Independent operator rec for Virgin Gorda Baths from Tortola?
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From: D Ball on 19 Feb 2010 19:38 Greetings, cruisers, The subject line says it all. Anyone? Thanks, Diana Ball Austin, TX
From: George Leppla on 19 Feb 2010 20:14 D Ball wrote: > Greetings, cruisers, > > The subject line says it all. Anyone? > We just did this last month. Tortola.... use Speedy to go to the Baths http://www.speedysbvi.com/index.php Buy the package that includes lunch. It is an additional $10 pp but when you get to the restaurant, it is good for any menu item up to $17... and you get a free Rum Punch which they normally sell for $8. The Rum Punch is potent and the Fish and Chips are excellent! -- George Leppla Countryside Travel http://www.CruiseMaster.com Blog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CruiseMaster
From: D Ball on 19 Feb 2010 23:49 On Feb 19, 7:14 pm, George Leppla <geo...(a)cruisemaster.com> wrote: > We just did this last month. > > Tortola.... use Speedy to go to the Bathshttp://www.speedysbvi.com/index.php > > Buy the package that includes lunch. It is an additional $10 pp but > when you get to the restaurant, it is good for any menu item up to > $17... and you get a free Rum Punch which they normally sell for $8. > The Rum Punch is potent and the Fish and Chips are excellent! Thanks for the speedy info about Speedy's. I remember you talking about how much fun you had! You might be the best TA ever, George, but I don't think you can pull a rabbit out of the hat for us on this one. Our port stop is only 7a-1p. Speedy's ferry schedule is: 9a depart Tortola, 9:30a arrive VG 11:30a depart VG, 12:00p arrive Tortola (I don't think we can take the 12:30p dep. arriving @ 1p with the stated port duration ending at 1p...that's close by even my standards!) It looks like we'll need to add a minimum of 20 minutes for the RT taxi ride from the ferry landing to/from the baths. That means our max time at the Baths is 1h40m, and you know, if everything runs on island time, we're really only looking at 1-1/2 hours. I have a hard time justifying the trip for that brief of a vist--agreed? So...I'm going to have to look for a sail charter that can go dock-to- baths or similar. Or else come up with a Plan B for Tortola. Thanks, Diana
From: Tom K on 20 Feb 2010 00:21 On 2/19/10 11:49 PM, D Ball wrote: > On Feb 19, 7:14 pm, George Leppla<geo...(a)cruisemaster.com> wrote: > >> We just did this last month. >> >> Tortola.... use Speedy to go to the Bathshttp://www.speedysbvi.com/index.php >> >> Buy the package that includes lunch. It is an additional $10 pp but >> when you get to the restaurant, it is good for any menu item up to >> $17... and you get a free Rum Punch which they normally sell for $8. >> The Rum Punch is potent and the Fish and Chips are excellent! > > Thanks for the speedy info about Speedy's. I remember you talking > about how much fun you had! > > You might be the best TA ever, George, but I don't think you can pull > a rabbit out of the hat for us on this one. Our port stop is only > 7a-1p. Speedy's ferry schedule is: > > 9a depart Tortola, 9:30a arrive VG > 11:30a depart VG, 12:00p arrive Tortola (I don't think we can take the > 12:30p dep. arriving @ 1p with the stated port duration ending at > 1p...that's close by even my standards!) > > It looks like we'll need to add a minimum of 20 minutes for the RT > taxi ride from the ferry landing to/from the baths. That means our max > time at the Baths is 1h40m, and you know, if everything runs on island > time, we're really only looking at 1-1/2 hours. I have a hard time > justifying the trip for that brief of a vist--agreed? > > So...I'm going to have to look for a sail charter that can go dock-to- > baths or similar. Or else come up with a Plan B for Tortola. > > Thanks, > > Diana If it's that tight... does the ship offer an excursion to Virgin Gorda? If you saved a ton of money on the cruise... might have to bite the bullet and do a ship excursion there, even if packed with a bunch of others from the ship. --Tom
From: D Ball on 20 Feb 2010 00:56
> If it's that tight... does the ship offer an excursion to Virgin Gorda? > If you saved a ton of money on the cruise... might have to bite the > bullet and do a ship excursion there, even if packed with a bunch of > others from the ship. > > --Tom Yup, we think alike, but I checked out the ship's excursion first thing--it was sold out. My penance for last-minute booking! I know I can try to nab a spot once we board, but I hate dealing with that zoo, and because it's such a popular excursion and our stop is so short, they really might not have room to accommodate us. I'm also wary of counting on "winging it" & making an arrangement with an operator working the pier--it is Spring Break after all. Speaking of which...and my low cruise fare...someone PM'd me to offer that it was a bit crass for me to talk about how much I paid for the cruise. I am actually pretty old school when it comes to talking about money matters, so I appreciate the feedback. I didn't mean to be a boor and apologize for any offense. It's just that in this case, I don't see anything wrong with saying what I paid in this forum--I would never compare cruise fare with fellow pax on the ship, I'm sure the early bookers paid quite a bit more--for a couple of reasons: (1) Celebrity and RCI don't permit price cuts, so I paid the going rate you can see on any TA's site, and (2) I thought it was curiously newsworthy that there was both availability & such low fares on a late model, highly praised Celebrity ship during prime Spring Break--two Spring Breaks ago (2008), we paid more to cruise on the Caribbean Princess (then 4 years old and sailing to ho-hum reviews). Of course, on a personal level, as regulars know (and as I alluded to in another post earlier today), we normally sail with our kids, so are used to paying high rates to cruise during school holidays and summer vacation; while I clearly think Solstice over Spring Break should've demanded a higher fare, I am obviously giddy we got to access such a good deal! Diana |