Discover St. Thomas and Magens Bay

[Gary Olsen]

This excursion is an outside service off Wonder of the Seas, Dec 14th. The trip to Magen's Bay was fine however the stated to the Mountain Top was a disaster. The guide said in no uncertain terms you had 30 minutes at this location and then its all aboard. Its a 10 minute walk from the lot to the bar/ gift shop where you can see the spectacular scenery of the island from its heights. The main attractions here are the World Famous banana daiquiris, over 700 million sold, picture taking and grabbing a souvenir. Given the 30 minute time window being down to a 10 minute limit inside, 20 minutes walking time, it is impossible to experience ANY of the 3 mentioned. I was told by RCL that the excursion was completed on time and no compensation was due. This is misrepresented in the explanation of what this excursion entails. Mountain Top shopping and picture taking? Good luck in 10 minutes! Avoid this charade at all costs, it is not worth the $101.98 for two that we paid. 

[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.