What to do with 13,000+ bodies in St. Thomas?

[mabones]

:eek:

 

Help! When we arrive in St. Thomas, on April 10, 2013, there will be an estimated #13,000+ people looking for something to do. There will be 4 large cruise ships just at Havensight Pier.

 

We were considering going to Red HooK to ferry to St. John, but now we're thinking twice.

[Ms411]

If you do decide to go to St John, you should go on your own and avoid Trunk Bay. Cinnamon Bay might be a better choice since I don't think any cruise excursions go there, but taxis do. There's a restaurant and water sports rental concession there, so you'll have everything you need.

 

There are so many excursions offered on STT so people have options. You could do a day or half day sail for example.

[GetNby]

Plan ahead to either take a small excursion off shore or plan way in advance for a trip over to St. John...that way you can come back and make time to go to Cousins for lunch in Charlotte Ameile or Duffys Love shack in Red hook if you are there late enough to eat Dinner.

[mabones]

Thanks Ms411 & GetNby. We are only there 8-4, so Dinner would be out. But, going by ourselves to Red Hook & Taking the ferry over sounds like a plan. I was also looking at a St. John Champagne Catamaran Sail & Snorkel Tour. Has anyone done this excursion?

[Ms411]

I've seen others ask about it, so if you do a search, you'll probably find comments/reviews.

 

The other ships may not get here at the same time as your ship, so even though there may be 13,000, they'll probably be staggered on arrival times. Don't know what time the champagne tour leaves, but if it's say, 10 a.m., other ships may be in the area with you. If you go on your own, you should be one of the early ones on STJ.

[MindTheGap1918]

8-4 might give you really limited time on St. John. You would hopefully be able to catch the 9AM ferry and I wouldn't take anything later than the 1PM ferry back just to be safe, in case of traffic, etc. I'm assuming you would have to be back on board by 3:30PM. You could push for the 2PM, but that would make me nervous (that's just me though :o) Just something to think about.

[lka1012]

Dig a very big hole. :D Sorry I could not resist.

[Jiffymom]

im thinking take the shopping tour to St Johns. That way you are guaranteed to get back in time. But when you get to St John ditch the tour.Take a taxi to a few beaches. For the right price a taxi driver will stay with you and take you beach hopping. I believe that tour gives you 3.5 hours to play on the beautiful beaches a hour at Hawknest and a hour at Cinnamon.

[eiffeltower07]

:eek:

 

Help! When we arrive in St. Thomas, on April 10, 2013, there will be an estimated #13,000+ people looking for something to do. There will be 4 large cruise ships just at Havensight Pier.

We will be 6 of those 13k! :) I am also planning to do the Champagne trip.

[blue_water]

Your time in St Thomas is very limited and therefore precious. I would normally suggest a self-tour to St John (taxi to Red Hook, the short 20 min ferry to Cruz Bay, and short taxi to Cinnamon). You have time to do it but would only be at the beach for 2.5 hrs. But that is alot of time for a beach on a hot day. Alternatively the champagne sail is also ok, we did that our first cruise to STT. St John is a beautiful island but We think the taxi/ferry option is the best.

 

To make more efficient use of your time we would taxi to Sapphire Beach (just 3 min past Red Hook) and enjoy that very nice beach, then head back to Havensight and take the tram up to Paradise Point which overlooks Havensight and the harbor. Great view and our favorite spot to end the day with a bite to eat and a cold Red Stripe (or their signature drink the Bailey's Bushwacker). Take the tram down and it's a 10 min walk to the ship. You can buy tram tickets from your excursions desk and return them if not used. You can also taxi to PP and take thetram down to save time. We had a private driver leave us (4 couples) off when my wife and I renewed our vows at the gazebo there and we trammed down and paid cash, can't remember the half-fare but it was < $10 each. There is also good shopping right in Havensight.

 

Duffy's Love Shack, Latitude 18, Big Bambooz, Iggie's and other spots you may read about are fun but are more happy hour and evening spots. Many people (cruisers and locals alike) like Paradise Point because of the view and the atmosphere. When you return again with more time (or to stay longer) there are some great restaurants like Cuzzins that getnby recommended you can try.

Have a great day whatever you choose! :)

[sail7seas]

8-4 might give you really limited time on St. John. You would hopefully be able to catch the 9AM ferry and I wouldn't take anything later than the 1PM ferry back just to be safe, in case of traffic, etc. I'm assuming you would have to be back on board by 3:30PM. You could push for the 2PM, but that would make me nervous (that's just me though :o) Just something to think about.

 

 

Good advice.

I agree with your scheduling.

 

[blue_water]

Those are the ferries that would be ideal, the 9AM should be doable if you find a driver going directly there rather than Coki and Sapphire first. And you may still get there inntime to get tickets and board.

You could do the 2PM return but if you do make darned sure you are one of the first in line because a ton of others have the same idea. That would give you 3.5 hrs and enough time for a short tour along with the beach.

 

I still recommend a day on STT though due to the tight time constraint. Just keep a close eye on the time if going to STJ.

Have a great day!

[mabones]

Those are the ferries that would be ideal, the 9AM should be doable if you find a driver going directly there rather than Coki and Sapphire first. And you may still get there inntime to get tickets and board.

You could do the 2PM return but if you do make darned sure you are one of the first in line because a ton of others have the same idea. That would give you 3.5 hrs and enough time for a short tour along with the beach.

 

I still recommend a day on STT though due to the tight time constraint. Just keep a close eye on the time if going to STJ.

Have a great day!

 

 

Thanks to all on recommendation for St. John. I will take all under consideration. I have been there once before but it was so long ago I can't remember everything I saw.

[sunshine3360]

We have been to St. John a couple of times. It is really beautiful. The trip by cap, ferry, and jittney is a lot of the fun of the day. This time we have a group of 9 and I'm hoping to book a catamaran for the day. Have e-mail in to one now. Hope it is available. The best trip we ever had was a day on an old wooden sailboat. There were four of us and a crew of two. We sailed to St. John and did snorkeling and lunch. We had a glorious day.

[broberts]

13,000 tourists in St Thomas is an average day.

[blue_water]

Sunshine there are some great day sails out of Sapphire Marina, just google them, close to Red Hook.

 

13k is not huge - we've stayed on the island when 20k+ were there - but it is definitely a crowd!!!

[wscott52]

13,000 tourists in St Thomas is an average day.

 

I'm going in Feb. but I can't imagine what it must be like. I lived on St. Croix in the 1980s and people we knew on St. Thomas just avoided Charlotte Amalie when there were cruise ships in port. Of course then there were days with no ships, the ships, were smaller, and usually there wouldn't be more than two or three. My wife and I are planning on renting a car and getting out of downtown as soon as possible but I'm not sure where we're going yet.

 

It was kind of funny flying through St. Thomas on the way to St. Croix. You could watch all the happy, well groomed and expectant vacationers get off and then the returning passengers got on. Invariably they were all badly sunburned, disheveled, and bickering.

[blue_water]

>>>It was kind of funny flying through St. Thomas on the way to St. Croix. You could watch all the happy, well groomed and expectant vacationers get off and then the returning passengers got on. Invariably they were all badly sunburned, disheveled, and bickering.<<<

 

That's one of the strangest comments I have ever seen on this site! And this is a forum FOR cruisers on top of that!:rolleyes:

 

It can be funny watching a large number of cruisers as they're heading out en masse from a particular area that you're staying at. But I do think you are over-generalizing just a tad with that comment as many cruisers are more travel-savvy than you and I.;)

[wscott52]

>>>It can be funny watching a large number of cruisers as they're heading out en masse from a particular area that you're staying at. But I do think you are over-generalizing just a tad with that comment as many cruisers are more travel-savvy than you and I.;)

 

Think what you want. I flew back and forth between Savannah, GA and St. Croix several times a year during the 1980s. Sitting in First Class all Coach passengers getting on or off trooped through First Class on their way to the door or their seats. It was true far more often than not.

[broberts]

Think what you want. I flew back and forth between Savannah, GA and St. Croix several times a year during the 1980s. Sitting in First Class all Coach passengers getting on or off trooped through First Class on their way to the door or their seats. It was true far more often than not.

 

I've been on flights picking up returning vacationers and what you describe matches my own observations. I suspect that some of it is due to the fact that their vacation is over and they are headed back to the daily grind. Some of it is probabl caused by too much sun and activity. And some can likely be placed at the feet of Bacchus.

[broberts]

>>>It was kind of funny flying through St. Thomas on the way to St. Croix. You could watch all the happy, well groomed and expectant vacationers get off and then the returning passengers got on. Invariably they were all badly sunburned, disheveled, and bickering.<<<

 

That's one of the strangest comments I have ever seen on this site! And this is a forum FOR cruisers on top of that!:rolleyes:

 

It can be funny watching a large number of cruisers as they're heading out en masse from a particular area that you're staying at. But I do think you are over-generalizing just a tad with that comment as many cruisers are more travel-savvy than you and I.;)

 

I don't think the quote you are commenting on was about people cruising. Certainly the numbers of people cruising out of St Thomas is quite small.

[HarpHarp]

13,000 tourists in St Thomas is an average day.

Yep, when I lived on St Thomas, that was head to north side of the island time. The most fun was about 14, 000 pax & the Ike carrier group.

 

The sailors really know how to tak over a place:D

[blue_water]

Think what you want. I flew back and forth between Savannah, GA and St. Croix several times a year during the 1980s. Sitting in First Class all Coach passengers getting on or off trooped through First Class on their way to the door or their seats. It was true far more often than not.

 

Aahhh...you're sitting in first class at STT watching the "regular folk", I thought you were among the crowds in CA waiting for a seaplane.

Anyway as broberts said what you are seeing is perfectly natural, and some of those folks are cruisers and some are tourists like the rest of us staying on STT or hopping back from the BVI. And we see first-timers every flight to the Carib because cruising and resorts have become so popular. But not all of us passing through first class to get to coach are the badly sunburned, disheveled, and bickering sort that you describe. Just sayin'...

[broberts]

Yep, when I lived on St Thomas, that was head to north side of the island time. The most fun was about 14, 000 pax & the Ike carrier group.

 

The sailors really know how to tak over a place:D

 

Wow, that must have been something to see.