Has anyone done the Fan-Ta-Sea catamaran cruise in St. Kitts?

[Marie & Ian]

I'm not quite sure what to do in St. Kitts on our upcoming Summit cruise and I'm interested in the Fan-Ta-Sea catamaran cruise Celebrity is offering at a not-so-cheap price of $95pp.

 

There's no listing for St. Kitts on the Ports of Call board.

 

Can any Celebrity cruisers out there help me?

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000

 

[kayakfam]

Marie - We're on the Summit - same itinerary - for October. You have to look under "Other Caribbean Ports" on the Ports of Call board. I remember seeing some postings about the Fan-Ta Se catamaran cruise. I've tried to attach a link to a review of the cruise. One of my fellow CC passengers researched this trip and it HAS to be booked through Celebrity.

 

Deb

 

Fan-Ta-Sea Review

[Texed]

We were on Fan-ta-Sea. It was a pretty good trip. Fair snorkeling, pretty nice time. Not exceptional, but not disappointing either.

 

Texed

 

[PaulaS8071]

Hi,

We did the Fan-ta-Sea last year on the Millie. We loved it. We enjoyed the snorkeling, but afterwards we went to a small beach on Nevis. The bar-b-que lunch was only fair, but the beach itself was breathtaking. My boys were diving down and pulling up huge starfish (which we immediately threw back in!) and other shells. It was like an unspoiled paradise. I would definately take this excursion again.

 

PaulaS8071

[nwu]

This was one of the best excursions I have ever taken. The snorkeling is not great but the ride over is so beautiful and the beach is amazing. The beach is deserted and when the boat pulls up all the wild goats go running. The beach reminded me a lot of Maui--lush green cliffs. I would definitely do it again.

[chessbriar]

Marie and Ian,

 

There are a bunch of us from your cruise on this excursion. Join the rest of us and have a ball.

 

RICK

 

Galaxy 3/01 SC, 9/02 WC

Century 1/02 WC

Brilliance of the Seas 3/03 W/SC

Fascination 1/04 - Bahamas

Mercury 1/04 - Mexican Riveria

Summit 4/16/04- Eastern/Southern Caribbean, 10 days

Galaxy 12/30/04 - Panama Canal

[mamoni]

We did it two years ago and still think it was one of the best excursions we took. I had some of the best rum punches ever--not the icky pre-made ones. They had two kinds...one I remember had fresh juice in it, the other, freshly ground nutmeg...YUM!!! I didn't see any wild goats when I went, but there were a couple of people riding horses on the beach. WE'd do this excursion again in a heartbeat--enjoy your trip!

[Marie & Ian]

Thanks everyone, and you too Rick. Didn't know you were going.

 

We'll definitely go now. Especially after mamoni's comment on the rum drinks!!

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000

 

[eileen11]

It's a wonderful excursion and well worth the hefty price! We had a ball when we went in Feb. on our NCL cruise. And yes...those rum punches sure do catch up with you. We had a few cruisers on our boat that were unable to leave the Fan Ta Sea without major help!

 

Eileen

 

1967 Grace Lines Santa Rosa (don't laugh..I was a young teen!),

1968,Grace,Lines,Santa Rosa, 1970 The Victoria So. Car

1986 Seaward So. Car.

1987 Tropical Mexico

1988 Tropical So. Car.

1995 Sovereign of the Seas 2000 Elation Mexico

2002 Millie Panama Canal

2002 Vision OT Seas Mexico

2003 - Grand Princess 8/3/03

2004 - NCL Sky - 2/8/04

2004 - Carnival Spirit 10/4/04

 

10/04/04 SPIRIT Honalulu to Ensenada

[Giorgi-one]

We did this excursion in January 2002. The ride to Nevis was very relaxing. Snorkeling is only so-so. The beach in Nevis is nice, but nothing special. The barbaque lunch was the pits -Piece of chicken and a hot dog. The ride back was the absolute pits with about about two dozen, mostly drunk twenty-somethings, screaming and falling over everyone else, accompanied by music loud enough to be heard all the way back to Nevis. I asked one of the attendants to turn it down slightly and he actually turned it up. We learned to read lips and walked off the vessel with the worst headache I have ever had.

 

Enjoy!!

[fstcruise]

We did this excursion in March and loved it. It was noisy and crazy on the ride back, but that was fine by me. The rum punch was tasty and the crew got everyone hopping. I recommend it despite the price tag.

 

Nancy & Gerry

Boston, Ma

[Marie & Ian]

GiorgiOne - you've really got me concerned about this trip. It seems you felt mostly everything about it was "the pits".

 

It seems most people who've responded so far feel the snorkeling was "so so" but enjoyed the lunch and most of all the beach in Nevis.

 

The cost for us Canadians is $134CAN pp, certainly not chicken scratch.

 

Is there anyone else out there who can put in their two cents worth?

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000

 

[mocruiseguy]

I've done this excursion twice. First time was 1/03 (Summit). I had such a great time I did it a second time in 12/03 (Summit). Both times there was a wide variety of ages represented from early twenties to late sixties. I highly recommend it.

 

Probably one of the most enjoyable, relaxing days I've ever had. The crew is great, the food was fine, the drinks are awesome, and the company was fantastic.

 

If you aren't dancing on the way back (or at least enjoying watching those who are) it's your own fault!

 

The people on this trip wanted to have a great time. Like anything else on a cruise, your attitude is 99.9% of what determines whether you'll have a good time or not. Relax and you'll have a great time.

 

I made some great friends on this excursion. My only regret is that St. Kitts was scheduled so late in the cruise. It would have been nice to have met these people much earlier!

 

You won't be disappointed with this excursion.

 

Summit 12/04, 12/03 and 1/03

Millenium 1/02

Century 6/00 and 6/98

[Marie & Ian]

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm going to go with the concensus and not worry about one person's negative comments!

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000

 

[bailey2004]

I went with my family (probably 12 of us) and we had a blast! I loved everything about this trip. But I definitely agree that its the attitude along with the trip - if you want to have fun, you will!!

[Marie & Ian]

Does anyone know approximately how many people the catamaran holds?

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000

 

[OCruisers]

Don't know how many it holds exactly but it is a VERY LARGE catamaran! Ours was "Sold Out" and it was still not crowded -- room to move around without a problem!

 

We LOVED it!

 

Actually have been on EXACTLY the same excursion on both Celebrity and Princess. (Same boat, beach, everything the same.) Celebrity calls it Fan_Ta_Sea and Princess calls it NEVIS_SAILAWAY_(another_REVIEW)

 

You'll feel as if you're walking around on a postcard at the beach in Nevis!!!

[Giorgi-one]

I do not have a bad attitude. I have been on 12 cruises and have gone on numerous excursions. I also have owned my own power boats so I personally am not impressed by just riding on a Catamaran for $100. Let's look at each of my comments in a little more detail.

 

1. Ride to Nevix was relaxing. We met some nice people, talked and had some laughs because we could still hear each other since they had not turned the music up to 100 db.

 

2. Snorkeling was so-so. I have been snorkeling over 50 times. This was no big deal. A few small fish. Don't take this excursion if you want serious snorkeling with a reef and lots of colorful fish.

 

3. BBQ lunch was the pits - a piece of dried chicken and hot dog. Get real. You are on a Celebrity cruise with some of the best food at sea. If you enjoy a piece of dried chicken and a hot dog, then you will be satisfied. If they served anything like this on the ship, there would be 2000 people on this board complaining.

 

4. Beach at Nevis was OK. Very narrow and if you want to sit in the shade, you are in the woods.

 

5. The ride back was very, very, very loud with a lot of drunk young people. If you enjoy that, then you will enjoy the ride back. We just wanted to relax, talk to our new friends and enjoy the sea, etc. but could not do that. My wife and I both walked off with headaches.

 

I did not tell anyone not to try the excursion. If you are not looking for good snorkeling. enjoy cold chicken and hot dog, and like loud, loud, loud music, you will have a great time. Enjoy!!

[superbonnie]

We did this off the Summit in Oct 2002. While the ride out was interesting I think Georgio has it down exactly as you get it. Snorkeling just so so Take some cereal from the ship might attract a few more fish. The lunch was exactly what you said dried chicken and a hot dog,you sit on the sand. I had a little trouble getting back on the catamaran as the waves were pretty big had to jump on with the incoming wave. We had a loud ride home with a few women getting really drunk one had to be carried off. I would not go this again.

[Marie & Ian]

I certainly can't stand the thought of dried chicken and I wouldn't even consider eating a hotdog!

 

Interesting the different reviews of this trip.

 

Different strokes for different folks I guess!

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000

 

[healer]

If you are looking for a really good time with other people who are just looking to relax, have a few drinks and enjoy themselves, this is the excursion for you. We did this on our 01/23 (Summit) cruise and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Yes, there was alot of drinking on the way back but I saw no one that had to be carried off or even anyone who was falling down drunk. Just alot of satisfied and happy people who had just spent six hours of fun with a great crew on a beautiful catamaran. As for the lunch, to someone expecting a five star meal, yes, you will be disappointed but the meal in my opinion was a nice buffet with the added benefit of enjoying it on a beautiful beach. I heard no complaints our our excursion about the food. Thumbs up for the entire Fan-Ta-Sea excursion.

 

Carnival, Fantasy

Carnival, Paradise, 11/2000

Celebrity, Constellation

 

Until We Cruise on the Summitt

 

 

[sgrissom]

I agree with healer, this excursion was excellent. The food was adequate...carried over in coolers and barbequed on the beach. The chicken was no "dryer" than any chicken done on a beach grill. It was a picnic...not a 5 star restaurant!

 

Galaxy 10/04

Galaxy 3/04

Summit 3/03

Spirit 3/02

Magic 8/00

Magic 8/99

Magic 8/98

[Giorgi-one]

5 Star meal? Nice Buffet? Did you go on the same trip that I did? I don't care how much you enjoyed the excursion, but lets get real. It was a piece of dried chicken, a hot dog and some macaroni salad (just the thing to eat when it's been laying around in the sun for who knows how long). You would never accept food like this at any restaurant. It does not even come close to the Hometown Buffet in you local shopping center. If you considered this a nice buffet, you must have thought that you had died and gone to heaven after your first Celebrity dinner.

[smudge's mom]

We did the FanTaSea while on the NCL Sky and it seems we had the same trip as Celebrity provided.

 

IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST EXCURSIONS I'VE BEEN ON.

 

Yes, the picnic was picnic food - yes, we had to eat on a log if we wanted to be in the shade - but the food was so inconsequential to the trip, I hardly remembered it when talking about the trip to others.

 

The catamaran was beautiful, the crew was great, the drinks flowed. Yes, we had some drunk people, yes it got a little noisy at the end, but that was the crew providing a little silly entertainment.

 

The trip there and back was so very nice. A wonderful sail with and without engines, yet when they ran engines you didn't hear a thing. The catamaran was not crowded even though we had a full crowd. The restrooms were clean - the crew even cleaned then again while we were at the beach - have you ever had that happen on an excursion?

 

I supposed the trip back could've been bad if we had a boat full of obnoxious drunks, but we had a boat full of mellow drunks. LOL

 

I did not go snorkeling, but I hear the snorkeling was like almost all snorkeling DH had done - but I didn't hear him or any of the other five people we were with, complain. The nice part was my 81 year old FIL wanted to snorkel and the crew helped him into the water, one of the crew members kept an eye on him - as I did. Whenever I thought I had lost sight of him, the crew member knew exactly where he was.

 

The beach and water was beautiful. No, there wasn't any shade on the sand (is there usually?), but that didn't bother me because we were too busy enjoying the water.

 

I can't say enough good things about the excursion and all of the 8 people who went in our group loved it.

 

My BIL kept saying - "this is so beautiful" - "this is so great" - and it was.

[Marie & Ian]

Thanks for everyone's input. When I think of the food Ian & I have eaten on our three trips to Thailand and our trip to China, a boring picnic lunch on the beach isn't going to make or break this excursion!

 

Glad to hear that most people thought the excursion itself was one of the best they've done.

 

We did a similar one in St. Croix on the Jolly Mon and had a blast.

 

I'm booking this excursion and will post my comments when we return from the Summit the end of April.

 

Marie

 

Summit 4/04

Days remaining

 

Celebrity Mercury 1999

Norweigan Dream 2000