10 Apr 2024
April, 2024 Royal Caribbean Cruise
Excursion through VIATOR, not RC.
Very long taxi/van drive to the hurricane devistated side of the island, followed by a 30 minute boat ride (additional $50 per person) for some basic snorkeling where we enjoyed seeing tropical fish, coral, starfish, sea cucumbers, tiny jellyfish, and a few nurse sharks. Then another boat ride to walk through someone's yard and stand next to a small pond-like water hole to look at 3 small-medium sized sea turtles for 10 minutes. Then another boat ride to eat an American brown bag lunch at a nice Air BnB and a final boat ride back to the dock to meet the rattletrap taxi/van with No Air Conditioning for the 90 minute drive back to Freeport. Thank goodness for the island breezes.
Pros:
-The drivers and tour leaders are very friendly and enjoy educating guests about their island.
-The snorkeling is fun and the water is gorgeous.
-The sea turtles are adorable.
Cons:
-Simply put, you do NOT get what you pay for on this excursion.
-Extra cash-only expenses for essential transportation that should be included in the excursion cost.
-Not a special lunch of local island foods.
-No air conditioning in the beat up old taxi/van.
-Worst of all, there is NO swimming with the sea turtles as advertised. (You would get much more out of seeing the lovely turtles at a nice aquarium than is possible to do in this expensive excursion.)