St. Thomas Winifred Day Sail

[charlielinda]

I have read some wonderful reviews about the private day sail on the Winifred in St. Thomas and just wanted to see if any of my Celebrity buddies have been on her. Thanks for any advice. I'm leaning toward booking her.

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- April 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[MSBYRDY]

We haven't done Winifred, but we did charter High Pockets in St. Thomas this past March. It was the most wonderful day we've had on a cruise. Check it out at [url="http://www.sailhighpockets.com"]www.sailhighpockets.com[/url] If you have any questions please feel free to email me for details.
Marilyn
[email]Msbyrdy@aol.com[/email]

[Brancaandlexi]

We did it in January. Very nice, Intimate Only 8 of us onboard including Sharon and her first mate(great guy). Somewhat pricey, almost $300 w/tip for the 2 of us. Would I do it again?? Maybe.... However, my main goal is snorkling, and we only snorkled for maybe 90 minutes. Really I think I would have been just as happy to take the ferry over to St. John and snorkle all day. But, it was a great experience and I [B]WOULD[/B] recommend it.

Tammy
***********************
Carnival '98
Norway '00
Grand Princess '02
Celebrity Summit '04
***********************
Next Cruise
Celebrity Zenith 14 Days out of Jacksonvile 1/2/05

[Helen]

Hi,
We returned from sailing on the Caribbean Princess last week and booked with highpockets also. It was tough decision between the 2 of them but we couldn't have been more pleased. Kathleen is your Captain, cook, barkeep and a wonderful person. We were spoiled beyond compare and my husband and 2 boys (19 and 14) all agreed it was the perfect day. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[srpilo]

How about the Cost with High Pockets, her web-site doesn't quote the day "PP" sail price .. Just curious..

Thanks Srpilo


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[MSBYRDY]

For High Pockets, just email Kathleen and she'll get back to you pronto with her prices. What a lady, she was just wonderful. I booked our day with her for just the two of us for a surprise for my husband's birthday. What a wonderful day we had.
Marilyn

[Helen]

High Pockets charges $120.pp or $110.pp if cash.
She takes your credit card #to hold your reservation but no charges are made until the sail date. This includes breakfast, full bar, a gourmet lunch, snacks, snorkeling (for as long as you want) and a wonderful sail. We were literally by ourselves. She arranges transportation for you by taxi (Wally was nice and prompt)both ways and the time was from 9-4.

[cruise freak]

we were on the "Winifred" last Christmas Day and it was wonderful. Sharon was on vacation but her replacement was wonderful. We had five of us but two crew and really enjoyed our selves. Lite breakfast was served and a great lunch and all of the drinks we wanted. Snorkeling was great. We paid $600.00 cash plus tip and it was well worth it.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2004;02;28;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  Till the Big Z
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2004;12;05;21;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]  Till Infinity and Beyond

[charlielinda]

Thanks for all of the advice. It was hard to decide between the two but I've contacted Sharon and all set to sail on Winifred. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time. Now, I'm just counting down the days until October 22.

Voyager of the Sea -- September 2001; Galaxy -- May 2002; Zuiderdam -- September 2003; Summit -- April 2004; CAN'T WAIT -- SUMMIT OCTOBER 2004

[aquaholic]

I sailed with Sharon on the Winifred last fall and cannot recommend her. The snorkeling equipment was worn out and very leaky even though Sharon insisted it was okay to use. I also thought Sharon was a bit neurotic and controlling even though we told her we were very experienced sailors and snorkelers. The Winifred has seen better days and was not all that comfortable. Sharon also commited to taking us to 2 snorkle sights but we made it to only one. The only high point was the solar hot shower after snorkeling. Nope, would not sail with her again.

[greygypsy]

We recommend not using Winifred. We used it last March. It was very expensive. There was very little snorkeling - and the "first mate" was a very poor leader. The "gourmet" lunch was a chicken thigh and salad. And we found Sharon to be a tad strange. The sailing was nice, but considering the price, not really worth it. For half the money you can take the ferry over to St. Johns, find yourselves a wonderful little beach and have an absolutely great time!!

[Desertbelle]

Now this really confuses the issue. I have probably read no less than 50 praises of the Winifred operation, and now here are two quite negative reports.

Is it that the operation is going downhill? Is it that it just wasn't aquaholic and greygypsy's cup of tea?

We have this day cruise booked for November, and if there is really cause for alarm here, I need to know so I can make other plans. Any thoughts?

[MSBYRDY]

Well, High Pockets was a great day. Captain Kathleen and her first mate Kathy couldn't have been nicer or more knowledgable. Our Gourmet lunch was indeed a "gourmet lunch." Fresh flowers everywhere, food that was the best of our trip. I couldn't recommend her highly enough.
Marilyn

[sddiver]

Sailed on the Winifred in Dec of 03. Had a good time, but I see both points of view. I have lived within walking distance of the beach in San Diego for the last twenty five years. I scuba and free dive and am a crew member on a competitive off shore sailing team. When I was on Winifred Sharon the owner was in the states visiting family for the Holidays. After we tied up to the first mooring I promptly dove into the water for a swim. The substitute captain, a friend of Sharons almost had a fit. Upon returning to the boat he informed me Sharon required all quests to wear snorkeling vests while in the water. In a nice way I filled him in as to my experience and swimming ability and the custom of tipping the crew and we came to an understanding. So If Aquaholic comes from a similar background I could see how he might be a little miffed by Sharon. But most cruisers or vacationers from the heartland with much different backgrounds and expectations would have a much different perception and experience. One thing you always need to keep in mind with the internet and boards such as this one is to take everything with a grain of salt. We all come from varied backgrounds and points of view and what thrills one person might be a let down for another.
Did I enjoy my Daysail on Winifred. Yes, I was with Family most of whom don't share my background and we all had a fun sail and snorkel day. Would I do it again? Most likely not, Why- well I've spent a lot of days on a lot of sailboats so I would most likely opt to do something else if on St Thomas in the future.

Enjoy
Rich

[aquaholic]

Yes, SD Diver, it's true, I have quite a bit of sailing experience and have chartered bareboats for weeks at a time so a day sail would be old hat to me. If you'd never done anything like it before I can see that you'd be excited and think it's a great adventure but surely there must be a day sail available on St. Thomas that would be a newer nicer boat (the Winifred is ancient and shows it) with decent snorkle equipment and a more laid back ambiance. I thought Sharon a bit odd, too. Good luck Basketlady - a day sail is a great way to spend a day in BVI no matter what.

[charlielinda]

I grew up on the water and we've snorkeled quite a bit. I'm sorry for the folks that didn't have a great day and I appreciate the reviews. I'll keep my eyes open. I still am going to look foward to it -- I figure a day on a sailboat with a snorkel stop and lunch with at the most only 4 other folks can't be all that bad. Thanks so for the feedback and if anyone you have good reviews I'd love to hear those.

Also -- seems you folks have done lots of sailing and snorkeling. I'm thinking about the Silver Moon in Barbados. Does any one have experience with them?