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exscursion recommendations wanted: Tortola and St. Thomas

traderneal

By traderneal,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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traderneal

traderneal

Posted
Posted

Hi all:

 

 

We are doing the Miracle on 8/23 and would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for exscursions in Tortola and St Thomas. We pretty much like water sports and are thinking about the usual snorkeling or beach trip.

 

Are the Baths in Tortola worth the effort?

 

 

I would also appreciate any reccomendations outside of Carnival.

 

thx

 

Neal

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Sandi149

Sandi149

Posted
Posted
Hi all:

 

 

We are doing the Miracle on 8/23 and would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for exscursions in Tortola and St Thomas. We pretty much like water sports and are thinking about the usual snorkeling or beach trip.

 

Are the Baths in Tortola worth the effort?

 

 

I would also appreciate any reccomendations outside of Carnival.

 

thx

 

Neal

 

In Tortola we did the Baths tour through the ship. I highly recommend this excursion because you don't get that much time in Tortola and it was worth it to me to spend the extra money to do it with the ship. Yes, it's worth the effort. The Baths are an awesome spectacle of nature, imo. I am attaching a few pics so you can see. You can snorkel there also. On the ships tour you will meet at the dock at 8;15 and then take a 45 min ferry ride over to Virgin Gorda and then get on an open air taxi for a 10 min ride over to the Baths. There are two paths, one easy, one difficult. We chose the easy one. It's about a 350 yard trek down to the beach. Once down there, they have lockers, bathrooms, and I rental shop I think. You get about 2 hours on the beach. If you choose the more difficult path, there are no bathrooms, etc.

 

In St. Thomas we went with Sunny Liston's tour. He gives you 1, 2, or 3 hours of shopping, an hour and a half tour of the island and then a 2 hour trip to the beach of your choice. We chose Sapphire. The snorkeling is great there and you can rent equipment.

 

Any other questions, please feel free to ask. :)

Baths5.jpg.7a762db89d975b0ccafa22617ec49c85.jpg

1365106716_Baths4.jpg.e917e02ac173a8244d9dd8ed8495a9be.jpg

774562693_Bathsrocks.jpg.b7d4c4629a342ddbe0acb6ddab52999e.jpg

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silentbob007 "Live from...." Rare

silentbob007

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In St. Thomas, I totally recommend the Captain Nautica tour through the ship. It is a little pricier than some of the other snorkeling tours, but it was a great tour ... best non-Hawaiian snorkeling tour I've done, in fact.

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Sharon2U

Sharon2U

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We booked a private day sail in St. Thomas which was wonderful only 6 people so really geared to what we enjoyed most.

We went to the Bath via the Carnival excursion because of limited time in port, also a great choice.

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cruise911

cruise911

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hi we have been to st thomas 5 times, first we go shopping, hopefully you dock close to walking to front stree,t the most beutiful jewelry, i usually get a bauble,then we take an open air taxi to coki beach the best snorkeling, you can rent the equipt there and beach chairs, there are plenty of locals doing chair service, so you can get food drinks snacks, our favorite is a pate, which is a turnover, with choice of fish, chop meat or chicken ,our fav is the beef, try one, have a great time

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kiffrig

kiffrig

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I just got back from both of these places! I was on the Liberty 8 day cruise last week and LOVED it. I would HIGHLY recommend doing The Baths in Tortola. However, I would suggest doing it on your own instead of through the ship. We did it through Carnival and we were only there for about 90 mins at the most. I was disappointed with the short amount of time but the view, the snorkeling, and the experience was all totally worth it. Some friends of ours did it on their own and they got to spend several more hours there and really experience it to the fullest.

 

In St. Thomas, I would HIGHLY recommend doing the BOSS/BOB Excursion. It was super cool and very thrilling. I loved it! My husband decided to golf that day, so I was on my own to do the BOSS, which was a little nerve-racking, but I forced myself to go on my own and I am soooooo glad I did! It was awesome to be riding around underwater on a little scooter and seeing fish swim right in front of you! It was great!

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CruiseAddict!

CruiseAddict!

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Hi,

 

I recently took the Ultimate Island tour through carnival and enjoyed it alot. First of all, because you have a early tour booked through the ship, you get priority getting off the ship and that can save alot of time waiting in long immigration lines. The tour stops at several scenic outlooks before arriving at Megans bay for two hours of beach time. After the beach,they drop you off at Blackbeards Castle and you can tour that as well as use the pools there. It is very nice there. They offer a free shuttle down town for shopping from there or you can make your own way into town, which we did.

 

After our tour, we shopped awhile, dropped our stuff off at the ship and went out to check out Paradise point,which, in my opinion was a tourist trap that I would avoid. It cost $18 a person to ride the tram up the mountain and the view up there is not as good as the view from the other outlooks we saw earlier. The only exceptions here would be if you want to enjoy one of their famous Bushwhacker drinks or if you can catch a sunset. Otherwise,I would skip it.

 

Have a great time in St Thomas!

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GoinCruisin

GoinCruisin

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In Tortola, we are ferrying over to Jost Van Dyke...

 

In St Thomas, we are chartering a sailboat for the day, all inclusive... sailing around St John and some of the keys, with a few snorkeling stops... there are plenty of daysails that you can join in on without chartering the entire boat...

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Glamourgal

Glamourgal

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We were in Tortolla two times and both times we did the Virgin Gorda Baths tour. Once we did it where they drop you off at a pier and then bus you to the Baths and the second time we were dropped off about 200 yards from the shore of the Baths and snorkeled our way to shore and then went through the caves and had plenty of time to snorkel some more before swimming back to the boat. We loved the second time, when we were 200 feet off shore. No matter which way you go, it is really amazing and I would do it a third time in a heartbeat!!

 

When were were in St. Thomas we did Coki Beach once and Saphire Beach the next time, they were both an $8 per person cab ride each way. We actuallly prefferred Saphire Beach, which was more of a resort. We rented chairs there and the snorkeling was very good.

 

Whatever you decide to do I hope you have a GREAT trip!!

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miami

miami

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Boss/BoBs is a must. Book direct and save 25%. Also Magens Bay is as beautiful as it gets.

 

Are the helmets on these noisy? My sister did a helmet dive (not BOSS) and said they were.

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nothomeonacruise

nothomeonacruise

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We did the Blackbeard's Castle tour. They toured us around the island and then stopped at Blackbeard's Castle. We also did the 99 steps. It was a beautiful way to see the island. We also stopped at Gladys' Cafe. (not part of the tour, but recommended by the tour guide) Well worth the trip to find it. It's tucked down a little cobbled street with flowers everywhere. It's so pretty. The food is homemade and delicious. There's a chocolate shop around the corner, too.

gladyssign.jpg.70dbcc528e011cabe2246382537f6417.jpg

Gladys.jpg.6308c909436ef7203e0b212e2b1bc1be.jpg

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CherishTheSea

CherishTheSea

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hi we have been to st thomas 5 times, first we go shopping, hopefully you dock close to walking to front stree,t the most beutiful jewelry, i usually get a bauble,then we take an open air taxi to coki beach the best snorkeling, you can rent the equipt there and beach chairs, there are plenty of locals doing chair service, so you can get food drinks snacks, our favorite is a pate, which is a turnover, with choice of fish, chop meat or chicken ,our fav is the beef, try one, have a great time

 

I think you mean Patty. Jamaican beef patties are all over the east coast.

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