Tortola excursion

[KCat]

Hi everybody,

This is my first time to Tortola & I'm not a big fan of taking ship excursions. So I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good charter company, either with other people or as a private charter?

I think I would most like to snorkle at The Indians & The Caves and to see Norman Island. Any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any information.

[Ziggy7]

We did this with the cruise ship, just wanted to let you know that Norman Island is baron excepts the caves, no streets to travel on incase you wanted to plan a tour on the island :)

[MandyGirl]

We will be using www.patouche.com (http://www.patouche.com) and have read many positive reviews of them here on CruiseCritic.:)

[susi_q]

Just back from Eastern Carrib. While on Tortola we used Speedy's to go to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. Only $25 pp roundtrip, plus $3 to get into the baths. They were truly incredible. In all our travels, never seen anything like them. When we were there, it was too rough for snorkelling, but the "regulars" said usually the snorkelling is great. Lots of good exploring, several nice beaches. Bar on the beach, restraunt & shops up above.

There are two ferry's that go over there (Smith's too) - we chose speedy's cuz seemed to be a faster boat plus has more choices of return times. Both have received good reviews though.

It's about a 10 minute walk to the ferry from the ship.

[cruise freak]

We used www.patouche.com as well and had a wonderful and relaxing day. They serve a great lunch as well. If you book online I believe you save 10%

[Chris-n-Cheryl]

The patouche web site looks wonderful! I have a few questions about booking this tour:

1) What happens if the Zuiderdam itinerary changes and we end up in Tortola on Tuesday instead of Wednesday (as has been the case lately)? Is there a way to refund the money, or change the reservation?

2) To piggy-back on that topic, what if our times in port are cut short and we need to board before the tour ends at 4:30?

3) Is there a way to choose the patouche itinary that will stop at the baths? I saw 'Baths' listed as a stop, but when I went to the reservation area, did not see which specific 'boat' tour did the Baths.

Thank you kindly,
Cheryl :)

[MandyGirl]

Chris-n-Cheryl -

I asked the same question when booking Patouche this past July for this upcoming November. They do different itineraries on different days. Because I am flexible, I said we'd take either itinerary - we just want to spend the day on the water. So, they booked us on both Tuesday and Wednesday and just knew to watch for our ship. Otherwise, they said we could book one but if the ship didn't show up, then we obviously wouldn't be charged. But... if the ship did show up, we had booked, and we did NOT show up with Patouche - then we would be charged for not cancelling (totally fair in my mind). They were WONDERFUL to communicate with and to be flexible like that. So basically if you book on a day and the ship does come in to port, then you're expected to show up since you booked. :)

If HAL could just set an itinerary and stick with it and not mess people around like they did this summer on the Zui that would help, too. But as the HAL email to me this week stated, " Holland America does reserve the right to change itineraries and/or times if it is deemed necessary. " (Just like the fine print of the cruise contract).

Definitely email Patouche. They were wonderful answering my questions and also use good common sense about things.:)

As far as leaving port early, I haven't read of the Zui leaving Tortola before the posted time of 6:00. Now St Thomas on the other hand - heck - not sure if HAL even knows what they are truly doing. I've read of 6:00 on the Oct 23 sailing, and our 11:00 departure was just changed this week to 9:00 (not that it will affect us though, but a 6:00 departure would). We married on cruise #3 (St John) and if we had been marrying on this Zui cruise I'd be losing my mind with all these port time/day changes the Zui has been through. Hope there are no brides on the Zui planning a sunset beach wedding with the way HAL keeps changing things.

[Chris-n-Cheryl]

Thanks Mandy......... most helpful!!!

I take it you're going on this excursion soon? If so, I look forward to hearing about your experiences!! This sounds like the way we want to go, but I really do want to see the Baths. I'm going to e-mail Patouche immediately!

Have a wonderful trip,
Cheryl :)

[cruise freak]

When we went there last February the water was tough rough and you couldn't go to the Baths. The waves were to tall. Patouche took is the Norman Island and Peter Island. It was a very relaxing day. There were only 8 people that day and a captain and first mate. They tell about all of the surrounding island. You can see St. Thomas from Tortola so if something happens someone can always take you over there. The ship has a bathroom and everything very clean and nice. Couldn't do enough for you. Book with them you will have a great day.

[MandyGirl]

Cheryl - We leave on the Zui two weeks from today. :) Aiming to be in Tortola on Wed, Nov 24. I'll definitely share my thoughts of the day! We had our wedding reception on a 40' catamaran off the north shore of St John in March 2003 so we always try to spend at least one day of each cruise on a catamaran or sailboat. :) I'm going with the attitude that if we don't see the Baths this time for some reason, we'll have something to look forward to on the next trip.:D

[OCruisers]

Agree with all of the above about Patouche!!

The best day we've ever spent in Tortola was with Patouche!

Unfortunately, we never seem to be able to book it on cruises because the Patouche tour times (for where we want to go) haven't meshed with our time in port.

If you have the opportunity, go with Patouche! You won't be sorry!

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[KCat]

Thanks everybody for the advice! I booked Patouche yesterday due to your response. :) I can't wait! :D

[michmike]

we had booked patouche for a private snorkeling charter this past Weds in Tortola (on Volendam) but unfortunately it was rainy and windy and they had to cancel Our luck isn't great in Tortola, we were there last jan and had same kind of weather and cancellation by another charter operator. Patouche has in addition to their sailboats, a 28 foot power boat they were going to take us out on for a half day snorkel trip at a cost of $250. We got to their office as scheduled but they were very apologetic about canceling, just said that conditions were not safe and water was too stirred up to have a good experience visually anyway. She then graciously offered to drive us back to the ship as our taxi had already left. We booked with them as we had heard many positives here and based on our short experience with them we will definitely try again next time we are in tortola. Third time HAS to be the charm..

[Arubalisa]

If you do a search on "Patouche" at Caribbean - Other (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=68) there is some good info.

[mrswynn]

We spent a fantastic day with the captain of the Aristocat in Tortola snorkeling the caves - I would highly recommend them. He and his wife are the most pleasant people - highly skilled. The shore excursions via HA were canceled because of the weather. Our captain met us at the pier and explained that we would be taxi'd at his expense to his catamaran and that he felt comfortable taking us out. It ended up being an absolutely beautiful day - fantastic snorkeling. All who stayed on the ship got wet with rain and had a horrible day. He will do a half day sail or a full day. Check out their website. Guarantee you won't be disappointed. We all came away with the best experience of our cruise!

http://www.aristocatcharters.com/privilege-48-catamaran.html