Catamaran Sail & Snorkel--RC

[JD1011]

Has anyone been on this excursion & if so would you recommend it? :) The family loves snorkeling and this looks like the trip for us. Not crazy that it takes most of our time in DR, though. Please let me know likes/dislikes. Thanks.

[MEcruzr]

Just back from our cruise... so maybe I can help. If the cat excursion you're referring to is the 82' catamaran snorkeling trip, we took that one. We are two adults with our adult kids... 18, 24, 47 and 52. WE had fun. Not sure if everyone with us did, though. I knew, from CC, what to expect (not much). We went with a good attitude, met some great people and had fun. The cat is very nice... big, stable, clean. The snorkeling leaves MUCH to be desired, though. Lots of underwater trash (plastic bags, TONS and TONS of shoes... weird..., just junk) but not many fish. They give you bread to feed them and that attracts a few fish... but the bottom is mostly sand (and trash) and that doesn't attract many fish. The mask/snorkel provided were good. We had a difficult time finding flippers that fit (too big or too small) and they don't help you... you have to dig through totes to find them yourself. You also are required to wear a lifevest. Which is fine, but they're ARE the orange coast guard type. As someone said on a previous post, snorkeling with a lifevest that's designed to float you on your back isn't the best way to snorkel. You can take it off, though, so long as you keep it with/near you. The day we were there it was ROUGH. Big swells that make it difficult to swim back to the boat and even more difficult to get into the boat. One lady had to be "rescued" from the beach because she couldn't swim against the waves. Another lady almost couldn't get up the ladder because she couldn't pull herself up with her arms (your feet on the bottom rung are just about at water level). The crew was great, though. Friendly, fun and seemed to enjoy their job. On the ride back to the ship they played music, danced and opened the bar (sodas, water, punch, beer, rum). We felt, even with the "less than ideal" things, that the trip was well worth it and we had fun. Knowing what to expect helped to avoid disappointment. We knew it wouldn't be the best snorkeling... but we intended to have fun and we did.

[ontheopenseas]

JD1011, if you didn't see it already, this review was posted on the main RCCL board- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=722061. Not very promising but I guess it depends on what you're looking for.