TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Provisioning with Riteway?

Hey gang-

Just wondering if anyone has provisioned recently with Riteway in Roadtown? We've always used Bobby's for provisioning our sailing trips, but have to say Riteway did a great job for us provisioning our land-based visit to JVD last July. And that included making sure it got on the JVD ferry on time and complete, etc. So thought we'd give them a try for our Sunsail charter next month.

The location seems ideal- almost walking distance from the Sunsail base, but wondered if they will send a car over as Bobby's does. That could be the tie-breaker. Thanks gang for any insights or experience!

Kupe

They do a great job, everything is there and at the boat waiting for you. We just completed an order today for our trip this Saturday.

When you say provisioning, are you planning to order in advance and have it delivered, or do your own shopping? I was in the store last Monday and everything looked fresh. There were some gaps in supplies. There was Bombay Sapphire gin, but no Tangueray. Some shelves were quite bare. This is not Riteway’s fault. The containers are piled high in the port, and the government is struggling to process imports in a timely matter (that is being polite). You shouldn’t have trouble finding adequate groceries for your trip.

Yeah.. I would think if Riteway can't do it... don't waste more time trying

We've done it both ways over the years, and we're still trying to decide whether to have it delivered or head over there ourselves. We're staying the night before our charter at the Mariner Inn so we'll have time for a provisioning run if we don't wind up ordering. Sometimes it's nice to see the stuff and get fun last-minute ideas, but delivery sure is nice too!

As for liquor, we've always used Caribbean Cellars. They always had the best selection of beer, wine, and liquor on Tortola and at much better prices than I'd found anywhere else- and they deliver. I had heard they were back up and running, but my emails to them are bouncing so I need to give them a call. Anyone here dealt with Caribbean Cellars recently?

I dealt with Caribbean Cellars two weeks ago. I emailed and emailed and emailed...then I called and they said they would email me a price list..never got it. After two more calls I finally got the price list/order form. We had some particular/picky drinkers and Caribbean Cellars had the best selection (such as one person would only drink fever tree tonic water) That being said, RiteWay and Bobbys prices are lower on most alcohol that I researched. I researched and compared all three stores. I think I have the price list from Caribbean Cellars if you want it I could email it to you.

We also like to see what we are getting, specials, etc when grocery shopping. Both One Mart and Riteway were fully stocked and you would have never known there was a hurricane from inside the stores.

Thanks Jlars- glad to hear confirmation that they are open. Caribbean Cellars used to have a location right near the Sunsail/Moorings base, but I'll have to ask them about that.

We had a big group for our stay on Jost last summer and the price difference between Riteway and Caribbean cellars was pretty significant. Looking at both their websites right now and a 24-bottle case of Carib is $26.39 from Caribbean Cellars and $40.25 from Riteway. And we ordered a LOT of Carib! And my wife simply will not sail without her bubbly, and Riteway was a good bit more for sparkling wines.

We just put an order together for provisioning with Bobby’s. I too love my Bubbly and didn’t love what they had- I inquired and they were able to acquire a few more options! I’ll post how things go after our Feb trip

The Caribbean Cellars store near the Moorings is still open. There is also a nicely stocked Tico store right near where the traffic signal used to be as you enter the Moorings area.

I am really interested in your post. We are going with MarineMax in April and they have just informed us that they will no longer be using Riteway and that Scrub Island will be doing their provisioning.

Lumpy,

We're getting a Marine Max in June thru Virgin Island Sailing, but haven't heard anything about not being able to use Riteway for provisioning.

Were you informed that you 'have' to use the Scrub Island store, or is it just preferred and Riteway is okay to use? If yes, will they let Riteway deliver?

Thanks!

Scrub Island Provisioning? Competitive pricing or MONOPOLY?

We were originally told that since they had moved to Scrub that they had arranged with Riteway to do provisioning. We could place out order with Riteway and it would be delivered and put on our boat. We received the following from Marine Max this week --

"Scrub will be doing the provisioning orders starting Feb 1. We are no longer using Riteway. Scrub will contact you directly with the order list about 1 months prior.. If you wish to still use Riteway you can go on their website and order http://www.rtwbvi.com/. However they will not deliver all the way to Scrub Island so you will have to coordinate with them to pick it up at Trellis Bay."

They say the new plan will be finalized Feb 1. We are concerned are waiting to see what develops, I would like to hear from any one else chartering with Marine Max.

I will keep you posted.

We got this today for a charter beginning 2/7
"MarineMax says if you wish to provision through Riteway which may be best at this time since they are technically still working out the Provisioning with Scrub Island, that you can order Provisioning directly through Riteway, schedule the delivery time to Trellis Bay for 3pm and they will have Scrub Island Pick up the order for you"

Hi All,

I have a charter going out 2/4 and while I received an email from Scrub provisioning I did not receive anything from MM with a preference. I contacted Rite-way a couple of months ago and they told me they would deliver to Scrub and welcome back!

I have submitted my order on Monday to both Rite-way and to Marine Max (they asked as a courtesy so the base people would know it was coming) and have not heard anything back from either that would lead me to believe I am not getting my groceries from Rite-way delivered to Scrub.

I will let you know how it goes,
Ellen

Thanks Ellen and Oscar1 for the info. Look forward to hearing how things go.

Hope you both have great trips!!

Does anyone know if Riteway will send a ride over for cruisers needing to provision? Or is everyone just catching a taxi?

Just order online. They will deliver.

Thanks Frankie. Yes, I have a longstanding online account with Riteway. This time just two of us so thought we'd head over ourselves and look for anything new or different from our usual provisioning list. We'll have some time to kill before our vessel-ready time.

Does Riteway deliver when you shop there? We have shopped at Bobby's and One World and they have both delivered with no problems to the Moorings.

Does Riteway deliver only to the front desk of Moorings or do they put everything on your boat and in your fridge of the boat so nothing of the cool stuff like cheese etc. is getting warm?

Because we were not sure how Riteway exactly works we have last time chosen the Moorings provisioning although their online store / website was a big „challenge“.

In my experience of 15 or so Riteway provisioning deliveries, they generally expect you to be on the boat at the time of delivery.

When we were there in Feb they left the delivery on the boat for us but tracked us down to the local bar for the signature! To be fair they delivered 2 hours earlier than we'd arranged which is why we were in the bar!

Our last charter they left our delivery on the boat, and we never saw them. We didn't order any cold items though. Our Tico delivery was left in the office.

We have done it several ways but we now get heavy items such as gallons of water, cases of soda, beer & some canned goods from Moorings provisioning. Everything is on the boat when we arrive & they put anything perishable in your refrigerator. We then walk over to Riteway & get the rest of our groceries. When finished we get a taxi in front of the store & go back to the base. Prices from Moorings are not that much higher than Riteway. Different strokes for different folks.

We do essentially the above now all the time. It’s virtually zero hassle. When you arrive on the boat the food and drinks are there. We walk over to Riteway for any extras and walk or cab back. We have found on average the Moorings prices match Riteway. Some a bit higher and some a bit lower. Any issues are resolved with the Moorings. It’s just to easy to do anything else.
G

We use Moorings for heavy items for the most part, but their selection as a whole is severely lacking.

Last year, we ordered everything from Riteway and asked them to deliver it to the boat at 5:00 pm since we would not arrive until 9:00 pm. They put our cold items in the boat, but they mixed up the fridge and freezer. This year, I plan to ask them (through the notes section) to ensure that they don’t do this again. Everything was as expected and it was nice to be able to take off the next morning without going to the store. My sister has compared Riteway and Moorings provisioning and seems to favor Moorings. I guess I will look again before I order - especially since they should know which one is the fridge in their own boats.