4/25/09 Magic - First Visit To Tortola!

[scottrob]

We are thinking of doing the Baths at Tortola which look interesting. Does anyone have any information to share? I tried using the 'search thread' tool, but it does not seem to come up with anything.

We are also looking at the St. John Island tour. This is our first Eastern. We did a Western back in October of 2007.

Looking forward to the Tequila Tasting.

 

[CKCruising]

Last time we stopped in Tortola (2003), we just walked around Road Town. Neither of us were fans of this, so this time we might try something more organized.
I was looking at the bathes, but the ship tour says 5+.

 

[scottrob]

I was looking at the bathes, but the ship tour says 5+.

Yea, that takes out most of the day which could be a drawback. Have to decide by Sunday.

 

[aznaphrodite]

Yea, that takes out most of the day which could be a drawback. Have to decide by Sunday.

Why do you have decide by Sunday?

 

[Roveer]

Roveer and family checking in.

DD, DM, DD(10), DD(7), DS(4) & DD(2) Stateroom 8030.

Seems like years since I booked this. Starting to get excited. Considering the cold weather we've had in NJ recently. I'm starting to think about warm winds and lots of sun. Oh, and a nice bottle of wine.

2nd Disney Cruise, 1st 7 night. Really looking forward to this.

 

[BubblesNH]

We took the ferry over to Virgin Gorda and grabbed a cab at the ferry dock. It was a short trip to the top of The Baths. There is a restaurant at the top. You walk down a bunch of stairs and then followed a path through hugh boulders and I remember holding my bag on my head with water to my chest, but you could take another path and not get so wet. Took about 15 mins. Watch your head, I wacked mine good. Not like the states where they would have signs all around with padding on the low spots. It is worth the trip!! Bring drinks/snacks with you to the beach, there was nothing there but the most beautiful pink sand beach I have ever seen. We snorkeled a little and jumped off the rocks into the water. After a while Dinghys began to pull up and drop people off. There is lots of info on Cruise Critic boards with ferry times etc. I was considering this on our own, would love to show it to the kids, but DH thinks it will be crowded??? I Recommend water shoes. We went 10 years ago.
Michelle

 

[lsutigger2]

scottrob - I did the St. John Island Tour five years ago. I enjoyed it. My DH was playing golf on St. Thomas at the time. You board a safari type truck (think Kilimanjaro Safari) and will have a guide. We saw several of the bays from the road but I don't remember stopping at any. We also spent time at the ruins of a sugar cane plantation. That was interesting. There was time at the end for some shopping and I remember it being very good. Another thing that I remember was there wasn't any toilet paper at the restroom stops. You might want to bring along some. It wasn't very pleasant. . But I did enjoy the excursion and offered to do it again this trip with my DH, but I think we'll do something on St. Thomas instead.

CKCruising - what did you not like about walking around Road Town?

I think Dh and I are going to do the X-BOB excursion at Tortola. We get adventuresome while on vacation. Last vacation I took my first helicopter ride and last cruise we went parasailing, both of which I loved. I was hoping either before or after the X-BOB we would have time to explore around some on Tortola.

If you look back through this thread, I think there is a link to some great info on visiting The Baths, complete with pictures.

 

[CKCruising]

...CKCruising - what did you not like about walking around Road Town? ...

All I remember is the chickens running around town.

To be fair, the cruise also stopped at St. Barts and St. Lucia, so those are tough ports to compare to, but all we did was get off the ship and walk around downtown. Downtown seemed to be on par with Bahamas from what I remember. It seemed like a beautiful island, but this time I wanted to give it a fair shot.

Welcome Roveer.

 

[sandiedvc]

Sorry we will not be able to join you all, but here is some information that I had gathered. Hope that it hasn't been mentioned elsewhere, I haven't been following the thread.

Map of Road Town, Tortola
http://www.skyviews.com/bvi/tortola/roadtownmap.html

Map of the maze at The Baths, Virgin Gorda

http://www.scubamom.com/bvi/thebaths/

 

[nascar8820]

For those of you that are on the bubble about the fish extender we wanted to give you a little more information that may help you decide.

On our cruise last April we had 13 cabins participating. We made our fish extender but we have seen posts that other people used a basket or something like that. We gave items representing Ohio. We probably spent about $30 for everything.

We decided to deliver our gifts on our first sea day. It took approximately 30 minutes to deliver the gifts. The only delay was when someone hadn’t put up their fish extender yet. We had to go back later to check to see if it was up yet then deliver their gift.

Hopefully this helps everyone out a little.

 

[aznaphrodite]

nascar8820 - The Ohio stuff is a GREAT idea! I'd love getting stuff from other states!

Before I decided to join, I did a Google search and found this list of gift ideas:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=701633

All of the gifts are very low cost and it shouldn't be a huge burden financially. The dollar store sounds like a great place to get gifts.

 

[BubblesNH]

Hi Everyone,
My DD is 10 and as I understand can check herself out of the kids club with our permission. I am worried that she won't be able to find us. What are the pagers like? Can she talk to me or just buzz me? Thinking of bringing 2 way radios, but have seen posts that they don't work all over ship, and then I will have to carry radio and pager??? Do you get the sense ship is safe for DD to navigate alone?? Thanks for you help.

 

[dvc2themax]

Hi Everyone,
My DD is 10 and as I understand can check herself out of the kids club with our permission. I am worried that she won't be able to find us. What are the pagers like? Can she talk to me or just buzz me? Thinking of bringing 2 way radios, but have seen posts that they don't work all over ship, and then I will have to carry radio and pager??? Do you get the sense ship is safe for DD to navigate alone?? Thanks for you help.

One our first cruise, my DD was 9 and we did not have walkie talkies or 2 way radios as that was something else to keep track of. She enjoyed going around the ship on her own and met a group in the club and they toured the ship also. She always found us as we told her what our plans were for the day, such as a meeting we were attending and where. We would have a meeting place and specific time to meet up in order to check in and of course would meet in the room to redress if needed for dinner.

The ship is "easy" to navigate once you get the hang of it.

Last year, even though she was older, always "bumped" into her and the group she was, thoughout the ship.

 

[wrabitdad]

lsutigger2,

Please add us to the fish extender list. It wil be Bob (DH) and Dale (DW) and we'll be in cabin #6582.

For those new to the fish extender, we've been doing fish extenders since it began on the 1st Panama Canal cruise in 2005, it is a lot fun. Part of the fun is deciding what to give and then strolling the ship making the delivery and seeing all the creativity folks put into their fish extenders. Most gifts are per cabin, not per individual, this keeps the cost down and makes it easier for those that have to travel by plane. If any one has any questions please ask.

Can't wait to see everyone and make the first visit to Tortola.

Bob

 

[sunburnin]

Everyone excited for the upcoming 3 month mark?!?!?!?! Woo hoo!

 

[scottrob]

Why do you have decide by Sunday?

I think Sunday is the earliest we can schedule our excursions unless we use the Romance Package or have a Cat 3 or higher.

 

[dvc2themax]

lsutigger2,


Most gifts are per cabin, not per individual, this keeps the cost down and makes it easier for those that have to travel by plane. If any one has any questions please ask.


Bob

We have cute gifts that will be one for each person in the cabin that is on the list. Kids, old and young, like to have their own souvenors (sp?)

Still do not know what we are going to do for excursions though. Just ready to pack and go NOW .

Hope everyone stays healthy now through the cruise.

 

[dvc2themax]

had to post one more for 100 posts!

 

[aznaphrodite]

lsutigger2,

Most gifts are per cabin, not per individual, this keeps the cost down and makes it easier for those that have to travel by plane. If any one has any questions please ask.

I don't get this either. Most fish extenders I've seen have a pocket for each person so how could you do gifts per cabin? I was also planning to do gifts per person in the cabin too.

 

[lsutigger2]

wrabitdad: I already had you on the list! Double checked and you are still there!!

There are 12 "for sure" families on the fish extender list. I have one or two that I'm not sure about. I may run back thru the thread and make sure I haven't forgotten anyone.

I thought today was the day to make reservations - that's what my counter said. I called Disney Cruise line today and it is on Sunday. Guess I was counting the days until we leave home, which is the day before we cruise
Oops!
Hey, I'm a trained preschool teacher, I can only count to ten

Hope everyone has a great weekend.