Explorer Review - Long - 4/11 thru 4/20

[pmfan]

Enjoyed reading your detailed review. It sounds like you and your family had a great cruise.

[kimbo444]

The Christmas Cove excursion you booked, was that through the ship or something on your own? Would a 9 & 10 year old like it?

[stormy63]

The Christmas Cove excursion you booked, was that through the ship or something on your own? Would a 9 & 10 year old like it?

 

 

I did purchase the excursion directly through Royal Caribbean...I actually did it on-line before the cruise versus on the ship, but same thing. It's called Caribbean Sail to Christmas and Honeymoon Cove. It's 6.5 hours and you can get additional information on it on the RCCL web-site under Shore Excursions for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

 

I think that a 9 & 10 year old would absolutely love it, but it just depends on what activities your family enjoys. There were just under 30 people on the boat (it sounds crowded, but it wasn't at all) and I would say that about 10 of them were kids between the ages of 2 and 18. Everyone had a great time and the crew entertained all age levels. The kids got to drive the boat out in open water, they all loved the snorkeling and at Honeymoon Beach, we had a beautiful sandy beach and calm waters almost completely to ourselves. There's a swim platform they can swim out to to jump off of....or they can snorkel some more. The BBQ was truly wonderful, but there aren't commercial facilities there.....no lounge chairs, shops and such. For our family, it was perfect!! We talked to other families who did shorter snorkeling trips - 1/2 day - to Christmas Cove only, so that they had 1/2 day to explore/shop (the shopping in St. Thomas is great), versus the beach time. They had a great time on their trips as well. Everyone seemed to love St. Thomas, whether they booked a RCCL excursion, one on their own, or just explored in a taxi. It's a great, safe port!

 

Check out all the excursions on the RCCL website and the CC boards for this port. I just gave my family some options and our kids actually chose this excursion, but they are a bit older. Have fun! I don't think you can go wrong no matter what you decide to do in St. Thomas! :)