TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Provisioning - individual or packages

Any advice on whether its better to provision choosing items separately or choosing a package?

its not quite an answer to your question...

...but we have in the past used the Mooring/Sunsail provisioning service. Which is great as you arrive on-board and all your groceries are there waiting for you. BUT watch out with perishable stuff...in the past we've had so much that went out of date the day after we arrived! Which makes it a complete waste of time and money. If you pick it yourself from Riteway it lasts the whole trip!

These days we get all the heavy stuff (water, rum and coco lopez mostly!) delivered by Moorings/Sunsail provisioning and then go to Riteway ourselves and get all the fresh groceries.

We take down most all our meats for the week. We submit an order online, and Riteway delivers all the groceries to our boat. Last time they even put all the cold stuff in the fridge, and we weren't even on board yet. in the same ordering online fashion, Tico's has been good for us on beer and liquor. They deliver to the boat as well, but put all our order in the office since we were not there yet. Good luck

If by "package" you mean something like the "split provisioning" package offered by the Moorings, it comes down to how picky you are and how much time and effort you are willing to put forth by going to RiteWay for an hour or so. If you have the time to plan what you need and shop for it, the only other negative is whether you forget to get a few items. I can't really speak to a cost comparison.

If you have any issues with Moorings/Sunsail provisioning go to the customer service desk and they will have it replaced.
G

Thank you. We are with Virgin Motor Yachts and have a link to Riteway to provision. We are coming from Canada so can't bring anything with us. We have the option to provision items individually, or choose a package (i.e. $27 per person per day for 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 4 dinners) as we'll have a few dinners out. Wondering what's cheaper and more practical to do...hard to know what you're going to feel like having for 7 days ahead of time.

Ibos,

Why is coming from Canada mean you can’t bring anything with you?

Can't transport meats, produce, etc. into the US. I believe its prohibited at customs or would be very costly vs. provisioning there

I sent you a private message

We've never used a provisioning package from the charter company, so I can't comment on that directly. One thing you might do -- see if they spell out exactly what is contained in the package, and whether that appeals to you.

We have always had provisions delivered from either Bobby's or Riteway. Both have worked well. I found the online ordering procedure from Bobby's a little easier to deal with.

The upside to this method is obvious -- you get to pick what you want. What are the downsides? Sometimes they'll substitute items if they don't have exactly what you ordered. They can make mistakes and leave things out, necessitating a second delivery. You typically have to arrange a delivery time and wait for them to arrive; if they're not on time, you may be stuck waiting while you're anxious to go to dinner or whatever. None of these issues have been a serious problem for us, and I expect to go the same route on future trips.

Dan

Pretty much the same thing that we do.

We do the same.

We order everything from Bobby's or RiteWay with very few issues. We order our alcohol, beer and mix from either Tico's or Caribbean Cellars. Always have it delivered to the boat. In the 20+ times doing this, I only had a problem one time with Caribbean Cellars.

We order non perishable items from Riteway to be delivered the afternoon we arrive and the staff from Virgin Motor Yachts make sure they are onboard. If you order perishable items they will ensure they are refrigerated. Let Rebekah know the time you have requested delivery.

We always go to Riteway to purchase perishable items. There is also a tiny Riteway store at Nanny Cay for last minute items you have forgotten to purchase. If you are going to Leverick Bay there is a well stocked small grocery store if you need more provisions during your trip.

All that being said, we talk to our guests and try to plan meals around our tentative itinerary to get a general idea of how many meals will be onboard vs off. For example, we know on Anegada we will be eating lunch at Cow Wreck (Belle’s lobster fritters!) and at least one dinner off the boat usually at Wonky Dog.

By the way, what boat are you chartering?

This is great info thank you! We've chartered the Dashaway - looks lovely We will be sure to check out the restaurants you mentioned above. If anyone has additional restaurant recommendations please let us know!

De Coal Pot was amazing in April!
Marches in Trellis Bay had really good food too this month

We never do a pre packaged options. Plan your meals out, create a list and then order online and have delivered to your boat. Except for vegetables and meat. Those we usually go and pick up ourselves so we make sure we get the freshest items available. You can imagine the grocer will give you their most soon to be out of date items.