Sailing Snorkeling Excursion

[christene]

Hello -- I am getting married in Aruba at the end of October. We would like to arrange a sailing excursion on Friday, October 30th for our guests. We're hoping to charter a private boat and have this be our gift to our guests. At first I was thinking Mi Dushi - the price is affordable: $1100 for 3 hours (3:30-6:30 or 4:00-7:00) with open bar, snacks and snorkeling for up to 30 people. Has anyone done this? I've heard that its a fun party boat, however we will have very mixed company including children and some elderly people. (I also checked out Jolly Pirate but their cost is over 50% more.)

The other option I'm considering is a catamaran style boat. I happen to love laying on the nets of cats but wonder if the kids would be bored (ages 9-13). The best quote I have so far is from Red Sail - a 53' cat. Again it includes open bar, snacks and snorkeling for up to 35 people (we're only expecting 20-25 people). The quote from Pelican is out of my price range (maybe the boat is a lot bigger?) and I don't yet have the quote from DePalm.

I'm thinking a catamaran style might be the most comfortable though the quote from Red Sail is 30-40% more than Mi Dushi.

Are there other things I should be considering when comparing them? Is there anyone that has experience with BOTH boats? Is Mi Dushi a more fun party atmosphere and Red Sail more of a relaxing excursion?

Thanks so much for your help!

[cindyo]

Kids, teens..etc love the nets. Its the highlite of their trip hanging their legs thru the holes. Elderly people do not do well on a catamaran...slippery, little seats.

[Andrea J.]

i would PM JOLLY
JOLLY PIRATE is a member of this forum
as well as a paying sales customer of aruba.com.

jolly pirates may have everything you are looking for.
contact jolly and tell them you saw the ad on this site and andrea recommends.

the owners names are carla and harold
nice folks

andrea

Originally Posted by christene

Hello -- I am getting married in Aruba at the end of October. We would like to arrange a sailing excursion on Friday, October 30th for our guests. We're hoping to charter a private boat and have this be our gift to our guests. At first I was thinking Mi Dushi - the price is affordable: $1100 for 3 hours (3:30-6:30 or 4:00-7:00) with open bar, snacks and snorkeling for up to 30 people. Has anyone done this? I've heard that its a fun party boat, however we will have very mixed company including children and some elderly people. (I also checked out Jolly Pirate but their cost is over 50% more.)

The other option I'm considering is a catamaran style boat. I happen to love laying on the nets of cats but wonder if the kids would be bored (ages 9-13). The best quote I have so far is from Red Sail - a 53' cat. Again it includes open bar, snacks and snorkeling for up to 35 people (we're only expecting 20-25 people). The quote from Pelican is out of my price range (maybe the boat is a lot bigger?) and I don't yet have the quote from DePalm.

I'm thinking a catamaran style might be the most comfortable though the quote from Red Sail is 30-40% more than Mi Dushi.

Are there other things I should be considering when comparing them? Is there anyone that has experience with BOTH boats? Is Mi Dushi a more fun party atmosphere and Red Sail more of a relaxing excursion?

Thanks so much for your help!

[christene]

Thanks Andrea. They were actually the first ones I contacted. I believe the quote for three hours was $1800 though, way out of my budget for 20-25 people. If we don't do a private charter and instead decide to join a regularly scheduled sail, they are probably the ones we would go with. I'm still holding out to try for something private, at least until I see what the RSVP numbers look like. I just opened RSVP on the wedding website yesterday.

By the way - does anyone have anything to say about the food on Mi Dushi? I've read its really bad. We're not doing a full meal, just the snacks.

10 more weeks and we will be in Aruba greeting our guests at our welcome party!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

i would PM JOLLY
JOLLY PIRATE is a member of this forum
as well as a paying sales customer of aruba.com.

jolly pirates may have everything you are looking for.
contact jolly and tell them you saw the ad on this site and andrea recommends.

the owners names are carla and harold
nice folks

andrea

[Andrea J.]

i will rsvp now
paul and i will be unable to attend

oh heck, we weren't invited!

so if you buy 25 sunset sails on the jp on one of their regular sails.....that will be less than the charter price?

andrea

Originally Posted by christene

Thanks Andrea. They were actually the first ones I contacted. I believe the quote for three hours was $1800 though, way out of my budget for 20-25 people. If we don't do a private charter and instead decide to join a regularly scheduled sail, they are probably the ones we would go with. I'm still holding out to try for something private, at least until I see what the RSVP numbers look like. I just opened RSVP on the wedding website yesterday.

By the way - does anyone have anything to say about the food on Mi Dushi? I've read its really bad. We're not doing a full meal, just the snacks.

10 more weeks and we will be in Aruba greeting our guests at our welcome party!

Thanks!

[Arubalisa]

Originally Posted by Andrea J.

i will rsvp now
paul and i will be unable to attend

oh heck, we weren't invited!

so if you buy 25 sunset sails on the jp on one of their regular sails.....that will be less than the charter price?

andrea

Fwiw, when we sailed aboard JP's last year there were about 25 people who were on the island for a wedding. They had a blast and really got into it.

The motor Yacht, Strea Charters has also been getting terrific reviews http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147248-d1160387-Reviews-Strea_Charters-Oranjestad_Aruba.html

[christene]

I just took another look at their site... they have a daily snorkel trip from 3-6pm for $33pp and a sunset sail on Fridays from 5-7 for $27pp. What we really want is a 4-7pm combo snorkeling and sunset. Actually, for our budget we could take everyone on their most expensive excursion - the 9:30am-2:00pm sail, snorkel and swim that includes lunch ($55pp). It would still be a lot less than the private charter but I'm not sure I want to ask guests to be at an activity that early -- especially if our party the night before is any good. =)

Is the Jolly Pirate boat a lot nicer than Mi Dushi? Cindy had a good point about the cats maybe being more difficult for our older guests. And my first thought was that the kids would have more fun on a 'pirate style' boat even if they already think they're 'too cool for that sort of thing'...

[christene]

I haven't heard of Strea Charters... I'll take a look. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

Fwiw, when we sailed aboard JP's last year there were about 25 people who were on the island for a wedding. They had a blast and really got into it.

The motor Yacht, Strea Charters has also been getting terrific reviews http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147248-d1160387-Reviews-Strea_Charters-Oranjestad_Aruba.html