Note to local tour operators.

[vaccardi]

On our recent trip on the Volendam, we stopped in St Thomas. While the island is still beautifully, my wife and I were disappointed. Before I get flamed, let me explain:

1. Local transportation prices were very high. We tend to take local transportation and local tours. We thought even the local transportation was expensive (raised because we were tourist?)

2. The shopping has always been exceptional. This time it was not, because of overcrowding and high prices.

3. There were too many cruisers in town. There were 5 cruise ships docked when we were there.

4. The new pier is nice, but too far from the center of town. We walked, but the sidewalks were poor at the beginning.

 

I believe that the local economy has become too dependent on cruising, and unless the situation improves, customer satisfaction will cause ships to veer away from your beautiful island.

[The Islander]

Hello Vaccardi,

 

Sorry to hear you didn't have a good time, thanks for sharing the reasons. I've got a quick note on transportation... By local transportation I figure you mean the public buses and/or dollar rides; they are a dollar or two depending on destination. Perhaps it was taxis you used. Their rates are fixed, so there shouldn't be any raising going on. For those reviewing your note, it might be useful to look over the taxi rates to get an idea of what it is for the destination you are going to; you can find the rates at http://www.*****/stthomas/getting_around_stt/taxi_stt/. There is also general information about transportation in St. Thomas on that site that might be useful.

 

--Islander

*****

[vaccardi]

Thanks for your insight. I still love St Thomas, and will probably be back in the future.

 

I was talking about the dollar rides, that were running $4 to $8 depending if you got them at the end closest or furthest from the ship in the port. This was at the new pier. It was a short walk, that we did in under :30 minutes, but nobody seemed to be able to give us directions.

[The Islander]

Hello Vaccardi,

 

Sounds like there is a little bit of mix up. Within the Crown Bay port area, within the gate/fence; those are taxis. The "dollar rides" aren't allowed to come into the dock area, they basically follow the public bus route, stopping at bus stops. $4 is the taxi fare to go from Crown Bay to downtown, per person. $8 would be for two people, if you were quoted that for one for downtown then yes you would have been being charged too much.

 

Concerning the directions... :(. Not sure if they have a tourist office/booth set up at Crown Bay Dock yet, if not then hopefully there are plans for one.

 

--Islander

*****

[vaccardi]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

There was no info booth yet, and only one store in the entire complex was open with 4 or 5 carts.

[JLC@SD]

On our recent trip on the Volendam, we stopped in St Thomas. While the island is still beautifully, my wife and I were disappointed. Before I get flamed, let me explain:

1. Local transportation prices were very high. We tend to take local transportation and local tours. We thought even the local transportation was expensive (raised because we were tourist?)

2. The shopping has always been exceptional. This time it was not, because of overcrowding and high prices.

3. There were too many cruisers in town. There were 5 cruise ships docked when we were there.

4. The new pier is nice, but too far from the center of town. We walked, but the sidewalks were poor at the beginning.

 

I believe that the local economy has become too dependent on cruising, and unless the situation improves, customer satisfaction will cause ships to veer away from your beautiful island.

I agree..........and for all the reasons above, I suggest to those who love beautiful beaches......go to St. Johns...:)

[Ms411]

I think you should send your comments to the Virgin Islands Port Authority (they manage Crown Bay Dock), and the Commissioner of Tourism. They are the only ones who can establish tourist information booths at Crown Bay. You should be able to find the contact information either at http://www.***** or by Googling.

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

Note on Ms411's suggestion... the Port Authority website is http://viport.com/ and for the Tourism Dept./Commissioner you can try their website http://www.usvitourism.vi/en/search/contact.html.

 

--Islander

*****

[Ms411]

Thanks, Islander. I knew you'd have the details. What would we do without you?????

[Cruiser61]

We have been to St Thomas a number of times but the first will always be a memorable one because one of the tour operators (they all have large trucks with opposing seats for 8-10 in the back) was so superb. The fellow's name is "Godfather". When we visited two years ago and wished to go to St. John's, we found him and he rushed us to the ferrry (just made it). En route he called a friend on the island to arrange a pick up and tour. Again, a hit (though I do not recall his name). The Godfather, on the first visit, took us all over the island, dropped us in the shopping district, and picked us up again for the trip back to the ship. $20.00 pp. The price may be higher and we certainly hope he is still around, but for a first time visitor, it's difficult to beat this deal.

 

We'll be there on Feb 28 aboard Sun Princess and will look him up. If we find him, I'll see if we can get a contact point.

[Lightsluvr]

We have been to St Thomas a number of times but the first will always be a memorable one because one of the tour operators (they all have large trucks with opposing seats for 8-10 in the back) was so superb. The fellow's name is "Godfather". When we visited two years ago and wished to go to St. John's, we found him and he rushed us to the ferrry (just made it). En route he called a friend on the island to arrange a pick up and tour. Again, a hit (though I do not recall his name). The Godfather, on the first visit, took us all over the island, dropped us in the shopping district, and picked us up again for the trip back to the ship. $20.00 pp. The price may be higher and we certainly hope he is still around, but for a first time visitor, it's difficult to beat this deal.

 

We'll be there on Feb 28 aboard Sun Princess and will look him up. If we find him, I'll see if we can get a contact point.

 

Are you possibly confusing "Godfather" with Godfrey?? There are lots of threads on Godfrey's tours here on CC.

 

LL

[Lightsluvr]

Sorry another duplicate post.

 

 

 

LL

[sea_breaze]

I agree..........and for all the reasons above, I suggest to those who love beautiful beaches......go to St. Johns...:)

 

Yep and then save your shopping for St Maartin.

[beachchick]

I think you should send your comments to the Virgin Islands Port Authority (they manage Crown Bay Dock), and the Commissioner of Tourism. They are the only ones who can establish tourist information booths at Crown Bay. You should be able to find the contact information either at http://www.***** or by Googling.

 

I think that's a good idea, especially because the tour operators have no control over how many ships are in port or how crowded the shops are. They do, of course, have control over their tour prices, but no control over taxi prices.

 

There were only three ships in port the day we were there, and we felt it was somewhat crowded. I can't imagine five or more large ships on the same day.:eek:

 

beachchick

[Ms411]

Beachchick, that's why I think Crown Bay Dock is such a good idea, because if it were done correctly, it could disperse the crowds.

 

If you want to go shopping, Main Street will be crowded if there are several ships in town. However, if you head down the "alleys" (Hibiscus Alley, Drake's Passage, Palm Passage, Royal Dane Mall, etc.), or along the Waterfront, it's much more pleasant (with the exception of the Gold Corner store - they're tiny, and they always seem packed!).

 

From Crown Bay, you can go to Water Island's Honeymoon Beach for $10 round trip per person, and avoid traffic and high taxi rates. You can have a beautiful, leisurely excursion which is what a vacation should be about.

 

You can also stroll to Emerald Beach - though it's not the BEST beach by any means, it's not likely to be crowded (the Harley tours stop here for lunch, so it may get crowded on those days).

 

You can also take sailing excursions that leave from the Waterfront or Havensight, so you won't have to travel far in traffic.

 

On those days when there are several ships in port, almost anybody here will tell you to avoid the usual hot spots - they will be crowded.

[bluewave]

Is there anyway to know in advance how many ships will be in the same port on any given day?:confused:

[beachchick]

I believe this is one of the sites which list cruise ship port locations:

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn3/

 

beachchick

[bluewave]

Thanks for that website! It was really helpful- I never knew you could do that. Unfortunately, there are loads of ships in the same ports as I will be in!:( I'm thinking that means every beach and every scenic spot and all the shopping and everything will be packed -- ick. I wonder if it would be better not to book a cruise ship tour at these places- don't they pretty much all go to the same places at the same times? Any advice?

[caribbean dreams]

I agree that the transportation costs are very high, along with alot of other Caribbean islands, the shopping was crowded but i found the prices to be quite good.