Dolphins in St. Thomas

[Griz747]

My wife and Daughter want to go see dolphins on our cruise, We are stopping in St. Thomas and she has the idea of taking a ferry to Tortorla to see the dolphins there. We get inport at 8am and leave at 6pm. I have concerns that we will miss the ship. Any input?

[bruce-r]

Don't do it.

[richtersl]

My wife and Daughter want to go see dolphins on our cruise, We are stopping in St. Thomas and she has the idea of taking a ferry to Tortorla to see the dolphins there. We get inport at 8am and leave at 6pm. I have concerns that we will miss the ship. Any input?

I agree with Bruce. Don't do it.

 

For starters, if you get into port at 8:00, the earliest you'll be off the ship will be around 9:00 -- IF your ship's previous stop was at an American port. If your ship's previous stop was at a foreign port, then you'll have to go through immigration and won't be off the ship until after 9:00. You'll need to be back on board no later than 5:30 PM for a 6:00 PM departure.

 

This does not leave you with a lot of time for Tortola. Yes, there are ferries from St. Thomas to there and back. But since Tortola is a foreign port, you need to go through customs and immigration again coming and going. This eats into your time as well. And if these officals decide to do things on "island time" you may wind up waiting a long time before being let on to Tortola or back onto St. Thomas. One of the locals had posted a note here about having gone to Tortola and waiting 2 hours before they could get onto Tortola because the customs/immigration officials were out for a long lunch.

 

The ferries don't necessarily always run on time and it's a long trip between St. Thomas and Tortola.

 

Usually a trip like that is best reserved for a land-based vacation.

 

How about talking your daughter and wife into going to Coral World instead? No dolphins there that I know of but they do have other sea creatures there you can check out.

[gizmo]

Don't do it.

[cruzobsessed]

rc actually has an excursion that does this....and i was just checking it out for my next cruise. so.....if it is a ship sponsered excursion.....and i won't miss the ship.....any reason why i shouldn't do it?:rolleyes:

[andnickali]

As long as it is being booked through the ship you will not have any problems if the tour runs long. I would not venture past St. John unless I was with a tour from the ship.

[CaribbeanGal79]

I don't understand why everyone says no. Granted I wouldn't do it as it's ALOT of running around but the ferry is an hour over dolphins for an hour and then and hour back add 2 hours for safety but you still have PLENTY of time. Which is why the cruise ship offers it and the small amount of money you might save is not worth the peace of mind you will get from going with the cruiseship package.