Rainmaker619

I did this excursion last week, and I had the exact same experience. The driver gave us 20 minutes to shop and told us if we weren't back on the bus in 20 minutes, we'd be left behind. We had about 10 minutes of shopping and 10 minutes of standing in line to pay. That was it! When I told RC about it, they had the audacity to ask me if the excursion description stated how much shopping time we'd have. It did not, yet it does state "Indulge your passion for the great recommended shopping..." and "free time of shopping," which wasn't the case. I wouldn't consider 20 minutes (10 minutes to shop and 10 minutes to stand in line) anywhere near indulging a passion for shopping nor "free time" for shopping. Apparently, RC's idea of free time for shopping is at the market at the port, which you can get off the ship and do yourself. It has nothing to do with the excursion. The description also states "A cornucopia of beaches," yet the only beach you see is Magen's Bay. You don't drive by any other beaches. The description also states "as you walk amongst historic landmarks..." yet you're on the bus the entire time minus the 20 minutes at Mountain Top and the two hours at Magen's Bay. RC's idea of visiting "Historic Downtown" is driving down a rundown street on the way back to the port. Overall, the excursion consisted of jumping on a dirty bus, heading to Mountain Top, having 20 minutes to "shop", being dropped off at Magen's Bay (dirty and overcrowded) for two hours, and driving through a rundown "Main St." on the way back to the port. Our other two excursions (CocoCay and St. Martin) were much more enjoyable. They actually lived up to the description.

Did anyone else experience severe bug bites on this cruise? My wife and I had to go to medical and received two different medications because we were itching severely. It started off on our ankles and traveled up our legs, stomach, chest, shoulders, etc. We went back and forth with Guest Services and they finally agreed to pay for our medical visit, which to me, is the very least they could do. Then they said that was our "final compensation" and kept trying to claim the bites came from one of the ports. Even if they did, we paid for excursions, so I explained to them that, if they did occur at a port, they put us in an unsafe environment. One of the Guest Services supervisors admitted (I have it on video), that they have a sand flea issue at CocoCay, yet they refuse to compensate us in anyway. They claim this was the first time this has ever happened, which is not true at all since I found there's even cruise bug bite lawyers in Florida, so obviously, it's not an isolated issue. This was my first cruise, and it's unfortunate that I had to spend several days burdened with bug bites and itching profusely. We booked another cruise next year through NextCruise prior to the bug bites, and now I'm apprehensive of cruising again!

I was at Magen's Bay last week and it was overcrowded and dirty. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. My wife went several years ago and said it was nice. I'm not sure what happened.