St. Thomas Invasion - Survival Techniques

[bechi]

We will be in St. Thomas, USVI on 12/15 aboard the Pride and according to CruiseCal.com, so will over 20,000 others, basically doubling the population of Charlotte Amalie! I have never cruised in the Caribbean before, and have never been in port with other ships, but I just know this can't be good! Any advise as to what to expect? In addition to the Pride, five other ships are scheduled to be in port with an average passenger count of 2,850 each, not including kids!

 

Originally I was considering some combination of Coral World, Mangrove Lagoon Kayaking, Little Magen's Bay, or St. Peter Greathouse, but I'm hesitant to make plans for anything, envisioning the entire island overrun with cruise ship passengers. I suppose Little Magen's, being a favorite of gay men bathing au naturale, should remain somewhat quiet, but we're really not beach goers; an hour max. just to take in the scenery (no, not that scenery!) as Magen's Bay is supposedly one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. We will only be in port five hours, so there really isn't sufficient time to explore one of the smaller islands nearby instead, either.

 

I'm considering booking an hour or two of flight instruction at the airport as my young man is an aspiring pilot and I can always do some flightseeing from the backseat if I promise to behave!

 

Any advice regarding any of the above would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Bechi

[crystal808]

Bechi:

 

If that schedule holds true, downtown CA will be a zoo, and a driving nightmare by late afternoon, when everyone is hustling to get back to the ship!

 

If you dock at Havensight, other than walking to town (or grabbing a cab) for some shopping, I wouldn't plan on any excursion except one sponsored by the cruise line. If you're delayed, the ship will wait, only if you're on one of their excursions. If you are at Crown Bay, it will be a little different, but it's hard to avoid CA if you're going east from there.

 

Good luck! Maybe the schedule will change....! :eek:

 

Paul

[Jim Avery]

I would vote for staying aboard.http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Jim.

[jsiegel]

If you like just getting about and seeing a little of the area on foot print out a copy of Frommer's walking tour of Charlotte Amalie: http://frommers.com/destinations/stthomasusvi/0097010008.html It took us two to three hours to do, could have filled more of the day but we're not much for shopping so we didn't stop at any of the stores.

 

Taxis are very abundant in St. Thomas. They troll around looking for passengers, so don't be afraid to catch a taxi to a location, you'll easily find another to get you back. The costs were very reasonable. Just allow enough time to get back to the ship as there may be traffic jams.

 

You may luck out and Seabourn may change the itinerary. We were scheduled to be in Antigua on a day with four monsters holding over 12,000 passengers. When we arrived onboard there was a note that they were changing the order of the ports to avoid the congestion at Antigua.

 

Jackie

[LaPaloma]

Understand...there are an abundance of taxis in St Thomas...simply ask...how do you tell a legitimate one from a Gypsy! You do not want a gypsy...that is where the crimes take place.

[blackbird71]

On taxis besides traffic, your taxi may make additional stops on the way. I just did one of the St. Thomas to St. Thomas trips on Seabourn. After I got off the ship I stopped at a hotel to meet a group of Seabourn sailors waiting to get on it for their adventure. :). A taxi was called to take me to the airport and I was the first passenger. The taxi driver ran a small taxi service from his van. He had a combo telephone/taxi radio and would take incoming calls and assign himself or other drivers to the calls. We made two side trips to other hotels to pick up people going to the airport. When we got to the airport there were around 6-7 passengers and their luggage in the van. This added 20-30 minutes to the trip. Just beware:cool:

[lord of the seas]

Staying on board is good for me in St Thomas and Grand Cayman

[bechi]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I think we'll either stick close to the ship or perhaps try to book some time at the airport, but will factor in extra time for the taxis. I will definitely keep my fingers crossed and hope Seabourn decides to spend the morning in St. John next door instead!

 

Bechi

[johnnycruise]

I have done this cruise the past two years and both times we were docked at Crown Bay (the larger ships usually get priority for the three berths at Havensight). The new shopping center at Crown Bay should be open if it isn't already. You can also take the small ferry from Crown Bay to Water Island and walk to Honeymoon Beach if the schedule works out. I wouldn't recommend going to Magen's Bay since the ship sails at one o'clock. However a quick trip to Charlotte Amalie wouldn't be out of the question since the major traffic jams are usually between CA and Havensight, not Crown Bay. Crown Bay is only about five minutes from the airport.

 

johnny