Powercat to St. John Beach, Snorkeling and Christmas Cove - STF1

[AntMarini]

Thanks to everyone for their reviews. My partner and I are planning on doing this excursion when in St. Thomas near the early June. We are both strong swimmers, and prefer to dive down when snorkeling. What is the approx water depth, and are life vest mandatory?

 

Thanks in advance.

Tony

[RQINFL]

For those of you who have recently done this excursion, what was the water temperature? Thanks!

[golfer1966]

This excursion has not even started to run yet. It is a brand new tour and the boat is currently in transit to St. Thomas from Florida. It will be hard to find reviews yet. Maybe you can be the first and let the rest of us know how it goes:D

 

 

I did this tour in December while on the Serenade. It was a GREAT tour. We actually found that the snorkeling was better at Honeymoon Beach than at Christmas Cove, although there were two huge Cuddas there. Did that have anything to do with it...who knows. I like the Power Cat over the otehr Cats because it got us there faster and more time to snorkel and swim. The crew was great !!

[CruisnKs]

Are there beaches at each stop? We have this booked and will be taking our 7 and 8 year old sons who can be a little bit timid. They have snorkeled off the beach before and liked it, but we saw very minimal animal life. They have also done the Stingray City excursion in Grand Cayman and were a tiny bit overwhelmed. It's hard to predict how they would react to a barracuda or anything similar. I would hate to be sitting on the boat the entire trip, so for those who have taken the excursion, do you think it would be suitable for us?

[LounVal]

Did they charges for the beer and Pain Killers and if so how much???

Thanks

[allentownahoy]

Do you need to be a strong swimmer for this excursion? Can you just swim from the beach at both stops or at any point must you swim to and from the ship?

[htjmom]

Cruisinks & allentownahoy - there isn't a beach at Christmas Cove, it's just jump of the boat and snorkeling, the beach at Honeymoon Cove you have to swim to from the catamaran, life jackets I believe are mandatory, there were a ton of kids on our tour, I guess it depends on how timid they are. The water in December was 80 degrees everyone commented on how warm it was.

 

LounVal - no charge for the drinks, but I left a nice tip at the end.:D

[CruisnKs]

Thanks htjmom! It's a relief for me to know that there were kids on the tour. I think my boys will be fine.

[rcprncss]

Someone mentioned 80 people on this catamaran. Wow! That seems like a lot. Were there plenty of seats? Anyone else go and remember how many people were on it? 80 people seems kind of crowded. Thanks.

[sailin_away]

We were on the Freedom of the Seas and went on this tour last week. We had a blast. This is a really big cat, so 80 people wouldn't be a problem. There are plenty of seats. Crew was awesome, friendly, informative. Free drinks. The "life vests" are mandatory, but unless they are filled with air, which you do yourself, they don't provide much buoyancy. The ride from port was wonderful, big waves, lots of spray, just a great ride. Anyone let me know if you have other questions.

[rcprncss]

Sailin Away, did you get to go to a beach? If so, how close did the catamaran anchor to the beach? Thank you for your review also! :)

[sailin_away]

Yes, second stop was a beach, resort area in a really nice cove. The boat anchored a bit from the beach. You could swim if you were inclined, (wasn't very far) or the crew would take you to the beach with a dinghy. We opted to stay on the boat and swim from there.

[rcprncss]

Thanks!!! :)

[Budget Queen]

Was there decent snorkeling at this second stop, (with the beach stop). Or only at the first stop.

[sailin_away]

BQ, we didn't snorkel at the second stop, had a good time socializing with the crew. It was more "beachy" so not sure the snorkeling would have been as good as the more "reafy" area at the first stop. Both stops though, the crew had advice as to the best places to snorkel, and you could tag along with them in a group, or go on your own where you wanted. Hope that helps.

[ETski]

Bimini Breeze (Power Cat) is up an running. Just got back from the Explorer on Sunday and had a blast. Crew is young, wild and crazy! Sort of a snorkel party boat. Even if you don't snorkel you should have a great time. Watch out for those Painkiller drinks, yummy, but powerful. Could barely walk back to the ship :D They also had soft drinks, water and local beer. I think they also chips and salsa They started to serve refreshmen after we snorkeled, for safety reasons, and now I know why. Did see some pretty fish and a big baracuda, at Christmas Cove. Best excursion I ever took. Any questions please ask.

[denise_q]

We're going to be on FOTS in April, and we were thinking about doing this tour. Can someone tell me what time this tour gets back to the ship?

[htjmom]

I don't remember the exact time but we knew we would be pushing getting to our early sitting dinner so we booked Portofino for that night at 7pm and had plenty of time for showers etc. If you wanted to explore anywhere else there wouldn't be very much time. Great excursion though one of the best I have been on!:)

[BabySam99]

We just returned on the 20th from our cruise on the RC Adventure of the Seas. We took the excursion aboard the Binimi Breeze and it was wonderful. The captain and crew were great and the snorkeling was the best we've had.

The terrible thing tht happened was that we were going to the beach after snorkeling for a while and I was knocked over by a wave. I didn't realize I lost my underwater camera (stainless steel Olympus) until about 10 minutes later when we were swimming back to the boat. If we had more time, I am sure I could have found it, but we had to leave. I know that it is still floating around out there and I wish I could get my photos back, as it was the last day of our cruise. There is a nice reward it anyone finds it.

 

Did you have any luck? I have the same camera and would be so upset if I lost it...so I feel your pain. I will keep an eye out for it we are going to do this exscursion next week...I know its a slim chance but i will still keep an eye out you never know...maybe washed up on the shore! We can hope right?!

XO

Kim

[Moo_Cruiser]

Hi all

 

I originally found this tour on the RCI website, however it seems it's not available for Oasis OTS passengers now, at least I can't see it on our 8 May sailing.

 

Has anyone who has sailed on Oasis done this one? Been keen to find out if it's being offered or not.

 

Thanks

 

Amanda

[eviledna]

This thread has helped a lot! now im almost sure to be booking this one!!

[doubloonstthomas]

Bimini Breeze operates a full day tour to the British Virgin Islands on Oasis of the Seas. No place better than Jost Van Dyke!!

[Crystalcat]

I'm interested in this excursion, however DH wants a rough time breakdown - how long to get to first snorkel site, how long to you get there, how long at second site, how long to get back to ship? He's been sailing before so depending on what the sail to snorkel ration is, we might opt for one of the other excursions.

 

Thanks!

[denise_q]

I don't remember the exact time but we knew we would be pushing getting to our early sitting dinner so we booked Portofino for that night at 7pm and had plenty of time for showers etc. If you wanted to explore anywhere else there wouldn't be very much time. Great excursion though one of the best I have been on!:)

 

Thanks for the info HTJ!:)

[BabySam99]

I leave Friday for Indy and I have booked this with about 10 others I can let you know timelines when I get back if that will help...:D

XO

Kim