Ferry: To book or not to book?

All,

What’s the conventional wisdom on this these days. Back in the day (5+ years ago) the general view was not - just go the ferry dock and get the next one. However I’m getting the impression that this is risky these days - that there may not be space on the ferry you need. Any perspectives on this please?

We’re in a position where we are due to land at 3:16pm on a Friday in May. If everything is on time then we’ll be comfortable for the 5pm NS ferry out of CA. However, even a short delay would put us on the new 6pm Aquatic service out of Red Hook, and a longer delay (1hr +) would have us overnighting on St Thomas, so I would prefer to stay flexible and not put money at risk. Thoughts on this?

Many thanks,

Ben

The ferry web sites offer cancel insurance when you book on their websites. Ferries are currently 75% capacity constrained to 100 passengers and crew due to BVIPA regulations. Friday's tend to be busy travel days, so yes, probably in your best interest to book ahead.

Definitely reserve in advance. May is going to be busy and Friday is a popular travel day.

I belivee they still require advance booking unlike the old days...but I still only buy one way so I am flexible on return

All - many thanks for the great inputs - much appreciated.

I checked with Native Son and Aquatic Rentals, and neither offers cancellation insurance, though Native Son did say that they will offer a refund in the case of a flight delay. On the Walk-ups (i.e. no reservation), Native Son's website is silent on the topic, but Aquatic rentals clearly says that they will take these (up to 30 mins before departure).

Anyway, our plan is to book the 5pm Native Son ferry.

Many thanks!