St Thomas & Tortola Excursions Help

[Happy100]

I am just off the Fantasy and went to the Baths and on the St. John Champagne catamaran and snorkel. Both excursions were great! If you book the baths excursion through Disney then the ferry pulls right up to the boat on deck 1 which is very convenient. Also, a lunch and complimentary drink are served. If you go to the baths, I would recommend bringing sneakers! There's a bit of a hike down to the beaches but they're beautiful, especially devil's bay. Out of the many catamaran excursions i've done in St. Thomas, the champagne catamaran and snorkel was by far the best! The crew were great and the catamaran anchors right off of honeymoon beach which was absolutely beautiful and not crowded at all. Hope this helps and have fun!

So did you do "The Baths" excursion through DCL. I think it was $129/person? I ask because there are two and one appears to be longer and includes lunch. If so how much time did you have at the Baths?

 

[kcfree]

Thanks for all the feedback. We decided to go with Patouche in Tortola.

For St Thomas, we decided to go Trunk Bay. I booked the DCL excursion but now Imthinking we might do it on our own.

For anyone who did the Trunk Bay excursion from DCL, it says 8:15...is this when you meet or leave the boat?

Do you take the ferry from where the cruise pulls in or from Red Hook?

Is 90mins at Trunk Bay enough?

Thx

 

[nu2dvc]

Has anyone done the "Catamaran Sail, Snorkel & Private Beach Club" @ St. Thomas thorough DCL? I am apprehensive b/c the excursion is only a half day.... getting back by 11:45 am. Seems like we may regret not booking something full-day, but the 6-hr. honeymoon beach excursion seems a bit iffy as I've read that the beach is a bit "lacking".... not guaranteed a chair, not as much to do than there is at the Beach Club.

Would appreciate advice from anyone who has done the half-day sail/snorkel/beach club excursion and whether they felt they go their money's worth from this half-day excursion. (we originally planned to do Magen's Bay on our own but are growing concerned about crowd levels)

Thanks in advance.

 

[JJsmama]

Has anyone done the "Catamaran Sail, Snorkel & Private Beach Club" @ St. Thomas thorough DCL? I am apprehensive b/c the excursion is only a half day.... getting back by 11:45 am. Seems like we may regret not booking something full-day, but the 6-hr. honeymoon beach excursion seems a bit iffy as I've read that the beach is a bit "lacking".... not guaranteed a chair, not as much to do than there is at the Beach Club.

Did this excursion just recently get listed? I hadn't noticed it before and the 'private beach club' is the type of thing that would catch my eye. That gives me hope that something new will show up for Tortola.
what you mention above is the same problem I am having with Tortola excursions. The full day Jost van Dyke beach gets very mixed reviews on CC and Tripadvisor so I am afraid to be there all day, so I have booked morning excursions which will probably be rushed. There aren't many great beach options. The St Thomas beach which gets the great reviews in Magen's Bay, BTW. Hope you get an answer. I just booked my St Thomas ex today so I will be watching the answers.

 

[nu2dvc]

not sure how long this one has been listed JJsmama, I just saw it today but have been too busy with work to look much sooner. I tried to book it after posting this but it's actually already at capacity, so it looks like we are going to be taking our chances with Magen's Bay. Just hope it's not jam-packed to the point of being unpleasant. Are you on the 4/23 Fantasy sailing by any chance?

 

[Kay2397]

not sure how long this one has been listed JJsmama, I just saw it today but have been too busy with work to look much sooner. I tried to book it after posting this but it's actually already at capacity, so it looks like we are going to be taking our chances with Magen's Bay. Just hope it's not jam-packed to the point of being unpleasant. Are you on the 4/23 Fantasy sailing by any chance?

We are on the 4/23 sailing. We are hoping to do the baths and Megans bay but we can't book anything until Feb- because we are first timers!

 

[JJsmama]

not sure how long this one has been listed JJsmama, I just saw it today but have been too busy with work to look much sooner. I tried to book it after posting this but it's actually already at capacity, so it looks like we are going to be taking our chances with Magen's Bay. Just hope it's not jam-packed to the point of being unpleasant. Are you on the 4/23 Fantasy sailing by any chance?

Yes we are on that sailing. Yea! Maybe good about that excursion being booked. I read about it last night on Tripadvisor and the reviews (mostly from locals) were terrible. Apparently this is a fairly new bar/ beach and the owner is a real jerk... Of course, I know you can always find good and bad reviews but TripA has rarely steered me wrong.

Magens Bay should be good. I am thinking of switching to it for us. I want a good beach day and it seems to get the most consistently good reviews and it is not too far of a drive.

I wish it were in Tortola though. I don't see a great beach option there - especially w/o lots of travel. We have half day to Baths booked but i cant get too excited bc i keep reading about the crowds and the strong ocean currents. It sounds (to me ) like i am not adventurous at all. Somewhat the opposite: 7 years living as a foreigner in Asia has taught me that i dont like to stuck out somewhere all day without a decent bathroom at least- especially not on vacation. I have booked the 8:15 departure though so hopefully the crowds wont be too bad when we get there.

I am fairly happy with our Sea Safari booking for St Thomas (good TripA revierws too) but really want more beach time than deep snorkeling.

 

[Scoobydoo76]

Patouches Charter Review

We used Patouches for snorkeling and a trip to The Baths on January 19th while stopping in Tortola. We really enjoyed the day and would definitely recommend them. The lunch at Cooper Island (not included in the $125 fee) was tastey and the snorkeling lots of fun. They had plenty of rum punch, beer, soda and water on board. You do need to bring your own beach towels from the ship.

We swam up to The Baths from their morning. I do suggest you use one of their snorkeling waist floats for the swim in. I am not a strong swimmer and was able to do the distance without a float. However, the float will give you a bit more confidence. If we ever do this swim again, I will use a float. We had many children in our group, I believe the youngest was 5. She used a float and had no problems with the swim in.

The Baths are absolutely beautiful! We were given a guided tour through the rocks and then had some free time. I believe we were there for about 1.5 hours. We left as the afternoon excursion from the Fantasy arrived. I can't imagine how crowded the area gets in the morning with guests from all the cruise ships. I am so glad we were not there with the crowds. Patouche Charter timed our visit perfectly, we had a manageable amount of people crawling through the tight areas.

Since we had a full boat of 16 from the Fantasy, we were conviently met by our Captain Oscar near the end of the port terminal entrance. It was a short walk to the catamaran and we were off for a fun day. We met at 8:30am and I believe we were returned to the same docking area around 3:30-4:00pm. We had some time to pick up some Pusser's Rum and do shopping near the port. We were back on the Fantasy with plenty of time before the all aboard time.

I suggest you really try to get a group from Disboard to fill the Patouche Charter catamaran. If you do not have a full boat, you may have to travel about 30 minutes to reach the dock where they normally are located.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

We have half day to Baths booked but i cant get too excited bc i keep reading about the crowds and the strong ocean currents.

My concern about this one was how many cancellations I read about due to strong currents, etc. I think I want to go with something that seems like a safer bet... this is all tough to digest as a newbie!

 

[mom4fun]

I have mostly read great things about the st. Thomas full day turtle bay and honeymoon beach. Many reviews say it was the best excursion they've ever done. Now I'm starting to wonder if it is still as great as it supposedly was a couple of years. I really wanted to do something at St. John's instead but everything is too short for a beach day.

 

[Princessmama 2]

Patouches Charter Review

We used Patouches for snorkeling and a trip to The Baths on January 19th while stopping in Tortola. We really enjoyed the day and would definitely recommend them. The lunch at Cooper Island (not included in the $125 fee) was tastey and the snorkeling lots of fun. They had plenty of rum punch, beer, soda and water on board. You do need to bring your own beach towels from the ship.

We swam up to The Baths from their morning. I do suggest you use one of their snorkeling waist floats for the swim in. I am not a strong swimmer and was able to do the distance without a float. However, the float will give you a bit more confidence. If we ever do this swim again, I will use a float. We had many children in our group, I believe the youngest was 5. She used a float and had no problems with the swim in.

The Baths are absolutely beautiful! We were given a guided tour through the rocks and then had some free time. I believe we were there for about 1.5 hours. We left as the afternoon excursion from the Fantasy arrived. I can't imagine how crowded the area gets in the morning with guests from all the cruise ships. I am so glad we were not there with the crowds. Patouche Charter timed our visit perfectly, we had a manageable amount of people crawling through the tight areas.

Since we had a full boat of 16 from the Fantasy, we were conviently met by our Captain Oscar near the end of the port terminal entrance. It was a short walk to the catamaran and we were off for a fun day. We met at 8:30am and I believe we were returned to the same docking area around 3:30-4:00pm. We had some time to pick up some Pusser's Rum and do shopping near the port. We were back on the Fantasy with plenty of time before the all aboard time.

I suggest you really try to get a group from Disboard to fill the Patouche Charter catamaran. If you do not have a full boat, you may have to travel about 30 minutes to reach the dock where they normally are located.

Is there a restroom on the catamaran? Correct me if I'm wrong since I've read so many reviews on Tortola, but Patouche's power catamaran does not have a bathroom (thinking more like a speed boat for shorter excursion times), but does this one? I know it sounds silly, but for an all-day excursion with two kids, this is something I'm wondering.

 

[DIS_Ag]

Patouches Charter Review

We used Patouches for snorkeling and a trip to The Baths on January 19th while stopping in Tortola. We really enjoyed the day and would definitely recommend them. The lunch at Cooper Island (not included in the $125 fee) was tastey and the snorkeling lots of fun. They had plenty of rum punch, beer, soda and water on board. You do need to bring your own beach towels from the ship.

We swam up to The Baths from their morning. I do suggest you use one of their snorkeling waist floats for the swim in. I am not a strong swimmer and was able to do the distance without a float. However, the float will give you a bit more confidence. If we ever do this swim again, I will use a float. We had many children in our group, I believe the youngest was 5. She used a float and had no problems with the swim in.

The Baths are absolutely beautiful! We were given a guided tour through the rocks and then had some free time. I believe we were there for about 1.5 hours. We left as the afternoon excursion from the Fantasy arrived. I can't imagine how crowded the area gets in the morning with guests from all the cruise ships. I am so glad we were not there with the crowds. Patouche Charter timed our visit perfectly, we had a manageable amount of people crawling through the tight areas.

Since we had a full boat of 16 from the Fantasy, we were conviently met by our Captain Oscar near the end of the port terminal entrance. It was a short walk to the catamaran and we were off for a fun day. We met at 8:30am and I believe we were returned to the same docking area around 3:30-4:00pm. We had some time to pick up some Pusser's Rum and do shopping near the port. We were back on the Fantasy with plenty of time before the all aboard time.

I suggest you really try to get a group from Disboard to fill the Patouche Charter catamaran. If you do not have a full boat, you may have to travel about 30 minutes to reach the dock where they normally are located.

Thank you so much for this!

Did the kids enjoy the snorkeling?

 

[dreadpiraterose]

• Full day sail & snorkel to turtle cove & honeymoon beach

Thanks.

My husband and I did the pirate snorkel to turtle cove. Not exactly the same excursion, but the same snorkel area. In all honestly, I'm not sure I would do it again. It was a lot of work snorkeling out there. It was almost like being in the open water, because the 'cove' doesn't really protect you all that much from the waves. Additionally, our provided snorkel equipment didn't fit great, and the floatation vest they require you to wear was a real pain in the butt. It kept riding up to our neck, and you basically had to use one hand to hold it down from choking you. It was also MEGA crowded, and we found it hard to stick with our guide and our group. Did we see some turtles? Yes. Was it worth it? Meh. I don't think it was.

 

[Scoobydoo76]

Thank you so much for this!

Did the kids enjoy the snorkeling?

My children are older, really young adults. The smaller kids 5-12ish seemed to really enjoy the snorkeling. I believe we all did. We saw many types of fish, 2 sea turtles and a small stingray.

Is there a restroom on the catamaran? Correct me if I'm wrong since I've read so many reviews on Tortola, but Patouche's power catamaran does not have a bathroom (thinking more like a speed boat for shorter excursion times), but does this one? I know it sounds silly, but for an all-day excursion with two kids, this is something I'm wondering.

There was not a restroom on the catamaran. At Cooper Island (lunch) and at The Baths there are restrooms.

 

[the5wills]

Has anyone done the "Catamaran Sail, Snorkel & Private Beach Club" @ St. Thomas thorough DCL? I am apprehensive b/c the excursion is only a half day.... getting back by 11:45 am. Seems like we may regret not booking something full-day, but the 6-hr. honeymoon beach excursion seems a bit iffy as I've read that the beach is a bit "lacking".... not guaranteed a chair, not as much to do than there is at the Beach Club.

Would appreciate advice from anyone who has done the half-day sail/snorkel/beach club excursion and whether they felt they go their money's worth from this half-day excursion. (we originally planned to do Magen's Bay on our own but are growing concerned about crowd levels)

Thanks in advance.

Would love to hear about anyone's personal experience about this excursion as well!
We too are looking at this as well as Magen's Beach on our own.....
Hoping someone who recently sailed DCL can reply