drake2014

Happy to help!

Good afternoon cruisers! Drake here, I'm still alive and happily living on St. Croix. 

I am still happy to answer any questions that anyone may have about visiting my home but I did want to say a few things off the bat.

1. Everyone always wants to know how much the taxi will cost. I will no longer be answering these questions. I will let you all in on a secret, there's a website that lists what you should expect to pay! Please go look at: https://visitstcroix.com/taxi.html for all the info you need. Quick hint for you; look at the right-hand column and find your destination, most of the common ones are listed. "Diamond/St. George's" is Cruzan Rum, "St. Croix Renaissance Park" is Captain Morgan. "Carambola" is Cane Bay.
2. Most island businesses don't check their email that often. PLEASE call them when you need to book something or get info. They will be happy to talk to you! Honest!

I look forward to answering anything else you need to know!

Cheers.

5 hours ago, EatonDoolittle said:

Hey Drake ! Thanks for stopping by.

Sorry to hear about Freedom City, I know that was one of your personal favs. 

Honestly I got a little frustrated with answering the same 5 questions over and over so I took a step back. I saw the ship in port today and thought I would take a look. There's a few interesting questions this time around so maybe I'll stay active for a bit.

Good to see you Eaton!

5 hours ago, hopeless holiday booker said:

Thank you. 

Didn't see it when I was out there today. Not sure what the status is.

Big Beards is the best, second to none. We go out with them every time we have guests in town and have never been disappointed, in fact we are going out again this Sunday on the half day tour. You have to find your own transportation to Christiansted (unless you are chartering the whole boat, I believe.) the sail leaves from the boardwalk in front of Caravelle and Rumrunners. Half-day is $75 and Full-day is $105. Well worth every penny.

Aquaman has a great reputation but I've never used them personally so I'm limited on what I can attest to here. They are based out of Cane Bay so I doubt they provide pick up, but you could certainly call and ask them.

Cheers.

I gotta admit this question made me laugh. Yes, of course you can. Frederiksted is wonderful and vibrant, come check it out.

On 1/26/2020 at 1:12 PM, hopeless holiday booker said:

I'm sure this has been asked but I can't look through 14 pages!  Is there still a shuttle from the pier to Christiansted on a weekday.  I see you can walk out and the $16 booth is there but we need to be in Christiansted by 11 am and someone wrote that the first one leaves at 11.30 so updated information would be great.  Thanks.

Haven't seen it lately but there's a ship in port today so I'll take a look when I go to lunch and let you know what I find.

Cheers.

On 1/28/2020 at 3:32 PM, TomAndJane said:

I think it was called the Freedom City Surf Bar and Shop or something like that.

 

Thanks again,

Tom

Freedom City Surf (aka Teres Veho) was destroyed by Maria and then burned when the power came back. Owners left island and it sits abandoned now. Most likely will never be allowed to be rebuild due to zoning.

Cheers.

About $10-15 each way, plenty of taxis making that run. Grab one at the pier and make arrangements with them for the ride back. If you can hook up with a group going there the per person rate will get cheaper.

Cheers.

Aquaman has been around on the island for a while and while I've never gone out with them personally I've heard all good things. I imagine this new endeavor "Snookah" will be no different.

Cheers.

We're not big on keeping up with communication here (as evidenced by my own occasional disappearances lol). Honestly, you may not hear back at all, you can always just pay at the counter when you get there. No biggie either way.

Cheers.

Frederiksted is the small, quiet, quaint town you are describing, and it also happens to be where the ship docks. If you want to spend a quiet day relaxing on the beach you should check out The Fred or Sandcastle. The Fred is still working on their restaurant (opening soon!) but there's food right next door at Louie & Nacho's or Turtles Deli, and the bar at The Fred is excellent.

Christiansted is our main touristy, shopping place but honestly to do what you're talking about I would just skip the taxi ride and stay right in F'sted.

Cheers.

I don't understand what you are asking. You mean on the pier? They run buses and vans up and down the pier on ship days I guess if that's what you're talking about.

Why on gods earth would you want to go there??

Cruzan is 10000 times better.

All beaches on St. Croix are public so technically you can access any beach without paying anything. The day pass at Sandcastle (and any other place on STX that offers the same thing) is to give you access to their amenities so that you enjoy your day more. In the case of Sandcastle you are paying for access to a beautiful pool and deck, outdoor shower, beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, a lovely restaurant and bar, and a couple of included drinks.

If that doesn't sound like it's worth $25 to you I welcome you to make your own choices.

Cruise ships dock on the west end of the island, in the town of Frederiksted. 

There are 2 casinos currently operating on St. Croix.

Caravelle Hotel and Casino is on the Boardwalk in Christiansted (the larger town located toward the east end of the island). Easy to get to via taxibus. Very small, slots and video poker only, no table games.

Divi Carina Bay is a full resort and casino with table games, slots, etc. It recently reopened from the hurricane and is nicely updated. However it's about as far as you can get from the ship. At least an hour in a taxibus and I imagine it will be difficult to find one going that way, and it will be expensive.

Leatherback is awesome!! Great beer, constant new brews and flavors, great atmosphere and service, tasty food.

Go check it out!

It can be done, not sure how easy.

~$25 and about half an hour. Maybe longer if you take the scenic route.

On 6/30/2019 at 12:14 PM, rebeccac said:

I was looking at the pictures and to me, it does not look like there is any shade on the Big Beard boat.  Is this accurate?

No I would not say that's accurate. There are plenty of shady spots on board both vessels.

I love my town and I think you would certainly enjoy it. Lots of great little shops and boutiques, restaurants, bars, and beautiful churches. You can absolutely walk around and explore.

Yes, I recommend you take a taxi. Should be less than $10 for 2 people.

On 3/26/2019 at 7:36 PM, amyj23 said:

Here's the website, Lisa: https://www.bigbeards.com

I was researching our first trip to St. Croix and it keeps coming back to Big Beard's.... Their ratings on TripAdvisor are 5 out of 5 and over 1400 reviews. There are several outfits with really high reviews, but Big Beard's had the most reviews for that type of tour. They charge $75 for the half day tour, plus $16 pp roundtrip for a taxi that they arrange for you. To those of you that are advocating for Big Beard's, I was surprised at how many people their website shows for their tour: 49 people. That seems like a LOT of people! Is that the capacity with several boats or do they actually have that many people on the one boat. Just seems like a ton of people! Also, do you snorkel off the boat or off the beach? One other perk I noticed was that they have a staircase off the boat instead of a rickety ladder where you need upper body strength to get back on the boat. 😂

I don't believe I've ever been on board with that many but I'm sure the boat could handle it. The half day is aboard the Adventure, it's a 42' catamaran with a wide beam, plenty of room for everyone. They take you to the beach first where everyone gets comfortable with snorkeling for a little while (some people are first timers). Then they take you around to the reef where you snorkel from the front of the boat. Both of the Big Beard catamarans were custom built for snorkeling at buck island, the stairs were well thought out.

On 3/16/2019 at 12:20 PM, camofwilliamsburg said:

Do you know anything about gecko island adventures? Is it worth the price for the tour? We are just looking at the atv tour.  Will be on a cruise ship and we are in port only from 9-5.

Absolutely! The ATV tour is a blast, there's no better way to see the rainforest.

Yup, grab a taxi bus tour from in front of the pier.

Prince does great tours (340-642-3811)

Or Sweeneys.