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Help me decide between 2 St Thomas excursions


Pamp

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8 minutes ago, Pamp said:

We are on Allure Dec 23-30.  Currently booked on Turtle Bay Sail and Snorkel.  Debating switching to  the St. John Half Day Champagne Cat Sail Beach & Snorkel.  There are 3 of us - me, my DH and DD  who is 11.  

I did the Champagne Cat... through Celebrity back in September and loved it.  May or may not be the same boat and crew obviously.  For mine it was an open air bus drive across the island (about 30  minutes) and about 3-3.5 hours onboard) sailed over the st john and snorkeled off honeymoon beach.  Great natural corals with easy snorkeling.  There was also a good grass bed that several turtles were feeding on as well.  Coming back they kept the drinks flowing if that's your thing (beer, champagne, rum punch, and other options as well) as well as non-alcoholic stuff.  

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I agree with @Plumlee2028and @WAAAYTOOO's reviews. We had so much fun the first time, that we chose the Champagne Catamaran excursion again on our 2nd trip to St. Thomas. The crew was different the second time around, but still had the same fun atmosphere. Great snorkeling at St. Johns and very strong rum punch on the leg back to port. We also bought the "crew" shirts and its one our favorite souvenirs from any of our travels! (shirts were about $25-ish, cash only I think, FYI)

 

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We did the Turtle Bay in 2019 and loved it.   No bus ride - we walked off the ship and onto the boat that took us to a couple of different snorkeling locations.   The snorkeling was OK - saw some life for sure (turtles and rays), and the guides were really great.   I'm always hesitant about too much booze when on a boat and headings snorkeling as I fear 🤢🤮🤣, but they did offer drinks after we were done swimming (maybe before... but I can't remember).    But we had a great day... and to top if off the sun was setting as we were heading back to the ship and it was spectacular.   Then after the sailboat docked it was a 2 minute walk back to the ship.

Heads up - make sure you have something warm to wear for after snorkeling and returning the boat to the marina - it can get chilly and a wet towel doesn't really cut it.. my littles (11 and 9 at the time) were chilly and wished they had a hoodie or sweatshirt.

 

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We did the Champagne Cat. Loved it. Don't snorkel but they have a little dingy that will take you to the small beach, very short ride. There's a small food/drink shack and a gift shack/island tour shack, where you can also rent kayaks if you don't want to snorkel--not part of your excursion, costs extra. Crew was awesome.  Good music and drinks on the ride back. 

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They do make you wear a flotation device on the way out.

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But not on the way back. You think for safety (lots of 🍹🍹), it would be the other way around.  🙂🙂

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/19/2021 at 1:47 PM, RWDW1204 said:

We did the Champagne Cat. Loved it. Don't snorkel but they have a little dingy that will take you to the small beach, very short ride. There's a small food/drink shack and a gift shack/island tour shack, where you can also rent kayaks if you don't want to snorkel--not part of your excursion, costs extra. Crew was awesome.  Good music and drinks on the ride back. 

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They do make you wear a flotation device on the way out.

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But not on the way back. You think for safety (lots of 🍹🍹), it would be the other way around.  🙂🙂

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Do you book through the ship or is there a kiosk at the port.  This sounds perfect for my Oasis cruise in January!

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  • 6 months later...
On 12/12/2021 at 8:37 PM, Jill said:

We just did the champagne catamaran in October. None of us (2 couples) snorkeled but took dingy to beach, ordered Pain Killers and hung out in the water. Great time and great crew! 

Where there others who didn't snorkel? I don't want to feel out of place.

Neither nor my husband like to snorkel but are looking for a beach day in St. John and didn't see other options.

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14 minutes ago, MichelleB1234 said:

Where there others who didn't snorkel? I don't want to feel out of place.

Neither nor my husband like to snorkel but are looking for a beach day in St. John and didn't see other options.

I've done sailboat and catamaran excursion before with no intention of snorkeling.  I tell them that on board and that sometimes unlocks the bar for me early (when rum punch or similar is included) as they generally don't serve that before the snorkeling portion to avoid liability from drunks in the water.   If they know I'm not snorkeling once in a while I'm offered something with alcohol near or while the snorkelers are off.  

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3 hours ago, MichelleB1234 said:

Where there others who didn't snorkel? I don't want to feel out of place.

Neither nor my husband like to snorkel but are looking for a beach day in St. John and didn't see other options.

They also have a small boat to bring people ashore who didn't want to jump directly into the water.

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On 6/15/2022 at 11:54 AM, MichelleB1234 said:

Where there others who didn't snorkel? I don't want to feel out of place.

Neither nor my husband like to snorkel but are looking for a beach day in St. John and didn't see other options.

The beach time was very limited. Maybe 45 minutes to an hour) I’d look for a boat tour that specifically includes beach time. 

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On 6/15/2022 at 11:54 AM, MichelleB1234 said:

Where there others who didn't snorkel? I don't want to feel out of place.

Neither nor my husband like to snorkel but are looking for a beach day in St. John and didn't see other options.

Our cruise offers a "St. John Trunk Bay Beach Break and Snorkel" and also a "St John Trunk Bay Beach Break" that does not have the snorkel. I booked the one without the snorkel for myself. Just an option if you see it offered on your cruise.

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On 6/21/2022 at 2:53 PM, brdjnr said:

I am deciding on an excursion for St Thomas (in August) and think the Trunk Bay Beach Break might be it. I was also looking at the Skyride, Drakes Seat and Magens Bay one.

(I promise I am not trying to hijack the thread btw)

Magens Bay is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. However my sister went a few years ago and said it was nothing special. If anyone has been, I'd be curious to know their opinions!

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  • 5 months later...

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