on the way back to take a sswim off the catamanran. Nice photo ops along the way.

[toonjie]

My wife and I first did this tour through Barefoot Tours when we were in St. Lucia for a week and then I took my mom on the one through RCCL when we were on the AOS. The one through Barefoot was so much better! First, when you use the ship, there was a larger group, 85-90 or so as oppossed to 40 or so on our first tour. The catamaran RCCL used didn't actually sail, but ran it's motor the whole time, never putting up the sails! The Barefoot Catamaran sailed down and only used its motor so we didn't have to tach back. The only other real difference was that on the Barefoot trip we went to a restaurant for a buffet and it was a gorgeous open air restaurant right near the botanical gardens and there was a great view and waterfalls, etc. with very good food. On the RCCL trip they gave us lunch on the boat and the food was not good at all. The crew on the boat were nicer on Barefoot as was the Catamaran itself. The one Barefoot used had the roped netting up front where you could lie suspended over the water. The Catamaran RCCL used just had folding chairs and the deck was all metal like a ferry boat. I think Barefoot charges $90 per person, but it is well worth the extra bucks. Both boats leave from the same place. I highly recommend you switch and do it on our own. The only advantage RCCL has is the guarantee of not missing the ship, but I have never heard of one of these day sails missing the ship, so don't worry about that.

[toonjie]

Whoops, just looked at the date of your post and ou may have already gone. How was it? Either way I'm sure it was a great day!