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Has anyone done an Antilles EcoQuest tour? We'll be heading to St. Thomas, USVI in March. Looking for a walking tour of Charlotte Amalie. Their ratings prior to hurricanes were super, city tour seems to be something new for them. Seems like a good way to be escorted to town in safety too. Thanks for the info. Happy Cruising

By FlowBro Ty Here's some photo of the flowrider on the freedom of the seas. Let Me Know If You Liked It And Comment Thanks FlowBro Ty

We will be aboard Symphony of the Seas Apr 21-28, 2018. Does anyone have any suggestions for a tour of Cinque Terra (La Spezia port on Apr 24th) while travelling with a senior who has mobility issues? She is limited to walking short distances and climbing few steps, but we will be bringing a foldable lightweight wheel chair for easy transport. We are concerned about rugged terrain and numerous steps to climb in some of the small villages of Cinque Terre. Greatly appreciate your suggestions.

In April when we were on a cruise visiting Sint. Maarten we decided to go on a tour we booked before arrival on the Island. We had read good things about the tour on trip-advisor and decided to go on a snorkeling tour with the Swaliga 2 with a group of 4. When we arrived at Bobby's Marina (very close to the cruise facility) we were welcomed by the crew. Captain JP and his mate / hostess Jessica introduced themselves and after waiting for some other groups that were also going on the excursion in the same boat we left the marina around 9.30 AM. The boat was a fast motorized yellow catamaran and before we knew it we were on our way with a total of about 30 people. After about 25-30 minutes we arrived at the airport location were the boat stopped for a while so we could take pictures of the planes that were landing and arriving. After the short stop the boat headed on to the other side of the island, the French side. It was a beautiful experience floating along the beautiful beaches of the French side of the island. Around 11 AM we arrived at a location called Creole Rock where we were able to snorkel and swim in the beautiful blue waters. We stayed there for about 45 minutes before the boat left again to go to Pinel Island. We arrived at Pinel at about 12.15 and enjoyed a very good lunch at a restaurant called karabuni's which is located on Pinel Island. The options for lunch were Mahi Mahi (fish), Chicken or Ribs. Our group choose the fish and we really enjoyed it. The atmosphere on Pinel was really breathtaking. After lunch we were able to swim and snorkel in the waters around Pinel or enjoy the sun on the beach in one of the many beach chairs available. While in the water, the crew took excellent care of the passengers, there were plenty of free drinks and the boat was clean and nicely equipped. The rum-punch was the best! Also very nice was the knowledge the captain shared with the passengers by telling things about the history of the island and telling about the nature that surrounds the island. Around 2 PM the boat left again, taking the passengers to another island that was called Tintamarre. We really had the most wonderful experience there while swimming with the turtles that are living in the waters near that island. After about an hour, the boat left back to Philipsburg and dropped us of very close to the cruise facility. We really had a great day and were on time to be back on the cruise ship in time. If we ever will be on St. Maarten again, we will definitely go on the Swaliga 2 snorkeling excursion again! Because of the good experience we had on that tour, i decided to share this with other people that will be on a Royal Caribbean cruise to St. Maarten and that would love to see the Island in a special way.

Hello friends of RCCL, just four more weeks for us until embarkation and time has come to think about the cruise details and the things we want do do and see in the different port of calls. I was wondering what the favorite form of shore excursion would be among the community. Do you prefer organized tours or do you go on your own? For ourselves we prefer the individual approach. Yes, it takes more time to plan and prepare the excursion but I always have the good feeling that the I really can do and see things I really want to see. And I can take my time if a special place is of more interest than expected, nobody forces us tu hurry up and we are not depending on a group. Sometimes we do something together with other people we have met on board that share the same interests. I just have the feeling that one have a deeper experience when you are traveling around buy feet, with public transportation or a rented car than driving around with a tour bus. In some places organized tour are making perfectly sense, for example in Ephesus/Turkey (too far away from the port or St. Petersburg/Russia (without a purchased tour ticket you won't cross the russian boarder (if you don't have a valid visa), but most places can be explored individually, just give it a try! What do you think about it? Greetings from Germany Dirk