"Ultimate Island Experience" Carnival Excursion

[kcbutterfly]

Has anyone done this excursion through Carnival? What was your experience?

 

Ultimate Island Experience

 

Your Carnival destination of Charlotte Amalie offers some of the best shopping, sightseeing and beaches in the Caribbean. This is one St. Thomas shore excursion that offers all the highlights you’ll want to enjoy while you’re here.

Your Ultimate Island Experience begins with a scenic ride along Skyline Drive for majestic views of Charlotte Amalie Harbor, the British Virgin Islands, Magen’s Bay and the surrounding cays flanked against the blue sky.

You’ll arrive at the beach at Magen’s Bay to see first hand why National Geographic rated it as one of the top beaches in the world. Magen’s Bay beach provides lifeguards, showers, restrooms, a snack counter, a bar, a souvenir shop, and concessions for beach chairs, floats, windsurfers and small sailboats. You’ll have two hours to go swimming, relax under the warm tropical sun, or go beachcombing for treasure. History notes that Sir Francis Drake anchored here and lay in wait to plunder any foreign ships that sailed in to the harbor.

Once you leave the beach, your St. Thomas shore excursion takes you to Blackbeard’s Castle, a national historic landmark, for a self-guided tour. Discover pirate hideouts, historic manor houses, botanical gardens, archaeological sites, sparkling pools, an Amber Waterfall and Museum, as well as the Rum Factory and the 99 Steps.

The Danes built the steps in the mid 1700s who found that they provided an easier way of climbing the steep hills of Charlotte Amalie. The bricks that they used were ballast in the ship’s hulls of sailing ships. If you actually want to climb the steps, there are actually 103!

Your St. Thomas tour concludes with duty-free shopping on Main Street. Search for bargains on artwork, Caribbean handcrafts, electronics, fragrances, leather goods, linens and luxury items such as jewelry, watches, crystal and china.

When you’re ready to return to your “Fun Ship” at the end of the day, a short harbor cruise will take you back.

So if you’d like to take in all the highlights Charlotte Amalie has to offer, book the Ultimate Island Experience now. It’s a truly splendid way to add fun ashore to your fun afloat.

[Irishvisions]

You should check out Godfrey Tours in St. Thomas. You'll get the exact tour for a fraction of the cost that Carnival charges. I've used his services 3 times so far and he was amazing. He even pulled off the side of the road to climb a tree to pluck fruit from the tree for all of us to sample. Tasted like papaya. He has a couple scheduled tours but he was willing to alter it if that's what the customers wanted. You won't be disappointed.

[kcbutterfly]

Thanks Irishvisions - I think I would be more comfortable going through the cruiseline though. Has anyone done this excursion through Carnival?

[kcbutterfly]

Bumping this - I'd really like to hear from someone who has done this excursion. :)

[JenSpice]

We've pre-booked this tour for our upcoming cruise on the Freedom - it seems really promising, and I'll try to remember to post an update when we get home!

[kcbutterfly]

We've pre-booked this tour for our upcoming cruise on the Freedom - it seems really promising, and I'll try to remember to post an update when we get home!

 

 

Thank you for replying. I would love to read about your experience when you get back.

[Prairie_Gal]

Here is the review from someone who did it recently. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1352568&highlight=ultimate+island+experience&page=5

 

If you do a search on the Carnival forum you might come up with others. Just make sure you use quotation marks in your search.

[cruisecrazy09]

My husband and I did this excursion two years ago with Carnival and we thought it was fantastic. You really get a lot of bang for your buck (at least we did...not sure what the cost is now compared to when we did it). Our favorite part was Magen's Bay...the water was crystal clear and calm, we felt almost as if we were in a swimming pool. If you are looking for a general tour of the island, some beach time and a chance to shop this is the excursion for you!