Daysail on St. Thomas - Questions!!!!

[cruizin0723]

Hi all! I am looking at some of the different daysails available in St. Thomas. We will be visiting this port next May on the Carnival Valor. There will only be 2 of us. We'll be in St. Thomas from 9 am to 8 pm. I haven't done a TREMENDOUS amount of research, but I think I narrowed it down to either New Horizons or Rumbaba. Do any of you have recommendations? I know NH will have more people and we'll have to wait until another 2 book for Rumbaba. My only worry is we aren't scheduled to be there until 9 so I'm not sure if this is when we dock or if this is when we should be able to get off the ship, so this could cause problems getting to the daysail - but I'll figure that out later.

 

Also, from what I see the full daysail is usually around 6 hours, so that would put us back in port around 4 or so ???? Do you think I'll be able to get some shopping in at Charlotte Amalie? I'm thinking it will be okay since we don't leave port until 8.

 

Any and all advice much appreciated!!!!! Thanks!

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

After reading what you said, I looked up some daysails for our stop in St. Thomas. (It sounds like a good idea :p )I'd be interested in what others have to say about Rumbaba. They look good to go with, but they don't have a price for anything on their site.

[musiccity]

I will be using Rumbaba in November. This is what they sent me regarding prices:

 

Cost $125 pp Visa or MC or travelers cheques, $115 pp cash

* You will need to email or call us with your lunch selections. Choices

include fresh local ahi tuna or mahi mahi, chicken or filet mignon. All

are grilled to order and you may each choose to your liking. Please let

me know as well if you have any special dietary needs or menu/drink

requests.

We will be happy to meet them whenever possible.

[rubegoddess]

I did a lot of research on this myself. I have booked Rumbaba in Feb. and I just can't wait. Bobby has been great to deal with and I've read so many GREAT things about this charter. I can't wait and have no hesitations or worries about it. But really, a sail in the waters of the virigin islands- no matter what you choose, how can you go wrong!?!?!?

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

I'm just all confused and don't know what to do! I would love to see more of the island, but a daysail sounds wonderful too! Decisions, decisions. :p

[cruizin0723]

I know EXACTLY what you mean MarriedinSt.Thomas! I've looked at the daysails and the tours (such as through Godfrey) and can't decide! In one instance, I want to tour and see the island since I've never been. But on the other hand, a daysail relaxing, swimming and drinking(!) sounds sooooo nice - which is where my fiance agrees. He'd rather hang out on a boat all day with drinks and water surrounding than walk and ride in the heat around the island touring it! So I can't decide either!!!

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

This decision may drive me crazy.. but it's a good type of crazy:D One day I want to stay on the island, but then the next I see pictures of a daysail or something like that and I change my mind.

[mclaire]

My two cents...We absolutely loved our day sail with Captain Pat on the Independence. The best day of our cruise. I can shop at home, or on the ship, or another island. It was beautiful. If you have a roll call you could check for others that might be interested. We had six friends so it was easy.

[cruisingbooboo]

This decision may drive me crazy.. but it's a good type of crazy:D One day I want to stay on the island, but then the next I see pictures of a daysail or something like that and I change my mind.

Figure out what you're doing in the other ports and go from there. If you have all land tour and shopping days then definatly book the day sail. If this is your only chance to shop than no day sail... see easy!!!:)

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

I think my decision is being made for me. All DH wants to do on every island is go to a beach and drink. Which sounds fine, but I'd like to do something else too.

[cruizin0723]

lol - wow MarriedinStThomas your DH sounds just like my finance!! That's his idea of a perfect vacation. I agree with one of the other posters, I'm going to let my other ports decide it for me. We're going to Nassau (been before and probably won't do much other than get off ship, walk around port, get back on ship) and to St. Maarteen, which we've never been to before. So one we'll do a beach day the other maybe a tour day. So after I look into the excursions for St. Maarteen, I'll decide on St. Thomas. But that still doesn't answer my question - if we choose a daysail - which one?? New Horizons or Rumbaba?

[MarriedInStThomas1807]

If I had to choose, I'd pick Rumbaba

[Texarribean Chick]

Check out Jester Sailing Adventures. Capt. Jim is absolutely awesome! We sailed with him in June of this year. He offers great pricing and half day sails as well as the entire day. Maybe you could do a little of both - sail and shop.

http://www.sailjester.com.

Tell him Chuck and Crystal from Texas say hello. Good Luck! C.

[heychadwick]

I had found myself unsure of what to do at St. Thomas. My wife and I aren't really shoppers, and we weren't sure what else there was to do in St. Thomas. We finally decided to do snorkel, as it's suppose to be grande. There was the option to just go to a beach, but the catamaran boat tour sounded better (to me).

 

When we were looking for catamaran cruises, we had a hard time finding one for just two people. We couldn't find anyone else to go with us, so I didn't know what to do. Finally, I found New Horizons. They have been very helpful and communicative. The price is $96/per person after online reservations. There's a further 5% discount if we pay in cash.

 

We will be there in 11 days.

 

Oh, the tour starts at 9:15am and ends at 3:30pm LOCAL TIME. We are on the full day tour. That's plenty of time afterwards to still go shopping. I might even pick up some cheap knock-off sunglasses.

[chapdaddy]

My wife and I did Rumbaba last year in January and it was GREAT, Capt. Bobby was great and you get alot for your money. The food and drink was fabulous, and the sailing great. No question about it. We have also sent friends to him and they loved it too. If you ever need to find additional cruisers to make a full boat, which by the way is only 6, post on the Roll Call for your cruise. You can then share the cab over. If you do go tell Bobby Hi from Chapdaddy!!!

[cruizin0723]

Isn't the local time on St. Thomas the same as ship's time? Aren't they both in the Eastern time zone? So if the tour leaves at 9:15 and my ship (Valor) doesn't dock until 9 then will we be able to make it?

[Mark_from_Plano]

After visiting St. Thomas on a cruise in 2004, we decided to go back and spend a two week vacation there in 2005. Over two weeks we did lots of stuff on St. Thomas but our group (6 of us) unanimously agreed that the best day we spent on St. Thomas was the day we did the day sail. We sailed on the "Fantasy" with Capt. Brian. It was pretty expensive, but SO worth it. I'm sure any of the boats will be great. I'd just encourage doing one.

 

http://daysailfantasy.com/

[trish99]

How do you go about selecting a daysail. I've just started the research and it seems like there are a lot of them to choose from.

 

What makes one better than the other? Most of them are priced pretty competively, almost all of them sail with about 6 passengers. Just not sure what I should be asking.

 

Trish

[mclaire]

will there be an open bar? snacks? lunch? snorkel equipment? discount for cash? This truly is a fantastic way to spend a day. There have been many recommendations on this board so choosing one shouldn't be a problem. The day sail we wanted one year was booked and she recommended a friend and we will be sailing with her again next February.

[d&a Delaware]

We will be in St. Thomas the week after Easter, and have booked a daysail on the "Lou" with Captain Max. I researched and looked at a lot of daysail opportunities, and narrowed it down to Captain Max (which we chose), Rumbaba, and High Pockets. There are many more which could also be a great time. I focused on boats with maximum 6 pax which sailed out of Red Hook, because I believe there are more possible great snorkeling sites available when sailing out of Red Hook. But there are also a couple of these 6 pax boats sailing directly out of Charlotte Amalie harbor, which would save you taxi time and expense, and might be more able to customize the timing of the sail to allow some shopping time at the end of the day. Do a search on "daysail" on this board and benefit from the research and comments already available, and use google as well searching for specific boat names or "st thomas daysail" or stuff like that. And post on your cruise roll call for others who might want to join you to fill out the minimum needed for a boat. I found another couple on our roll call who will join us on our sail w/Capt. Max, and she has arranged for a taxi to meet the four of us at the ship and to take us from Red Hook back to the ship after the sail. She will also make sure the timing of the daysail meets the requirements of our time in port. Other boat captains will do the same thing for you. We're really looking forward to what I know will be a highlilght of our cruise, and I hope you guys do a daysail and have a great time as well.

 

David

[vermonter16]

DH and I had to narrow it down as well and then came decision time and for some reason I just chose Rumbaba. There were a few that I was trying to decide between...any rhyme or reason...probably....but I'm not quite sure what it was - possibly the lunch? I don't know - there are many daysails out there that get rave reviews and I don't think you can go wrong with any of the ones mentioned.

[lanabanana]

We have sailed two different times with Capt Bobby and Karen on the Rumbaba. I spent a fair amount of time researching the different daysails and finally settled on the Rumbaba specifically because of the reviews of the food! We were not disappointed. Everything is homemade by Karen and the meats are grilled right there while you snorkel.

 

Now, you've mentioned needing six people. At the time we went, they would go with however many they had booked for the day. Perhaps they've changed their policy? We went with people from our roll call both times. Absolutely rates right at the top of the list of favorite excursions ever!

 

Good luck to you!

[pamssanity]

Hi all! I am looking at some of the different daysails available in St. Thomas. We will be visiting this port next May on the Carnival Valor. There will only be 2 of us. We'll be in St. Thomas from 9 am to 8 pm. I haven't done a TREMENDOUS amount of research, but I think I narrowed it down to either New Horizons or Rumbaba. Do any of you have recommendations? I know NH will have more people and we'll have to wait until another 2 book for Rumbaba. My only worry is we aren't scheduled to be there until 9 so I'm not sure if this is when we dock or if this is when we should be able to get off the ship, so this could cause problems getting to the daysail - but I'll figure that out later.

 

Also, from what I see the full daysail is usually around 6 hours, so that would put us back in port around 4 or so ???? Do you think I'll be able to get some shopping in at Charlotte Amalie? I'm thinking it will be okay since we don't leave port until 8.

 

Any and all advice much appreciated!!!!! Thanks!

 

If you can find two more couples a great sail is with Captain John on the Paklma Bella- We just got back from a day at sea with John-- it was fabulous-- he'll make suggestions or take you where you'd like to go . we did Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Soggy Dollar Bar, spitisland, and some other smaller BVI- Islands. Their web address is http://www.palmtree charters.com. Terrific tour guide!!.

[KMBB]

lanabanana---We just booked with Rumbaba, can you tell we a few details of you trips? What food did you eat and where did you sail to. We are doing a all day sail(6 hours I think) We will be going in May, do you know if there is a time change from the ships time? I don't know if we can get there by Capt. Bobby time, with the taxi ride and getting off the ship. Any details would be appreciated, thanks. kmbb

[brio613]

We just sailed with Captain Bobby and Karen on Rumbaba Nov 6th. We had an incredible time. We had the mahi mahi, tuna and filet and they were all delicious. The fish was the best I've ever had. The appetizers and drinks were great too. They make a wonderful bloody mary. We sailed to Little St James and snorkeled in Christmas Cove. It was beautiful and we saw many varieties of fish including a barracuda, sea turtles, starfish and more. Captain Bobby was alot of fun and full of interesting facts :) . Karen was training a new first mate named Wendy. They were both very nice, but we didn't have too much time to chat with them since Karen was showing her the ropes. We sailed with just 4 people and it was no problem, don't know if he will sail with just 2. This was definetly one of the highlights of our cruise. If you have any other questions just ask. Hope you have a great time.

Barb