Ferry Tickets

taking the high speed ferry from St.Thomas to Tortola,,first thing on Friday Feb 3,, just curious if we should buy our tickets ahead of time or that morning,, not sure how busy it will be,,,

The ferry schedule is unreliable so the common wisdom is to wait until you get to the terminal and buy tickets for the next departing ferry. Don't give your bags to the porters outside as they are shills for the individual ferry companies. Carry your bags inside and go to the counter to find out which ferry leaves next. Also, don't buy a round trip ticket. Do the same drill when departing Tortola.

And pay with cash

All of the above is great info..and they all claim to be " Fast Ferry"..

and when i was there on Jan 3 the 130 left CA after the 2 pm <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Buying ahead or round trip just locks you into their schedule. Go with the next boat leaving - in both directions. There won't be much of a line, or any, when you're buying the tickets.

Occasionally there may be a line. I have seen this for example when the mit crowd comes and goes. But even then, arrive at ferry early to get tickets. Don't buy in advance.

Those that boat their tickets in advance were denied boarding as they still filled the boat with new ticket sales to that MIT crowd. I don't think they got refunds and were not put on another companies boat. So the reward if you buy in advance? Perhaps less than nothing.

Last year, we had to catch the 10:00 am fast ferry out of Road Town for our return to St. Thomas. We were at the ticket counter at 9:30 am, and after we bought ours, they told the people behind us the boat was full. This was June 25th on a Saturday.

Key word here is on a Saturday. The morning roadtown ferries tend to be very full Saturday morning and very full returning Saturday afternoon with shoppers. I now try and avoid Saturday's.
G

We are planning on the first morning ferry on Saturday Feb 11th from Charlotte Amalie. Anyone able to confirm which, if any, of the Ferry's go to West End / Soper's Hole first? This is where our boat is. We do not want to go thru Road Town. It's been a few years since our last trip, and on that one we made the last boat of the day and had no choice but to go to Road Town, which sucked.

I would also suggest if you're going to Roadtown wait for a ferry that is going direct to Roadtown even if the next departing boat is stopping at West End. I jumped on Smiths last year and it was two hours to R/t. We were 30 min late leaving STT, a stop in WE and then we had to wait in R/T while the ferry that left Charlotte Amalie AFTER we did unloaded their passengers -- there wasn't enough room for both boats at the dock. Some mighty upset ferry riders that day! And I'll echo the above comments re: your luggage. Hold onto it. Sometimes it gets piled on the deck and collects a lot of spray on a rough crossing leaving everything soaked. It can also take awhile to collect checked bags at R/T Customs.

Yeah, pretty much that same scenario happened to us in June 2016.

You typically cannot take any luggage on with you except for a small carryon. Imagine the cramming if everyone tried to carryon garment bags??

Good point Rick. I should have mentioned I always travel carry-on and pack fairly light. Soft sided luggage is also preferred for sailboats which can be (depending on the size) easier to carry.