Virgin Gorda Baths Excursions on NCL

Hello all. My fiancee and I are cruising to the eastern Caribbean on NCL the second week of October.

At Tortola we were planning to do an excursion to the baths.

We are planning to do our excursions through NCL as we don't mind paying a little too much on our honeymoon and prefer the simplicity.

We only recently booked the trip and when we first looked at available excursions there were two available.

One was a ferry and bus ride to the baths. The other was a snorkeling trip by boat only.

We were leaning towards the snorkeling trip as we liked the idea of going directly by boat and swimming in to the shore as opposed to a bus ride and hiking.

Unfortunately I no longer see the snorkeling trip listed. I don't know if it sold out or for some reason NCL decided to no longer offer it.

I apologize if this is a naive question. I have never cruised before. My fiancee has many times but her family handled all planning.

Is it possible to find a tour operator on the pier at the port offering the snorkeling trip we originally preferred? Are there any operators that take reservations in advance?

Should we wait to get on the boat and see if any slots have opened for the original excursion have opened?

Any advice is appreciated :)

I hope it is still being offered! I booked this excursion for me and my GF and it sounds like we are on the same boat as you. (getaway oct 10). We booked it about a week or so ago. One thing I noticed is that after we booked it (for 7:30 am) all other excursions that would conflict with that booking disappeared so you could not double book yourself so to speak. Have you booked anything else for that day already?

Thanks for the reply.

That excursion must have sold out then.

Oh well I will keep checking in case more slots open up; maybe there will be cancellations from people that booked far in advance.

That said does anyone know of any non ncl excursion options for a similar trip?

I see lots of posts about people taking the ferry and a cab ride.

But I really liked the idea of swimming in right from the boat.

I did find one operator offering a trip. But it sounds like a full day trip and the Getaway is scheduled to leave by 3pm.

Even if the trip got back before 3 I would prefer to get back a couple hours before the ship leaves so we can briefly check out the town and maybe get lunch at our own leisure.

Yes it probably filled up as it is one of the most popular excursions for Tortola. Keep checking though.

There was an independent operator offering a ride directly to the Baths but would not recommend him due to very bad reviews.

The next best option is indeed taking the ferry and a taxi to the Top of the Baths and walking down to the shore. And going on your own can often give you more time there and sometimes help to avoid the bigger crowds from the ship excursion, but not always.

From checking past reviews I did see one negative about the snorkeling trip to the baths.

I saw a complaint from someone that once they swam to the shore in their snorkeling gear they had to carry around their fins which was cumbersome and that bear foot on the rocks they found it a little slippery.

That said if it opens up I will deal with it. Otherwise I will probably just book the ncl's official excursion by ferry and shuttle bus.