Tortola 6-1pm.. again.

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

.......On the other hand, Tortola, a part of the BVI is beautiful....and the ship's time there is really just a waste.  I went on a Windjammer cruise about 40 years ago...and thought it was the most romantic place on earth.  IMHO...the island itself is richer and safer than most of the other islands as far as wandering around.

We agree!   We love that Tortola has been added to NCL's itineraries but wish there was more time to spend there.  Fabulous beaches and very safe island to wander around.

 

Our first visit to Tortola was about 25 years ago when we flew into that tiny airport for back to back Windjammer cruises.     We especially loved the week-end between cruises when we wandered around Tortola.    Really wonderful and friendly people.  It was off-season so there were just a few local families and us at Cane Garden Bay.  Then we spent time at the local laundromat and of course the pub.  All very good memories😎

[dexddd]

21 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

NCL loves going to their own islands because then they can charge everyone fees and disguise them as "port taxes".

 

For example:

 

Carnival 11/27/2022 7 day sailing from Miami with stops in Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Roatan equals $137.24 in "port taxes".

 

Norwegian 12/17/2022 7 day sailing from Miami with stops in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan, and Harvest Caye equals $203.83 in "port taxes".

 

So the only difference in itineraries between the Carnival sailing and NCL sailing is the extra stop in Harvest Caye. Meaning that NCL is charging every single customer $66.59 to dock at Harvest Caye.

 

This is how Norwegian rips off its customers...by hiding fees on top of fees and on top of fees

And not returning any fees for missing GSC in our case although I've seen reports here of people getting $5-10 back.

[DaCruiseBug]

5 hours ago, dexddd said:

And not returning any fees for missing GSC in our case although I've seen reports here of people getting $5-10 back.

 

Wow! I guess it's all in their fine print isn't it? That's why they call it "taxes and fees" and don't give people a breakdown of what all those fees are. Because they throw in fees that everyone has to pay and then just pocket that money.

 

Same thing with their "gratuities" which they call service charges. That money doesn't go directly to workers. It goes "in part" to fund "incentive programs" for those workers. It's all just more $$$ for NCL to pocket. They're the cancer of the industry when it comes to deceptive pricing and fees.

[sanger727]

That does suck. We have been to tortola once on a NCL cruise but was there all day. We took the ferry over to virgin Gorda and went to the baths. It was awesome. Highly recommend but would never DIY with the time frame you have. You may be stuck with taking a NCL

excursion. For info, our cruise was a 10 day on the jade, leaving out of Tampa. Not sure where we went next but it wasn’t GSC.

[Peachypooh]

We had a pretty good day in Tortola. Went to the Botanical Garden and then walked

from there to Pusser's Pub. Short but enjoyable. This was on the Encore.

[Mr and Mrs C]

We weren’t happy with that time slot last time we went to Tortola, however we went to the baths, left the ship at 7 am, and it was perfect to get there early before it gets busy. As we were leaving there was a lot of people coming in and it would take forever to get through. 

[michellehlane@gmail.com]

 Looking forward to stopping at Tortola.  I wish the time was better but I know my husband and I will be getting of the ship to go to Pussers Pub as we spent time there on our honeymoon 30 years ago when we stayed on Peter Island and took a boat over to Tortola for the day and ended up at Pussers Pub.  We drink Painkillers every anniversary.

[HarpHarp]

Is the previous stop St. Thomas?  Former St. Thomas resident here, and I don't see any reason you couldn't take the trip to Tortola the evening before, if you have a passport and the extra funds. I'm sure you would have to notify them, but spending the evening on Tortola would be great.
The ship sails in circles all night. It's a 45 minute trip.

 

[JamieLogical]

My upcoming Sky sailing in September doesn't show any departure times for any of the port stops, but does show us arriving in Tortola at 6:00am, so I am assuming we will have to be back onboard by 1:00pm.

[Travelicious]

We went on the best snorkeling excursion ever while in Tortola.  I don't think it would be possible in that time frame.

[DublinFC]

We have a Tortola stop on our sailing next year and I was bummed to see the 1p stop.  Has any ever found out why the stop there is so short?  I just find it odd. 

[complawyer]

i'll probably be d**ned for all time by this response, and admittedly, we've never been to tortola, but have been to st thomas and st john's.

 

the probable reason for so short a stop is simply "there ain't a whole lot going on there" to justify a longer stay.

 

truthfully, if i were on that ship, i probably wouldnt even bother to get off. i'd rather stay aboard and drink mojitos

 

that being said, have a great time and bon voyage

[sid_9169]

30 minutes ago, complawyer said:

i'll probably be d**ned for all time by this response, and admittedly, we've never been to tortola, but have been to st thomas and st john's.

 

the probable reason for so short a stop is simply "there ain't a whole lot going on there" to justify a longer stay.

 

truthfully, if i were on that ship, i probably wouldnt even bother to get off. i'd rather stay aboard and drink mojitos

 

that being said, have a great time and bon voyage

I'm not going to "damn" you for your comments, but there is definitely a lot of great stuff to do in and around Tortola... Awesome day sails to Norman Island, the Caves, the Indians, Host Van Duke, The Bath's, ect...

[Sand and Seas]

Sid states it well.   I would love to spend a week in Tortola to have time to visit all of the great beaches and day sails.   And, we do love to visit Pusser's for a drink😎

[HarpHarp]

3 hours ago, complawyer said:

i'll probably be d**ned for all time by this response, and admittedly, we've never been to tortola, but have been to st thomas and st john's.

 

the probable reason for so short a stop is simply "there ain't a whole lot going on there" to justify a longer stay.

 

truthfully, if i were on that ship, i probably wouldnt even bother to get off. i'd rather stay aboard and drink mojitos

 

that being said, have a great time and bon voyage

Brewers Bay & Nicoles Is the best easy beach day ever. Callwood rum distillers, the folk art villiage near the port and of course Pussers.

[Zippeedee]

The Rebel Yell excursion to Jost was one of my favorite excursions ever. I’m usually the last person at the Local getting breakfast at 10:55 but that trip was worth the early morning start. 
I also loved the Kontiki in St Thomas but I heard the barge was destroyed in a hurricane.

[complawyer]

2 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

I'm not going to "damn" you for your comments, but there is definitely a lot of great stuff to do in and around Tortola... Awesome day sails to Norman Island, the Caves, the Indians, Host Van Duke, The Bath's, ect...

yeah, but thats "around" tortola. on the island itself, ho hum!

[robcolem]

Be nice if the the cruise lines did overnights at the Virgin Islands ports like some do with Bermuda.

[complawyer]

well it would be nice if they did overnights in a bunch of ports. i was booked on t he jade for july 4th with overnight in st petersberg... cancelled

 

booked on the spirit this past april with overnight in istanbul.... cancelled. we're booked onthe star this oct. i wish they would overnight in le harve as paris itself is 3 hours away. a few years back we took a southeast asian cruise, and ncl did overnight in bangkok

 

ncl does whatever it wants to do.

 

i've spent a week in st thomas, and took a shore excursion to st john's. 

 

i'd rather stay aboard the ship, then take another excursion to either. i'd probably stay aboard if we stopped in bermuda also.