8/15/09-Eastern-Tortola Treasure Seekers #4

[jenanderson]

Happy Saturday! I hope that everyone has plans for a good weekend. I will be working a bit on the web site this weekend to try to update all the excursions - my goal is to upload it all by Sunday morning. It will be fun to see what everyone is thinking of for excursions.

I know that we were looking at trying to do an excursion to the Baths when we go to Tortola but we are still not sure.

We would love to charter a private yacht when we get to St. Thomas but it is a lot of $$$ for 4 people! It is still very tempting and I am going to explore our options.

Chat with you all later!
Jen

 

[caitlinsdad]

Happy Saturday! I hope that everyone has plans for a good weekend. I will be working a bit on the web site this weekend to try to update all the excursions - my goal is to upload it all by Sunday morning. It will be fun to see what everyone is thinking of for excursions.

I know that we were looking at trying to do an excursion to the Baths when we go to Tortola but we are still not sure.

We would love to charter a private yacht when we get to St. Thomas but it is a lot of $$$ for 4 people! It is still very tempting and I am going to explore our options.

Chat with you all later!
Jen

I have a friend on anorther board who is on this cruise, they looked into the yacht and this is what they found out

There can be a maximum of 10 guests, but regardless of the # of people, the price is... $3,900. Yes, three thousand, nine hundred dollars. Which, by the way, does not include the gratuity for the captain and mate.

 

[jenanderson]

I have a friend on anorther board who is on this cruise, they looked into the yacht and this is what they found out

There can be a maximum of 10 guests, but regardless of the # of people, the price is... $3,900. Yes, three thousand, nine hundred dollars. Which, by the way, does not include the gratuity for the captain and mate.

We are looking more for a day sail sort of adventure. I have found a lot of certified boats that can take up to 6 guest for about $600-$800. This includes food and beverages for the day as well. With the 4 of us, it can be a bit high but I would still like to consider it.

My DD does not like to snorkel and most of these boats carry floats/tubes/or other floating and lounging stuff so that we could snorkel and she could enjoy lounging in the water without having to be down their with the fish!

I also like the fact that we would be able to have some input on where we go, what we do and the free drinks all day is not a bad idea either!

The big yachts are very expensive. We did look into a larger boat so that my SIL and her kids could join us but that puts us at 7 people and it is just too much to justify. In the end, she did not want to spend money for this type of excursion any way so at this point it is just the 4 of us again.

 

[caitlinsdad]

We are looking more for a day sail sort of adventure. I have found a lot of certified boats that can take up to 6 guest for about $600-$800. This includes food and beverages for the day as well. With the 4 of us, it can be a bit high but I would still like to consider it.

My DD does not like to snorkel and most of these boats carry floats/tubes/or other floating and lounging stuff so that we could snorkel and she could enjoy lounging in the water without having to be down their with the fish!

I also like the fact that we would be able to have some input on where we go, what we do and the free drinks all day is not a bad idea either!

The big yachts are very expensive. We did look into a larger boat so that my SIL and her kids could join us but that puts us at 7 people and it is just too much to justify. In the end, she did not want to spend money for this type of excursion any way so at this point it is just the 4 of us again.

Yup pricey is one way to describe them

 

[jenanderson]

Tortola Excursions Are Up!

I was able to enter all the information for the Tortola excursions and uploaded it to our web site tonight. It was fun to read the details of them all and it will be hard to decide what we will want to do that day.

Other updates: DIS member information updated for a few families, more kids added to the Kids Connect, requests for lanyards, artwork and additional photos on the member pages.

I do watch what is posted here as well as respond to e-mails everyone is sending. It is great to see our site growing! Hopefully we will hear from some DIS members who have not been on for a while.

Have a great night everyone!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Tortola Excursions Are Up!

I was able to enter all the information for the Tortola excursions and uploaded it to our web site tonight. It was fun to read the details of them all and it will be hard to decide what we will want to do that day.

Other updates: DIS member information updated for a few families, more kids added to the Kids Connect, requests for lanyards, artwork and additional photos on the member pages.

I do watch what is posted here as well as respond to e-mails everyone is sending. It is great to see our site growing! Hopefully we will hear from some DIS members who have not been on for a while.

Have a great night everyone!

Thank you for your continued hard work on this.

 

[thisisthelife]

Hi all, I just booked this cruise it was a last minute type decision this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. I have a DS who is 12 and a DD who is 9.
I am so psyched to be going to Tortola we have only taken Western Cruises in the past so its a whole new venture.
Wow the size to this thread is amazing, I didnt have enough hours to read who everyone is, but it looks like a GREAT group from what I have read so far and I am so looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hi all, I just booked this cruise it was a last minute type decision this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. I have a DS who is 12 and a DD who is 9.
I am so psyched to be going to Tortola we have only taken Western Cruises in the past so its a whole new venture.
Wow the size to this thread is amazing, I didnt have enough hours to read who everyone is, but it looks like a GREAT group from what I have read so far and I am so looking forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome along, it will be a great cruise, my kids are 13 (DD) and 11 (DS) they like PM's from other kids their age and their disname is AL'N'STEVE.

 

[jenanderson]

thisisthelife - Welcome! I have sent you a PM so that you can visit our cruise web site. I would love to add your family's information and look forward to hearing back from you!

Jen

 

[caitlinsdad]

Hi all, I just booked this cruise it was a last minute type decision this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. I have a DS who is 12 and a DD who is 9.
I am so psyched to be going to Tortola we have only taken Western Cruises in the past so its a whole new venture.
Wow the size to this thread is amazing, I didnt have enough hours to read who everyone is, but it looks like a GREAT group from what I have read so far and I am so looking forward to meeting everyone.

Welcome aboard

 

[kritter]

Hi all, I just booked this cruise it was a last minute type decision this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. I have a DS who is 12 and a DD who is 9.
I am so psyched to be going to Tortola we have only taken Western Cruises in the past so its a whole new venture.
Wow the size to this thread is amazing, I didnt have enough hours to read who everyone is, but it looks like a GREAT group from what I have read so far and I am so looking forward to meeting everyone.

WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jenanderson]

Just had to say how excited we are...we booked our airfare just a couple minutes ago!

Each little thing I do makes it seem so much closer!

We were able to book a combination of mileage and cash so it made it a great deal. The only hard part was that we are now flying in 2 nights before we planned on going. We are going to book a value resort for 2 nights and just "hang out" doing things like downtown Disney and such so that we spend as little money as possible.

Any recommendations on what value resort you like (if you have ever stayed at any of them)? We will be at the Poly for 7 nights after it so we don't really care about the room much for 2 nights. Just would like it to be in good condition.

 

[spoohs]

Just had to say how excited we are...we booked our airfare just a couple minutes ago!

Each little thing I do makes it seem so much closer!

We were able to book a combination of mileage and cash so it made it a great deal. The only hard part was that we are now flying in 2 nights before we planned on going. We are going to book a value resort for 2 nights and just "hang out" doing things like downtown Disney and such so that we spend as little money as possible.

Any recommendations on what value resort you like (if you have ever stayed at any of them)? We will be at the Poly for 7 nights after it so we don't really care about the room much for 2 nights. Just would like it to be in good condition.

We like Pop Century

 

[jenanderson]

We like Pop Century

Did you think that the Pop was a bit to "busy"? Not in terms of the people but when I look at all the pictures, it just seems like the decorations are a bit too much.

Is there a location/building that you would recommend? How is the pool? What about the food court? We are looking for a food court that has good (and cheap) prices. Is the store there big?

I am thinking that we will be spending our extra time in Downtown Disney, laying by the pool, visiting some other resorts and possibly doing a DVC tour. We go to WDW so much that DVC is something we think of a lot. I know that we would not buy this summer (it would be impossible) but it would be interesting to us to learn more about it. We never want to do the tour on other trips because we do not want to give up park time. This seems like a great opportunity to give it a try.

 

[tiqr]

I think there are several DVC members on this thread. I have been a member for 10 years and it has been a great experience. My home resort is Boardwalk. We love it so much I keep adding points....

best value comes when you stay at the Disney resorts, but there are more and more options for alternative trips - Disney Cruise, Adventures by Disney, etc. We have been to California Disney , Disney Paris, etc. There is always someting to see....love it!!

 

[spoohs]

Did you think that the Pop was a bit to "busy"? Not in terms of the people but when I look at all the pictures, it just seems like the decorations are a bit too much.

Is there a location/building that you would recommend? How is the pool? What about the food court? We are looking for a food court that has good (and cheap) prices. Is the store there big?

I am thinking that we will be spending our extra time in Downtown Disney, laying by the pool, visiting some other resorts and possibly doing a DVC tour. We go to WDW so much that DVC is something we think of a lot. I know that we would not buy this summer (it would be impossible) but it would be interesting to us to learn more about it. We never want to do the tour on other trips because we do not want to give up park time. This seems like a great opportunity to give it a try.

Well we have never stayed at the All stars so I can't compare it to that, but we did like Pop better than Carribean Beach. We have never stayed at a deluxe hotel before (although I am staying at the AKL in May ), but if we needed to stay at a moderate or a value again, we would pick Pop Century.

We where in the 60's building which is their "prefered" building. Not to far from the foodcourt and pool. When we were at Disney last it was in Jan. and very cold and only used the pool once on the morning we were leaving, so I can't really comment. There isn't much themeing for the pool, but it is clean and was warm.

You can check out the food court selection and prices at wdwig.com.

I found the themeing to be fun, but I can also see where some may say it is over the top. Good luck in your choice.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I have stayed at the 'All Stars' I found it a bit 'busy' lots of people little room at pools, food court etc, It was a long (bus) way to all Parks bar Animal Kingdom and Blizzard beach.

But the rooms were ok, and the themes nice,

I prefer the monorail resorts of Polynesian and contemporary but there far more expensive.

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Just had to say how excited we are...we booked our airfare just a couple minutes ago!

Each little thing I do makes it seem so much closer!

We were able to book a combination of mileage and cash so it made it a great deal. The only hard part was that we are now flying in 2 nights before we planned on going. We are going to book a value resort for 2 nights and just "hang out" doing things like downtown Disney and such so that we spend as little money as possible.

Any recommendations on what value resort you like (if you have ever stayed at any of them)? We will be at the Poly for 7 nights after it so we don't really care about the room much for 2 nights. Just would like it to be in good condition.

CIAOOOOOO !! we were two years ago at POP CENTURY with our Floridian friends : it gets busy - especially the food court at meals time - though the food is good value for price . Epcot Illuminations fireworks are visible across the lake ; also the lake side promenade is quiet and beautiful. The 70ies are relatively quiet , you may request a room on fourth floor .

Years ago we stayed at All Stars MOVIES and loved it ; the food court IMHO is better than the one found at Pop Century ; I remember a yummy minestrone - really Italian style !!
I liked the theme there better than a t Pop Century ; a friend of mine tells me that the MOVIES has been recently renovated ...

GLAD that your trip is "feeling" closer and closer !!!

laura

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Hi all, I just booked this cruise it was a last minute type decision this will be our 4th Disney Cruise. I have a DS who is 12 and a DD who is 9.
I am so psyched to be going to Tortola we have only taken Western Cruises in the past so its a whole new venture.
Wow the size to this thread is amazing, I didnt have enough hours to read who everyone is, but it looks like a GREAT group from what I have read so far and I am so looking forward to meeting everyone.

Nice to have you on board !!!! laura

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

I am thinking that we will be spending our extra time in Downtown Disney, laying by the pool, visiting some other resorts ...

Jen, just a thought .
Why don't you try and shop around for a high-level hotel OUTSIDE WDW ?
You may find good deals with hotels on INTERNATIONAL DRIVE ; I recall a Marriott ( or Radisson) at prices like the All Stars ...

You could also check prices with the hotels close to Downtown - we have been at the Hilton at very good rates in August ...

Just a thought , laura