Why the Short Stays in Tortola??!

[emcee207]

I was disappointed when I saw our stop in Tortola was going to be very short, 7am to 1pm. We're on the Feb 1 sailing of the Celebrity Solstice.

But then I noticed on these threads several other ships with similar schedules.

What gives with this??? Doesn't really give you enough time to do anything without a huge rush around.

We may just stay on board.

[BigGuy25]

I've also wondered about this. We had a short stay on the Caribbean Princess last summer. It doesn't seem to matter which cruise line ... all stays seem shorter than normal. I wonder if it has something to do with the way that Tortola charges cruise ships for using the port facilities. Maybe by the hour??? Just speculating!! Port times often have to do with the time needed to sail to the next port ... but that doesn't seem to be the case with Tortola. The short stay really causes you to do only one thing while on the island. if you want to go to the Baths you can't spend any time exploring Road Town ... and vice versa. But even with the short stay, I'm glad we stopped!!!

[emcee207]

Maybe it is some kind of tide thing? Did you tender in or dock?

 

What did you do there on your short stopover?

[Pyrate13]

It shouldn't be a tide issue as the tide in the BVI usually doesn't change more than a couple of feet. Whether you dock or tender depends on how many ships are in port. The pier can only handle two at a time.

[CarolRick]

I was disappointed when I saw our stop in Tortola was going to be very short, 7am to 1pm. We're on the Feb 1 sailing of the Celebrity Solstice.

But then I noticed on these threads several other ships with similar schedules.

What gives with this??? Doesn't really give you enough time to do anything without a huge rush around.

We may just stay on board.

 

My guess is that they leave at 1 PMm because they need the steaming time to get to the port of debarkation.

If a ship leaves at 1 PM it can get to New York for a ealy morning arrival. Just my guess.

[BigGuy25]

We went over to the Baths on Virgin Gorda and had a great time. It's really a spectacular site. The couple that we were traveling with spent the time in Road Town and said they really enjoyed the visit. The downtown area is a short walk from the pier. The town, while it still had many shops, wasn't as overbuilt as many of the cities on the other islands the region.

[emcee207]

our next stop is Labadee so it can't be the need for extra hours to get to next stop.

[ellbon]

I have been on Princess there twice to 4 or 5 pm and the next day was in a p[ort. so who knows! i decide not to do a ships tour in Jan but to shop and drink at Prussers.

[Imalismom]

Our cruise ship (Disney) is going in July and our dock time is 7:30am to 5:30pm. It might be that some ships just do a shorter time?