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Day Sail Suggestions

ship99

By ship99,
in St. Thomas/St. John

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idjaffe

idjaffe

Posted
Posted

Had a very nice 1/2 day on the Fury last week - not private (she takes about 20 ppl) but a great day.

 

Was on the Winifred 2 yrs ago, and for a variety of reasons HATED IT! Can not stress enough how bad we thought our day was...go with anyone else.

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ship99

ship99

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We are doing a 1/2 day sail with Island Girl, Yacht Adventures. They are located where the ships are, not in Red Hook. They are picking us up at the ship! So no need for a taxi. The price is $75 per person.

 

 

Joeybun, I'll be anxious to hear how Island Girl is as that is the one we are strongly considering...thanks:D

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catladytx

catladytx

Posted
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Sorry that idjaffe didn't like the Winifred. We have been on two day sails with them and loved each. Sails are 2-6 people for the full day. We had 4 on both of our sails and the lunch was excellent. The first mate does a great job with snorkeling and viewing "critters" and they make you feel very comfortable even though I am not a big snorkel person. I LOVE THE WINIFRED !

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idjaffe

idjaffe

Posted
Posted

But not us.

 

Captain outright lied to us to get us to go on her...told us about the personal service she would provided for my children...went into detail on all she does for kids....then when we showed up, she wasn't even there - she was on her planned vacation to Texas.

 

The mate was rude, obnoxious and used a ton of foul language - when we asked him to stop due to "little ears" was told that its good for them...they need to learn in someday (and he was NOT joking)

 

When my son got a little scared at a big wave, the mate told him to "toughin up" and then gave him a punch on the arm...now the punch was not hard, but you NEVER touch a child like that - especily one that you do not know.

 

Lunch was not good in our opinion, and was VERY "budget weary" - ie: cheap. No seconds (if you wanted it). They serve cookies - but they forgot to buy that day, so we got the leftovers from the day before.....3 cookies cut in 1/2 so each passanger got 1/2 a cookie.

 

We cruised over to St. John's and hooked up to an ancor line in front of a hotel...only to have the harbor master come out ad yell at the Captain that we were not allowed to be there....after the shouting match died down, the Harbormaster called the coast guard - and the Captain had to spend an hour talking about the "confrontation" with them.

 

I could go on - there were a number of other things.

 

Great way to spend a day - huh? All this for a ton of $ - and they demanded a tip on top of that....

 

We are regular crusiers, and do some sort of excursion in almost every port....in 9 cruises this was BY FAR the worst excursion we ever took.

 

I would go with any other boat....

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quincytoo

quincytoo

Posted
Posted
But not us.

 

Captain outright lied to us to get us to go on her...told us about the personal service she would provided for my children...went into detail on all she does for kids....then when we showed up, she wasn't even there - she was on her planned vacation to Texas.

 

The mate was rude, obnoxious and used a ton of foul language - when we asked him to stop due to "little ears" was told that its good for them...they need to learn in someday (and he was NOT joking)

 

When my son got a little scared at a big wave, the mate told him to "toughin up" and then gave him a punch on the arm...now the punch was not hard, but you NEVER touch a child like that - especily one that you do not know.

 

Lunch was not good in our opinion, and was VERY "budget weary" - ie: cheap. No seconds (if you wanted it). They serve cookies - but they forgot to buy that day, so we got the leftovers from the day before.....3 cookies cut in 1/2 so each passanger got 1/2 a cookie.

 

We cruised over to St. John's and hooked up to an ancor line in front of a hotel...only to have the harbor master come out ad yell at the Captain that we were not allowed to be there....after the shouting match died down, the Harbormaster called the coast guard - and the Captain had to spend an hour talking about the "confrontation" with them.

 

I could go on - there were a number of other things.

 

Great way to spend a day - huh? All this for a ton of $ - and they demanded a tip on top of that....

 

We are regular crusiers, and do some sort of excursion in almost every port....in 9 cruises this was BY FAR the worst excursion we ever took.

 

I would go with any other boat....

 

Wow that is so opposite what we encountered.

 

Sharon wasn't there, Mik was the captain (we knew that going in) and he first mate Jackie and Jackie's young son Nick were wonderful to deal with :)

 

No foul language was used ever, Mike was sooo good with our son, teaching him how to *rig* and steer the boat, ds was thrilled beyond belief :)

 

We were told if we didn't like the day don't pay....he did tell us that about the 20% tip to Jackie but we always tip on service oriented events. Jackie went over and beyond the call of duty and to be honest, I felt, 20% wasn't enough. That is just the way we are.

 

Lunch was simple but good with a delightful veggie, chip, salsa platter, curried chicken with rice and veg, a GREAT salad, bread and I forget dessert but it was good. We all ate heartily, both dh and ds had seconds of everything.

 

We parked out in St.John's by that resort and had no problems what so ever. DH and I swam onto the beach (all beaches are public) and staff from the resort saw us and smiled. Nothing was said what so ever.

 

I am sorry you had such a bad day but for us it was a great day to remember :)

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prescottbob

prescottbob

Posted
Posted

Ahoy!

 

We were recently in St. Thomas on a 26 day Amazon Exporer cruise (HAL) and one of the highlights of the cruise was sailing with Kathleen. I'll cut and paste a blurb from a larger review.

 

I'll also include a link to our "Roll Call" where a more extensive review has been posted that covers a number of other Caribbean ports. You'll need to scrool down a bit to find the full review, if so desired.

 

If you decide to use Kathleen please give her a hug for us (Bob abd Judy from AZ),

 

"ST. THOMAS, USVI / CROWN BAY (0800-1700): Since we would be ‘sharing’ St. Thomas with several other cruise ships at this particular port of call (approximately 20,000 cruise passengers and cruise ship staff members), we had booked yet another sail and snorkel tour several months in advance via the internet. Also, since this would be our last ‘major’ Caribbean ports visit (although Half Moon Cay was yet to come), I wished to reserve a small, special tour to end our cruise. This was especially important since we would be returning to the ‘real world’ three days forthcoming. So after doing some research, we decided to book an all day tour with Kathleen Nelsona, owner (with husband) and captain of the “High Pockets”, 42’ racing sloop. (sailhighpockets.com / $125 pp +$45-50 cab fare/couple). The tour is limited to six passengers only that includes a ‘gourmet’ lunch, champagne & wine and, of course, free flowing rum punches (simply wonderful), beers, liquors and sodas. Kathleen is a retired R.N. who moved from California with her husband to St. Thomas over a decade ago. Her number one goal is making sure all her passengers have the best sailing experience possible. She definitely achieved that end.

Following a 30-40 minute van ride across the island (with two other wonderful couples from our CC roll call board), we arrived at the marina and boarded. We sailed for 45 minutes or so while Kathleen gave us a narrative of the history of St. Thomas, of the various cays and islands nearby and current politics of the island. We made our way to a small area by a private island where we anchored and commenced snorkeling of the nearby reef for an hour or so. Meanwhile, Kathleen was busy preparing the marinated chicken, fettuccini, salad, bread with Danish butter and rum cake. Following a luscious lunch (and plenty of punch & champagne) we collectively decided to sail instead of hitting another snorkel site due to the high wind speeds that had developed. Nothing can be more fun then that “45 degree” high speed sailing in a racing sloop across Pillsbury Sound. Unfortunately, we needed to make our way back to the marina by 1515 to meet the van that the six of us (CC group) shared in order to get back to the port by 1600. It was truly an exhilarating and a memorable sail. Great sail, great company and great food. Does it get any better? (Answer=No) "

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=434425&page=28

 

 

Have a GREAT CRUISE!

 

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

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gracie65

gracie65

Posted
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Bob: I could not agree with you more about Kathleen & Highpockets. She is a very special lady & makes sure her guests truly enjoy their day. If you'd like her recipes I have them. The Rum Cake was awesome. I was also not expecting the chicken to be as good as it was & I think it's the best chicke dish I have ever had.

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prescottbob

prescottbob

Posted
Posted
Bob: I could not agree with you more about Kathleen & Highpockets. She is a very special lady & makes sure her guests truly enjoy their day. If you'd like her recipes I have them. The Rum Cake was awesome. I was also not expecting the chicken to be as good as it was & I think it's the best chicke dish I have ever had.

 

Ahoy Gracie!

 

That would be super. Thanks so much for the offer. I have her rum punch recipe but failed to get the chicken and rum cake recipe.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob :) (juboltd@msn.com)

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gracie65

gracie65

Posted
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Ahoy Gracie!

 

That would be super. Thanks so much for the offer. I have her rum punch recipe but failed to get the chicken and rum cake recipe.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob :) (juboltd@msn.com)

 

 

Bob: I just e-mailed the recipes to you. Check your spam if you don't see them.

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glSting

glSting

Posted
Posted

We just booked the daysail "Fantesy" for early march. Had read good reviews about this one so we now have four of the six onboard.

 

We're looking forward to a great day! Anyone else been on this one? I could let you know how we did by the second week of March but by then you will probably already have booked somewhere.

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mark290

mark290

Posted
Posted

We did the Day Dreamer over Thanksgiving.

It leaves from the Wyndham. We did the half day

and then enjoyed the Wyndham beach and pool after.

This is a large catamaran with a little slide off the back

to get in the water. I have done may of these trips

and this was one of the best. The crew was great.

We had 23 in our group with an age range of 6 to 50.

The boat is beautiful and very clean. I don't know

why nobody ever mentions the Day Dreamer.

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Fishndawg

Fishndawg

Posted
Posted

I can speak to the experience on the island girl. We just sailed with them Nov. 08. Awesome and relaxing day. capt Mike met us as promised at the pier; took us to his dinghy; and we were off to the island girl just a short distance away. No cab needed and that is a huge money and time savings right there. He had a great mate onboard who was our snorkel guide. We used the power snorkels and they were fantastic. Great lunch of grilled chicken sandwich with trimmings, salad, etc. Brownie for dessert. Prior to lunch we had a snack of crackers, apples and cheese. Plenty of any kind of drinks you wanted. Two snorkel spots. Great day! highly recommend them.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Joeybun

Joeybun

Posted
Posted
Joeybun, I'll be anxious to hear how Island Girl is as that is the one we are strongly considering...thanks:D

 

 

All I can say is this was the most wonderful experience!!! Mike met us at the ship and then we walked to the dinghy for a quick 2 or 3 minute ride to the boat. It was right there in the water alongside the Crown Princess. There were only 4 of us, me and DH, and 2 others (one of whom is a fellow CC member). We were on the half day sail which went to Buck Island.

 

Yes, you have to jump off the boat to get into the water. I just sat down and gave a little push off. As soon as I was in the water I saw a sea ray gliding past along the bottom of the sand! I was the first one in and so I had to wait a a bit for the others since the first mate, Andrew, snorkels along with you. Anyway, there I was minding my own business when a beautiful sea turtle decides to come up for air (every 15 minutes I'm told). He was maybe 20 feet from me. The really cool thing was that he swam right toward me! AWESOME!!! By this time Andrew was in the water with his camera and took some amazing photos of me and the turtle. Who BTW has been nicknamed Chip due to the shape of his shell.

 

They photographically document the whole trip too and I purchased the CD for $15. (They burn it on the way back)

 

Would I recommend this day sail? ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!!

 

My only regret is that we only did the half day sail.

 

Mike was a great captain and Andrew an awesome first mate and leader on the snorkle. He pointed out things that I would have never noticed on my own. Sooooooooooooo cool.

 

BTW-the power snorkeling was really cool too!

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RanDe

RanDe

Posted
Posted
All I can say is this was the most wonderful experience!!! Mike met us at the ship and then we walked to the dinghy for a quick 2 or 3 minute ride to the boat. It was right there in the water alongside the Crown Princess. There were only 4 of us, me and DH, and 2 others (one of whom is a fellow CC member). We were on the half day sail which went to Buck Island.

 

Yes, you have to jump off the boat to get into the water. I just sat down and gave a little push off. As soon as I was in the water I saw a sea ray gliding past along the bottom of the sand! I was the first one in and so I had to wait a a bit for the others since the first mate, Andrew, snorkels along with you. Anyway, there I was minding my own business when a beautiful sea turtle decides to come up for air (every 15 minutes I'm told). He was maybe 20 feet from me. The really cool thing was that he swam right toward me! AWESOME!!! By this time Andrew was in the water with his camera and took some amazing photos of me and the turtle. Who BTW has been nicknamed Chip due to the shape of his shell.

 

They photographically document the whole trip too and I purchased the CD for $15. (They burn it on the way back)

 

Would I recommend this day sail? ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!!

 

My only regret is that we only did the half day sail.

 

Mike was a great captain and Andrew an awesome first mate and leader on the snorkle. He pointed out things that I would have never noticed on my own. Sooooooooooooo cool.

 

BTW-the power snorkeling was really cool too!

 

This excursions sounds like a lot of fun, but I do have just a couple of questions. Do they take you to St. John's for some snorkeling? If you have to jump off of the boat to get in the water, how do you get out of the water and back into the boat?

 

De

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Joeybun

Joeybun

Posted
Posted
This excursions sounds like a lot of fun, but I do have just a couple of questions. Do they take you to St. John's for some snorkeling? If you have to jump off of the boat to get in the water, how do you get out of the water and back into the boat?

 

De

 

We went to Buck Island on our half day sail. I think that St. John may be on the full day sail itinerary, but don't quote me on that. Remember too that where you actually end up going depends upon weather conditions.

 

You can email Debi with Island girl and she can answer all your questons.

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