Review: Aruba Jolly Pirates, Sail, Snorkel, Swim, and Swing! (RCI Shore Excursion)

The first destination on our recent cruise was Oranjestad, Aruba.  Based on recommendations of past cruisers we decided to book the Jolly Pirates snorkel tour available in Oranjestad.  Unfortunately, a private tour was not available on the day we were in port, so we ended up booking the same tour through Royal Caribbean excursions (Jolly Pirates provides the service for RCI’s ‘Sail, Snorkel, Swim, and Swing!’ excursion) .  The tour included a few snorkel locations,  a place for guests to swing off of the ship’s rope swing into the water, and alcohol bar service on the way back to port.

In short, the tour did not live up to it’s reputation.  Things started out badly when the transportation bus to the pier was over-filled, forcing me and my companions to stand during the entire drive through the city.  We were unable to see any of the countryside or sites that the driver pointed out during the ride.  It also did not help that the bus-line was touted as a “party bus” service, and the driver was a bit crazy - making it even harder to stand in the narrow bus aisle through 10-15 minutes of his erratic driving.

Once at the pier, we met the Jolly Pirate ship’s lackluster crew.  While some may describe them as laid back, I think it is fair to say that the crew of the ship didn’t really put any energy into their jobs, and they didn’t try to create the atmosphere described by many pasts guests of fun and excitement.  Instead, I felt more like one of the herd, shuffled onboard, issued equipment, and transported to each snorkel location with no visible enjoyment from the crew.  Even after they opened the bar and started serving drinks, things didn’t really pick up.  Also, part of the tour description was that the crew would give us a mini-show by doing tricks off of the rope swing - which they didn’t.  Given their overall attitude I didn’t really expect the rope tricks, but it would have been nice to see, and would have increased the entertainment value of the trip.

Being out on the open ocean was nice - as was most of the ship - it was a large ship, with plenty of space for everyone.  The one part of the ship that was not enjoyable was the bathroom.  I wasn’t expecting anything wonderful, but the bathroom was disgusting.  If you go on a Jolly Pirates tour, try as best as you can to avoid the bathroom, and focus on the rest of the ship instead.

The snorkeling locations weren’t incredibly exciting.  We were looking forward to snorkeling at the shipwreck of the Antilla, a World War II ship sunk off of the coast of Aruba - but the water was very rough, and the shipwreck turned out to be hard to see, and not a fun place to snorkel.  The other locations we stopped at were picturesque, but also were not good places to snorkel.  There was very little ocean life available for us to see, and venturing far from the ship looking for interesting snorkeling sites wasn’t really an option, because we spent a minimal amount of time at each location.  I didn’t try the rope swing, but the guests who did said it was fun.

The snorkeling equipment worked well and fit nicely, and the bar service on the way back to port was good.  The excursion did have good qualities, but overall, I can’t recommend it.  There were too many negative qualities for the price, and I won’t go on a Jolly Pirate’s trip in the future.

Aruba Jolly Pirates, Sail, Snorkel, Swim, and Swing! (RCI Shore Excursion): 2/5

Have you been on a Jolly Pirates trip? What did you think? What other trips would you recommend in Aruba?

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