Bonaire - Future Cruises

[meadowlander]

On 11/3/2020 at 12:18 PM, bobmacliberty said:

I know that Dee (the wife in the husband and wife pair that own the business) was battling cancer (I think) and they were temporarily closed.  I hope she's doing well.  

 

For those who read this troubling claim, I will quote directly from an email I received today from Ulf (Dee's husband)...

 

"Dee is NOT ill and Woodwind is in full opertion"

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

21 minutes ago, meadowlander said:

For those who read this troubling claim, I will quote directly from an email I received today from Ulf (Dee's husband)...

 

"Dee is NOT ill and Woodwind is in full opertion"

 

 

Thank you for posting this, and my apologizes for passing on unsubstantiated info.  I got my info from a posting on the Bonaire board, not directly from Woodwind.  Glad to hear that all is well with Dee.  Dee and Ulf are fantastic.

[bobmacliberty]

I went back to the Bonaire board to see why I thought Dee had cancer.  It was in post #48 in my linked review above.

  

On 1/26/2020 at 9:12 AM, dkksk said:

my wife and I just snorkeled with wood wind for the 2nd time this last Thursday. This was our 2nd time snorkeling with woodwind. As before the snorkeling was great. The crew was also great. The one thing we found out is that the owner Dee was not on the boat. She had to fly back to the Netherlands a couple weeks ago for aggresive treat of stage 4 breast cancer. We all hope and pray she does well.

 

Either the above poster was wrong, or Dee is back at work.  Either way, good news.

 

 

[xpcdoojk]

On 11/2/2020 at 8:13 PM, Milwaukee Eight said:

What was it you liked about Bonaire?  We were there once. Rented a golf cart and rode it around the salt farms and around the back side. It was unique but nothing really special to us. 
 

Thanks

The diving is phenomenal and easy, with dive sites lining the west coast of the island.  It is very underdeveloped island, which I found appealing on our land / diving vacations there.  

 

JC

 

 

[Milwaukee Eight]

4 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

The diving is phenomenal and easy, with dive sites lining the west coast of the island.  It is very underdeveloped island, which I found appealing on our land / diving vacations there.  

 

JC

 

 

I am (was) a Master Diver and Cave/Cavern Certified. Growing up in Florida, it was fun. I retired my gear when I turned 60. I do miss it. 
 

M8
 

 

[xpcdoojk]

I am only a recreational diver, but I have made a couple of hundred dives all over the planet.  Last dived at 60 years old on heron island, Australia on our last trip there in 2019.  Don’t know if I will ever dive again or not, and I will not be doing any dedicated diving vacations in the future. I do dive every year in non counting dives under our boat dock in the summer recovering things that people drop by accident.  I don’t count those as they are usually in only 10 to 20 feet of water and sometimes not even that deep.  Only use a tank because the visibility is often not great.

[SNJCruisers]

Princess has a few 8 night sailings in November and December of 2021.  Their newest ship, the Enchanted will also be doing 10 night sailings between November of 2021 and March of 2022.

[gmerick]

I have a week long trip to Bonaire on 15 May.  7 days of unlimited shore dives, 2 boat dives per day, free Nitrox fills.  I took my first SCUBA training 2 years ago at 59, and have logged 50 dives already.  Hate to see you two stop diving at 60.  That's just a number folks, taking up SCUBA was my mid-life crisis hobby.

[The Fun Researcher]

On 11/2/2020 at 7:49 PM, Smartipantz said:

But it leaves out of San Juan, right?  Not sure that will work for us.  Dang!  I got my hopes up!  

 

If you need an excursion for Bonaire, I highly suggest you rent a golf cart and drive it around the island for the day.  It was THE BEST excursion and highly worth the $90 it cost the two of us.  If you need more info, let me know!  

 

On 11/3/2020 at 4:31 AM, jean87510 said:

Our favorite thing is renting a car and seeing more of island.  You cant do donkey sanctuary in a golf cart. Very easy and much cheaper to take ferry to klein bonaire and do your own snorkeling.  We also went to the beach near the salt flats where we saw dozens of turtles.  Bonaire is an island where you just need your snorkeling gear and a car so you can get places quicker and get more in on your day. No excursions are needed.  

 

We looked into golf carts but ended up renting small SUV's from Hertz at the Divi Flamingo resort, which is only about a 5 minute walk from the port.  The SUV's were air conditioned and faster than a golf cart.  We were able to drive the entire island in one day.  Started out heading west to snorkle at multiple locations (karpata, 1000 steps, etc...) then heading north to the reserve, then all the way southeast to the salt flats and old slave huts.  Had the most amazing food at kite city, a well known food truck there.  The beach out front of kite city was fantastic, and the snorkeling was great there too.  It's one of, if not THE best, day we've had in all of our cruising.

Dan

[xpcdoojk]

2 hours ago, gmerick said:

I have a week long trip to Bonaire on 15 May.  7 days of unlimited shore dives, 2 boat dives per day, free Nitrox fills.  I took my first SCUBA training 2 years ago at 59, and have logged 50 dives already.  Hate to see you two stop diving at 60.  That's just a number folks, taking up SCUBA was my mid-life crisis hobby.

 

I have given up dedicated dive trips like what you are doing in Bonaire.  I envy you that trip.  Great diving.  If I am somewhere for a few days, I would probably do a dive or two.  Like I have done on the Great Barrier Reef at Heron Island on our two trips there over the last decade.  I still dive every summer under the boat dock.  I used to take Golf Vacations with the guys, but now rarely play golf on vacation.  When we visited Scotland 7 years ago (wow 7 years ago) we played the Old Course at St Andrews with rental clubs.  We played 3 rounds there which was just a matter of how can you not.  So, if I were to spend a week or most of a week at Bonaire, or more likely Aruba, I would probably do a tank or two worth of dives.  We just don’t go to the beach for vacation any more.  I don’t like diving while on a cruise, because it is always a rushed experience, and if you are not comfortable you should not dive.  Found that out in Barbados in 1999, when I had a panic attack when I couldn’t get my ears to clear because of the rush, and felt I was being left behind.  Got on the dive boat.  The DM was all upset because I quit, so the next dive he dove with me.  Afterwards, he asked why I didn’t want to do the first dive because I was clearly comfortable and experienced on the second dive.  It simply comes down to if I don’t feel comfortable, I will abort rather than going thru the motions.  

 

JC

[jean87510]

3 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 

We looked into golf carts but ended up renting small SUV's from Hertz at the Divi Flamingo resort, which is only about a 5 minute walk from the port.  The SUV's were air conditioned and faster than a golf cart.  We were able to drive the entire island in one day.  Started out heading west to snorkle at multiple locations (karpata, 1000 steps, etc...) then heading north to the reserve, then all the way southeast to the salt flats and old slave huts.  Had the most amazing food at kite city, a well known food truck there.  The beach out front of kite city was fantastic, and the snorkeling was great there too.  It's one of, if not THE best, day we've had in all of our cruising.

Dan

Agree.  Cars are the way to go.  Sounds like you did the same thing as us with karputa and 1000 steps!  Did you snorkel at the salt flats?  Many turtles when we were there.  We will be back there in January 2022 and will either go back to Klein bonaire or rent the car again.  

[jean87510]

On 11/2/2020 at 7:03 PM, Smartipantz said:

We had an ABC cruise scheduled for November 12, 2021 on the Explorer of the Seas.  Mid October, Royal moved people to a "similar" cruise on Radiance of the Seas (Labadee, San Juan, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, St. Croix and Dominican Republic).  We specifically booked our cruise for the ABC islands.  I went to look into rebooking another ABC cruise and it appears that none of the itineraries include Bonaire for any future cruises.  They include Aruba and Curacao but not Bonaire.  Does anyone know why that is?  We are super bummed because Bonaire is our favorite!

There is a January 2022 Explorer of the seas that does all 3 ABCs

[fredflint]

rental car is about 50 bucks a day  will depend on your dates of course

 

https://www.abcarrental.com/book-now?#/reservation/2

 

 

[travelhound]

On 11/3/2020 at 6:24 AM, packedandready said:

We’re booked on Explorer April 4 out of Miami. ABCs. Bonaire still listed. I’m beginning to have my doubts this will sail, so we’ll just wait and see. 

We were booked on an ABC 9 day on Explorer for March 26th, but rescheduled for a 7 day on the 28th on Allure, to be CDC compliant.  We didn't think the CDC would lift the 7 day restriction soon enough for that cruise.  The itinerary is not as good, but at this point we will be happy to sail anywhere at that time 🙂

Edited November 20, 2020 by travelhound

[lenquixote66]

On 11/2/2020 at 7:03 PM, Smartipantz said:

We had an ABC cruise scheduled for November 12, 2021 on the Explorer of the Seas.  Mid October, Royal moved people to a "similar" cruise on Radiance of the Seas (Labadee, San Juan, St. Maartin, St. Kitts, St. Croix and Dominican Republic).  We specifically booked our cruise for the ABC islands.  I went to look into rebooking another ABC cruise and it appears that none of the itineraries include Bonaire for any future cruises.  They include Aruba and Curacao but not Bonaire.  Does anyone know why that is?  We are super bummed because Bonaire is our favorite!

I was on a cruise in October of last year that had a stop at Bonaire.I booked the cruise because I had never been there before and always wanted to go.It is a beautiful island.

[The Fun Researcher]

17 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Agree.  Cars are the way to go.  Sounds like you did the same thing as us with karputa and 1000 steps!  Did you snorkel at the salt flats?  Many turtles when we were there.  We will be back there in January 2022 and will either go back to Klein bonaire or rent the car again.  

By the time we got to the salt flats we were starting to run out of time after all of the other activities we did that day so unfortunately we did not see the turtles. However we saw a ton of them in Curaçao the next day. It was awesome

 

Dan

[Soul Brother]

On 11/2/2020 at 10:40 PM, Hoopster95 said:

I am amazed that the #1 excursion for years and years mentioned on this forum by an overwhelming majority has not yet been mentioned:

https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/

 

In my view (may I speak for others?) this is one of the top 5 excursions in the entire Caribbean.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2310655-adventureabcs-aug-20-272016-review-wlots-of-photos/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-49701646

 

We did this on our Freedom cruise based on recommendations from these boards. 

It was incredible. 

They catered to all folks' snorkeling level, provided noodles for anyone that wanted one to help float and pointed out so many things we would have missed if snorkeling on our own.

I even had a sea turtle come right up to me practically face to face.

 

IMO, this is a must if visiting Bonaire and if you're hesitant about snorkeling, they will help you with no issues.

Dee even picked out the right mask on the first shot for my son who wears glasses.  

Truly an excursion you won't forget.

[bouhunter]

On 11/2/2020 at 9:49 PM, fredflint said:

Bonaire is one of the few islands you can drink the water anywhere ( all is desalinated from seawater) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've been drinking the water in the Caribbean for 20+ years - at least 10-12 islands.  The Caribbean islands are not Mexico.

 

Woodwind on Bonaire was one of the best snorkeling trips we've done.

[xpcdoojk]

2 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

We've been drinking the water in the Caribbean for 20+ years - at least 10-12 islands.  The Caribbean islands are not Mexico.

 

Woodwind on Bonaire was one of the best snorkeling trips we've done.

If a person were to ask me as a new diver where to go for a week of great and effortless diving, my recommendation would be without hesitation in the Caribbean. Bonaire.  A week on the island will bore a person who doesn’t dive, but I love the place.  It was a challenge for the wives.  Not that they don’t have found memories, but we did some day trips to Aruba and Curaçao.  

 

JC