blue_water

@david_sobe, Just to eliminate any confusion, you are referring to Long Bay, Beef Island, correct? On the east end of the island? “They will charge you for a chair and it includes wi-fi. They have a bar and grill there.” By “they”, are you referring to the cruise line excursion group? Or the separate area where there is a beach bar & grill? Thanks 😉

Sure! And I forgot to add in the taxi fare between the cruise dock and the West End ferry to Jost if you are considering that…Add another ~$32/pp…

Ok, you are in port on 4/25 from 6 - 2. So an early port time, but you are the only ship scheduled for Tortola that day. Depending on how early you want to disembark? To go to the Baths on Virgin Gorda, the best option is Sensations 6:45 ferry over, and a Speedy’s 10:40 ferry back to Tortola. That gives you just 2.5 hrs, not worth the trip IMHO…~$50/pp… Similarly the Horizons ferry to Jost Van Dyke (8:00 over, 12:00 back, would give you <2.5 hrs of free time in White Bay…~$50/pp…You can enjoy a nice beach on Tortola without the travel time… I’d either 1) Take a shared island tour of Tortola (there are shared safari taxi tours offered at the dock), or a private tour with A.C.’s Taxi. Or 2) Head to one of the gorgeous Tortola beaches listed in the Gorgeous Beaches thread. If you want a beach with the busiest vibe, CGB. If you want a gorgeous beach with just 1 beach bar and a less busy vibe, Brewers Bay. If you want a picture postcard beach, look at Long Bay, West End. It sounds like @david_sobe went to Long Bay, Beef Island where the cruise line has an excursion to and provides some amenities. And of course many of your fellow passengers will be taking excursions through the cruise line. These typically cost more and give you less time in a destination, but provide a bit more security for those folks…

To answer your questions, Yes and Yes! However without your ship and port date you might miss out on really helpful advice…Please share that info. In the mean time this thread gives you a brief description of the more popular BVI beaches…

Sapphire Beach is paradise on STT. Gorgeous water colors and beautiful island views! If you’ve never been I highly recommend Sapphire over any other beach. Lindqvist (Smith Bay Park) is the only other beach we would choose over Sapphire, but we’d be bringing towels to lay on, and our own lunch and drinks. As an aside, we’ve stayed at the SBRM multiple times but have never been there on a cruise. But I know some folks who first enjoyed Sapphire on a cruise day returned to stay at SBRM, Sapphire Village, or Crystal Cove because they fell in love with Sapphire. Also a great location near Red Hook! If lunch with a nicer restaurant on a beach is something you’d like, perhaps Sunset Grille at the Secret Harbour Resort (fish tacos, mahi sandwich, jerk chicken, yum!), or Sangria’s at the Elysian Beach Resort in Cowpet Bay (mango mahi tacos, shrimp po’ boy!). Secret Harbor gets a bit congested and day visitor seating is limited. Be sure to reserve lounges/umbrellas ahead at www.aadivers.com. Elysian has no other amenities for day visitors. Coki is just too busy on cruise ship days to enjoy. And Honeymoon Beach on Water Island was once a nice option. Just busier today, especially with excursions stopping in at Dinghy’s Beach Bar. And with a cruise ship in Crown Bay the small ferry fills up quickly. As mentioned by crewsweeper, if your port is Crown Bay, Lindbergh Bay (aka Emerald Beach) is a nice enough beach. The Emerald Resort has a beach bar, restaurant, and nice restrooms, and there are lounge/umbrella rentals…

four warring —> forewarning…lol

“Four warning”…🤷🏼 Yes this is an odd post for sure…

Yes we built a home in ‘15 and wintered there after visiting the area since ‘02. We sold last year, mainly because of the crazy growth that was still taking place, and we also missed other places. The violence was always that “elephant in the room”, of course… But we still love the area and will be spending time there later this year…But if we are in Tulum it’s just on our way south…

Absolutely and I understand…the Tulum ruins typically include either a beach or cenote stop. The area that has attracted so much investment recently and is extremely expensive and a hotspot for cartel activity is the Tulum “hotel zone” at the beach. Not really like the hotels in Cancun, but where all of the small hotels and restaurants are located on the beach in Tulum. The cartels are active where the $$$ is of course… Tulum Pueblo, which is the section of town right on the highway and not far from the ruins, isn’t as bad… The cruise lines may indeed be in the process of dropping these excursions, time will tell 😄…

No reason given I gather so no way of knowing. But that took place in the hotel zone and not where any excursions would go so… Since Celebrity is still selling this excursion on future cruises it's more likely there were not enough guests taking the excursion, or there was a temporary glitch with the local resources used by the cruise line… These nortes can last for weeks, so it could have been that simple a reason, but it has now cleared… Again, it’s a shame…Hopefully you enjoy your day!

Sounds perfect! We’ve done these more personal tours on other islands and we will contact Kamal Thank you for your reply!

Thanks for the contact info. Do you remember the price, and how many people in your group? We’re a group of 4 looking for a private guide with a smaller vehicle…

“ This is how most "medical travel insurance" works (and most non-medical travel insurance). One needs to pay first, and get reimbursed later.” That is correct in many instances where you are treated and released, for example. But for more complicated situations, like hospital overnights or lengthy evals if you choose a policy with PRIMARY medical/medivac coverage the insurer can step in and work with the provider immediately. They will reimburse you for any immediate out of pocket expenses, thus eliminating the need to later file a claim. If you have Secondary coverage you will be filing a claim… Just want to clarify or point out the difference in Primary vs Secondary medical coverage… We’ve had two medical emergencies while traveling, both involving brief hospital stays. Allianz was our insurer in both cases, and customer service was amazing. The rep took over the case that night, and reimbursed our initial $6,000 outlay the next morning for diagnostics/admissions/treatment and the room… Even with Primary medical coverage, you always need to have access to several thousand $$$ for immediate expenses. For example, if being diagnosed/treated or admitted to a facility and released before the insurer has time to become involved…

Sorry, just realized you already cruised! 🙈

www.insuremytrip.com is a great first start for comparing some insurer policies. But not all of the best policies are included in the list there. We look at Allianz, Trawick, and other insurers. They offer different plans, and we always look for PRIMARY medical/medivac coverages with at least $50k/$1m limits. So do your due diligence by reading the various policies, and then it’s just a matter of price…

Thanks for your feedback, that helps!

Currently there is a “Norte”, or storm system impacting the area, and all ferry activity and ports have been closed. No boats have been allowed to leave any ports so all daysails have also been cancelled. Not sure if that is the reason your excursion has been cancelled (an abundance of caution), or something else… 8 ships in port…well that really sucks for someone that had a great day planned to avoid that…if I may be so crude…☹️ When are you in port? We introduced two women to our favorite and trusted taxi driver who is based in Playa Del Carmen. They are scheduled to ferry over from Coz on Thursday and visit the Mayan ruins of Tulum and a less-visited cenote. They are monitoring the weather and hope to keep their plans. If you’d like our driver’s info and recent reviews I can share that. As discussed in another thread, some day visitors are averse to taking non-cruise line excursions, especially an excursion that involves a ferry and private driver. But many do not have a problem as the ferries are quite reliable, and the PDC/Tulum region well-developed… Otherwise good luck, perhaps you can find a private tour or shared tour on Coz. I would certainly avoid any of the beach clubs that day…😉

The alert is just a reminder, and the level II status is not new. In fact that is the status in many EU countries and other popular cruise destinations. The misinformation from the news media that was posted in this forum has created undue confusion… We spent two weeks on New Providence, visiting several residential neighborhoods and never felt unsafe. As anywhere, common sense prevails…

We just booked Beyond cabin 12261 for a March, 2025 sail, the cabin is aft of the pool near the buffet entrance so we figured the noise would be minimal there. We chose deck 12 rather than 11 because of the expected overhang on deck 11. We just realized there is an overhang from deck 14 (with the support beams) that we were not aware of. We came across a photo after what I thought was adequate research… Anyone stayed on deck 12 and have an opinion about the overhang from deck 14? Wondering if that overhang is more than on deck 11…

VI Now is showing another smaller ship but no worries, especially if you are with a private tour or off-island…

Now that’s the way to do a daysail! I agree, drop Willy T and go to Cooper Island or Peter.

The ferries are very reliable, and it can sometimes be to your advantage to use one ferry company over and another back to get more time in VG for just $10/pp more. But in this case the Speedy’s 9 - 3:30 ferries will be the choice for many. That allows 5 hours to enjoy the day. But if concerned with that 3:30 return, you could probably make the Sensations 8:30 over and take that 1:45 back and have ~4 hours…Most have time to make the next ferry in 30 minutes, but it depends on your disembarkation time of course. Worst-case Speedy’s 9:00 over and Sensations 1:45 return and 3.5 hrs)… The cruise line excursion is the best choice for many, of course. And even with your useable 8 hours in port it’s not ideal…But for those who have the opportunity to go on their own and avail themselves of a driver who can best coordinate their time at the Baths, or better yet hire an independent charter, it’s just so much nicer for a unique excursion… Taxi fares are $6/pp or less between points in the Valley area…So if price is a consideration, the self-excursion would cost ~ $48/pp ($58/pp with $40 ferry), including 3 taxis (Spanishtown —> Savannah Bay, Savannah Bay —> Top of the Baths, and TOB —> ferry terminal, for example).

Another nice day is an island tour of St John. A very easy self-excursion with a taxi to the Red Hook ferry, and either take the short shared taxi tour of STJ, or hire one of the private outfits. Either way see Cruz Bay, then stop at Paradise Point on your return to STT. PP is also a unique spot with panoramic views of the harbors…

We have no driver recommendation today, I would ask that question in a separate post here, and also in the TA STT forum - https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g147404-i172-St_Thomas_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html

So you have enough time to go on your own and take advantage of working with a taxi driver for the best experience at the Baths (avoid the biggest crowd). I pulled the info below from “The Gorgeous Beach’s of the BVI” thread and added a bit more see the bolder sections. Any more questions don’t hesitate… “The famous Baths and Devil’s Bay are very unique and worth a visit for those who have yet to experience them. Everything is within a short drive from the ferry terminal in the Valley which makes it easy to see this part of VG. The easiest way there is on your own, just walk from your ship to the ferry terminal to the left of the cruise ship dock and take the 30 min ferry to Virgin Gorda. Check the ferry schedules (as of this writing Speedy’s, Sensations), typically you’d choose a roundtrip ticket to save $$, but in some cases you can extend your time by taking one ferry over and another ferry back. You will find many taxis available for the short ride to the top of the Baths, then you will walk down a trail to get to the beach and the boulders. Devil’s Bay is a very nice beach there. The drivers will recommend a time to be back at the top for your return to Road Town. If you are lucky enough to be in port for a longer day you can work with a driver and get dropped at different beaches as you wish, and possibly hit the Baths when not quite so crowded. Taxi fares can be googled and are reasonable. You can also rent a car if you have enough time for that, the North Sound is a beautiful area to tour. If time allows you can have lunch at the Top of the Baths restaurant, or even taxi to the Mineshaft Café to enjoy the panoramic view and their signature drink the Cave In - "It's all in the Juice, mon!". UPDATE - The Mineshaft is no more, but Mad Dog Cafe is a great spot. Also a little shopping is available in Spanishtown a short walk from the ferry dock. Speedy’s also offers packages that include the taxi to the Top of the Baths (same price as buying on your own), and another that includes lunch and a drink at the Baths & Turtle (now Chez Bamboo) restaurant in Spanishtown. With many of the shorter port times today I’d recommend getting back to the ferry a little early. The ferries are very dependable, but everyone else will also want to spend as much time as possible seeing the Baths and the island and will take the latest ferry back.”