Private Excursion St. Thomas to St. John on the Ike Witt

[nycglitter]

I have booked an excursion from St. Thomas to St. John, but have read mixed reviews. Has anyone ever sailed with Captain Pat on the Ike Witt?

I spoke to him on the phone and he seems nice enough, but I am nervous about booking a private excursion and missing the boat, or having the experience seem unprofessional.

 

Thoughts and/or suggestions?

[babakookie]

We are booked June 17th on a day sail out of Red Hook. We chose Captain Omar from Interlinesail.com ; wrote emails to all the companies, and he was the one who phoned us back. I asked him if he was sure we would be back in time to make our cruise ship departure. He assured me we would; said he had been doing this for 7 years and never had anyone even come close to missing the cruise departure. He also told me they have more than one boat; if something mechanical should happen, at least they have a back up (although he said they have never had to use this). Captain Omar also told me that they would come back in early if I had reservations about time. I always ask lots of questions, but didn't seem to phase the Captain (guess he had heard them before). I am now confident we will get to do our snorkel tour and will be back in plenty of time. One suggestion- if you are worried about time, why don't you book a 1/2 day sail? Then you would be back in 4 hours for sure.

Just a thought.

[surrocruiser]

We sailed with Captain Pat on 4/9 and it was the highlight of our trip. He tells great pirate stories and is so entertaining. I opted out of the snorkel portion of our trip so I got to hear lots about him.

 

I would very highly recommend him and the Ike Witt. We were concerned with times too since we were departing St Thomas at 4. It didn't end up being a problem for us but I would suggest arranging for a taxi to be there at a certain time if possible. We had a scary 15-20 minutes where we didn't see any taxis so we were a bit worried (we still had over an hour left).

[nycglitter]

We sailed with Captain Pat on 4/9 and it was the highlight of our trip. He tells great pirate stories and is so entertaining. I opted out of the snorkel portion of our trip so I got to hear lots about him.

 

I would very highly recommend him and the Ike Witt. We were concerned with times too since we were departing St Thomas at 4. It didn't end up being a problem for us but I would suggest arranging for a taxi to be there at a certain time if possible. We had a scary 15-20 minutes where we didn't see any taxis so we were a bit worried (we still had over an hour left).

 

Thank you so much!!! He seemed very nice on the phone, but you just never know! He said that he wouldn't have a problem getting us back on time and we would be the only family on the boat. My husband still thinks we should go with the Princess Excursion, but I am scared that we will be jammed on the boat with a ton of people and it won't be a personal experience.

 

Thanks Again!!! Oh, you wouldn't happen to have any photo's would you?

[surrocruiser]

I do have photos. I actually have more video than photos but I'm not sure if I know how to send that to you. (I'll try to get my DH to do it for me tonight.)

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/558805734dMyOrN?start=228

 

Picture 240 is the start of the trip through about 260. They are mostly scenery shots b/c I didn't keep the camera out much while we were under sail. My video is when we are anchored for snorkeling and I'm on the boat by myself. It shows alot of the gorgeous boat. I'll hopefully post it tonight.

[nycglitter]

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful photo's! I love the pictures with the boats and the birds...spectacular!

 

If you can post the video, great, if not, don't worry about it. I am appreciative of your taking the time to answer and post the photo's!!!

[surrocruiser]

Not a problem at all. Glad to help.

 

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask hubby about the video last night.

 

If you would like, you can email me and maybe by this weekend I can send it to you myself. Email address is (my screen name) @hotmail.com

[surrocruiser]

No luck posting the video. I can definitely email though.

[nycglitter]

Thanks! My email address is marit411@gmail.com

 

Only post it if you have time! Otherwise, don't worry about it!

[augie]

My wife and I, who are both experienced snorklers (and scuba divers) went on a daysail on the Ike Witt with Captain Pat last October. It was one of our favorite port excursions ever!

 

He will make sure that you have plenty of time to get back to the ship (if you would like to see him really light up, bring some cookies from the ship and surprise him with those as a gift!)

 

He makes a very good lunch, we had a fresh fruit plate and homemade caesar salad with grilled chicken, and all of the liquid refreshments you want!

 

In my opinion there is nothing the cruise lines can offer that will come close to your sail with Captain Pat!

[nycglitter]

My wife and I, who are both experienced snorklers (and scuba divers) went on a daysail on the Ike Witt with Captain Pat last October. It was one of our favorite port excursions ever!

 

He will make sure that you have plenty of time to get back to the ship (if you would like to see him really light up, bring some cookies from the ship and surprise him with those as a gift!)

 

He makes a very good lunch, we had a fresh fruit plate and homemade caesar salad with grilled chicken, and all of the liquid refreshments you want!

 

In my opinion there is nothing the cruise lines can offer that will come close to your sail with Captain Pat!

 

Seems like Captain Pat is quite a hit! Thanks for the review!!!

[jimmyg53]

OK - I just booked with Captain Pat for July 18th. I'll post about our experience later. I've used non-cruise ship associated vendors before, and find that far and away this approach is best.

[jw01]

How much is the sail with them?

[Jeanine&Jim]

How long is the tour? Price? and does he have a web site?. Thanks

[tyson]

I googled him and got this website: http://www.ikewitt.com/ It doesn't give his prices, though, which I would be interested to know also.

[RobertGT]

Thanks for the link.

[julie aka social director]

I googled him and got this website: http://www.ikewitt.com/ It doesn't give his prices, though, which I would be interested to know also.

 

We just booked a 1/2 excursion with him for 7/31. His cost is $85 for a 1/2 day and $115 for a full day (that is for cash or traveler's check). I think it is more if you charge. We are a party of 10 so he contacted a friend who will join us and 5 will go on one boat and 5 on the other. We will either do 5 guys on one ship and 5 of us ladies on the other, or we will send all the children on one and the two groups of parents will sail by themselves.:) Looking forward to this trip alot.