joester

looks like we have picked a front-runner to transfer our timeshare to - Long bay beach resort. any "do's and don'ts" would be appreciated. about car rental - upon arriving by ferry from St Thomas, what will be the cheapest car rental for a week, and where do we make the reservations? I'm guesing that the car rental at LBBR is much more expensive than renting thru a place near Road Town, correct? any car rental advice is greatly appreciated. on our list already - snorkling at Smugglers, day to trip to JVD.
afternoon at Myetts in Cane Garden. other than that - exploring Tortola by car.
is the full-moon party at Bomba's as good as we've heard?
any "be-sure-not-to-miss-this" bars, restaurants and beaches would really help.
thanks very much!

eileen

FYI, did you put your request in? Make sure you do as soon as possible because my experience with trading my timeshare (through Interval) has been that it is very difficult to exchange into any area of the Caribbean, even when requesting 9 - 12 months in advance. And if you are set on a particular locations you need to provide a wide range of dates to increase the possibility of a match. Your timeshare trading company may be different than mine (I hope it is) but just thought I would point this out as I often see people planning for a particular timeshare exchange on this board before actually getting the exchange, when in reality it might not happen. (If you get it, let me know how you did it!)

mah1980

We didn't stay at Long Beach, but used their beach on a day trip from St. John. The beach is fabulous though it's a strong surf; there are nice views of other islands.

The hotel, however, looked to me (2 years ago) as if it hasn't been very well maintained. I don't think that the Tripadvisor reviews are very good for it either.

mnag

We visited Tortola several years ago and stayed at a villa. Driving is a challenge...roads are curvy steep etc but the views are fabulous. Our fav memory from Tortola is the day trip to JVD so don't miss it. You can also take a ferry over to VG from Roadtown if you are interested in seeing the baths. One of our memorable meals was at sugar mill inn which is quite close to long bay beach resort.

joester

eileen -
you are so right - Interval says they have NO openings in the caribbean other than Pelican on St Maarten for spring 2011.
I find it hard to believe that nobody has deposited a week yet for early 2011 ANYWHERE else in the islands.
getting a bit more frustrated with II - wondering how to best use our weeks.
any suggestions?

eileen

You have to put in a request listing several locations (the more the better) and several week options and then hope someone deposits a week. And don't bother trying to hard on Marriott properties because if you are not part of the Marriott system, you never can get a match as Marriott owners always get priority. II has been disappointing to us because it's so hard to get the Caribbean, your best bet is Aruba (lots of timeshare options there) or Mexico if you would consider that. Last year we got lucky and managed to snag from the II website two studio units at Paradise Beach Village in Puerta Vallarta for Christmas week and it was only two months out! The reason there is sometimes more last minute availability is many Interval owners do not have to deposit their weeks until 60 days out. Makes it so difficult to get reasonable airfare. We did manage to snag Marriott Aruba Ocean Club but that was 11 months out. Got Hawaii about six months out, Aruba about 5 months out. I recommend you put in a request and then also keep checking website and calling. And yes, plenty of people have deposited weeks already, but they are going out to folks who already have requests in and never even make it to availability status. If you are flexible, in past years I have seen a lot of availability in Aruba about 2 - 4 months out.

joester

eileen -
thanks for the info -when we ask to be put on a waiting list - can we give them a 2-3 month range instead of narrowing it down to a few weeks? I'll check with the mrs about Aruba.
she doesn't want to go to Belize unless we're sailing too, so that's out for now.
I'll call II tomorrow and ask to be put on a wait list a few resorts, see what shakes in the next few months.
thanks again!

eileen

Joester -- As far as I know, you have to request specific weeks by number (Jan - March is weeks 1-13, you get the idea). If you are open to anytime within three months, just request all those weeks. But do call and check.

virginiaG

Hi All, we have week 8 in Tortola Long Bay, we are interested in doing exchange, we also have 10 days and 9 nights there to be used any time we want from week 11 or 12 to week 50.
I would again like maybe to do a private swap or maybe deposit them which I think I would get no where with as I am reading. I would like to go to somewhere warm, I have Sept-March and can travel anytime. Just no where cold except Ireland or UK, what's your thoughts on what I want to accomplish. Thank you

eileen

Hi, are you a member of Timeshare Users Group (www.tug2.net)? It is well worth the small membership fee, it's full of reviews of timeshare resorts as well as provides listings for people who would like to trade or rent their units. I think that is your best bet.

kerryh

Long Bay Beach is not a great resort -- very worn and waaay out of the way -- note that you cannot rent a car at the airport so best to take a taxi to town and rent from there or you will get dinged as the resort is way out of town. Bomba Shack is overrated -- head to Foxy's on Jost Van Dyck for a party and you will not be disappointed -- you can take the ferry over and back the same night. The Sugar Mill is a must do but the rest of Tortola is awful -- crabby people, not geared to anyone but boaters ... I found it really depressing