First time cruiser!

[IslandJamie]

First time to USVI...I am taking a cruise to St Thomas in October with my family and am wondering about the best tourist websites or travel guides to use when I get there.

 

Thanks!

[sunlovingirl]

Definitely head to the ports of call section here, and join your roll call for your cruise... those will help a lot, as there are lots of people who have been there before and can help you out!!

 

You can always try trip advisor (google this). It's fantastic!

 

Have a fabulous trip!! Congrats! Welcome to the boards!

[beachbum53]

I second sunlovingirl's recommendation for Trip Advisor. We use it quite a bit for excursion information and reviews. When you're in port (St. Thomas or anywhere else), wear a watch and keep it on ship's time. DO NOT use the clock on your cell phone, as it may adjust itself to the island's local time. Make sure you're back on the ship on time. If you miss the ship, you'll have to make your own arrangements to catch up with it (hopefully at the next port of call), or fly back home. Hope you have a great cruise.

[Keith1010]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and you have been given excellent advice.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Check out the Ports of Call at this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133

[Cruisin' Chick]

I like to go to my library and check out whatever guide books for my target area are there. If there's a book I find very helpful, I will try to buy the most recent edition (probably on Amazon). I wouldn't bring a library book on a trip.

 

Also you can google every port and find many tourism sites. IMO, I often find tripadvisor a good start, but other than that, pretty limited.

[Sixtytwo]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and to cruising, IslandJamie!! St. Thomas is probably our most favorite port! Been there many times and always enjoy our visit!

 

Congrats on the first cruise! I hope you have a great trip and don't worry, you'll be looking forward to the next one before you get back home from this one!! ;)

[JenLeabres]

I decided to treat myself this year by doing a cruise excursion, what can you recommend to me if I want to do this independently online? Any suggestions?

 

Jen

[Sixtytwo]

Welcome to CC, Jen!

 

You have already taken care of the first step, deciding you want to cruise! But, there is still a lot of decisions to be made before you are ready to go. Here are a few things to consider:

 

1. Where do you want to go? Alaska? Eastern Caribbean? Western Caribbean? Mediterranean? Cruises go to almost every part of the world, so deciding if there are certain areas you want to go to would help you narrow down your options.

 

2. What is your budget? Including, will you have to fly to/from your embarkation port? Will you need to/want to spend extra days pre/post cruise and have to consider lodging and meals? Are you interested in a luxury cruise line or mass market cruise line? (This will tie directly to #1 since itineraries are different in some cases between mass market and luxury lines.) Cabin selection (inside, ocean view, balcony, suite) imapcts budget also, so consider which of these you might want.

 

3. Read, read, read! Browse around in Cruise Critic and it's sister site, TripAdvisor and get ideas about the ports, cruise lines, and excursions that might interest you.

 

4. Contact friends who have cruised and see what they can offer for advice. Do they have favorite ports or ships?

 

5. Once you have refined your desire to cruise a little bit, go online and start visiting the various cruise line sites and look at itineraries, dates that are suitable for your schedule, costs (basic cruise fare, port taxes/fees, gratuities), etc. Do a "mock booking" to see available cabins in the category you want and what the cost will be.

 

If you get this far and have not suffered from "information overload", you are well on your way to making your cruise a reality! Oh, don't worry, once you have it booked, you'll find there is another array of questions that will suddenly come up - embarkation process, what do you take, how does this or that work? After all is said and done, the whole process is a lot of fun and keeps your interest on a high level! We've all been there and most of us go through this every time we cruise! :D