St. Thomas Van Tours

We're going to St. Thomas for the umpteenth time later this summer on
the Mariner OTS, and to do something a bit different than our "usual"
(which doesn't take us further than Havensight or the K-Mart up the
street) we were thinking about taking a van tour of the island,
independent of the cruise line. Does anyone here have any
recommendations on how to find a good tour? Is it best to book this
ahead of time, or can we find a good tour like this at the dock? We
just want a morning tour (~2.5-3 hours long) that will get us back to
the ship in time for lunch.

We had some luck with this last year in St. Maarten, where we found a
van tour by the dock and for a fraction of the price of a cruise line
excursion got a nice tour, splitting a van with people from the other
ships in port at the time. Since we had such luck in St. Maarten last
year, we figured we'd try that approach in St. Thomas this year.

Any suggestions or info about this would be greatly appreciated! I
would especially be interested in hearing about other peoples'
experiences with this kind of tour.

Thanks in advance!

"Valerie" wrote in message
ups.com...
We're going to St. Thomas for the umpteenth time later this summer on
the Mariner OTS, and to do something a bit different than our "usual"
(which doesn't take us further than Havensight or the K-Mart up the
street) we were thinking about taking a van tour of the island,
independent of the cruise line. Does anyone here have any
recommendations on how to find a good tour? Is it best to book this
ahead of time, or can we find a good tour like this at the dock? We
just want a morning tour (~2.5-3 hours long) that will get us back to
the ship in time for lunch.

We had some luck with this last year in St. Maarten, where we found a
van tour by the dock and for a fraction of the price of a cruise line
excursion got a nice tour, splitting a van with people from the other
ships in port at the time. Since we had such luck in St. Maarten last
year, we figured we'd try that approach in St. Thomas this year.

Any suggestions or info about this would be greatly appreciated! I
would especially be interested in hearing about other peoples'
experiences with this kind of tour.

Thanks in advance!


Suggest you search google for: St. Thomas Tours. There seem to be several
listings. You can contact them by email, negotiate in advance and make your
reservations. NOTE; If, for any reason, your driver is late getting back
to the ship, it probably won't wait while it will wait for ship's tours.

Hi Valeria,

You can also check with 3rd party shore excursion operators like Shore
Trips and Port Promotions. Both of these companies run excursions in
just about every Caribbean port. While the ship will not wait if you
do not take the ship's tour, at least with these 2 companies, you know
you are working with a trusted US company who sends people on
excursions EVERY DAY. They have VERY good relationships with the
ground operators. Less expensive and definately more exclusive than
the cruise lines. I have not used Port Promotions, but I use Shore
Trips all the time.

Adele
Legendary World

Valerie wrote:
We're going to St. Thomas for the umpteenth time later this summer on
the Mariner OTS, and to do something a bit different than our "usual"
(which doesn't take us further than Havensight or the K-Mart up the
street) we were thinking about taking a van tour of the island,
independent of the cruise line. Does anyone here have any
recommendations on how to find a good tour?

(snip)

I would ask the question on the St. Thomas forum at Cruise Critic.
There are already some ongoing discussions of private tours. I think
you'll find out all you need to know. I always read the CC Ports of
Call forums for a couple of months before leaving on a cruise. Very
helpful people.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

~ Peri

"Valerie" wrote:

We're going to St. Thomas for the umpteenth time later this summer on
the Mariner OTS, and to do something a bit different than our "usual"
(which doesn't take us further than Havensight or the K-Mart up the
street) we were thinking about taking a van tour of the island,
independent of the cruise line. Does anyone here have any
recommendations on how to find a good tour? Is it best to book this
ahead of time, or can we find a good tour like this at the dock? We
just want a morning tour (~2.5-3 hours long) that will get us back to
the ship in time for lunch.

We had some luck with this last year in St. Maarten, where we found a
van tour by the dock and for a fraction of the price of a cruise line
excursion got a nice tour, splitting a van with people from the other
ships in port at the time. Since we had such luck in St. Maarten last
year, we figured we'd try that approach in St. Thomas this year.

Any suggestions or info about this would be greatly appreciated! I
would especially be interested in hearing about other peoples'
experiences with this kind of tour.

I talked to the taxi driver dispatcher at Havensight, and he said
there was a fixed rate for the taxis (which are vans after all) to do
an island tour. It would have been $25 PP.

In the end, however, we just walked to the Skyway and took a tram to
the top, and then got a taxi from there to Coral World where there is
a nice beach also.

Valerie wrote:
We're going to St. Thomas for the umpteenth time later this summer on
the Mariner OTS, and to do something a bit different than our "usual"
(which doesn't take us further than Havensight or the K-Mart up the
street) we were thinking about taking a van tour of the island,
independent of the cruise line. Does anyone here have any
recommendations on how to find a good tour? Is it best to book this
ahead of time, or can we find a good tour like this at the dock? We
just want a morning tour (~2.5-3 hours long) that will get us back to
the ship in time for lunch.

We had some luck with this last year in St. Maarten, where we found a
van tour by the dock and for a fraction of the price of a cruise line
excursion got a nice tour, splitting a van with people from the other
ships in port at the time. Since we had such luck in St. Maarten last
year, we figured we'd try that approach in St. Thomas this year.

Any suggestions or info about this would be greatly appreciated! I
would especially be interested in hearing about other peoples'
experiences with this kind of tour.

Thanks in advance!

I know of 2 independents but they are both all day affairs so that won't
help you. As others have noted, booking independently you have the
chance to miss the ship but since you want to be back by lunch you don't
stand much chance of that happening.

The 2 independents are Godfrey Tours www.godfreytoursvi.com and Sonny
Liston.I don't know if he has a website but you can check on the ports
of call boards on www.cruisecritic.com as others have suggested.

With Godfrey you go shopping in the morning for a couple hours, followed
by a 2 hours island tour, and then off to a beach of your choosing for a
couple hours.He charges $25pp and you don't pay until he drops you off
at the ship. He is pretty flexible but I don't know if he could do what
you need. Doesn't hurt to ask though.He usually responds to emails in 24
hours.

In the end you might be better off just doing what Rosalie B suggested
and getting a cab.

Good luck and have fun. :-)

Bill

--
Visit my Caribbean Princess website:
www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com

Thanks to all for the tips and info. Getting back to the ship before
it sails is a definite concern, which is why I wanted to use a
reputable guide/driver. I appreciate everyone's input and will
definitely check out the links/references you suggested.

Valerie
....who is wishing the cruise was this week and not months away still

In article , Rosalie B.
wrote:

I talked to the taxi driver dispatcher at Havensight, and he said
there was a fixed rate for the taxis (which are vans after all) to do
an island tour. It would have been $25 PP.

$25 is a good price for an island tour. And I have found those to be
much better than ship shore excursions that tour the islands.

--
Charles