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Yacht Adventures - Island Girl

12Cruise

By 12Cruise,
in St. Thomas/St. John

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12Cruise

12Cruise

Posted
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Howdy, Ted!! I sure wish you were, too!! We had an awesome day there...and, just may go back there instead of an excursion. ;)

 

Hope you both are doing well. We are going pretty well, waiting for "possible" snow tomorrow night. High's near 60 today. Ha!!

 

Give me an e-mail whenever you get a chance and let me know what sort of crazy fun you'ins have been up to. :cool:

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  • 4 weeks later...
pxy cda

pxy cda

Posted
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We sailed (or rather, motored) on Island Girl in January of 2012 and were disappointed with the condition of the boat and did not find this tour to be a good value for the money. I wouldn't recommend Island Girl.

 

The boat was shabby a couple years ago so sounds like he's really let her go. Our trip sasnt terrible but I think there are better reviews on the other six footers here - the boat was a bit depressing and captain not that personable.

 

The 1st mate (who is now in NY running his own Rolex repair shop) was the highlight of the tour.

 

In a nutshell. he delivered the service as promised. Just nothing special to make me want to go back.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Happy2cu

Happy2cu

Posted
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We sailed (or rather, motored) on Island Girl in January of 2012 and were disappointed with the condition of the boat and did not find this tour to be a good value for the money. I wouldn't recommend Island Girl.

 

Sailed with Mike on Island Girl last week. I agree, the boat was not in great condition and I've seen much better snorkeling. It was supposed to be a private tour for the 5 of us, but he ended up booking 2 other people because their itinerary changed. People were nice, but it made it all that more crowded. For $75 each, I would look elsewhere. The only good thing about the booking, is I only booked a half day. I was very disappointed as I really researched this trip.

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kamfo

kamfo

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We sailed with Mike in December 2011 and were not thrilled with it! As stated the boat is not in the best of shape and we never did sail only motored. This was our 3rd time doing this excursion and I think it will be our last, service has gone down hill over the past few years! As stated by others, everything promised was delivered but just not an exciting day!

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CntPAcruiser

CntPAcruiser

Posted
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We sailed with Mike in December 2011 and were not thrilled with it! As stated the boat is not in the best of shape and we never did sail only motored. This was our 3rd time doing this excursion and I think it will be our last, service has gone down hill over the past few years! As stated by others, everything promised was delivered but just not an exciting day!

 

I sure hope the people who run Island Girl are listening to the recent comments on here and either decide to clean up their act (and boat) or throw in the towel. It's really a shame, since it could be a great charter, but it was a big disappointment for us in January 2012 and I'd never recommend to anyone now.

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pxy cda

pxy cda

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Please let us know if you hear anything back from them - had been considering them for a cruise in a few months but am second-guessing that now!

 

There are so many other sail charters on the island with good reviews - I would try them. Like I said - without the excellent 1st mate I am doubtful this will be that great - the Cap is not very personable and does not go out of his way to be engaging. I dont need to be entertained but its nice to feel welcome. This trip we are going to try the Fury - it picks up at port and has good reviews.

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12Cruise

12Cruise

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Please let us know if you hear anything back from them - had been considering them for a cruise in a few months but am second-guessing that now!

 

I want you to know, that yes, I did hear back from them, and it was a very long reply, addressing all of the issues. I really appreciate the time they took to send me such a long and concise e-mail. And, although we have decided to cancel, it is not due to any of the bad reviews. Hopefully some other time, we can book through them again and have a good day out on the water.

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CntPAcruiser

CntPAcruiser

Posted
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Incidentally, the owner recently put up a response to my review on another website (not sure if it's okay to mention other sites by name on here). I tried to keep my review concise and stick to the facts, without creating an adversarial tone, but the misstatements by the owner in his response bother me. I didn’t want to get into the numerous details of little things that made us uncomfortable on this trip. The bottom line is that we paid good money for this tour and did not receive what we were promised. We were not satisfied, and wanted to help others make an informed choice about booking Island Girl. Maybe since he has been confronted with the problems his guests have been experiencing, the owner will clean up his boat and make some improvements to the attitude and service.

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  • 1 month later...
givemeliberty

givemeliberty

Posted
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Just got back from our cruise and wanted to mention that we had a great time with Capt. Mike and Island Girl. He was really nice. I really can't think of anything to complain about.

 

He picked us up right at the end of the pier, got us to the snorkel location safely, answered all of our questions, and got us back on time. Couldn't really ask for more.

 

It did rain on the way to the island we snorkeled at, but that wasn't his fault. When we got there, it stopped raining and the sun came out. We saw a spotted eagle ray, a ton of turtles and beautiful fish.

 

I would recommend him. Thanks

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ojaidenny

ojaidenny

Posted
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We did this sail in the past and it was a fun day. He only puts 8 on his boat and we had 6. Do a search and you will find a lot of info.

Am going back this Feb. but plan on doing something else.

 

Booked Island Girl Dec. 2009.

Was contacted by Mike concerning my post mentioning "he only puts 8 on his boat and we had 6". This post was used by one of his competitors to point out to the US Coast Guard he over loads the boat, and they contacted him. Seems there is a very competitive market there and it's too bad things are that bad among the boats. I was in error, he mentioned in our correspondence he only carried 6 customers, there was 4 in our party and another couple with us. My mistake.

We had a wonderful day, his first mate was great, snorkeling was fun (two locations) good lunch. We felt we got our monies worth and was very convenient to the ship. We were expecting to "sail" the Caribbean but he motored to and back from the island. He answered our questions but did not seem to have his heart in the job, felt he was getting tired.

He has a wonderful thing going and I am hoping he gets things together.

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GAcruiser417

GAcruiser417

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Had similar experience to many of the posters. Island Girl delivered what they advertised, but no more. Cpt Mike was fine, but not an outgoing guy. His first mate was good, swam with the kids and brought up items for them to inspect. Food/drinks were fine, but the snorkeling wasn't great. It was windy that day, so we went to an area that was appropriate for strong winds.

 

We enjoyed the day, but have sailed with other small charters that were better and will pick a different charter for our next trip to St Thomas.

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