Royal Caribbean and Tortola

[printingchick]

There have been several articles posted, here and elsewhere, about the fact that Carnival is pulling out of Tortola in 2014/2015. The articles point to an upgrade of the pier area, presumably to allow the port to accommodate larger ships.

 

What is Royal Caribbean's stand on this issue? The articles mention that Carnival's concern that its passengers would have to be tendered to the island during construction. I'll be stopping in Tortola in March 2014 on Jewel of the Seas. We're there on a Sunday, when the ferry schedule to Virgin Gorda is extremely limited. If we have to tender to Tortola, this could seriously impact our plans to ferry to the smaller island.

 

Anyone heard anything more on this subject?

[Karma5]

It's a nice port, very clean.......hope you enjoy it........don't worry about RC.

[Jiffymom]

its beautiful

[printingchick]

I'm sure I'll love it. I'm just concerned about the possibility of it being skipped or requiring tendering. If we miss the 9AM ferry to VG, we'll need a back-up plan that doesn't involve the smaller island. Ferry services is very limited on Sundays.

[remharri]

I'm sure I'll love it. I'm just concerned about the possibility of it being skipped or requiring tendering. If we miss the 9AM ferry to VG, we'll need a back-up plan that doesn't involve the smaller island. Ferry services is very limited on Sundays.

 

 

When we docked in Tortola a few years ago to go to Virgin Gorda, we booked that excursion to the Baths through the ship just because of the ferry schedules. Didn't want to risk anything...by the time we got back we had very little time at the port but enjoyed what we saw. One of my favorite stops to date.

[printingchick]

I guess that's always a back-up plan. We were hoping to see more than just the Baths. Our plan was to rent a car and do a tour of the small island, including the Baths. My fair-skinned boyfriend is concerned about too much Caribbean sun, so I'm trying to avoid any extended beach time. We're not eliminating beaches, just not spending full days at any beach.

[denamo]

There have been several articles posted, here and elsewhere, about the fact that Carnival is pulling out of Tortola in 2014/2015. The articles point to an upgrade of the pier area, presumably to allow the port to accommodate larger ships.

 

What is Royal Caribbean's stand on this issue? The articles mention that Carnival's concern that its passengers would have to be tendered to the island during construction. I'll be stopping in Tortola in March 2014 on Jewel of the Seas. We're there on a Sunday, when the ferry schedule to Virgin Gorda is extremely limited. If we have to tender to Tortola, this could seriously impact our plans to ferry to the smaller island.

 

Anyone heard anything more on this subject?

 

Thank you for posting this question. I was unaware of the pier being upgraded. We will be on the Legend in early January with a stop in Tortola, so I am wondering if the upgrading process will have begun at that point. If that happens to be the case, we too may need to resort to Plan B and go with the ship. I will be watching this thread for any information that might be forth coming.

 

[rp23g7]

We stopped in Tortola in 2005, Hurricane Wilma changed our itinerary, great island, probably my favorite, we rented a car and went to the other side of the island, Frenchmans Cay is beautiful. Great island, want to go there again

[denamo]

I did a bit of research online to see if I could find any information regarding when construction would begin on a new pier in Tortola. It was quite interesting.

 

In a nutshell, a big expansion of the pier area was proposed. Looked like Disney Cruise Line was involved. Ultimately, RCCL cried foul with the process. Abruptly, in mid September 2013, the government announced calling off working with a corporation that had same members on boards of two companies slated to financially float the expansion. The government said they would solely take on the project and work with one company.

 

Since the announcement, no further real news is being reported. Carnival did pull this itinerary prior to the government's announcement since it seemed this port would not be pleasing to passengers as a work in progress.

 

OK...too much information, I'm sure. I did read one small blip stating Tortola wanted to begin work during the first quarter of 2014. Who knows how this will unfold. We will play the situation by ear and have a great time either way. :)

[Let'sGo!]

Personally, I have to say we never really saw Tortola proper. As soon as we got off the ship, we got another little boat and cruised over to Jost Van Dyke for the day. LOVED it!

 

While I consider myself pretty experienced at doing things on our own, I always tend to book ship excursions if I am planning on leaving the port of call... like going to St. John while stopping in St. Thomas, or in this case, leaving Tortola to go to Virgin Gorda.

 

My advice -- if you really want to go to the Baths, consider booking something through the ship. I realize it puts you on their time schedule, but you also don't have any worries about ferry problems and getting back to the ship on time.

 

Ann

[bradpole]

Personally, I have to say we never really saw Tortola proper. As soon as we got off the ship, we got another little boat and cruised over to Jost Van Dyke for the day. LOVED it!

 

While I consider myself pretty experienced at doing things on our own, I always tend to book ship excursions if I am planning on leaving the port of call... like going to St. John while stopping in St. Thomas, or in this case, leaving Tortola to go to Virgin Gorda.

 

My advice -- if you really want to go to the Baths, consider booking something through the ship. I realize it puts you on their time schedule, but you also don't have any worries about ferry problems and getting back to the ship on time.

 

Ann

 

I have to agree about the ships excursion to the baths. I've done it twice, and have it booked a third time this December. Normally I am no fan of overpaying for the ships excursions, but to me doing the baths on your own involves too many things that could go wrong!

[AmandaKaye79]

I'm not sure when the actual construction begins, but Carnival only cancelled tortola for cruises AFTER June 18, 2014. I am on the July 11, 2014 sailing and it has been replaced with San Juan. All cruises before June 18, 2014 are still using Tortola as a port. So I would assume construction begins sometime during the late summer 2014.

[printingchick]

I'm not sure when the actual construction begins, but Carnival only cancelled tortola for cruises AFTER June 18, 2014. I am on the July 11, 2014 sailing and it has been replaced with San Juan. All cruises before June 18, 2014 are still using Tortola as a port. So I would assume construction begins sometime during the late summer 2014.

 

Perfect! This is exactly what I was hoping to hear!!

 

TexasAnn, I appreciate the input and totally see your point. I typically ferry over to St. John from St. Thomas on my own, but I have to admit, there is that bit of trepidation about successfully getting a cab back to catch the ferry in time. Someone recently pointed out on these boards that on many itineraries, St. Croix is the port of call following St. Thomas and - if the worst thing happens - you could always ferry from St. Thomas to St. Croix and catch up to the ship there. That's taken away some of the stress!

 

As I mentioned, I'm hesitant to book a trip to ONLY the Baths because my boyfriend can't stay in the sun for extended periods of time and I suspect that would constitute too much beach time for him. Our plan was to rent a car on the island so we could see Gorda Peak, the Copper Mine ruins and the Baths.

 

It's my understanding that even the ship excursion utilizes the ferries, so I think we're up a creek if we end up having to tender to the port, regardless. Based on Amanda's input, it looks like I'm safe! I believe Jewel is the ONLY ship in Tortola that day and we dock there in early March. Sounds like construction will not have started yet.

 

Whew...!

[sr4mjc]

We were in Tortola on a Sunday. We booked The Baths through the ship because of the ferry schedule. I am not the type to bake in the sun all day and found quite a bit of shade when I needed it. By the time you get over there, walk the path down to the water (which does take a while through trees and covered areas), I don't actually remember being in the direct sun all that long and there are trees around. We did get some intermittant rain that day though.

 

When we returned to Tortola there was not much open. The Baths are gorgeous, enjoy it.