Islander - Can we Book BOB on our own?

[airgirl]

Hi Islander
I have been reading all your amazing and informative posts on St. Thomas and have a few questions.
I wanted to Book BOB Underwater scooters on my own, and they said they do not take direct bookings I have to book on the ship. I was wondering why that is so. If you went to St. Thomas and not on a ship, could you do the BOB Scooter? I may just come back on my own. I am a flight attendant and can get down there anytime so I was going to save BOB for then, but if I can't do it on my own, perhaps I should book it on the ship so I won't miss the experiance.

My 2nd question is this - I went to summer camp when I was 15 and had a summer romance with Jim Tillet (the son) who I know is well known in St Thomas - his father was an artist. We wrote for a while after camp - he was in a Military boarding school back them. Jim would be in his early 50s now. Do you know if he still lives in St. Thomas? It would be fun seeing each other after all these years.

Again, I thank you for all the advice you give, I read with relish everything you write and enjoy the website..

maria stallings

[The Islander]

Thank you Maria,

I beleive when excursions have contracts with the cruise ships and you are on that cruise ship they are not suppose to undercut the ship and/or sell to you directly - or that is what was explained by another excursion operator. They risk losing their contract with the ship and as a steady source of customers they don't want to risk that. I do believe that BOB would take on island hotel guest bookings if they had room.

Contact them directly and give your second scenerio that you are visiting on island and want to book the trip if thats an option. If they say no then do it with the ship, if they say yes then ask how much... it might just be the same price as the ship; which is what I had heard. And then you can decide whether to do it while on the cruise or to wait.

The Tillet's... Tillett Garden is still here, after Jim Tillett the artist passed away his wife ran the center for art. However their son Eric and wife Kellie are now the owners/operators. I don't know more then that. You might visit their web site at [url="http://www.tillettgardens.com"]www.tillettgardens.com[/url] and perhaps call and ask about Jim Jr.

Have a great time.

--Islander
VInow.com

[ImPcJunky]

Wow it was wonderful.. I loved doing it.. I booked mine with RCCL excurisons page. You might want to call Rccl and ask if you can book thur them without being on a ship. I know if you don't book about 4 months in advance your chances of getting on Bob's is slim.... They are booked to the max. When we did the Bob in May 2004, the capt. told us then, they were booked for the whole summer season at that point in time.
As far as the price. We got our moneys worth... It was the best excursion I have ever done. I would do it again. You can't believe how fun it is.. I am 56 years old, not a young pup.. and I loved it..