Sailing on the Fantasy for the 1st Time.

[greenkai3000]

Two of us will be on a 7 night Holiday Cruise on the Fantasy this November. We will be stopping at both St Thomas and Tortola as part of our itinerary.

We have a few questions for those who’ve done this itinerary before. We‘d love to know what the weather is usually like in early November, and if any of the paid excursions are worth the extra money at either , or all the port of calls. I mean what is there to do, and can anything be done on our own without the need of booking those tours? We do love sightseeing and going to local beaches.

Thank you!

 

[Cheburashka]

Two of us will be on a 7 night Holiday Cruise on the Fantasy this November. We will be stopping at both St Thomas and Tortola as part of our itinerary.

We have a few questions for those who’ve done this itinerary before. We‘d love to know what the weather is usually like in early November, and if any of the paid excursions are worth the extra money at either , or all the port of calls. I mean what is there to do, and can anything be done on our own without the need of booking those tours? We do love sightseeing and going to local beaches.

Thank you!

Weather is lovely that time of year. Warm but not too hot. Water should be a comfortable temperature.

We liked Magens Bay Beach at St. Thomas. It's popular and you don't need an excursion to get there. Just grab a shared open-air taxi at the port and be prepared to pay cash for the taxi rides and for entrance to the beach. Likewise there will be return taxis available there to return to the ship. I also liked the Skyride to Paradise Point, which is in walking distance of the ship. You can buy a ticket for that onsite or via DCL. You'll walk on your own to get there either way. St. Thomas's port area is safe for walking.

A very popular excursion from Tortola is to take a ferry to experience the Baths on Virgin Gorda. You can do that via excursion or on your own. Personally, given that a ferry is required, I'd only feel comfortable doing this one via ship excursion, just in case there was an issue with getting back on time, but YMMV. We were signed up for this one but it was cancelled on our cruise due to the ship arriving late to Tortola.

 

[auntlynne]

It could still be warm-to-hot (depends on your definition). Temp (air) will be around 86, every day; it doesn’t deviate much. Water temp should be 83-84.

Since it’s still hurricane season, there is always a chance of weather, but it is often known days in advance if a storm has formed off the coast of Africa and is moving westward.

(Weren’t you plotting a cruise with your friends sometime ago?). If so, and traveling without kids, you may enjoy some of the beach, snorkeling, or rum-based excursions.

In Tortola, you can hike down (and back up from) The Baths. There are some narrow passages through the ricks that lead to the boulders, but it is one of the leading places to visit. (Cruising with Ben and David in YT show you how to do it on your own.).

Lots of folks enjoy traveling to Jost Van Dyke for the beach and Painkillers ?I think that’s the drink. Also from Tortola.

St Thomas can be done on your own if going to the beach for snorkeling or beach time. You can all climb aboard a taxi (not regular sedan taxis - either 15- person vans or open air converted heavy-duty pick-up trucks. They will load up the vehicles with a collection of passengers.

Magen’s Bay is 2 mikes wide with concessions and bath houses. Lindqvist Beach in Smith Bay has beautiful aquamarine water and bath houses, but no concessions. These are both operated np by the Magen’s Bay Authority and charge $5 pp admission.

Sapphire Beach is in front of a condo. The water is a beautiful sapphire color, has great views of the other islands and a nice coral area with schools of fish.

Other than the first two, beaches in St Thomas are free to the public.

If you want a little less visited experience, St John is a 15-minute ferry ride (after taxi to Red Hook). Two-thirds of the island is National park. Beautiful beaches. Cinnamon Bay has re-opened this year after clean-up from Irma (2017).

The catamaran cruise from St Thomas to St John provides a sail over to the National park beaches with time for snorkeling.

The islands are tourism-centered, with plenty of transportation. T-Mobile cell phones can be used on St Thomas at no additional fees.

 

[auntlynne]

As I was writing my essay, she was confirming my ideas. Confirmation!

 

[elsawasajedi]

Two of us will be on a 7 night Holiday Cruise on the Fantasy this November. We will be stopping at both St Thomas and Tortola as part of our itinerary.

We have a few questions for those who’ve done this itinerary before. We‘d love to know what the weather is usually like in early November, and if any of the paid excursions are worth the extra money at either , or all the port of calls. I mean what is there to do, and can anything be done on our own without the need of booking those tours? We do love sightseeing and going to local beaches.

Thank you!

we did this itinerary last december - LOVED it.

we did full day at jost van dyke for a tortola excursion - home to the original painkiller and SO.WORTH.IT. Sigh. We dream about going back there probably 3 times a week. For St. Thomas we did some combination of i think paradise beach and snorkeling. The water was REALLY choppy that time of year the kids were not fans of the snorkeling. It was strong even for me and I'm a strong swimmer but I also try-harded like an idiot without fins and was lugging a screaming kid around in the water. The port in St. Thomas there isn't like a beach 5 seconds away. Nothing I really saw that was close by that you could check out yourself. If you're going to get off book an excursion. And I'm a fan of the Disney excursions just from an anxiety perspective about being left in port if something wacky happens or refunds etc.

Weather - expect it to rain during the day in port. Normal afternoon rain stuff. But it won't be cold at all. I would say you really dont need long pants of any kind per se but on deck at night you may want to bring like one sweatshirt.

 

[greenkai3000]

Thank you everyone for all the great info!

 

[epcotrulz]

I did the baths on my own and got there early before all the tour groups. Was fun for it to be sorta quiet …. The Fantasy is my favorite ship!! Enjoy!!

 

[Cheburashka]

I did the baths on my own and got there early before all the tour groups. Was fun for it to be sorta quiet …. The Fantasy is my favorite ship!! Enjoy!!

Did you take the public ferry over?

 

[princesscinderella]

I would not recommend trying to get a cabana for castaway for this itinerary, we said it twice in April and June and both times we were late into castaway and couldn’t get on the island until 11am and then had to be onboard by 5. Definitely not enough time to get lunch on the island and enjoy both the water and the cabana. I think they are frequently late to castaway because it takes you two days to get the st Thomas and Tortola and they only have a sea day and a 1/2 to get back to castaway. We did the baths excursion on Tortola with DCL and it was very nice and we did the skyway on our own on st Thomas. There’s not much going on when you get to the top but you can take some great pictures of the island.

 

[Cheburashka]

I would not recommend trying to get a cabana for castaway for this itinerary, we said it twice in April and June and both times we were late into castaway and couldn’t get on the island until 11am and then had to be onboard by 5. Definitely not enough time to get lunch on the island and enjoy both the water and the cabana. I think they are frequently late to castaway because it takes you two days to get the st Thomas and Tortola and they only have a sea day and a 1/2 to get back to castaway. We did the baths excursion on Tortola with DCL and it was very nice and we did the skyway on our own on st Thomas. There’s not much going on when you get to the top but you can take some great pictures of the island.

I wouldn't let that concern stop me. We've sailed that itinerary twice and had on time arrivals at Castaway both times. I think you had bad luck. A CC cabana is always worth it imo.

 

[epcotrulz]

Did you take the public ferry over?

Yes, I followed a detailed post that another shared on this forum. Worked out pretty well for me. BUT I also understand the concerns about being on your own and having the ship leave you if something were to go wrong ….

 

[shananigans]

Request Ashang as your server. You can thank me later. The best server EVER. He’ll make your vacation even more magical - trust me! We are sailing the same itinerary for Spring Break in April 2023 I believe. It’s a great ship, you’ll have an amazing time!