Tell me about Island Marketing VIP Half Day Sail and Snorkel to St. John

[NewCruiser10]

I have been to both St. Thomas and St. John on land vacations. This August I will be on the Royal Caribbean's Oasis. We will be docked in St Thomas for a day. There will be a group of six of us ranging in ages from 50 to 60. We are interested in Island Marketing Ltd., VIP half day sail and snorkel to St. John.

 

Has anyone used this company before for this particular excursion? What are your thoughts about it?

https://www.stthomascruiseexcursions.com/VIPSailingYacht.htm

 

Thanks!

[bubbatruck]

Considering this company for our cruise in March. Did you use them?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[NewCruiser10]

Considering this company for our cruise in March. Did you use them?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

We will be going on an excursion with them in August. Let me know how it goes if you use them in March. Have fun!

[am2350]

I have been to both St. Thomas and St. John on land vacations. This August I will be on the Royal Caribbean's Oasis. We will be docked in St Thomas for a day. There will be a group of six of us ranging in ages from 50 to 60. We are interested in Island Marketing Ltd., VIP half day sail and snorkel to St. John.

 

Has anyone used this company before for this particular excursion? What are your thoughts about it?

https://www.stthomascruiseexcursions.com/VIPSailingYacht.htm

 

Thanks!

 

We had a terrible experience with that exact tour and we are not sure if the boat/operator they put us with is not the usual operator but the tour we received was NOTHING at all what is advertised. I will no long book with Island Marketing b/c of this tour and the way they handled my complaints when we returned.

 

There was a miscommunication from the beginning. The confirmation said a driver would be holding a sign that said 'Island Marketing' but turns out he was holding a sign for his own company (Aaron's Tours) so we stood around (in the rain) for 45 minutes looking and waiting for our driver only to find him right there all along. I even asked several people around him if they were with Island Marketing. He never seemed to catch on. So we left 45 minutes late for our tour. The drive to Red Hook took another 45 minutes b/c of a wreck. We get to the marina to this '40-foot yacht' to find a boat barely big enough for the 6 of us. I tried keeping an open mind up to this point. Then they ask us what we want to do for the day. Ummm, well I want to go to St. John like the tour describes. We are quickly informed how that's not really possible with a half day tour b/c of the way the sailboat requires tacking with the wind to get all the way to St. John and we would need a full day tour to go all the way to St. John. Uh...the tour description is for a HALF day tour?? So why advertise something you cannot do??? I was really getting annoyed and mentioned the specifics of what the tour promised. That didn't seem to matter. Again, tried to make the best of it. We sailed to a place called Christmas Cove. We got out to do some snorkeling and there was nothing, I mean nothing there to see. I had communicated with someone before the trip and asked about the ability for one of us to be taken to the beach as she doesn't swim. They assured me she could be taken on a dingy to the beach. We were informed that particular beach was covered in sea urchins and they didn't recommend it. So she paid all that money to sit on a boat. After about 30 minutes of looking for something worthwhile, we called it quits and headed to the boat. It was time to go back to the marina. I was utterly disappointed. I wrote a long letter to the manager at Island Marketing who got the tour operator's side of the story and she seemed to think she did a bang up job for us and we seemed fine with the tour. I told the Manager the tour operator was confusing my being polite with satisfaction. They offered to give me a discount on another tour but of course I never got that discount. Therefore, I will never book with them again. I used them numerous times in the past and was always happy but they are blatantly (STILL) advertising a tour that they simply do not deliver. But perhaps someone else had a different experience. . . I am thankful we get to return to St. Thomas again this year and perhaps will have a better experience. I promise - it cannot be worse than last time. :(