ladybug1s

Glad you enjoyed it, the Point is where people take the sky lift up to. We drove there. I know, cant wait to go! Id rather be on the beach a week than a cruise any day!! Enjoy!! One of these days, when I have time Id love to post pictures, this board was my life saver when ever I wanted toknow about anything. Im a planner and read every thing about places I go to. haha

Hello,

We loved it! Yes, go to St John. We had rented an SUV you will need it if your driving yourself. You take to ferry over from Red Hook . We went to a bunch of beaches on St John. Go to Lindquist Beach, that is the beach where they filmed the commercial with the chick on the white horse. Such a beautiful beach and so private. It was down from Sapphire Beach.

They sell food at Sapphire, a lady cooks it quite expensive like 10 for a burger. If you walk up the hill to the restaurant/bar

you can get food and drinks as well. We went to Magans, Coki ( there is an aquarium and a petting turtle excursion ) my son 11 at the time loved it. Also went to Secret Harbor, pretty much all the beaches since we rented an SUV. Go to the point, it was nice and a little soviener shop. We mostly hung out on the beaches. Food is pretty expensive there, a case of water cost like 9.00. I want to go again, I loved it so much!!!! Enjoy, let me know some of your experiences. I have pictures, just need to find the time to figure how to post. If you stay at Sapphire, Stay at Chucks place right on the beach. Actually all the condos are right on the beach, price wasnt to bad for the week and the place was nice. I cant remember his name but I can look it up. We had a party of 6 with us. If its only 2-4 of you, there are nice places right on the beach. Im sure you know , since you have been. Beautiful, beautiful place..

XXOO

Vicki

Ladybug1s - We enjoyed our day in port here too, so we're spending a week in St. Thomas in Sep 2018. Yes, I know both St. Thomas and St. John took big hits with the recent hurricanes, but expecting most of the islands to be "up and running" again 11 months afterwards.

 

Do you have any specific suggestions on restaurants, things to do and places to go? I'm already planning to go to Saphire and Magen's but wondering what else to do besides a beach. Did you go over to St. Johns? Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Mary Jon

It docked about 1:15 or so, we got there earlier than the 3 hours. Easy off ship. Sad I heard someone passed . Was it 2 they took off in port canaveral. I enjoyed the ship but the Bahamas wasn't as I expected. Beautiful water though.

I'm on the ship now, do you know what happened? Last week it was a man 54 went into shock. Wonder what time we will get in port Sunday?

My bank credit charge charges 3percent in any international charges . So that's why I'm not using mine!

The ship will want to put a hold on a sufficient amount in your account to be sure of having all your on-board expenses covered. And very often it can take several days after the cruise to have the hold released.

 

It is hard to understand why anyone would rather use a debit card than a credit card - many credit cards give "points" or some reward, and you have the use of the funds until the payment date once you are billed. If you are able to pay direct from your bank account, you are certainly able to pay in full upon being billed.

im curious as how the life vest lets you go down in the water and not stay up and float?

Ok , thank you!

Thanks, how long does it take to tour most of the island. what are some spots I don't want to miss? Is the salt pond worth it, and I hear the couch grave and some prision ?

Max is four people.

How many people could the carts seat?

My 15 year old was the driver this past January ( 2011) He plans on being the driver this March too !!!!

 

Charleyann

I noticed Wet money had jeeps and small cars for the same price as golf cart rental. Is there any reason not to get the Jeep, vs the golf cart? Seems like the Jeep would be the best bet for the money. Leaving this week!!! Whoop!

Thank goodness, leave Sunday;)

I have cruised before, actually again next sunday, never heard of the verizon promotions and been with them for over30 some years. Geeze. So how does it work, download the driving app ? But how does it help towards the cruise getting

the gift cards, do the points take off $ on the cards to be used toward the cruise?

did you book your excursion with what ship or on your own? Im going on carnival and dont recall seeing this one. T.Y

That is how I discovered the island by cruise ship, we ended up going for a week vacation. Very nice place

to stay. If you have any questions, I may be of some help :) Love it, and hope to stay again sometime!

I am booking an elevator on the Pride as well, may I ask what cabin you had?

There is a sideways one, I was curious about.

Our cabin on the Pride backed up to an elevator, though our cabin door was around a corner. We heard no noise from the elevators and no issues from people in the hall either. Very convenient as we went out our door, up a few floors and were at the entrance to the buffet!

What does FTTF stand for? And how much extra was it, i figure it something to get you in line quicker?

QUOTE=kako14;49804715]Hi, you know, now that you ask - there really wasn't one. We are all new to this so after we checked in we were just going to walk on b/c thats what I thought we were supposed to do and there were no signs or anything. We were almost through the doorway when security stopped us. We ended up just sitting in the first row of the general waiting area. I asked the other people around me and they were FTTF also so we were in teh right place - its definitely nothing special.

Which cruise ship is this for? Carnival or Royal? I tried both and it never took off the second person 1/2. Do I need to call, and what is a better site to go off of?

THanks

Just a heads up that the upcoming May WOW Sale will be adding 50% reduced deposits to the current BOGO60 May Saver promo.

 

OFFER DETAILS:

 

Booking Window: May 17-21, 2016

Sailing Window: All sailings departing on or after June 17, 2016. Offer excludes China departures

 

Offer details:

Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 60% Off (30% off 3rd & higher)

Up to $200 per stateroom Onboard Credit

50% Reduced Deposit

 

Onboard Credit

5 Nights or less: $50 USD Per Stateroom

6 to 9 Nights: $100 USD Per Stateroom

10 Nights or Longer: $200 USD Per Stateroom

 

As usual, the OBC is not combinable with C&A discounts.

 

Newbies please note that the 50% reduced deposit does NOT reduce the cruise price but it does reduce the amount of money you have to pay up front since the rest is not due until final payment.

 

~ Judy

Your welcome Lydia and ST Thomas is breath taking. Only been 2 weeks since we left from our week stay at the Resort on the beach , UNIT C. They were redoing all the units, working on E now next to the Marina. They are also re doing other things but won't be done for awhile. I will stay there again if I go. Iguana's everywhere. Ill Post pictures when I get a chance.

Lady Bug: I do not think you have any idea what a helpful post you provided. You have given the information I need in a nutshell. We have been to St. Thomas and went to Sapphire beach in Dec. and it was rough and I never understood why some people thought it was wonderful. It appears that one never knows the conditions. However, I am lead to believe that the months of May - Sept may offer offer better chance for less wind.

 

Thank you for your input. Lydia

Smith Bay aka Lindquist Beach is the beach on the Direct TV commercial with the white horse, girl and goat. We went there and it was gorgeous, swam one morning at 7:30 am and talked to a local women who swam there everyday. But on our next to last day wanted to swim again but it was windy and rough. So yes, if it is windy the beaches on the East I know are too rough for little ones as well. Trunk and Megans are good and calm. Not sure about Bologna, Secret Harbor, Coki Beach. Just know Sapphire can be a bit rough, especially in the Winter months of St Thomas. We also went in March for a cruise and it was terribly rough, we couldn't swim or snorkel and the waves felt like sand blasting our legs with all the roughness.

How was the snorkeling in Smith Bay? We will be on a cruise in December and our only focus is snorkeling. Thank you.

Sapphire was calm, as long as the wind is not too much. I found Megans to be the calmest. Also Trunk Bay & Cinnamon in St Johns was calm. We also went to Coki for the Aquarium, my son had a turtle encounter, did not swim on that beach because he wanted to go back to the condo and it was crowded. We went to Smith Bay , now that beach is a dream as well but no food just restrooms.

Thank you so much! I guess we'll decide that morning - if there's no wind will go to Sapphire and if not, we'll try Secret Harbor!

Yes, my husband and son saw the ray and octopus in the seagrass area. I believe you have to go out very early in the am and in the evening for the turtles. But Im afraid sharks may feed then. We did see a small lemon shark in the evening right before dark. There is a dive shop to rent gear.

Yes Sapphire is an great choice, thanks for your report. Did you try the seagrass area there? Is that where the ray and octopus were spotted?

Just returned back from St Thomas, stayed at Sapphire Beach Resort. The snorkeling was good but we never saw a turtle besides the aquarium at Coki Point. If you are going to snorkel please be advised to get a life vest because the most things to see are deeper and it is easy to end up in deep water from the shallow end. We went to water lemon cay and did not have life vest;9 so we couldn't try to even attempt the cay. I had 11, 17, and 19 year old with us as well. Never would try it with the 11 year old though even with a vest unless we were out on a boat. We walked the Annaberg Plantation trail in St. John. Megans was beautiful, didn't see much fish, Trunk Bay in St John has an underwater trail but again, you need a vest because its in deep water. For some reason I was afraid to go to far out without a vest because my mask may fill up with water and when I have to fix it and my feet don't touch Im a scary cat. haha St Thomas is so beautiful, wish we didn't have to leave. Have fun!! My son saw an octopus at Sapphire, a sting ray and lots of colorful fish.

Aqua Action rents chairs and umbrellas at Secret Harbor, day visiyptors are generally confined to an area with less shade.

Snorkeling is considered good at SH, Sapphire, Coki, and I've read Cowpet. For more in-depth reviews, trip reports on TA (tripadvisor) are a good source, you can search using these names.

Hi, you live on the islands? I have a few questions if you don't mind? We are coming down for the week and may rent a minivan. Can you offer any advice on discount or dependable.com rentals? Since we will have 6 people may get pricy renting cabs and want to visit St. John's

Gypsychick - Don't let blue intimidate or make

 

 

 

 

you feel bad. If you read this forum often you will see that anyone who does not agree with blue is made to feel ridiculous or ill-informed. This forum is supposed to present various points of view so that guests to the Virgin Islands can be informed and make choices that suit their interests, comfortable level, and financial constraints. It was good of you to comment. (And by the way- you are not the only visitor who has expressed opinions similar to yours!) I live here and take offense when others try to dictate how everyone else should experience the islands. :)

Oh no, don't wanna see sharks! Especially In the wild! Haha

The chances of seeing sharks in the wild are minimal. If the kids want to see them, maybe Coral World is an idea. They have a "pet the baby shark" exhibit to get children to understand that they aren't all "Jaws".

Were the mosquitoes bad during the day? I hear there can be some bad illnesses from them .

We just visited Cinnamon Beach a few weeks ago for the first time. Did it ourselves via taxis and Red Hook Ferry. It was so incredibly simple thanks to Anne and other posters on this thread! Cinnamon was breathtaking and out of my 16 cruises is my favorite beach of all time! The sand was very soft and fine. The water was the prettiest shade of blue and very clear. We snorkeled all the way out to the island straight ahead and saw a ton of fish. Not much to see as far as colorful coral but the fish were plentiful! As far as amenities/concessions here is what we found: This is a campground with a small camp store. You can buy ice, beer, pop, water, bug spray, snacks, etc. However, upon inspection we noticed that many of the food items in the store were expired. Just about every bag of chips we looked at had expired in a March 2013. Individual cans of beer were $4 each. The restrooms were clean and were located about 1/2 way between where the cabs drop you off and the beach (but not on the beach). There is another small store on the beach where they rent chairs. No ice here but they did sell cans of beer ($4 each). They do not have loungers at this beach but instead rent small folding beach chairs (the ones that sit low to the ground). Chairs were $10 each with a $25 refundable deposit (either cash or credit card). I wish they had the loungers it would've made my stay there that much more enjoyable! There were a lot of Mosquitos. We ended up having to buy repellant from the camp store. Oh and we did visit the new bar right across from the ferry called Cruz Bay Landing. It has a very nice outdoor area and the staff were very friendly. Mixed drinks were $7 and beer was $5.

 

 

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