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Having never been to the USVI before, I am pretty convinced from what research I've done that it makes a lot more sense to rent your car at the airport in St. Thomas, get your rental car (sounds like Dependable is the way to go -- I'll have to check them out) and then take the car barge from Red Hook, St. Thomas to Cruz Bay ,St. John. The round trip is supposed to be $35. If you didn't take the barge, I'm unclear how much it would cost for a taxi from the airport to the ferry (and which ferry to take) and then another taxi from the ferry to a rental car place in St. John. Even though there are taxi rates posted on the web, I'm confused about the cost, but it sounds like it would be much more expensive than the barge, plus you wouldn't have to hassle with your luggage on the ferry and in the taxi, etc. This make perfect sense, right? So if anyone has any feedback about that and the taxi rates, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, Islander mentioned that it might make sense to pay for a one-way barge ticket @$22 because you would then have the flexibility not to be tied in to that particular barge company on your return trip. Can anyone else comment on that? I would appreciate a response ASAP. Thanks so much!!!
Hello Darlene,
Yes the barge is $35 round trip - it does sort of make sense in your case to not buy a round trip however if you plan properly you can save by doing this and it will work out fine... what you need to figure out is; what time you need to leave St. John to get to the airport for your flight out (allow 2 hours for checking in plus add some time for returning the car, plus the barge and drive to the airport) then determine which barge you would need to take to make it there at that time - see which barges offer a service at that time and then see if this same barge offers a service at the time you will need one when you arrive. When you get on the barge to St. John confirm with the ticket person what there schedule is, how long the ticket they give you is good for and which barges it can be used on and make a note of it.
Whether renting on St. Thomas is the way to go - make sure your rental company allows their cars to go over to St. John, some do not. How many people in your group? - so we can figure out what the taxi rate would be and what you would save.
--Islander
We've always rented a vehicle on STJ. Never had any problem with a vehicle there, but if I did, I'd certainly prefer to be dealing with a company that's on the same island. I also like to be able to park in their lot while I'm in Cruz Bay. And I like giving my business to the folks on STJ. And--traffic on STT freaks me out a bit. It would stress me to get off the plane, deal with the rental, deal with driving across the island. I enjoy climbing in a van and having time to begin to shift into Island Time.
Also, I wouldn't get too involved in the few bucks you might save as far as ferrying goes. You're really talking about tens of dollars. When you consider the thousands of dollars you spend on a villa and the hundreds of dollars you spend on car rental, food, and drink, ferry costs aren't the place to become cost conscious.
Hello,
I agree with Nick; the biggest issue to keep in mind is that if you needed any assistance with the car the office is on St. Thomas making customer service/roadside assistance/whatever - a pain. If you rent from a St. John company they are on-island and can help you quickly.
Again not sure how many are in your group but you can figure the taxi rate would be around $4 each person to the Charlotte Amalie ferry with a couple dollars charged for each bag over the 1st one and more $ if you want a private taxi. The CA ferry to St. John is $7 each person one way.
The Red Hook ferry is $3 each way and about $10 for the taxi service plus the baggage charges. More $ for private taxi.
--Islander
Thank you Islander and Nick for all the info! As far as how many people in our party, there are going to be three families involved. With me, it's just my husband. But my one sister has four in her family, and the other sister has three. The rate Islander quoted for the taxi at $10, that's per person, right? So I was thinking, with that rate, a family of four could possibly spend 50 bucks or so just getting from the airport in STT by taxi to the ferry, and then another 50 bucks from the ferry to a car rental place on STJ. Then of course you'd have to times that by two in order to get back to the airport after your stay. The other thing was, I liked the idea of not having to schlep all of your suitcases and stuff from the airport, to a taxi, on to the ferry, then on to another taxi by taking the car ferry. I just want to get this right and not screw up. I'm kind of taking the lead in trying to get accurate information on this car barge/ferry /car rental thing, so I just want to be sure that I'm advising my family correctly. Another question I had is, say we don't take the car ferry, then which ferry would be best to take to Cruz Bay? I'm sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, but I am venturing into totally virgin territory as far as the USVI go. Any other helpful suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks again guys!
