We just got back from a Princess, Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Emerald Princess. The ship sailed from Port Everglade in Fort Lauderdale taking us to the Islands of Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas, Princess Cays in the Bahamas and back to Port Everglade.

One of the high points of the Cruise was a Snorkeling excursion on the V1 Cat out of St Thomas. We'd researched a few ideas and this one sounded like a great half day out. This is a 'Must Do' if you're visiting St Thomas, it proved to be a very well organised and enjoyable trip and well worth the price. The crew were extremely efficient, humorous, and entertaining.

The day started a little slowly with us waiting on the dockside for parties from the other cruise ships docked in the port to join us, and then with what I found a little over the top health and safety briefing we finally got aboard the boat. We were pleased to find that we weren't crammed onto the boat, there was plenty of space for everyone unlike some of these sorts of trips.

Once aboard and introduced we were on our way, motoring out of the port, then just outside the port entrance the sails went up and we were heading toward Buck Island off Saint Thomas a short distance away. During the outward trip the views back towards Saint Thomas were beautiful and the waters were fairly calm. Apart from the usual photographer passing around the boat taking snaps of everyone, there wasn't a lot going on at this point just time to relax and take in the scenery. 

When we arrived at the island we were given yet another health and safety briefing which by now was perhaps getting a little tiresome and we felt was eating into our time available on the trip but then I guess they have to cover themselves in case people ended up getting hurt. We were given our kit which included snorkel, mask, fins and a buoyancy vest (compulsory even for those who felt they were strong enough swimmers) and finally allowed into the water.

We were anchored in about I'd say about 15-20 feet of water with great visibility and there was plenty to see. Within no time at all we were looking at fish of all sizes, shapes and colours, a stingray was scratching around underneath us while smaller colourful fish were swimming around us. I guess the boats turning up daily and the odd bits of food ending up over the side made this place was a regular dining opportunity for the local marine life which meant there was plenty to see. One of the crew came into the water with us and guided us to where we would hopefully find the Turtles we had come to see and very quickly we were given our first view. This Turtle wasn't phased by us being there and swam up through the party of snorkelers before putting it's head out to breath and then head back down to the bottom to feed on the vegetation on the sea bed. Shortly after that we spotted a Barracuda patrolling the area. Then another Turtle this time just gliding through on his way to wherever. In all, we had about an hour swimming around and then it was time to get back on board and head for home. 

On the trip back we were told that the bar was open and the crew came around with cups and jugs of 'painkiller' cocktails. We assumed that like on other trips, the first one would be free and then you could buy more from the bar. How wrong we were, the crew kept doing circuits of the boat heading back to the bar to make up more jugs of these very tasty drinks and pass them back around the boat. Also during this time the crew started the merchandise sale, no hard sell they just modelled the various T-shirts, vests, and hoodies available to buy on board which were of a good quality with well designed artwork printed on them.

Take away the over the top health and safety stuff we come across so much these days (I guess they have to cover themselves), this trip was very worth the money and if you're heading to St Thomas on a cruise or holiday, it should be high on your list of priorities.