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What time should we arrive and depart? What time should we arrive and depart? Boarding commences at 5pm on Saturday evening at all bases except Corfu which is a Monday departure. You cannot board prior to 5pm as the yachts are being cleaned and provisioned until that time. If you arrive early, please go to our office and check in, drop off your luggage, and do a little sightseeing or simply relax until boarding. The yacht will remain in port on the first evening and will sail out the following morning after breakfast, usually around 10 am (a little earlier in St. Martin where we have to pass under a lifting bridge.) Disembarkation takes place on the following Saturday morning at 9am, the following Monday at 9am in Corfu but if you have an earlier flight this can usually be accommodated. Back to top of page. Please check the Official Tourism Association websites: Antigua www.antigua-barbuda.org Hotels/resorts frequently used by our guests: ANTIGUA BVI/TORTOLA ST MARTIN GRENADINES Which islands and beaches will we visit on our cruise? Please go to the 'Destinations' section of our website; select the location you desire and you will then see a day-by-day sample itinerary of that cruise. What is included in the cruise and what is not? Not included are scuba diving; waterskiing (where available); airport transfers; flight and trip cancellation insurance; crew gratuities; personal toiletries. SCUBA DIVING Included with the all inclusive fee you pay is all basic equipment (mask, fins, snorkel, BCD, regulator, tank, air and weights). Other extras, such as wet suits and dive computers, are not provided. Although we do provide basic equipment, it is usually recommended that if you have your own masks, fins and snorkel you should bring those with you. Cost for diving is US$75.00 per dive irrespective of whether or not you bring your own gear. This is not a dedicated dive charter and there will be between three and five opportunities to dive during your cruise. WATERSKIING AIRPORT TRANSFERS FLIGHT AND CANCELLATION INSURANCE CREW GRATUITIES Please pack as lightly as you can. Most of our guests wear only a fraction of what they bring! All you really need are shorts, tee shirts and beachwear. In addition to this perhaps something a little more dressy for the two evenings you will be dining ashore. Don't worry about footwear, as you will probably spend most of the week barefoot! Soft luggage is preferable if you have it, and we have some limited storage onshore for your empty suitcases, but please bring as little as you are comfortable with. Between meals we only have fresh fruit available, so if you like to eat between meals please make sure that you bring snacks with you. Should we worry about sea-sickness? All our boats are catamarans (with 2 hulls) and these are much more stable in the water than mono hulls, and our Caribbean waters are generally calm - so our guests rarely suffer from sea-sickness. If you are at all worried about this please bring some form of prevention - we have tablets onboard, but many people prefer to bring the patches which you stick behind your ears. After the first couple of days you should not even need these. What will the weather be like? Throughout the Caribbean the weather is much the same throughout the year. The coolest months tend to be December through to March when the trade winds are blowing. Even then daytime temperatures should be in the late 70s with a drop of 4 or 5 degrees at night. For the rest of the year daytime temperature average the early 80s, with again a drop of only a few degrees at night. Water temperature all year round is approx 70 degrees. Which boat will we be sailing on? We have various different yachts at our four established Caribbean bases and Corfu,Greece. For specifications and photographs please see the section TradeWinds Fleet in this website. Below is what we have scheduled for 2007, but please note that yacht placements can change without prior warning. Cruising 2007: We also have show boats moored at some of our locations. We have two yachts sailing out of all four bases most weeks in the year, and cabin allocations are not done until just prior to sailing, so it is not always possible to know in advance exactly which yacht you will be sailing on nor who the crew will be. If you have booked to sail on a specific yacht then we do our very best to ensure that you will cruise on that yacht. However, sailing yachts require extensive ongoing maintenance, and occasionally our schedules have to be altered to provide for this. Please note that for reasons of privacy we never reveal email addresses or contact numbers for prospective guests. Please also note that if any Members of Trade Winds Cruise Club should be sailing with you, they will have first choice of cabins. However, if you have a cabin preference, please let us know this and we will do our best to accommodate you bearing in mind the above. All visitors to the Caribbean need to travel with a valid passport. 
What kind of entertainment is onboard? All our yachts have CD players and most have televisions and video recorders, and some have Apple iPods. All have a good selection of books, playing cards and board games. What power is onboard for hairdryers etc? We have electrical outlets onboard and are able to run hairdryers, electric shavers, charge batteries etc for a limited period, using generator power. Some of our yachts have European voltage (220v) and some have USA voltage (110v). If you intend to bring any electrical appliances please make sure you have an adaptor/converter with you. Cell phones purchased outside the Caribbean are unlikely to work here unless they have "roaming" capacity. We do not have internet access onboard the yachts, but there are many internet cafes throughout the islands if you need to check email or use a lap top computer. If you wish to leave a contact number where friends or family can contact you while you are out sailing with us, the numbers are: Can we bring our children with us? Children under the age of 15 years are not allowed on shared charters. If you wish to bring children under this age the only way this is possible is if you privately charter a whole boat. Please contact our Grenadines office or email us at info@tradewindscruiseclub.com for the current rates to make a private charter with a four or five cabin boat. Smoking is not permitted in the cabins nor in the saloon. Smoking is only allowed on the back steps where it will not disturb the other guests. Does the yacht have air conditioning? Some yachts have air con units installed, but as all cabins have hatches and fans we do not normally use the air conditioning. We just let the cooling sea breezes keep everyone very comfortable. What are the ferry times between St Thomas and Tortola? Smith's Ferry Services, Ltd Departs Tortola: ANTIGUA BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS ST MARTIN / ST MAARTEN GRENADINES /Bequia Shared charter flights depart Barbados daily at 1.30pm and 4.30pm, (their representative will meet you from your main flight with a sign with your names on it and escort you to the in-transit lounge, and from there straight on to the waiting aircraft). Journey takes approximately 1 hour. Cost is US$382.00 per person for the round trip. Return flight departs Bequia for Barbados at 10.40am and 2.30pm.Please make sure that you inform SVG Air that you are guests of TradeWinds Cruise Club to ensure "VIP" treatment! To make your reservations please email res@svgair.com or call them on 784 457 5777, ask for Petulia, Bernadette or Kahlila.Once you have advised which flight you are arriving on, we will arrange for a taxi to meet you and bring you to the marina.Please note that as of 1 March 2004 all passengers arriving in Barbados must have passports. You can also fly to St Vincent with Liat Airlines, from any major Caribbean island. Please check www.liat.com . Then take a one hour ferry ride across from St Vincent to Bequia. The journey costs US$7.70 per person each way. The two evening ferries leaves St Vincent at 6 pm and 7 pm and arrives in Bequia one hour later. (Subject to change)It is not advisable to travel to Canouan with American Eagle as there are no connections to the island of Bequia AIRPORT CODES: |
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