Hi John.

The weather should be great. It will be warm and sunny and it should be pretty dry.

Roadside food stands are around and most are pretty good -- BBQ, Roti etc. You can search this board for recommended places to eat on a budget.

A day trip to St. John is inexpensive and the ferry ride is worthwhile. You can visit beaches there, wander through Mongoose Junction (shops) and Cruz Bay, take a guided hike through the National Park Service.

No casinos on St. Thomas or St. John.

There are taxis but since the four of you will be here for a week it would probably be more cost effective to rent a car, which will also enable you to explore the island.

Thanks a lot for your help... When we travel to St. John is it worth it to bring our rental car over as well?

Any info on how late the bars are open? What kind of nightlife will we find? We will be there Sunday-Friday nights, leaving on Saturday... Monday is a holiday. Will there be live music and that sort of thing going on?

One of my favorite experiences I've had in the Carib is finding a relaxing bar with great reggae music.. Can I find this on St. Thomas?

Where is a good place to rent a Jeep on St. Thomas? There are four of us and I thought a convertable would make the driving around a bit more fun for those in the back. Any other options on convertables on the island?

Anybody what I can expect to pay for a Jeep?

Since you're arriving in ten days, you'll have to check around and see if there are even any jeeps available on your dates.

the weather should be awesome. The USVI are great at any time of year, but this is premium tourist weather and I'm loving every minute of it. When the forecast says it will rain... it doesn't mean non-stop. There might be a localized shower for a few minutes when a cloud goes by at some point in the day or night. The weather will be in the 80's every day and in the 70's every night.

The only current USVI casino is on St. Croix. That should make it easier for you to stay within your budget on STT and STJ. lol

If you go to STJ (and it's gorgeous, so you really should), you will probably see more of it and ultimately make the best use of your time there if you do have a car for the day. If you just want to go to one beach and then head back to STT, then a taxi is fine. If you want to drive around and stop multiple places, with four of you, you'll wish you had the jeep with you if you don't take it. Figure out which days will have the most and the least cruise ships in and plan your beach days (either STT or STJ) accordingly. Ships usually leave around sunset, so restaurants that are packed by day have elbow room at night.

I've found STJ an incredibly expensive place to eat. STT isn't quite as bad. If you are someone who eats three meals a day plus snacks, it's gonna add up. If you grab a few things from the grocery store for daytime meals/snacks and save your $$ for dinners, you might stress less about what food is costing you. There are usually less expensive options on most menus, even when they also offer steak and lobster at $50 a plate. For some people, fine dining and local/cultural dining is part of the experience of a trip. For others, food isn't important other than to keep you fueled for your explorations, so simple things are fine. I have 2 sons in college, so I know that making the most of your $$ is important.

You should be able to find bars with live music of various sorts during your trip. Ask the bartenders at the first couple places you stop in where the best local entertainment is playing that week. Each island has a few musicians/vocalists who do the rounds and have a solid following.

Thank you very much for your help. I will put it to good use.

I'm still wondering what time the bars close in STT? Not that I want to be out all night or anything, I'm just curious as I know it is different all over the US.

Is there cruise ship schedule available online? Or is that something I have to figure out when I get there?

again, I will be there January 15th-January 21st

The January cruise ship schedule is available on line, just follow the "Cruise Guide and Schedule" link at the top of this page.

There is a cruise ship calendar available at:
http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/default.aspx

It misses a few now and then, but gets most of them right. You can search by port (STT) and then check each day of your trip to see how many they have showing. Some ships have more passengers than others, which is also something to keep in mind. Three super liners is as bad as six smaller vessels.

Many bars don't have a specific closing time. They clean up and shut down when the customers dwindle. Some do close nightly at or near a specific time. I live on STX, so can't give you examples of closing times on STT, but you should be able to find a few places that won't have you going to bed earlier than you wish. Beware the fruit flavored rum drinks! They have a whole lot more alcohol than you think and go down way too easy for something that's 80%+ alcohol with just a splash of mixer.

Most bars close between 2 and 4. I know Caribbean Saloon serves til 4.

Jeeps are VERY expensive rental options. If you are on any kind of a budget, cars are much less expensive. Search for Budget car rental STT and compare the jeeps to the cars - you'll see what I mean. No matter where you rent, jeeps are much more.

Just to clarify between these recommendations and a similar post I amde to someone else yesterday - yesterday's cheap eats / good bars thread was more targeted to the tourist crowd. This is local/local since this poster is stating they are okay with local/local 🙂

The food truck near the airport is supposed to be one of the best, according to locals. It isn't always there - it wasn't there last time I was looking for it.

There is a local bar that is popular and friendly - near Megan's Bay - on the road that leads down to it. I will find out the name - maybe somone here knows. I know they have good local food (very reasonable) and a good, friendly local scene.

Hull Bay Hideaway is a good local spot (bar and restaurant) on the beach at Hull Bay. http://www.hullbay.com/

Again, I recommend Burrito Bay for cheap but good eats. They have more than Burritos and the Burritos they have are more like Rotis.

I have heard that the Pump Room is very good and reasonable - it is above the Ferry Terminal on the Charlotte Amalie Waterfront... http://www.st-thomas.com/

The food trucks and stalls at Coki Beach offer good local food...patties (pate') and johnny cakes, Roti, etc... of course, it is a little more costly there because they are catering ot the cruise ship crowd and tourists...but it is good and cheaper than restaurants.

From my viewpoint, most of the locals I know eat at the more expensive restaurants on a regular basis. It is expensive to live in the VI, so traveling there and asking where the locals eat might not be the cheapest bet. Dining well seems to be a way of life for them.

Thank you very much.. your post was extremely helpful.. We aren't on an extreme budget or anything, but we do want to save where we can. I think we'll go with the Ford Taurus for $209 instead of the Jeep for $400. We got round trip airfare from Missoula, MT to STT for $243.00 including all taxes and fees ($173 base fare) on continental. Pretty good price huh?

We will probably try to save some money on breakfast and lunch and splurge a little on Dinner. I want to have Caribbean Lobster at least once or twice while I'm down there.

Wow - good airfare!! Which airline? That's a fare to make you dance the happy dance 🙂

Is the Ford with Budget? You may want to also compare the rate against local car rental agents like Dependable Car Rental. With the local agents you avoid the airport tax - they pick you up at the airport and drive you about 5 mins to their office.

For eating on a budget, please consider the following:

1. the Petite Pump Room (on the waterfront) serves TINY portions. You will still be hungry after you eat. It's good for the view of what's going on on the waterfront, but not for breakfast.

2. L'Escargot Restaurant in Sub Base has been advertising a breakfast buffet with Continental and local dishes for about $6, I think. They also have some kind of lunch buffet deal. You might want to check it out. Their phone number is 340-774-6565

3. If you're into fast food, Wendy's on the waterfront is a real treat because of the view - just don't order the pancakes! Yes, this is the same Wendy's as stateside, but the ones here serve breakfast.

4. Another good place for breakfast is Bobby's Hardwood Grill in town in Trompeter Gade. I sometimes order just home fries to take out for $2.25, go to the convenience store on "Crazy Cow Street", buy a juice, and head to one of the benches on the waterfront or Emancipation Garden and eat my breakfast. Bobby's also has full breakfasts for, I think, starting at $4.95 for eggs, potatoes, toast.

5. Many locals eat soup for breakfast, so you may want to try John's chicken soup. He's got a little stand in the parking lot near Vendors' Plaza.

There aren't that many Reggae bars in St. Thomas - most play a variety of music. Fungi's at Point Pleasant is supposed to be Reggae, but I don't know anybody who's been there. You MUST, however, go to the Sun beach party/jam at Sapphire starting at 2 p.m., and in the same neighborhood, starting later in the afternoon, Coki Beach usually has a big jam which includes access to the Coral World exhibits. I've heard some people just party outside on the beach in order to avoid the cover charge.

St John has a great Reggae band, Innver Visions, I think. Google and see if they've got a site with a schedule.

The Island Trader has the weekly entertainment schedule for most bars/clubs, etc. Comes out on Thursdays with the local newspaper. Ask around when you're in town - there might be some still available at Beans, Byes and Websites or somewhere else that has a newspaper rack.

Hope this helps.

Montana John

Wow! Where did you find airfare that cheap?How many stops is it? I thought $430 from Chicago-St Thomas was very reasonable.

HI:

Let's see, Burrito Deli in Red Hook is good for breakfast or lunch, The Chinese place is also really good, up above it is the Poor Man's Bar/WArehouse where you pour your own drinks, play pool, really fun, Duffy's Love Shack is close by too, fun, fun, I would go on a Friday/Sat. night, but don't go till like 10 pm. You will find yourself going to bed earlier than you think while on STT. You are just beat by 8pm, most of the time. SApphire Beach is my fav, and go there around 3pm on Sunday, big party the whole island goes too, great reggae band, and bbq.

Take the ferry over to stj one day, grab some sandwiches at a deli and some drinks and snacks and go to Hawksnest of Cinnamon, I would actually go to cinnamon so you can have a better ride in the taxi, you can see most of the northshore beaches as you drive, then when you come back to cruz bay, go to mongoose junction, and do not get on the ferry back to stt until you go to the Beach Bar on the water by the ferry dock, that is a must!

You will have a great time, it will be 85 degrees everyday. use sun block all the time, don't sit out to get a tan, put 30+ on and you will get a nice tan, believe me. You must snorkel, so maybe go to coki beach one day too, or sapphire is really good. have fun

My husband and I are paying $538 per ticket from Nashville, Tennessee to STT!! I wish we could have found a deal like that. We're flying American.

Some additional inexpensive opptions:

Tickles...Sub Base
Hook, Line and Sinker...French Town
Coconuts...Town
Green House...Town
Bottoms Up...East End (Monday night specials)
Iggies...East End, Bolongo Bay Resort
Robert's...Elysian Beach Resort (Dinner's are pricey but well worth the price, good lunch menu)
Bonnie's By The Sea...Elysian
Molly Malones...Red Hook
Sopchoppy...Red Hook
Paradice Point... Wednesday sunset party, ask for the local rate ($5) for the tram, and show room Key

And as mentioned above...ask the bartenders ect. were the best places to go are, they are a wealth of information.

Enjoy you vacation.

Classic

Cheapest I have from Houston (Continental hub by the way) is $744 for June. It's probably cheaper for me to fly to MT and then buy tickets to STT!!
No wonder the airline industry is in trouble.

It was about $150.00 cheaper for me to buy a non-stop from Newark to STT than to get a layover in San Juan. I'm going for $445.00 on Continental (Newark is also a Continental hub.)
I agree... no wonder the airlines are in trouble!

crickett : )

Ok, so everybody wants to learn about the airfare...

Check out http://www.bestfares.com/

The whole website is great, however, if you click on the left side where it says, "Snooze You Lose" you can select your city and some fares will come up. I live in Missoula, MT and the only fare listed was to STT. I bought it December 10th.

I found the fare code on the website and called Continental directly to book it. The first person I spoke with was not helpful and after 30 minutes on the phone told me she couldn't book the fare.

I didn't give up... I called back right away and got somebody else who was extremely friendly. I used the charm my Mom has always said I have, and after another 45 minutes on the phone we got the fare code to work.

Our flight has us leaving Missoula, MT Saturday, January 14th on a Northwest flight to Minneapolis. Then on to Newark where we must overnight. (This is common flying from Montana to the Caribbean as I have done it twice before) We leave early Sunday morning from Newark directly to STT. I have several friends in Manhattan so fortunately we have a free place to stay.

The trip home is the same thing about a week later.