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St. John Half Day Champagne Catamaran Sail - RCI excursion

christineann

By christineann,
in St. Thomas/St. John

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GettingFeetWet

GettingFeetWet

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Christieann - a friend and I just returned from this cruise and did that exact half-day sail. It was awesome and I definitely would recommend it. The catamaran has a great crew; they made it alot of fun. The boat was comfortable and we had everything needed for snorkeling. I'm not sure why its called "champagne" sail - after snorkeling, drinks were offered and I think champagne was one of the choices (I chose rum punch). The sail is very nice and takes you to Honeymoon Beach for snorkeling. You can choose to snorkel in the deeper water or the crew will take you by dinghy up to the beach to relax there or snorkel closer to the shoreline. There were not many other people on the beach (one other boat, I believe), but that would depend on number of ships in port that day. We saw several sea turtles, which was exciting.

 

As far as recommending this for honeymooners - well, I'm not sure what you are looking for in that department. As far as a catamaran sail and snorkeling excursion, we thought it was great!

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christineann

christineann

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Thanks for your reply. The excursion is actually for my son and his fiancee, and they were looking at this one. I told them I would ask on the board to see if it's a good one and to make sure it's not a very crowded excursion.

 

It sounds like a nice trip. Thanks again!

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johneeo

johneeo

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Thanks for your reply. The excursion is actually for my son and his fiancee, and they were looking at this one. I told them I would ask on the board to see if it's a good one and to make sure it's not a very crowded excursion.

 

It sounds like a nice trip. Thanks again!

 

We did it and had a blast.

 

Great excursion.

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Irishwhiskey

Irishwhiskey

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I would recommend it to anyone.Its was a fun time.You get to sail,snorkle and lay on the beach on St John's all in the same day.The party begins on the trip back to port.Everyone was singing on the way back to the ship.We went on the afternoon excursion and loved the pain killers.

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johneeo

johneeo

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My husband and I where looking at this excursion for our upcoming cruise. My question is we do not snorkel, do you think this is worth it to be able to enjoy the sail and lay on the beach?

 

Absolutely.

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  • 1 year later...
ciera123

ciera123

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We did it last year for the second time and have it booked for May. There were probably no more than 20 people and the catamaran was large, so it didn't feel crowed at all. The crew is fun (without making it a real party atmosphere) and very knowledgable about the area. You sail over to Honeymoon Bay and they anchor there. You can snorkel, swim to the beach (or they can take you in on a dingy) or lounge around the boat. You stay for about 1 1/2 hours, then sail back with the crew pointing out homes, islands, anything interesting. After everyone is done in the water they serve you drinks, cheeses, breads and fruits. We normally do tours on our own and stay away from the ship sponsored tours, but this one is the exception!

Edited by ciera123
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clcurry

clcurry

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We did it last year for the second time and have it booked for May. There were probably no more than 20 people and the catamaran was large, so it didn't feel crowed at all. The crew is fun (without making it a real party atmosphere) and very knowledgable about the area. You sail over to Honeymoon Bay and they anchor there. You can snorkel, swim to the beach (or they can take you in on a dingy) or lounge around the boat. You stay for about 1 1/2 hours, then sail back with the crew pointing out homes, islands, anything interesting. After everyone is done in the water they serve you drinks, cheeses, breads and fruits. We normally do tours on our own and stay away from the ship sponsored tours, but this one is the exception!

 

This is what I want to hear! I am considering this and have not book a ship-sponsored excursion and it is nice to know it isn't packed aboard. Just out of curiosity, how much were the beverages flowing? :o

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ciera123

ciera123

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This is what I want to hear! I am considering this and have not book a ship-sponsored excursion and it is nice to know it isn't packed aboard. Just out of curiosity, how much were the beverages flowing? :o

 

The amount of time they're serving drinks is only about 1 hour, the time it takes to get back to the starting place. You could drink as much as you wanted, but it is NOT a party, drink all you can kind of excursion. We loved it and we're not what you'd call party people. It's just a fun, beautiful and relaxing day! :)

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FoxyBride14

FoxyBride14

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For people who went on this excursion already, could we bring a regular camera on it? Or will the camera get water on it when we go to St. John? Would a water camera be better? I have both, but the non-water camera takes better pictures. Thanks!!!

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ciera123

ciera123

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For people who went on this excursion already, could we bring a regular camera on it? Or will the camera get water on it when we go to St. John? Would a water camera be better? I have both, but the non-water camera takes better pictures. Thanks!!!

 

I took my good, non-waterproof camera with me and it was fine. I did NOT take it to the beach with me since my DS has one that's waterproof, but on the catamaran mine was just fine.

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blue_water

blue_water

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For people who went on this excursion already, could we bring a regular camera on it? Or will the camera get water on it when we go to St. John? Would a water camera be better? I have both, but the non-water camera takes better pictures. Thanks!!!

 

A point & shoot (non-SLR) camera is fine on the boat and on land. Obviously if you're a snorkeler you'll want the underwater camera.

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  • 3 weeks later...
johneeo

johneeo

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For people who went on this excursion already, could we bring a regular camera on it? Or will the camera get water on it when we go to St. John?

 

Well, you really will not know you are on "St. John". You anchor off the beach, and most people snorkle and swim from the cat.

 

Some people will go to the beach and lay around and swim.

 

I see no reason you could not take your camera on the dinghy to the beach. I always put my camera in a zip lock baggie anyway.

 

Here is a picture of the beach. To the right is where the snorkeling reefs were:

 

IMG_2712.jpg

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flgatormom29

flgatormom29

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Well, yabbotou really will not know you are on "St. John". You anchor off the beach, and most people snorkle and swim from the cat.

 

Some people will go to the beach and lay around and swim.

 

I see no reason you could not take your camera on the dinghy to the beach. I always put my camera in a zip lock baggie anyway.

 

Here is a picture of the beach. To the right is where the snorkeling reefs were:

 

IMG_2712.jpg

 

WOW!!!!!! I have been thinking about this excursion and going back and forth on what I wanted to do....But that picture just sold me! How beautiful!!!

thank u for sharing!

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