Traveler Trish

Every time we've stopped in St. Thomas we've taken the ferry over to St. John and rented a jeep to drive over to Trunk Bay. Easily one of my favorite places in the Caribbean.

 

 

Can you say more about renting a jeep on St. John?

 

This is doable if you have a long time in port. Too many ships only stop here on St. Thomas for 5 or 6 hours, which is sad because most people feel like St. Thomas is a highlight of their cruise. People tell me almost everyday that we are their favorite island.

This is my first trip to the Caribbean and will need to be able to access wifi to keep in touch with those at home. I cannot afford Celebrity's price for internet on board. We will be visiting St Thomas, St Croix, Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia and St Maarten. Is wifi easy to access on these islands, or am I better off renting a pocket wifi device? I do not have a data plan here in Canada, but talk and text only through Rogers. Thanks for any advice!

There is free wi-fi at both of the cruise ship docks on St. Thomas. AT&T and Sprint are the main cell providers in the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, John, Croix) so a lot of people can use their own data too, although it won't work for you. Plus, restaurants & bars around the ports usually offer free wi-fi to their customers. :)

Thank you Traveler Trish. I have contacted Sunfari. 2 in our group like to walk a lot and I am trying to get a sense of how we access the walking trails on St. John. The other 2 would want to just ride and look. And yes I know this is odd, but none of us plan to get in the water. What are your thoughts on the walking trails on St. John?

The National Park Service has all the trails OPEN! So many great hikes to do. If you take the public ferry from Red Hook on St. Thomas, the NPS welcome center is close by when you arrive in Cruz Bay, St. John. Walk to the left about 2 blocks until you see the visitor center. They have all of the trail information in there. Plus, there are a couple nice hikes right from there-- up to a gorgeous lookout point and over to a beautiful little beach only accessible from this trail.

Enjoy!

I'm enjoying this thread. Can anyone offer more details on visiting St. John from St. Thomas?

I'm happy to help. I live on St. Thomas and go over to St. John regularly. Since the September hurricanes, you can only catch the ferry in Red Hook. It goes over every hour from 6 a.m to 10 p.m. to Cruz Bay on St. John and takes about 15 minutes. The distance from the cruise ships to the Red Hook ferry terminal is about 25 minutes by taxi. The ferry cost is $14 each way.

Another choice is to book a tour or charter. Several island companies offer pick-up at the cruise ships, tour of St. Thomas and St. John. A fun one is Sunfari Jeep Adventures with private tours of both islands and all the best hidden spots. Their website is http://www.sunfariVI.com. I do private boat charters with my boat from St. Thomas around St. John too. Its beautiful by water! Hope that helps :)

We were in St Thomas in November and it is not like it used to be. We ended up talking to the locals and let them share what they have been through. There was very little electric on the island. Meagan’s bay was almost destroyed but they were planting new trees. In previous years we have gone to Trunk Bay as it is just gorgeous.

On a Antigua we hired a cab, negotiate price prior to going, and toured the entire island.

St. Lucia went on a small group tour as the regular bus tours do spend more time loading and unloading than sightseeing. We went to the volcanoes and toured the island.

St Maarten we did tour of island. Enjoy

Yes, most of us didn't get our electric back until around Christmas. However, now it is June and most of the island is fully OPEN for business and happy to see us cruisers!

Thanks to everyone for all of their feedback. In planning stages now!!

Good morning & Greetings from St. Thomas! I live here & am happy to answer any questions. The Virgin Islands are the only places in the Caribbean that were hit by 2 category 5 hurricanes in September. I'm happy to say that we are back OPEN for business. Please come enjoy St. Thomas & St. John with some of the great suggestions on this thread.