Can this be done? St. Thomas question...

[NYDisneyMom]

I would like to book with Coki Beach Dive Club for our day in St. Thomas. They will have someone pick us up at the dock at 8:30, though. Is it possible to get off the ship that early? I know you have to do the immigration thing that morning, and I'd like to get everyone a good breakfast before getting off the ship, too.

So..is 8:30 a doable time?? Another question..we do dock at St. Thomas, right? I saw one navigator that mentioned tenders. The Dive Club said they only pick up cruisers from the Havensight (sp?) dock, is that a problem??

Thanks!!

 

[jrabbit]

I think 23 out of 25 times the Magic docks at Havensight so usually that is not going to be a problem.

I also believe that getting off of the ship by 8:30 isn't a problem either because you have to goto immigration around 6:30am.

 

[mmouse37]

On our 2/7/04 cruise we had immigration a bit later than last time...this time is was at about 7:30 - 8:00. I am sure if you speak to a CM and tell them you have an excursion booked, they will let you get off early as long as the ship is cleared to let people off and you have gone through immigration...I remember reading that people with excursions (do not know if it was only DCL excursions) had an earlier immigration time.

We also had to tender this cruise in St. Thomas.

Here is a pic of her achored off shore that day....on our other DCL Eastern cruises we have always docked at Havensight.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/118565870/118566589kTVyFf

MJ

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by jrabbit
I think 23 out of 25 times the Magic docks at Havensight so usually that is not going to be a problem.

I also believe that getting off of the ship by 8:30 isn't a problem either because you have to goto immigration around 6:30am.

Thanks. If we get there at 6:30 how long, approximately, will it take to get out of there?

Just trying to plan -- my kids are the type that wake up and need breakfast ASAP! LOL! I think I'll order something from room service the night before so they can have something in the morning to hold them over.

 

[mmouse37]

Actually....they have doughnuts, muffins, coffee, juice at the entrance to immigration. We were only in there a total of 10 minutes or so.

MJ

 

[jel0511]

Docking at Havensight isn't a guaranteed thing. Looking at the past and what's on tap for April (and what happened in March), it looks like the first docking of the month is at an area NOT at Havensight, the second is at the Havensight pier. In Feb, the Magic didn't even doc at Havensight, it was in Inner Anchorage both times. If you don't dock at Havensight, then you're only option would to get off the ship as early as possible and taxi it over to Havensight to meet the diving club. The May schedule should be posted about 2 weeks before you leave so you'll know beforehand where the Magic will be docking that week. Here is the website to check where the Magic is docking. http://www.ships.vi/

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by jel0511
know beforehand where the Magic will be docking that week. Here is the website to check where the Magic is docking. http://www.ships.vi/

COOL!! Thanks!

 

[mobetsy]

The Dive Club will pick you up if you dock; if you are tendering, you'll need to get your own ride. As others mentioned, you can find out ahead of time and make plans accordingly.

As for timing, we went down to the immigration check between about 7:30-7:45, spent maybe 20 minutes or so in there, and were off the ship in plenty of time for the 8:30 pick up.

You won't be disappointed by your day at Coki Beach or the fabulous people at the Dive Club

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by mobetsy
The Dive Club will pick you up if you dock; if you are tendering, you'll need to get your own ride. As others mentioned, you can find out ahead of time and make plans accordingly.

As for timing, we went down to the immigration check between about 7:30-7:45, spent maybe 20 minutes or so in there, and were off the ship in plenty of time for the 8:30 pick up.

You won't be disappointed by your day at Coki Beach or the fabulous people at the Dive Club

Thank you! The Dive Club said the cost of the day included the pick up at the dock. Is the fee the same if you have to get a cab over to them? Now I'm wondering if this is worth it...we have our own snorkel equipment -- I was booking with them so my boys could get "real' snorkel lessons instead of all of us just going out and figuring it out on our own.

I got a very nice email from Laura at Coki Dive Club, they are very nice there. Maybe we should just wing it on our own and hope when we get there we can get someone there to give us lessons.

 

[mobetsy]

One of the things I liked best about them was the prompt and friendly communication!

I would just ask. Tell them you have the equipment but you'd like some instruction; let them know the kids' ages. See if that's something they can do for you. Did you take a look at their scuba Bubblemaker class? It is very neat, and my ds9 adored it (also gave him status as the only kid in his class to have tried scuba!). It's for ages 8-10; over that, I think they can also do the regular intro dive. One of the really helpful things there is that you can put your belongings in their storage bins, which sure let us relax and enjoy ourselves a bit more.

 

[lbgraves]

Just to let you know the schedule that is posted for St. Thomas is sometimes altered. A cruise in December was scheduled to dock but they were told by the captain the day before that they would be tendering. You might want to check with the excursion to see if they monitor things like that so that they would know to wait for you at the dock since you would have to taxi over.