Opinions wanted about travel

Back in the days before COVID, we booked a Moorings charter for early July 2020 on a brand new 46.3 monohull . There are 5 of us and I was able to get Delta first class seats to St. Thomas with miles. Our plan, which is similar to what we've done on previous charters, was to spend 2 nights at The Moorings hotel, take the boat out for a 10 night charter, and spend our final night in the hotel before flying home..

Needless to say our plans got wiped out by COVID. We had paid in full so Moorings allowed us to rebook our trip as originally structured for July 2021. It took some more miles but I was able to get Delta first class seats once again.

Based on what I've read, it appears that the quarantine protocol will still be in place this July. From today's posts, my guess is that ferries might well not be running in July either so it's time to consider reworking things.

In order to keep our plans of "doing what we like", which usually fills a 10 day trip, I plan to extend the charter by at least 4 days to cover the quarantine days. Since we won't be in the hotel, we'll just start a day earlier. All of this of course depends on boat availability at The Moorings but my guess is we should be able to do it.

I'm looking for advice concerning travel plans.

Should I just rearrange the flights into STT to match the lengthened charter and hope the ferries are running by July or would it make more sense to rebook now through SJU and pay for the flight to EIS? There don't appear to be many STT to EIS flight options. I'd consider an STT to EIS charter but one member of our group may have to leave early which complicates the return flight.

Does anyone have a ballpark idea of the cost of an STT to EIS charter?

Many years ago we flew SJU to EIS on Cape Air and loved it but goodness they're expensive so I'm guessing InterCaribbean is the way to go. Are they a reliable option?

I'd start by calling Delta. They have a code share with someone all the way to EIS. It's not available online but an agent can help you book it.

The flights in July are only $212 roundtrip SJU-EIS on Intercaribbean. Most of this is offset by the cost of ferries, bag fees, tips to porters, and taxis in STT. If Delta can't book you all the way thru, I'd change to SJU and just buy the extra tickets. SJU is such a better option with multiple carriers, a real airport, Global Entry, TSA-Precheck, restaurants, bars, airline clubs, onsite hotel, etc that I don't know why people torture themselves with STT.

I flew about 35 trips from Seattle to Tortola between 2018 and 2019 and the SJU route was almost always cheaper even with purchasing the extra Intercaribbean ticket.

We have done two trips since December, both 14 days. I highly recommend going (at least) 14 days if at all possible.

We used Island Birds private charter to fly from STT to EIS twice and back from EIS to STT once.

The cost for each flight was $700 for a Piper Aztec that could take up to 5. That may be somewhat of a special rate.

Jason: Thanks for the information. The main reason I chose Delta to STT is the miles make it a free flight and (I assume) that wouldn't be the case for the code share link. I know the pros and cons of separate tickets which is one concern with using interCaribbean out of SJU but there are options if there are flight issues. Last trip a certain unnamed member of our party forgot to take her Bonine before getting on the ferry and that wasn't a pleasant experience!

MrEZgoin: I'll check the charter price. $1400 isn't all that much more than paying for 5 tickets SJU to EIS. It didn't take much arm twisting to convince my group to extend. Having enough available pto is the issue for one traveler.

I suspect you're right about the miles tickets. In fact, when I was flying every week they couldn't even figure out how to include EIS on a paid ticket if I was purchasing first class seats on the Delta segments. I always separated them.

A couple of things. I believe ferry service will be operating by July. That’s solves the airfare part. If it’s not available Dolphin water taxi has a hybrid plan where they will put you on a plane to EIS from STT to get to the BVI and then pick you up by boat at the Moorings dock to take you to STT. That’s your backup if the ferries don’t run.
As far as the quarantine part I also think that will not be required in July. The BVI has stated it intends to end the quarantine when they can get 70% of the population vaccinated. Unless they totally botch the vaccination process that should be done in May or sooner. If not your backup is the quarantine.
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P.S. Negotiate with the Moorings on the extra days. Don’t pay rack rate. They probably will be running specials for extra days. I would try and get 2 for 1 at least on the 4 extra days.

I hadn't heard about the water taxi plan which makes me feel better about keeping the STT destination. I'll see what Moorings says. I wish I had more confidence in the BVI's government to get it done. My fear is that they'll say to hell with the summer / off-season let's get ready for the fall.

I doubt they would do that. They are going to through a lot of effort to be open now, and restaurants are going to a lot of effort to be open, even though current visitor levels are far, far below summer low season.

I head out in June with Moorings and upped my 8 days to 14 days...at some point you just have to bite the bullet and take the credit before it expires.

Already warned crew we could be quarantined for the duration...

we do DCA SJU Island Birds...

Our loose plan..fly around April 15 SFO/Mia /STT. Spend two nights at The Emerald Beach. Then, if the ferries are running go that route or bite the bullet and fly EIS and suffer all the protococls..but we will both be vaccinated by then. If we still have to quarantine we'll stay at The Sugar Mill..you cant take it with you..never saw a Brinks truck following a hearse! The deal with a &#VW that's sat for over a year along with a locked up CRC!!

Bailau: If you don't mind my asking, what is the Island Birds cost and for how many passengers?

At the moment, Moorings website has nothing that would indicate they'd do a further postponement of our charter unless the BVI shut down again. Besides, we're all sort of chomping at the bit to go, especially after the hell, or I should say frozen hell, we put up with in Texas last week.

no problem my friend...haven't worked out details yet this year but the contract from May '20 was $4995 for 9 from SJU to EIS. I do get a repeat customer discount. I could save I think 1k by going in/out the the alternate to SJU (Isla Grande). Note this ticket doesn't include the entry? fee which is $50? pp which normal commercial tickets do. What I like is I get to base camp Moorings early and usually can get out that day. This year also trying to avoid any crowds as best possible so none of us pick up Covid for test 0 or test Day 4.

They meet you at the gate and you go right out

I hear you re:Texas...my son sent a picture of him playing hockey on a frozen lake in Lubbock

Good luck

I have not heard anyone say they will end the quarantine at 70%. The Chief Medical Officer said he would consider revisiting the protocols for vaccinated people once 70% were through their 2nd dose. That position will eventually have to change as I don't expect 70% of the BVI residents to take the vaccine. I have spoken to very few BVIslanders who are willing to even consider it. The expat population seems to be in favor of it but that will not get us to 70%. July 31 is the goal to offer shots to everyone who wants it. Even if that happens (and nothing here happens on time) it's 2 more weeks for the vaccine to be considered effective. That's August 15, then they will consider revisiting the protocols. That's several more weeks of cabinet meetings. Then we'll have to build a publicity committee, plan a launch meeting, miss the date, and then sometime around prime hurricane season, new protocols will be announced during a contract signing for something completely unrelated.

I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that the quarantine will be in place but extending our trip length resolves that issue for us and gives us a reason to stay longer in the BVI.

My larger concern was keeping our STT tickets only to find out the international ferry system was still not in place when we arrived on 06/30. While the Dolphin hybrid deal isn't particularly cheap when compared to SJU - EIS flights, it is a hedge against the expected slow pace that things happen in the BVI.

We've done the STT - EIS via ferry thing a few times and the SJU - EIS more times than that and in normal times I think I prefer to fly into STT. That way we avoid having to get bags in SJU, recheck them, clear security again and hope the flight times all work out. But these are not normal times and there are some real price decisions to be made.

I have to agree with you Jason on the timeline for vaccinations. I assumed they would have already used the first 8000 doses and it turns out they have only dispensed a handful. It would not surprise me if the UK delayed future shipments.
Louis, can you give us a approximate cost on the Dolphin option? I might use it for our June charter. Getting picked up on the return leg right at the Moorings dock is really easy way to depart. You also save some cab fare to offset costs. You might also find that if the ferries delay again Delta will allow you to rebook to SJU if you explain the situation.
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George: I didn't contact them but a link on their website gives the information

Here's the quote I got from Island Birds recently. These rates are from Isla Grande (taxi ride from SJU) to EIS. Rates from SJU are more, about +$1,000, if I remember correctly.

The roundtrip rates are:
$3350 for the 5 Passenger Piper Aztec
$4750 for the 9 Passenger Piper Chieftain

The rates do not include the BVI Arrival and Departure Taxes of $10 and $50 per person respectively.

The Dolphin Water Taxi option (from STT to EIS) costs are $229pp inbound and $169 outbound. Inbound is via air. Outbound via boat and they'll pick you up at your charter base. That said, I totally agree with what someone said earlier on this forum, Jason I think, why torture yourself with the STT airport? SJU is much nicer, not crowed, and all-in the total cost to get to EIS is not much different. Here is the link to the Dolphin site:

https://www.dolphinshuttle.com/covid-19-restrictions

My two cents...

Typically I would say that you should use your Delta miles to fly in and out of San Juan and take a flight on either Silver/Seaborne, Cape Air, InterCaribbean or one of the many choices. In January we got our InterCaribbean flight for $100 each way. Yes, it's risky as some of their flights have been cancelled but we go into with our eyes wide open and realize that there could be a glitch on that end. Usually when they cancel a flight you can get on the next one. We are almost always on the last flight of the day and haven't had a problem with that flight not going. That being said, I do think the ferries will be up and running by June. Just make sure you aren't flying out of St. Thomas on a Saturday and if you are make sure you leave yourself with lots of time or have Global Entry. I just flew out of St. Thomas last Saturday and the line was crazy! I heard some people saying that they had waited in line for over 3 hours. I have Global Entry so I went to the entry point for Customs, asked a security officer where the Global Entry line was and she escorted me to the front of the line. TSA precheck was also open that day so I probably spent no more than 30 minutes going through both Customs and TSA.

As far as time spent in quarantine...definitely see if they can extend to 4 days. Quarantining on the boat was not a hardship and it was nice to have 9 solid days to explore! You can read my trip report to get ideas of what we did.

Also - just wanted to add that Intercaribbean has been less than reliable as of late....the flight that we have booked for June 6? Has been canceled MANY more times than it has taken off in the last month. We are actually ready to eat those tickets and book Cape Air to/from SJU/EIS.

I flew Cape Air a couple of times on trips many moons ago and loved them. One time the return flight from EIS - SJU was no longer on their schedule when our trip came up (I had booked real early). They put in a special flight for the 4 of us. But my love for Cape Air isn't quite enough to offset the cost difference!

As far as SJU - EIS vs STT to EIS via ferry: I hear the arguments and probably agree with most of them concerning why the SJU route is better. In our 2018 trip (pre-COVID) The Moorings had a great set up. For a flat fee ($90 pp I think) they had a dedicated taxi for us at the airport, took us to the ferry, paid for the RTFF ticket and also the taxi to the base in Tortola. The reverse process was just as smooth. So overall I found the flying to STT trip and then taking the ferry worked great.

Now there is one downside of taking the ferry that we encountered on the 2018 trip. While we've ferried a couple of times from Red Hook (did a Secret Harbour stay for a few days before the charter) those rides were pretty smooth. The ride from CA was obviously much longer and in July 2018 we were pounding into some pretty hefty waves. One son and I thought it was pretty cool, but the wife not so much. She was very seasick the entire way. Coming back was much better since she took her Bonine before traveling.

Husker: Thanks for the pricing information. The Dolphin "hybrid" would work well for us since we may have 1 traveler that has to leave early.

That's awesome. I had no idea that they even recognized Global Entry at the customs check point. Great tip!!

Another option for anyone without Global Entry is to use a porter. Usually about $10 gets you to the front of the check-in line and the customs line.

They made us show our Global Entry cards — that was a first in the 8 years I have had it!