We booked this trip after hearing about it from some friends we'd made through the roll call on cruise critic. Because it was our first cruise, we felt safer spending the day with others from the ship on an excursion that wasn't a 60 person cattle call. I've heard firsthand stories of other excursions that cost a few dollars less where they ply you with rum punch and stick you on a boat with 60 people, take you to one spot in the water, and there you stay for 3-4 hours. Which is ok, I guess. We didn't do that. First off, Captain Bob made everyone feel that he had everyone's safety and well being in mind. We disembarked, walked a few minutes to the marina, and checked in with him, then waited at the restaurant/bar at the marina (should have breakfasted there, the food looked delish). Drinks are cheap at the restaurant/bar. Drinks on the boat are free and included beer, soda and water. The family of 3 we were hanging with that day met us at the marina bar, and we all shared stories of the cruise, had a drink and took pictures until the tour began. I have a bad back, as did a young lady on the tour with us, so we sat in the back of the boat where the seats were a little better for us.
Captain Bob takes us in a speedboat w/ 12 passengers around the Dutch and French sides of the island giving an historical account along the way. There are many opportunities to take pictures. We stopped at a coral reef to swim and snorkel. He provides the snorkeling equipment and floaties. After about 45 minutes of snorkeling, we went along to another spot. Along the entire trip, he's telling jokes, pointing out interesting landmarks, giving us tidbits of information which someone else may recall better than I, and keeping an eye on everyone to ensure that we are all happy and noone needs anything. Then we stopped at another spot to snorkel/swim again with some giant turtles and sea rays/ eagle rays and then it was off to Pinel Island for lunch. Pinel Island was a little piece of heaven unto itself. Crystal clear beach, the most delicious ribs or chicken lunch and frozen drinks at the bar or just water if you like, then you can go behind the restaurant to feed the iguanas your leftovers! There's a little souvenir shop next to the restaurant that has some really cool stuff for you to take home to your family and friends. Don't buy too much because you have to carry it all over your head out to the boat. Everyone is so nice and genuinely happy to see us, even though it's obvious we are tourists who are coming into their peace and quiet. There's enough time to eat, shop a bit and swim or sunbathe before we are off again to another spot where there is more marine life to check out in the water and swim with. Then we get to the final stop of the day for swimming, and Captain Bob told my partner and I to jump into the water and tossed some crackers in on top of us. All of a sudden there was a school of hundreds of small fish, about 6 inches or so each all over us eating the crumbs he'd thrown in. How much fun! Also, the group, while in the water kept an eye out for each other, making sure that each person, even those we didn't really know, was safe and not in any distress while swimming. Captain Bob was always on the lookout too, ensuring our safety. By the end of the trip we were all part of a group that had experienced something really cool together. Running into some of these people later in the week on the ship we were like old friends. Some of us had hung out for the first time on that excursion and then spent the rest of the week doing things together. Our last stop of the day was the water near St. Maarten airport where we watched some planes coming in. I can't tell you in a review how good this excursion was. Just the ride in the speedboat and lunch on Pinel Island was wonderful, and Captain Bob made the boat jump a lot so it was like a roller coaster. There were older people, young people, people with bad backs, and all of us had a great time. Some, who weren't up to snorkeling, stayed in the boat and took pictures while others snorkeled. All had a wonderful time and everyone agreed that we'd gotten our money's worth by the time the day was half over.
Captain Bob was a lot of fun and we will probably be doing this excursion again when we come back next year. We had wanted to shop in St. Maarten, but I think that we can fit in a little shopping on the way back to the ship. Oh, bring and use sunscreen, a towel and a hat. You will need that sunscreen and will regret not having used it if you forget. You are in good hands with Captain Bob and I'm the kind of person that will give an honest review. If he deserved a 2, he'd get it. He deserves a 10 on a scale of 1-5. One more note: He had 3 speedboats this day. The other captains give the same experience, and we've spoken to some of the people on the other speedboats on this excursion. They stopped at all the same places, had the same lunch, did all the same stuff etc. So if he is overbooked, he won't overfill his boat. He'll have other captains and you'll have the same experience with another captain just as thorough and good as Captain Bob Cass. So don't get upset if you get one of the other captains. They are all great!
