Just got off the Fantasy, any questions?

[Weedy]

/taishartrueblood
What do you mean that the lines were long for dinner?
Did the restaurants not open on time?

 

[bethann2103]

Not OP but wanted to give our Eastern Itinerary port calls info. We were scheduled to do the bathes in Tortolla but there was a red flag warning so we wouldn't be allowed in the water. They were still going but we chose to cancel and received a refund because trying to keep out children out of the water was not going to be worth the aggravation. Instead we took a taxi to a beach called Brewers Bay. It was a nice secluded beach about a 20 minute taxi ride. Roads are pretty narrow and its a very steep ascent and decent, I had to hold my breath a few times!! We were told there was snorkeling available here but we weren't able to find it, water was murky due to rougher waves. The water temperature was comfortable but a little on the cool side and the waves could get a little rough at times. There was minimal services available here. We stayed for about 2.5 hours and our cabbie did come back for us on time.

In St. Thomas we went to Coki Point beach and were told this is the best snorkeling beach. It did not disappoint!! The snorkeling was perfect and the water was a comfortable temperature. The beach was busy but not over crowded at all. They had food and drinks and chairs available and the people were friendly and not pushy. I would absolutely go back to Coki beach it was beautiful and exactly our speed of snorkeling for myself, hubs and kids (6 and 9).

 

[mcurrence]

Not the OP but I went to Cane Garden Bay on Feb 16 when on the Fantasy. We got off the ship and followed signs to the taxis. Different open air taxis were going different places so we just told the men there that we wanted Cane Garden Bay. 5 people sit per bench, 5 rows, so they want to fill it. It cost $8pp each way (you pay before the taxi departs). Our driver came over the PA with info about the island, stopped twice en route for photo ops and made sure we knew his name in case we wanted to head back with him later in the day. My husband went back around 1pm to get DD from the lab, I went back with my DS, nephew, sister and her friend around 2:30pm and my SIL, brother, other DS and niece left around 4pm...none of us had trouble getting a taxi back when we wanted.

Water was lovely, though it was windy that day so the waves did occasionally crash and knock us over. The public washrooms left a bit to be desired but they were there and free. Drinks at the restaurants cost about $3-7. 2 sun chairs and umbrella cost us $15 for the day and was enough room for one of us to lay out and watch all the bags. We brought our own sand toys for the kids and a couple others joined in. I'd recommend it if you're after a nice, simple beach day. Let me know if I can answer any other questions!

Thank you so much for all the details! We are going in September and definitely thinking of doing the same! How was the drive to the beach? I've heard it can be a bit scary?
Also, is it 8 dollars for children too? I've read conflicting info..we have a 7 and 9 year old so I imagine they will be charged?
Did the restaurant serve regular beach fare like burgers ?
Thanks again!!

 

[swimfin]

We had the Commadore Tom Forberg as the captain, he did a great job.

Tortula was lovely but strange. It is a completely new port, a completely undeveloped one... not really commercialized at all. The island and waters itself are lovely and the temperature was about 80 and HOT. The reason that the cruise ships stop going to Tortula after March is that it gets too hot to be comfortable.

I will post a picture of the Tortula port (don't want to bother uploading mine, sorry).. the group of buildings you see with the red roofs are the ENTIRE commercial section of Tortula. They were mostly diamond shops or shops that havnt been stocked/rented yet. If you are looking to shop, this isn't the place... we looked at all the shops... ALL the shops... in 15 minutes.

[GALLERY=]http://disneycruiselineblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Tortola-Pier-Park-Rendering-Downing.jpg [/GALLERY]

The Baths were beautiful, definitely worth an excursion! The beaches were beautiful and the caves were awesome. The hike itself is moderate.. if you can hike a mountain trail (at your own pace) then you can do the hike. The very first section requires that you crouch over but we didn't see anyone having to crawl through it (and I am a big guy who was carrying a backpack and a camerabag). The excursion starts you off by walking you down to the beach, then going through the caves to another beach, then you can go up to the restaurant or you can go back through the caves and then up to the restaurant. We decided to go back through the caves and enjoyed it immensely both times. The restaurant itself "Top of the Baths" is beautiful with a couple of small shops/spa there. The food was great and the drinks were good with plenty of alcohol (none of the watered drinks you get on the ship!). The restaurant also had a fresh water pool that that kids loved! I wore water shoes, my brother wore sandals, but next time we would both go barefoot (but then I love to go barefoot). The rocks are all smooth and shouldn't hurt the feet. The water itself was cool but not cold, pretty much perfect. There was shade on the beaches for those who wanted it and all the views were awesome.............................. sorry for the stream of consciousness post there, I havnt had my coffee yet OH, make sure you bring bottled water with you! There is a small place at the first beach where you can buy water and sandwiches and such, but the prices were quite high and you will definitely need some water.

We also went to Magen's Bay in St. Thomas and the beach was great and the water was great.

Castaway Cay was very nice, it started a little overcast but by 11am the sun was out and it was ~75 degrees. The water was cool but after 10 seconds in the water you were fine. My old complaint about CC this year was that Serenity Bay didn't have a lot of marine life in it (conch, coral, sea anemone, ect) like it did last year.

We have been told that the water is always smooth sailing in March and we have found that to be true. There was very little rocking, even though we were going at high speed (so no stabilizers deployed).

Joe was the club hostess and she is awesome! We have been on a cruise with her as a club host before and she makes it so much fun!

I was travelling with my sister, brother in law, nephews, and brother and my sister scheduled a character breakfast (not a princess one) and it took place on Monday morning in AP. There were a ton of characters out and the lines were not too long.


Oh, one thing I will mention, the lines for the late seating dinner seemed to be extraordinarily long. Maybe that is normal, not sure.

A bit confused ... Did I read correctly that you said the cruise ships stop going to Tortola after March? The Fantasy is going there in June

 

[LLB430]

We had our 4 year old with us and she probably had the easiest times at the baths out of any of us. The hand rope areas on the rocks were the most difficult for her but she easily walked through tight areas and the water was never too deep

Thank you. Did you go on an excursion or your own? If on your own, what did it cost you? TIA!

 

[LLB430]

LLB, bringing a 3.5 year old would be doable, but there are sections that you would have to carry him/her. There are stairs that go straight up and down that are covered with sand that would not be safe for them alone (even adults had to take their time on them). Most of the caves they could do fine in I think. Keep in mind that the hike to and from the caves is moderately strenuous as well... not too steep, but long enough that a small child might get tired.

Thank you!!

 

[taishartrueblood]

Swim, most cruise ships stop going, yes.

Weedy, I am not sure honestly. We were walking down to go to the shows or the clubs or something and there was always a line waiting to go in. Not sure if that is normal or not, but it made me glad I was the early dining.

 

[Partyof4LA]

We had our 4 year old with us and she probably had the easiest times at the baths out of any of us. The hand rope areas on the rocks were the most difficult for her but she easily walked through tight areas and the water was never too deep

Who did you book with? Our DD will be 4 when we go and I thought I saw that she did not meet age requirement for the DCL baths excursion but we would love to do that one

 

[lolainkent]

Thank you so much for all the details! We are going in September and definitely thinking of doing the same! How was the drive to the beach? I've heard it can be a bit scary?
Also, is it 8 dollars for children too? I've read conflicting info..we have a 7 and 9 year old so I imagine they will be charged?
Did the restaurant serve regular beach fare like burgers ?
Thanks again!!

I didn't find it that bad, but I can see why some would say a bit scary. It's a steep drive up with lots of turns and then a big hill down (obviously reverse on the way back!). Our drivers would lay on the horn as they approached a turn because he needed to go wide. I felt as though the drivers (since we went back with a different one) were taking the road cautiously! My boys are 8 and 10 and they thought it was a fun ride. And yes, $8 for kids too. I heard someone at the front of our taxi try to negotiate the price for their kids but the engine started running and I couldn't hear the result - they certainly still handed over a wad of cash.

We had burgers, fries, smoothies. I didn't actually wander up and down the beach but my SIL said there were several restaurants with similar food.

 

[mcurrence]

I didn't find it that bad, but I can see why some would say a bit scary. It's a steep drive up with lots of turns and then a big hill down (obviously reverse on the way back!). Our drivers would lay on the horn as they approached a turn because he needed to go wide. I felt as though the drivers (since we went back with a different one) were taking the road cautiously! My boys are 8 and 10 and they thought it was a fun ride. And yes, $8 for kids too. I heard someone at the front of our taxi try to negotiate the price for their kids but the engine started running and I couldn't hear the result - they certainly still handed over a wad of cash.

We had burgers, fries, smoothies. I didn't actually wander up and down the beach but my SIL said there were several restaurants with similar food.

Thank you so much !!

 

[Muskegon78]

We did it on our own through Speedy's. It cost $104 for 2 ads and our 9 year old, our 4 year old was free (I think), either way it was $104.The lunch we had on top of the baths, with 2-3 drinks per parent, was about $100 after tip. The lunch could have been much less but we stayed there for almost 3 hours. We also had to pay around $6 to get into the Baths National Park

 

[Muskegon78]

Who did you book with? Our DD will be 4 when we go and I thought I saw that she did not meet age requirement for the DCL baths excursion but we would love to do that one

We walked to Speedy's. You cannot book through them in advance. The Tortola Pier Park workers were very helpful directing us where to walk. It took less than 10 minutes walking on the sidewalk. There was a 7:45 and a 9:00am ferry. We got there just after 8, we might have been able to make the early one if we were prepared to get off the ship sooner. You buy the to/from ferry tickets and the Virgin Gorda taxi tickets together for that lump cost. You can add the lunch option but that is not at the Baths. Don't forget to bring towels from the ship, we did, and we needed to buy one (would have liked 4) at the Baths for $20

 

[Weedy]

About the lines for dinner. It's because people line up before the doors even open.
I've never understood the reason to do this. You have an assigned time andan assigned table.
People are funny.