How long is your stay? Taking the car ferry is a bit more hassle, but it should be slightly cheaper to rent a car in St. Thomas, so it may be worth it for a longer trip. If you do rent one on STT, make sure to get something 4WD that can handle the roads on STJ.

I think the car barge is less hassle than the people ferry with luggage. WIth thecar barge, you load your luggage into the trunk at the airport, drive to the car barge and drive on, and drive off and to your villa. With the people barge you have to "lug" your luggage on your own, by hand. We remain in our car on the car barge while crossing, like everyone else.

especially with the new security gates and everything slowing stuff down.....the car barge might be quicker.

Just make sure that you are allowed to take your car to St John. I know Hertz won't allow it and there may be one or two others. Also, the last barge leaves at 7PM. Budget does as well as Discount and Dependable. Only adverse thing is if you have a flat tire you are on your own.
And as Chris said, with the new Federal Homeland Security plan in place, as of July 1, it's more difficult to get on the ferry now. They have a gate and metal detectors and now have the right to search your luggage! Have not heard any reports of that yet, however.
Ronnie

I heard of a long time Jonnie that got searched.
He wasnt too happy.
Of course the longtime islanders are going to look the most "suspicious."
Go figure.
Funny thing is that the guys searching him knew him but I think they have quotas....imagine that.
Its a bitter pill to swallow for islanders who didnt even want a stoplight on the island much less a baggage search after going to STT to buy a few goods.

We rent a vehicle on STJ for a few reasons, the main one being that if something goes wrong with the thing I want to be dealing with an agency that's on the same island. Also, I like to be able to park in the agency's lot when I'm in Cruz Bay. And, I like to give my business to the folks on STJ. Finally, traffic on STT freaks me out a bit and it would stress me to get off the plane, get the car and drive across STT. Taking a van to Red Hook is part of how I begin to slow down and shift to Island Time. We never have much luggage, so moving it around isn't a concern for us. Some folks also like to get a car on STT so they can do grocery/supply shopping there and get better prices or selection.

Thank you for sharing all the tips!!!!!

I belileve I will just rent on St John...am worried about rushing to make the last car barge of the day. So we will lug the luggage on the ferry.

All this increased security causing us sooo many hassles...seems the terrorists might have won, eh?

See yall on Tuesday for 11 Days!!!! SOOOO EXCITED!!!! Hoping we will meet other families with perhaps a 15 yr old daughter so mine wont be so BORED!!

The car barge is a piece of cake. Do what works best for you......

Another suggestion - for what it is worth - if you are staying in a villa ask your agent if you can mail stuff down before the trip to cut down on your luggage? Priority mail with a tracking number is not expensive and could help out a lot with the luggage problem. We use this for the yacht clients a great deal when they need or want speciality items we cannot supply easily from here. They buy in the states and send it down but this would work just as well with snorkel gear, clothes, etc.
Pamela