Recommendations for excursions, please!

[MsB1254]

We are two couple who will be travelling on the Noordam Jan 13 - 23, 2012. The itinerary is the ABC islands, Grand Turk, Samana, and half moon cay. We are thinking about an atv tour on Samana with either razor tours or tours with Terry. Has anyone done either one? We would like to snorkel and are thinking about Bonaire with wonder if the waters are rougher there and if another island might have calmer waters. Not sure if we are experienced enough to fight waves. Also thinking about the ship excursion on Grand Turk with kayaking. Please give recommendations. We have tried our roll call and Dominican Republic boards with no success. Thanks for any and all help.

[catl331]

Bonaire sounds nice and warm down there for snorkeling and calmness.

We have been in the water at Half Moon and it is cold in Dec and also in Grand Turk. It could be rough in the northern islands due to winter in the U.S. and the cold fronts rushing down in January. If it ws too rough the Kayaking would be canceled anyway.

HAL has not included the Dom. Rep. on many of its cruises before and therefore, many people have not responded. Someone would come along. I think Royal Carib. cruisers have more knowledge.

[STREETKING]

We did this itinerary on the Noordam last year, it also was our first time sailing on Holland and we both loved it! In Samana we did the horse back trip to the El Limon waterfalls and it was fantastic. We also did a snorkeling excursion on the Woodwind in Bonaire and had a great excursion. If you have any other questions or concerns let me know and I'll do my best to help out.

[SwissMyst]

There is also a "ports" section of Cruise Critic where you can get shore excursion tips.

[NorthTXRanchers]

My advice is rather generic, but might be as valuable to you as it's been to us. Check out the website tripadvisor and read the traveler reviews for "things to do" at your chosen locations. I've used the traveler recommendations for every excursion since discovering the resource/sit and haven't yet to be disappointed. The best part is that the excursions have been more private (aka not filled with other cruisers), we weren't packed on a van or bus to get there (just a taxi ride or walk) and got WAY more for our dollar. Our catamaran sailing expedition for super cheap at Key West was the best excursion value for our dollar. I just ensure that I talk to the excursion company staff personally over the phone to ensure that I won't have a problem getting back to the ship in time. So far so good. Good enough that we never buy excursions through the cruise lines anymore. :)

[soldham]

I would recommend Aruba for snorkling myself. And (IMO) there is not alot of other things to do there other than look at weird huge rocks that look like they were dumped from the sky. Though I think there is also some ancient cave/rock carvings...

Bonaire is a fun place to rent a car and take a tour of the island. The old slave huts are very sobering, the salt ponds with the flamingos mesmerizing, and the drive is just a blast in one of those tiny cars.

Finally - IMO (yet again) the best part of the Curacao stop is Willemstad itself and an entire day can be spent at the market or wandering around town.

End of my lesson in ABC's :D

[penk99]

We did this cruise last year - it was fabulous!

We love to snorkel, so we did this as much as possible.

In HMC, we did the snorkel by boat. It was great and a short enough excursion you could do something else while there.

In Grand Turk we did the snorkel/stingray excursion. The water was warm and it was a good trip. You snorkel first for about 45 minutes and then they take the boat over to the little cove where the rays are. Very fun.

In the Dominican Republic we did the 4X4 tour through the ship. We got to see a lot of the countryside. They take you to a local farm. It was very interesting. I had wanted to do Terry's tour, but I was outvoted. But I had done quite a bit of research and if you are going to do a tour not affiliated with the cruise, I think that's a good way to go. I'm not sure about the snorkeling there.

In Bonaire, we did the catamaran drift snorkel through Woodwind. http://www.woodwindbonaire.com/ This was an EXCELLENT trip. They split us into 2 groups based on experience - there were beginners and they helped everyone feel very comfortable. The snorkeling there was FANTASTIC. Do not miss an opportunity to snorkel in Bonaire. The island caters to divers because of the excellent sea life - there were a ton of sea turtles. In fact, we are planning on doing this cruise again next spring and we will be contacting Woodwind again.

In Curacao, we went again with a private tour - www.curacao-actief.com (http://www.curacao-actief.com/)
This was a GREAT experience. Very small groups. They took us through town and pointed out all of the sites. Then we snorkeled at a sunken tugboat site. We saw sooooo many different kinds of fish, even a juvenile Barracuda and a lion fish. You are in port a long time there, so even when you get back, you've got plenty of time to explore - lots to see within walking distance of the port.

Aruba was nice too - it was more commercialized and less quaint than the other 2 ABC islands. The beaches are gorgeous. We snorkeled a bit, as the water is clear. The other 2 snorkeling trips up above were hard to match though!

Have a great trip!

[MsB1254]

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. There were some really helpful ideas and recommendations. I have contacted Woodwind in Bonaire for a snorkel tour. The other islands I still have had any decisons and will try to do some more research.

[RetiredMustang]

We did that itinerary Februrary 2010. I think the snorkeling is best on Bonaire, although we also enjoyed snorkeling off Aruba.

On previous cruises, we snorkeled Gibbs Cay and Round Cay off Grand Turk. The day on Gibbs Cay was fine, but we encountered wind on Round Cay. We have also snorkeled Half Moon Cay a few times. As catl331 wrote, both Grand Turk and HMC can have cooler water than the ABCs.

At Samana, we took the whale-watching excursion, and were very fortunate and saw many whales. There are no guarantees, of course, but when you are going is prime season for whale watching and you might want to think about that.

You might also find my blog of that cruise helpful a bit:


Added on edit: Sorry for the senior moment there -- I hit the submit response button when I was actually trying to post the link. Here's the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1143462

Dave

[MsB1254]

I really enjoyed reading your blog from your cruise on the Noordam. It was very entertaining and helpful at the same time. Was your two site snorkel tour in Bonaire a ship excursion? We also live about 20 miles south of D.C. Thanks again.

[RetiredMustang]

I really enjoyed reading your blog from your cruise on the Noordam. It was very entertaining and helpful at the same time. Was your two site snorkel tour in Bonaire a ship excursion? We also live about 20 miles south of D.C. Thanks again.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed reading my comments. Yes, the snorkel trip in Bonaire was booked through the ship, not a private arrangement. It was very convenient, as the snorkel boat tied up just down the pier from the ship.

Enjoy your cruise!

Dave