Fury Charters 1/2 day sail?

[rjc1]

Has anyone used Fury in charters out of St. Thomas for their $80 1/2 sail to Buck Island Marine Santuary? We are a party of 8 (6 teenagers 18-14 yrs, boys & girls - I must be nuts to let my kids take friends) on 6/19 Carnival Freedom and trying to decide if we should do some type of snorkle excursion or go with the Sunny or Godfrey island/beach tour.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

 

Thanks - Rhona

[retnuh281]

Has anyone used Fury in charters out of St. Thomas for their $80 1/2 sail to Buck Island Marine Santuary? We are a party of 8 (6 teenagers 18-14 yrs, boys & girls - I must be nuts to let my kids take friends) on 6/19 Carnival Freedom and trying to decide if we should do some type of snorkle excursion or go with the Sunny or Godfrey island/beach tour.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

 

Thanks - Rhona

I have made reservations through them for our upcoming cruise. I actually called and spoke with him. He seems to very nice and accomodating. I did an exstensive search and this company keeps popping up as one of the best. I would give him a call and make your arrangements right over the phone. Easy!

[rjc1]

I will give them a call, but if you are sailing before June, I hope you will let us know how it went.

 

Thanks,

 

Rhona

[notentirelynormal]

Our group is sailing with them on April 2nd. I'll report back afterwards. We'll have a group of 18. I chartered the whole boat for just us. Our group consists of 1-1/2, 2-1/2, 5 then up to 65. Since we're coming into the Crown pier and we have to get over to his area (the Marriott) it created a logistical issue. What I ended up doing was hiring Sunny Liston for the day. He’ll pick us up and take us to the Fury, then pick us up afterwards and back to the ship to change and for lunch. Then he’ll pick us up and do an island tour in the afternoon. I figured this would solve two issues, a tour of the island and paying for transportation to and from the Marriott. I’d really be interested in hearing about previous experience though.

[rjc1]

I look forward to hearing your report!

[virginiatechmom]

Just returned from a Carnival Victory cruise and we chose Fury Charters for a morning sail. We sailed with them on 5/24. From the moment I booked with them over the phone, they were extremely professional and friendly. The price (if paid in cash) was $70 per person, which I thought was very, very reasonable. When I booked the trip, Mike took my credit card number, but he only runs the card if you decide not to pay in cash on the day of your sailing. If you pay by credit card, the price is $75 per person.

 

The Fury picked us up at around 8:30 am on a boat dock near where our cruise ship docked. It was about a 5 minute walk. We then sailed over to to the Marriott Frenchman's Reef to pick up a few more passengers. I think there were about 15 to 18 people total who sailed with us. It was not crowded at all.

 

We sailed for quite a while to our destination off of Buck Island. After getting our snorkeling gear, we had the choice to go off on our own or follow our guide, who would show us some of the sea life. We chose to follow the guide for about 20 minutes just to get oriented with the area. He would dive down to the bottom of the ocean floor and pick up various critters like conches, sea urchins, etc.. and then give us a chance to hold them and take pictures. It was fantastic. The guide (I wish i could remember his name!! He was wonderful) also pointed out the sea turtles, sting rays, barracudas and other fish as we snorkeled. After that, we had almost an hour of snorkeling on our own. We saw so many sea turtles and sting rays. The sea turtles would come to the surface and swim right next to us. It was amazing!

 

Once back on board, the crew offered us beer, rum punch, water and soda for the sail back. There were also some snacks passed around.

 

The atmosphere on the Fury is very laid back and it made the day absolutely perfect. The crew was friendly and made everyone feel right at home. I highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for a relaxing time, beautiful scenery and fantastic snorkeling with some amazing sea turtles!

[pokergirl34]

Just returned from a Carnival Victory cruise and we chose Fury Charters for a morning sail. We sailed with them on 5/24. From the moment I booked with them over the phone, they were extremely professional and friendly. The price (if paid in cash) was $70 per person, which I thought was very, very reasonable. When I booked the trip, Mike took my credit card number, but he only runs the card if you decide not to pay in cash on the day of your sailing. If you pay by credit card, the price is $75 per person.

 

The Fury picked us up at around 8:30 am on a boat dock near where our cruise ship docked. It was about a 5 minute walk. We then sailed over to to the Marriott Frenchman's Reef to pick up a few more passengers. I think there were about 15 to 18 people total who sailed with us. It was not crowded at all.

 

We sailed for quite a while to our destination off of Buck Island. After getting our snorkeling gear, we had the choice to go off on our own or follow our guide, who would show us some of the sea life. We chose to follow the guide for about 20 minutes just to get oriented with the area. He would dive down to the bottom of the ocean floor and pick up various critters like conches, sea urchins, etc.. and then give us a chance to hold them and take pictures. It was fantastic. The guide (I wish i could remember his name!! He was wonderful) also pointed out the sea turtles, sting rays, barracudas and other fish as we snorkeled. After that, we had almost an hour of snorkeling on our own. We saw so many sea turtles and sting rays. The sea turtles would come to the surface and swim right next to us. It was amazing!

 

Once back on board, the crew offered us beer, rum punch, water and soda for the sail back. There were also some snacks passed around.

 

The atmosphere on the Fury is very laid back and it made the day absolutely perfect. The crew was friendly and made everyone feel right at home. I highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for a relaxing time, beautiful scenery and fantastic snorkeling with some amazing sea turtles!

 

I had totally talked myself out of Fury until you posted this review! Arrg now I am unsure. The cost for 4 of us would be $250+ (one is under 12) so it's hard to justify it for a 1/2 day excursion w/o lunch included. Our other idea is to do an island tour that includes shopping, tour and beach time at less than 1/2 the cost of Fury, plus we'd end up spending a lot more money on Fury since we'll want to do some sightseeing before or after (taxis add up fast on St Thomas).

 

I really appreciate your review. Last summer we did a snorkel tour that was similar to what you described and my teenager just adored it. Now our little one is a swimmer too so she'd really enjoy this too but I'm really torn on the cost. Hmmmmmm decisions, decisions :)

[virginiatechmom]

I had totally talked myself out of Fury until you posted this review! Arrg now I am unsure. The cost for 4 of us would be $250+ (one is under 12) so it's hard to justify it for a 1/2 day excursion w/o lunch included. Our other idea is to do an island tour that includes shopping, tour and beach time at less than 1/2 the cost of Fury, plus we'd end up spending a lot more money on Fury since we'll want to do some sightseeing before or after (taxis add up fast on St Thomas).

 

I really appreciate your review. Last summer we did a snorkel tour that was similar to what you described and my teenager just adored it. Now our little one is a swimmer too so she'd really enjoy this too but I'm really torn on the cost. Hmmmmmm decisions, decisions :)

 

 

 

I totally understand what you are saying. I see you are going on the Victory? It is a great itinerary (I have done it 2 years in a row!), but it does get expensive with a different island every day. One thing to consider is that the Fury drops you off at a boat dock right in a great shopping area, so you could easily do shopping after your sailing. Whatever you decide, I am sure it will be great. St. Thomas is so pretty. Enjoy!

[notentirelynormal]

I forgot to come back on and do my review. We went on the Fury and had a great time. There was a slight mix up with our pick up location. Our ship docked at Crown Bay not Havensight. We hired Sunny Liston for the day to take us back and forth from the ship to the Fury and then an island tour which worked out great. We had an overcast day and it was touch and go on whether we'd get some rain or not. That, unfortunately, affected our snorkeling as the water was a little rougher that day and we made it to only one of two locations. My 5 YO GS got to steer the boat and he loved it. Very nice to be under sail and it was a relaxing ride both ways. As pokergirl said, the crew was great. Did the dive down and bring up strange sea creatures. I was not about to touch whatever that was :eek:. Totally professional and safe and a great morning all around. The people prone to motion sickness were fine as well. We saw a couple of the ship's excursions and boy am I glad I wasn't on those small crowded boats. Ours was like being on a private yacht.... only smaller LOL.

[louise1955]

I am considering the Fury for a Dec. trip. I'm looking for a boat that is least likely to cause seasickness. Sounds like from your comment it wasn't bad for people prone tp seasickness.

[virginiatechmom]

I am considering the Fury for a Dec. trip. I'm looking for a boat that is least likely to cause seasickness. Sounds like from your comment it wasn't bad for people prone tp seasickness.

 

 

I loved our day on the Fury, but there was a young woman (late 20s, maybe) that did get sick on the way to and from the snorkeling site. It is a wonderful excursion, but if you are prone to being sea sick, it may not be the best option. I have never ever felt nauseous on a sail boat or catamaran of any sort, but even I felt a bit queasy. I attributed it, in part, to the bottle of champagne I had a few hours earlier, but I am not sure.