Need advice on chartering

[katsgarden]

In Jan. we are going to the Virgin Islands and plan on spending 1 week on land and 1 week chartering a catamaran (bareboating). Does anyone have any experience with any of the chartering companies based out of Tortola? I'm looking for some recommendations. Also, there doesn't seem to be too many timeshare opportunities so I'm looking for any advice on hotels/condos or even a villa. The land portion will be on St. Thomas. Thanks for any advice or recommendations.

 

[Loriannf]

Try the VI Website

I'm sure you're aware that there are the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, Tortola being British. However, there's a great website VINOW.com which will help you out alot with your questions on St Thomas, and give you some advice on chartering and some links to info on Tortola. The message boards on VINOW are really helpful.

Lori

 

[gmarine]

http://www.moorings.com/home.asp?

 

[mariawolf]

We used TMM and they were great==we are going again this April and are chartering a power cat in conjunction with our stay at St John villas--also since this was our second charter with them they gave us a 10% discount for this trip==something to keep in mind if you go again!

 

[jtridle]

I would highly recommend the Moorings. We've gone twice out of Tortola. The first time that we used them we went with a gentleman who had sailed with a few companies in the Virgin Islands and he said they were the very best of any he used so after a while he just always used them. Always superior service. Have you also looked into trading into Tradewinds Cruise? They go out of BVI's and other places in the Caribbean. I've read fabulous reviews. They are catamaran timeshares which are crewed with a cook and captain. You can trade into them through RCI and I've seen some availability off and on. I think they may offer some type of combo land/cruise package too, I seem to recall. Someday I plan to do this.

 

[katsgarden]

I would highly recommend the Moorings. We've gone twice out of Tortola. The first time that we used them we went with a gentleman who had sailed with a few companies in the Virgin Islands and he said they were the very best of any he used so after a while he just always used them. Always superior service. Have you also looked into trading into Tradewinds Cruise? They go out of BVI's and other places in the Caribbean. I've read fabulous reviews. They are catamaran timeshares which are crewed with a cook and captain. You can trade into them through RCI and I've seen some availability off and on. I think they may offer some type of combo land/cruise package too, I seem to recall. Someday I plan to do this.

We used Moorings 7 years ago out of St. Lucia, and had no real problems with them. I just know that there are lots of other charter companies that I'm not opposed to using IF the price is better and IF they have good reviews.
There are 4 couples going on this adventure, so we want to have our own boat. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[katsgarden]

We used TMM and they were great==we are going again this April and are chartering a power cat in conjunction with our stay at St John villas--also since this was our second charter with them they gave us a 10% discount for this trip==something to keep in mind if you go again!

Thanks for the response. Did you charter this yourself, or did you use chartering agent? I received some information from Ed Hamilton Charter service who works with several of the charter companies. Supposedly there is no extra charge for this service and he has the connections and can also book the airline tickets and hotel reservations.

 

[katsgarden]

I'm sure you're aware that there are the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, Tortola being British. However, there's a great website VINOW.com which will help you out alot with your questions on St Thomas, and give you some advice on chartering and some links to info on Tortola. The message boards on VINOW are really helpful.

Lori

Thank you for the web site link. It is a great site!