Volendam - St Thomas question.

[SHayesShip]

Which dock has the Volendam used in St. Thomas for you experienced cruisers? I want to see if it varies.
When I was on the Zuiderdam in April they used Havensight. The reason I am asking is because I just booked a car through Budget at the Havensight area for my 4/9/05 cruise. If we dock all the way over on the other side then I will have to make a decision if it is worth the hassle.

Steve Hayes

[Krazy Kruizers]

For the last couple of months HAL ships have been docking in Crown Bay for 95% of the time.

I tried to check both usvi and vinow sites and neither goes beyond Dec 2004.

[peaches from georgia]

You can check it out on www.**********. The last 3 months docking schedules are posted and the Volendam has been at both Crown Bay and Havensight, so there is no way you are going to know for sure until the April schedule is posted, and maybe not for sure even then until you actually dock.

[SHayesShip]

Thank You both. I have saved the websites above in my Favorites for future use.
I know there are no gaurantees. When I went on the Z in April/04 they switched the days in port between Tortola and St. Thomas. I had a car rented for St. Thomas and were meeting relatives cruising on the Caribbean Princess. Needless to say we never connected.

Steve Hayes

[sail7seas]

I tried checking for Veendam (January) and no 2005 scheduling is yet posted.

[JimVrhovac]

There is no logic to the system. We have used both docks and tendered in. The comments that I have received from the ship's officers are that a lot depends on the tonnage and capacity of the ships in question. The larger passanger ships get priority at the docks so they can unload faster.

Jim

[MandyGirl]

On the 11/20 sailing of Zuiderdam, here was our experience:

********** showed docking at Crown Bay with three ships at Havensight and one tendering (Queen Mary) - ********** posts the new schedule at the very end of the preceeding month
HAL embarkation welcome letter in our cabin denoted tendering for St Thomas (embarkation letter on Saturday, 11/20) and shorter timeframe for Tortola (leaving one hour earlier)
HAL shore excursion meeting times for St Thomas were displayed assuming tendering
on Monday afternoon it was announced onboard we would indeed be docking at Crown Bay instead of tendering :) :) :)
new HAL shore excursion meeting times were sent out that afternoon/evening for affected tours
we arrived in St Thomas on Tuesday 11/23 for the 8:00 arrival time at Crown Bay (docked), and were one of the first off the ship at 8:15. In a cab by 8:25 to catch the 9:00 Red Hook ferry to St John.
We understood onboard that the previous week, the Zuiderdam tendered. We learned that things can differ from the ********** schedule (such as our embarkation material in the cabin specifying tendering) and then change again while sailing. We were just happy we made it to port on the actual day scheduled instead of flipflopping with Tortola like previous Zuiderdam passengers experienced earlier this year.

[sail7seas]

I agree that the ship's tonnage is a factor in deciding which get to dock at Havensight.


We have also been told that ships calling once a week at St. Thomas have a priority for Havensight dock space over ships that do not call weekly.

[Peggy Sue]

11/6 Volendam cruise docked at Crown Bay. Not a bad trip into town, but did have difficulty getting taxi's .. we wanted to arrange for a tour of the island..they had a ton of those open air buses at the pier..but they all wanted to take us downtown or to the beach. We ended up going downtown and then going with another driver on a tour of the island. Not bad, but just a bit annoying.

We had been told the Zuiderdam would be docked with us at Crown Bay. They did not. They were tendering..not sure why the switch. We spoke to some Zuiderdam passengers in Tortola the next day and they said they wished they had gone to crown bay, as the tendering was a "pain".

Peggy Sue

[Himself]

The Volendam hits St. Thomas every ten days and so the days it is there varies. The Heavy Days at St. Thomas would be Tuesday and Wednesday.
On those days she may go to the alternate port. When I was there in November three megaships were tied up at Havensport and the Zuiderdam was anchored and people were tendering into Charlotte Amailie. On a less crowded day the Volendam will probably go in at the main docking area.

HIMSELF

[Sage]

I just returned from the 12/6 sailing on the Volendam, and we docked at Crown Bay. There were plenty of taxis waiting, and you just had to remember before you got in a cab to return to the ship to mention that you were going to Crown Bay. They are building a lot of shops that should be similar to Havensight, and they said they would be open in January.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We will be on the Volendam in March. And from reading the various posts about the Volendam docking at Crown Bay, I do hope that the shops will be ready by then.

[DFD1]

The 11/26 Volendam cruise berthed at Havensight. We were one of only two ships in port that day. The other was the Carnival Desteny. Having only the two of us there made the day in town just great. The place was actually civilized and the store personnel pleasant.

[Himself]

The Zuiderdam did tender in. It was quite a way ($4.00 cab ride) to the shoping center at the main dock. They tendered right into the heart of Charlotte Amailie. I took the cab from our dock over to the other one and it cost me five bucks. Saw the tent which the Zuiderdam folks had put up to keep those PAX out of the Sun. I must mention that there is much building going on at the Crown Bay Dock and you will see a nice shopping area there, in the near future.

Himself