Thread: Tiami 5 Star Catamaran Tour & Lunch Tour Report

I had the chance to visit Barbados while on my cruise onboard Ruby Princess in November 2009. We booked the Tiami 5 Star Catamaran Tour & Lunch with Sea Turtles Tour through Princess. During the cruise I got a bug of some sort. The following is what I posted in my Trip Report.....

We headed off the ship to meet up with our tour. In Barbados you need to take a bus from the ship to the terminal building. We got on our bus and headed to the building and then looked for our tour group. We were loaded onto buses that took us down to where the Catamaran was. I'm not a real big fan of the ship tours because they always seem to be so crowded. We boarded the Catamaran and found a seat, but there were people sitting outside on the open deck who wanted to leave their belongings on benches where they could reach inside to get them. In essence they were trying to claim 2 spots and with the crowd onboard it couldn't happen. I have no problems with people who put their belongings under the seats, but leaving your things on the seat when you have no intention of using the seat irks me.

We headed off to our first snorkeling spot where we could snorkel with sea turtles. This was my second time to Barbados and I had kayaked and swam/snorkeled with sea turtles before. I was very glad I had already done that because I was having issues trying to snorkel. I couldn't really breathe through the snorkel all that well with the cold I had. I attempted it but gave up and just ended up dunking my head while wearing the mask and holding my breath to see the turtles. This area was also very crowded! There were about 4 different catamarans all in the same location, all trying to snorkel with the turtles. After a little bit I decided I had enough snorkeling with sea turtles and needed a rest It was going to take a couple days before I was feeling better apparently.

The guides got everyone onboard the boat so we could head off to the second snorkel spot. I didn't bother this time, I didn't feel like getting frustrated with the snorkel and breathing. We then went to a beach area where we just swam in the water or could walk on the beach. After leaving that location the crew put out lunch. There was all kinds of local food and a big salad with packaged salad dressings. The sad part for me was that it was the best dressing I had since I boarded the ship!

It wasn't a bad excursion but I wouldn't do it again. For the amount we paid ($99 per person), I think we could have hooked up with a private company or less crowded excursion.

I didn't bother bringing my underwater camera for this cruise since this was the only "water" excursion we had planned.

Here are some pictures from the catamaran. Sorry about no underwater shots this time; I probably won't go without my waterproof camera anymore since I was worried about pulling out the regular camera while everyone was wet from snorkeling

Oh, Judy, Sorry! I've recommended this excusion (just scroll here for report) because we were never crowded and always had a wonderful time every time we've taken it.

Just goes to show ... it's GREAT to have lots of different opinions! So wonderful you took the time to post yours!

Did you have all of those BIG fish hanging out with the turtles like we did? That did sort of freak me out the last time we did it.

LuLu, it's no problem I'm sure there are times when there are less people and it would have been very nice if our time was like that.

At the time of the excursion I had some sort of cold or something and I really pushed myself to go. Breathing through the snorkel was really difficult for me that day, so at one point I just wore the mask and held my breath to view under the water. I did see some of those big fish! I was very glad they looked like they were staying in the deeper water!

I think we may have encountered the most popular excursion for the Ruby cruisers and with not being 100% myself the crowding and rude people got to me more easily.

I also do have something to compare it to that could be impacting my opinion on it. We went on a kayak and swim with turtle excursion in Barbados some years back (2002). That excursion only had around 20 people and it's one of our all-time favorites.

Judy .... So TRUE! Often, from time to time any excursion can be totally different ....

That's why it's so great to have lots of different opinions!

Gee, wish I had done this one

Originally Posted by hanna

Gee, wish I had done this one

Me too Hanna You'll have to ask Ruth to post her underwater pics, since I didn't have my underwater camera with me and was feeling kind of crummy, I only took a few pics this day.