Review - Princess Full day Catamaran Sail to St John

[cs]

I'm reposting my review since it may have gotten lost in my other post.

 

This excursion was AWESOME!!! I think it was the very best shore excursion we've ever done.

 

First, you catch the catamaran right there at Crown Bay port. There was no drive involved which made me very relieved.

 

This is a barefoot sailing so be prepared to take your shoes off. You might want to have those piggys pedicured ahead of time if you need to. A couple of men on this excursion must not have been prepared to be barefoot - if you know what I mean. ;)

 

The Princess description says that it is drinks, lunch, and alcohol on the way back. So we were surprised that they were passing out rum punch on the way there. Basically, it was an open bar the whole time. If you drink, that's a pretty good deal (considering the open bar) for the price of the excursion.

 

The staff was great. The captain is young, which at first made me nervous, but he was very professional and has a good sense of humor. Very nice people who work on the boat.

 

There was an area inside that you could go to for shade and lots of space outside to sit in the sun. It's pretty breezy when you're sailing so it never felt hot outside. But remember to reapply your sunscreen - you don't really feel yourself burning because of the breeze.

 

This is a smoking sail. There was courtesy by both the smokers and non-smokers so it wasn't an issue at all.

 

Our sail both over and back was pretty smooth. The staff said that we got lucky with the smooth sailing so I'd say if you're prone to seasickness to take something ahead of time.

 

It's a pretty long ride. I think it was supposed to be two hours there and an hour and a half back (because of the tail winds). But we ended up making better time than expected. I couldn't tell you how long it took because I wasn't wearing a watch and really didn't care what time it was. Besides the captain blows a conch shell to tell us all aboard (when on the beach in St John) - lol - and he was pretty good at it too!

 

We went to Honeymoon Bay Beach in St John. When we got there we had the option of going to shore with the dingy or swimming to shore. We took the dingy over because we wanted to carry some dry stuff with us.

 

We were given snorkel equipment to use. The captain offered snorkeling lessons to first time snorkelers (which I didn't take and should have - lol). I ended up with a mask full of water more than once and couldn't get the hang of keeping my lips closed so I'd get a mouth full of water too - lol.

 

What little snorkeling I did, I saw some pretty fish there. Some other people had seen Sea Turtles and a Barracuda too. The water there was perfect and clear. St John is georgous.

 

During the time we were on the beach they had put out a lunch buffet. We waited until we returned to eat but others swam back, ate, and then played some more. They had sandwich stuff, cold salads, and chips. They also had really good homemade cookies and brownies.

 

The sail back was great, we relaxed and listened to caribbean music and enjoyed the trip.

 

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

[azkcruizers]

I will be sailing on Holland America, but I wondered if you knew what the name of the catamaran was that you sailed on? Was it Heavenly Days?

Thanks:)

[cs]

I will be sailing on Holland America, but I wondered if you knew what the name of the catamaran was that you sailed on? Was it Heavenly Days?

Thanks:)

 

Yes, that's exactly the one. Is that the one Holland offers too?

[TTEllis]

WOW!!! That sounds like a GREAT tour, Im headed back to St. Thomas this November on the Emerald Princess had planned on renting a car on St. John this time and just cruising the island but that Full-day Cat sail sounds toooo SWEET!! Do you have a rough idea of what time you got back to the ship?? Reason I asked was that I'd like to shop a bit in downtown Charlotte Amalie I didnt get to last Dec. and would like to get some shopping in this time, BUT its not a priority. About how much time did you get to spend at the beach? You booked that with Princess?? and about how many people were with you on the cat.?? Thanks alot for the great review and all the info. Im definitely going to consider this tour for my whole day on St. Thomas. Thanks again Todd

[cs]

WOW!!! That sounds like a GREAT tour, Im headed back to St. Thomas this November on the Emerald Princess had planned on renting a car on St. John this time and just cruising the island but that Full-day Cat sail sounds toooo SWEET!! Do you have a rough idea of what time you got back to the ship?? Reason I asked was that I'd like to shop a bit in downtown Charlotte Amalie I didnt get to last Dec. and would like to get some shopping in this time, BUT its not a priority. About how much time did you get to spend at the beach? You booked that with Princess?? and about how many people were with you on the cat.?? Thanks alot for the great review and all the info. Im definitely going to consider this tour for my whole day on St. Thomas. Thanks again Todd

 

Since it was a full day sail we didn't have enough time to go to Charlotte Amalie. We had about an hour before all aboard time. There were shops right at Crown Bay but not a whole lot of them. Before we sailed, we had a few minutes to stop in Crown Bay (and you will afterwards too). We ordered liquor in at one of the shops (I think AJ Rise) and had it delivered to the ship for us which was very convenient.

 

You have around 2 hours (a bit more if you make better time going there) at the beach in St John.

 

Yes, we booked directly with Princess. You can't book this tour direct if you are on the ship (because of their contract with Princess). I felt more secure going through Princess anyway since it was a tight schedule getting back.

 

There were about 25 people on the sail and it was comfortable.

[azkcruizers]

All of the excursions are not posted yet on my Holland America cruise, but I think they only offer a half day sail and it's definately not Heavenly Days. I know Heavenly Days is at Bolongo Bay resort. I've contacted them to do it on my own, but we are not sailing until Feb. 2009 and they don't have a schedule yet. As of now the full day sail is only available on Tuesdays, but I will be there on a Wednesday. I'm hoping there schedule changes for next year and I may book them independently. My parents are traveling with us and I don't think my mother could be comfortable on something smaller than a catamaran, plus we have 7 people and a lot of the daysails only take 6. I've also looked into a catamaran called Daydreamer, but I'm not sure about them. If the catamaran doesn't work out my husband and I may take our three kids and go on Rumbaba or Treazzure. Did Heavenly Days have comfortable seating with backs and or cushions? Thanks for your info:)

[cs]

azkcruizers, they have seats with cushions inside but they're not plush. Outside you're just sitting directly on the boat so it's a little more "roughing it" than "luxury".

[azkcruizers]

Thank you, I haven't been able to find many pictures of it. I did find a lot of pictures on the www.daydreamervi.com website of that catamaran and that looks comfy, but maybe it's different than heavenly days. Maybe if you get a chance you could look and tell me. When you go to the website if you click on daysails on the left a photo link pops up. When you click on that there are a lot of pictures. The inside looks comfy with blue cushions. I'd love it if you could let me know. If not, I'm glad you had a great time. thanks again

[cs]

Thank you, I haven't been able to find many pictures of it. I did find a lot of pictures on the www.daydreamervi.com website of that catamaran and that looks comfy, but maybe it's different than heavenly days. Maybe if you get a chance you could look and tell me. When you go to the website if you click on daysails on the left a photo link pops up. When you click on that there are a lot of pictures. The inside looks comfy with blue cushions. I'd love it if you could let me know. If not, I'm glad you had a great time. thanks again

 

The blue cushions that you see are what's on the inside of Heavenly Days. They don't have seats outside - you just sit on the floor.

[azkcruizers]

Thank you I appreciate all of your help!!