Tortola?

[DIS_Ag]

I am VERY interested in hearing how the Patouche experience was and all the details. I have looked into them as well for a May 2016 cruise to eastern Caribbean with my dh and 3 kids. Please let me know! Thanks

Which sailing are you on? We are on the May 1st Magic.

I sent Patouche an email last week for info on little kids and pricing but have not heard back.

 

[the5wills]

Which sailing are you on? We are on the May 1st Magic.

I sent Patouche an email last week for info on little kids and pricing but have not heard back.

We are May 21st sailing. I sent them an email and got prices and such, but I would like to hear other's real experience with them and to hear if they thought it was worth the money

 

[kickash]

Following. We are on the July 30 sailing. We really want to do The Baths!

 

[jtba]

I am VERY interested in hearing how the Patouche experience was and all the details. I have looked into them as well for a May 2016 cruise to eastern Caribbean with my dh and 3 kids. Please let me know! Thanks

@Scoobydoo76 posted a review of Patouche this morning. (thank you @Scoobydoo76 !)

 

[KerryCruise]

I was on last week's Eastern Fantasy. We did Disney's excursion "A Day at the Baths" and really enjoyed it. My, husband, 8 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Meeting time was 9:45AM, on to ferry (while on ferry they give you wrist band and lunch/drink ticket), open air taxi, and to the Baths. It was raining on our way and we waiting in the taxi about 5 minutes when we arrived for rain to stop. As we got out, we hiked down the first trail. Due to the rain, it was very slippery. About 5 minutes ahead of us, a woman from the Disney excursion had slipped and broke her ankle (like, bone out, break...awful). They were calling for emergency vehicles as we walked by. All four of us had on water shoes (Keens for husband and daughter and Speedo shoes bought on ship for me and son) and I'm glad we did because of good grip on bottom. The rest of day was sunny and beautiful! We took our time and at bottom is a very pretty bay you can swim in / get good pics, etc. While here, a middle aged man cut up his foot really bad on something on ocean floor. Once again, glad we had on our water shoes. We then took all our stuff as we wouldn't come back this way and headed through the caves! Fun! Definitely a few tight spots and steep and narrow stairs, but we all were fine! I can see why they say 6+ as little ones may have trouble. The caves end at a beautiful beach! Lay out, swim, take in the sights for a while. Then, you can go back through the caves but much easier to take that trail back to top for lunch. Lunch is a buffet that was fair to good, nothing to write home about. After lunch, you can lay out, swim in the beautiful pool (kids loved it as they actually had room to swim unlike ship where not much room), have a drink at the bar, or just take in the beautiful views from the top! We caught our taxi back around 3PM. Great day!

 

[Kay2397]

I was on last week's Eastern Fantasy. We did Disney's excursion "A Day at the Baths" and really enjoyed it. My, husband, 8 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Meeting time was 9:45AM, on to ferry (while on ferry they give you wrist band and lunch/drink ticket), open air taxi, and to the Baths. It was raining on our way and we waiting in the taxi about 5 minutes when we arrived for rain to stop. As we got out, we hiked down the first trail. Due to the rain, it was very slippery. About 5 minutes ahead of us, a woman from the Disney excursion had slipped and broke her ankle (like, bone out, break...awful). They were calling for emergency vehicles as we walked by. All four of us had on water shoes (Keens for husband and daughter and Speedo shoes bought on ship for me and son) and I'm glad we did because of good grip on bottom. The rest of day was sunny and beautiful! We took our time and at bottom is a very pretty bay you can swim in / get good pics, etc. While here, a middle aged man cut up his foot really bad on something on ocean floor. Once again, glad we had on our water shoes. We then took all our stuff as we wouldn't come back this way and headed through the caves! Fun! Definitely a few tight spots and steep and narrow stairs, but we all were fine! I can see why they say 6+ as little ones may have trouble. The caves end at a beautiful beach! Lay out, swim, take in the sights for a while. Then, you can go back through the caves but much easier to take that trail back to top for lunch. Lunch is a buffet that was fair to good, nothing to write home about. After lunch, you can lay out, swim in the beautiful pool (kids loved it as they actually had room to swim unlike ship where not much room), have a drink at the bar, or just take in the beautiful views from the top! We caught our taxi back around 3PM. Great day!

This sounds great thanks for sharing -my husband and our 2 girls 6&8 are hoping to do this excursion!

 

[peterpanstout]

I was on last week's Eastern Fantasy. We did Disney's excursion "A Day at the Baths" and really enjoyed it. My, husband, 8 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Meeting time was 9:45AM, on to ferry (while on ferry they give you wrist band and lunch/drink ticket), open air taxi, and to the Baths. It was raining on our way and we waiting in the taxi about 5 minutes when we arrived for rain to stop. As we got out, we hiked down the first trail. Due to the rain, it was very slippery. About 5 minutes ahead of us, a woman from the Disney excursion had slipped and broke her ankle (like, bone out, break...awful). They were calling for emergency vehicles as we walked by. All four of us had on water shoes (Keens for husband and daughter and Speedo shoes bought on ship for me and son) and I'm glad we did because of good grip on bottom. The rest of day was sunny and beautiful! We took our time and at bottom is a very pretty bay you can swim in / get good pics, etc. While here, a middle aged man cut up his foot really bad on something on ocean floor. Once again, glad we had on our water shoes. We then took all our stuff as we wouldn't come back this way and headed through the caves! Fun! Definitely a few tight spots and steep and narrow stairs, but we all were fine! I can see why they say 6+ as little ones may have trouble. The caves end at a beautiful beach! Lay out, swim, take in the sights for a while. Then, you can go back through the caves but much easier to take that trail back to top for lunch. Lunch is a buffet that was fair to good, nothing to write home about. After lunch, you can lay out, swim in the beautiful pool (kids loved it as they actually had room to swim unlike ship where not much room), have a drink at the bar, or just take in the beautiful views from the top! We caught our taxi back around 3PM. Great day!

Thanks so much! We booked this through Disney in March. Couple of questions. I am a tiny bit claustrophobic and scared of heights (big baby), think I will be ok? Also, can we take a taxi back anytime we want?

 

[WinterSux]

One person's "strenuous" is another person's walk to the store. I know a lot of Americans who think it's a chore to walk from the first row of parking spaces into the grocery store. To them the mere effort of getting their butt out of the car and moving under their own power is enough to make them want to take a 6-hour nap afterwards.

Completely agree with this! I remember reading on the DIS boards when I was booking hotels last year that the walk from their room to the lobby at Coronado Springs was SO FAR. I got there... and it was nothing to me, not even registered as a walk. That said, while I would love to go to the Baths, I have a 1 year old, who my husband would be able to hike with in a baby carrier back-pack...but it doesn't look worth the effort for us this year.

 

[JJsmama]

I was on last week's Eastern Fantasy. We did Disney's excursion "A Day at the Baths" and really enjoyed it. My, husband, 8 year old daughter and 6 year old son. Meeting time was 9:45AM, on to ferry (while on ferry they give you wrist band and lunch/drink ticket), open air taxi, and to the Baths. It was raining on our way and we waiting in the taxi about 5 minutes when we arrived for rain to stop. As we got out, we hiked down the first trail. Due to the rain, it was very slippery. About 5 minutes ahead of us, a woman from the Disney excursion had slipped and broke her ankle (like, bone out, break...awful). They were calling for emergency vehicles as we walked by. All four of us had on water shoes (Keens for husband and daughter and Speedo shoes bought on ship for me and son) and I'm glad we did because of good grip on bottom. The rest of day was sunny and beautiful! We took our time and at bottom is a very pretty bay you can swim in / get good pics, etc. While here, a middle aged man cut up his foot really bad on something on ocean floor. Once again, glad we had on our water shoes. We then took all our stuff as we wouldn't come back this way and headed through the caves! Fun! Definitely a few tight spots and steep and narrow stairs, but we all were fine! I can see why they say 6+ as little ones may have trouble. The caves end at a beautiful beach! Lay out, swim, take in the sights for a while. Then, you can go back through the caves but much easier to take that trail back to top for lunch. Lunch is a buffet that was fair to good, nothing to write home about. After lunch, you can lay out, swim in the beautiful pool (kids loved it as they actually had room to swim unlike ship where not much room), have a drink at the bar, or just take in the beautiful views from the top! We caught our taxi back around 3PM. Great day!

Thanks for the very informative post. But Sheesh! I am starting to not want to do any of these excursions... Broken bones and bleeding feet Oh My!

Completely agree with this! I remember reading on the DIS boards when I was booking hotels last year that the walk from their room to the lobby at Coronado Springs was SO FAR. I got there... and it was nothing to me, not even registered as a walk. That said, while I would love to go to the Baths, I have a 1 year old, who my husband would be able to hike with in a baby carrier back-pack...but it doesn't look worth the effort for us this year.

I said early on that the Tortola excursions all sounds like a lot of Work - a lot of time getting to and from everywhere, most on boats AND busses.. I don't want to go to a beautiful island and not get out and enjoy it, but I was honestly hoping for an easier beach day even if I paid DCL excursion prices for it. The more I read about the Tortola excursions, the less excited I am. (Maybe I should stop reading - seriously!) Actually, my attitude may be unfair. I battle sea sickness already, especially on smaller boats and definite car sickness on windy roads, so I just am not excited to have to use a lot of other transportation when I get Off the ship....

 

[peterpanstout]

Thanks for the very informative post. But Sheesh! I am starting to not want to do any of these excursions... Broken bones and bleeding feet Oh My!



I said early on that the Tortola excursions all sounds like a lot of Work - a lot of time getting to and from everywhere, most on boats AND busses.. I don't want to go to a beautiful island and not get out and enjoy it, but I was honestly hoping for an easier beach day even if I paid DCL excursion prices for it. The more I read about the Tortola excursions, the less excited I am. (Maybe I should stop reading - seriously!) Actually, my attitude may be unfair. I battle sea sickness already, especially on smaller boats and definite car sickness on windy roads, so I just am not excited to have to use a lot of other transportation when I get Off the ship....

JJsmama, my thoughts exactly. I just had a mini nervous breakdown talking to my husband about it. Of course, he and my DS (13), think everything is an adventure! I am trying to be braver.

I just found this thread that made me feel slightly better. http://www.disboards.com/threads/how-difficult-is-virgin-gorda-at-tortola.3476689/#post-55022502

 

[JJsmama]

Thanks so much! We booked this through Disney in March. Couple of questions. I am a tiny bit claustrophobic and scared of heights (big baby), think I will be ok? Also, can we take a taxi back anytime we want?

I booked for April but I booked the half day. Was wondering why the full day didn't seem much longer beach time in the reviews I read. Then I saw that they left ship at 9:30. Our departure time is 8:15 for the half day. My goal was to try and beat the crowds bc I had seen pics of not only the small spaces at the Baths caves, but lines of people (literally) waiting to fit through them. If you have claustro, then you will catch my drift... If the beach is super, we might regret not doing the full day.
I am planning to walk straight to Devils Bay and not do the caves, let DH, DS do the caves and meet me there. You could do that. Too bad we are not on the same cruise. We could be wimpy together.
As far as taking taxi back any time, I don't know. I think the ferries are on a certain schedule and not constant. You COULD take a taxi back any time, but you might get to the ferry dock and have to sit there... Also, you might have to pay the fee again if it is not the same ferry who brought you over. Hopefully we will get more info on this as more people return from the Tortola cruises.

 

[peterpanstout]

hmmm, I did not see the half day option. I'll check that out. Thanks!

 

[JJsmama]

hmmm, I did not see the half day option. I'll check that out. Thanks!

It is called tour to virgin gorda , i think

 

[peterpanstout]

It is called tour to virgin gorda , i think

OK, I just booked it! (and saved $70 per person!) We are doing it in March. I'll let you know if I survive.