Just off Dream 5/7-5/14..... St Thomas Rant!!!

[asb2164]

How I handle street hawkers is to either totally ignore them or act like I am deaf point at my ears and make a few signs with my fingers.

I do not know sign language but the chance of the street hawkers knowing how to sign is slim and none.

[Lidolounger]

Sadly, it's not just you OP....I was just there myself last month and I was indeed a bit disappointed....after having visited 4 years earlier I was very excited about going to St.Thomas (more than anything Koki Beach), and was so very disappointed when we arrived. The water was still as beautiful as ever, but the place looked so run down ! it looked like they might have been remodeling the entrance or something, but it was so dirty and sad looking....when we finally made it to the beach area, we settled on a couple of loungers and umbrellas we rented...after a few minutes we smelled something ''funny''....well it turned out that our waiter was just a few feet behind us smoking up some weed with his girl buddies :eek:, I mean right there in front of us and in fron of our 7 kids in our group !!! I mean really, I have nothing against people who occasionally smoke it...whatever you know !....but come one, in such a public area and in front of families and tourists...that just doesn't leave a nice taste of the island to future returning visitors.....now the stop after that was St. Marteen, and I actually wasn't so thrilled about that stop...and wouldn't you know it !! it was the best time I had the entire cruise !!! we went to Maho Beach, OMG !!! what an experience that was, I recommend it to everyone who's visiting St. Marteen....the feeling you get when those jets are just feel above your head is thrilling !!! :D absolutely the best time I've ever had there.

I've lost track of how many times we've been to St T - yearly and this past Jan we were at Coki and said the same thing - it was really bad - very dirty and disorganized to say the least. We are easy to please and have always enjoyed St T and will again, but we will start looking for a different beach.

[Roscopicotrane]

oceanxbreeze89 - Great Post! I can only hope things will get better. I know there will be many times i come back to his island and will for sure have to try more beaches. I look forward to that. I would also love to go back to St Johns. Love that place! I hope they can find a way to clean up St Thomas though. Such a shame. Sad really.

[oceanxbreeze89]

oceanxbreeze89 - Great Post! I can only hope things will get better. I know there will be many times i come back to his island and will for sure have to try more beaches. I look forward to that. I would also love to go back to St Johns. Love that place! I hope they can find a way to clean up St Thomas though. Such a shame. Sad really.

 

Things are slowly getting better...everyone has to realize that tourism is their #1 income...for those who are annoyed at the taxi drivers, don't be immature...just say "no thank you" and move on. I know sometimes it can get irritating after the 5th or 6th time but these drivers depend on people to make their income. Also, when greeting someone on the island remember to say "good morning/good afternoon/good evening" politeness will work all the time! St. Thomas is a beautiful island and my favorite part of the island is the Red Hook area (my family's house is on Cowpet Bay) and I find that area safe, quiet, tranquil, relaxing...etc. There are plenty more beaches that one can visit for the day not just Coki.

 

St. John's is a beautiful island as well...my favorite beach is Francis Bay. IMO Trunk Bay is overrated. But again, the island is very safe, quiet, tranquil...etc. But IMO I wouldn't risk missing a ferry when I am on a time constraint while visiting on cruise. If not taking the ferry straight to Charlotte Amaile, you will stop at Red Hook then you will have to take a 30+min (depending on traffic) taxi ride through rush hour. It will cut it too close for me considering you have to be back on the ship AT LEAST 30 min before departure.

 

Helen

[rae.holmes]

we didnt book a walking tour.. ive planned a walking tour! no guide!

[oceanxbreeze89]

we didnt book a walking tour.. ive planned a walking tour! no guide!

 

You should be fine...not a problem...just make sure you stick to the historic areas. Where do you plan on walking to?

[joepeka]

 

Where does the water taxi go? I thought the beach right there is polluted? I would love to do that and stay close to the pier! We were thinking of Maho, but still not sure.

Unless something has changed in the last six months, the water taxi takes you from the cruise dock area to the downtown area - a short ride. The beach is a very short walk from there and we didn't hear anything about beach pollution but we only shopped in St. Martin. Aside some some building construction which made the sidewalks a little messy, we liked Philipsburg and found it very clean and enjoyable. Sad to hear that St. Thomas has apparently gone downhill - we haven't been there in 7 years but really liked it back then.

[Dallen*]

We were in St. Thomas just five months ago (Dec 2010) and loved it. We walked thru the shopping area (didn't notice any trash/filth), and then walked over to the taxi area where a man asked where we wanted to go (no one was pushy/aggressive at all). He promptly put us in a taxi headed in the right direction.

 

We opted for Secret Harbour beach to get away from the crowds and really loved this quiet, little beach. It was very clean, had good snorkeling, and the drinks at the Blue Moon Cafe were very good. When we got our fill of beach, the Cafe called us a taxi and we headed back. We then walked over to Paradise Point for their famous Bushwacker drinks and some awesome photo ops. The Bushwackers were very good! :D

 

Anyway, I thought I'd share my positive experience on StT. I hope others give it a try because we had a wonderful day there.