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Hi. I'm trying to plan ahead for school vacation next year and sons will be 15 and 11years old. I want to make a decision fast to use FF for a few tickets and they appear to be available for both islands. I am deciding between a 3BR villa on St. John near the Westin. We've been to the island before, stayed at a villa at the Westin and loved it. I am also looking at the Buccaneer since we've never been on St. Croix and a resort offers more flexibility in case something comes up over the year (work, school commitments,...) Pros for St.John - so many beautiful beaches to choose from, beautiful villa, should be more relaxing coming back and hanging out in a villa. The major cons is that is allows for less flexibility in changing plans and the island is more expensive. We've never been to St. Croix and I'm hoping the Buccaneer will provide some social life for the boys (others kids to hang out with) and it has nice beaches right at the resort. We would probably stay in a family cottage (2 BR and 1 adjoining bath). Does anyone have any thoughts or insights?
First off, my disclaimer, I work at the Buccaneer.
I think you are trying to compare apples and oranges. My husband and I have stayed at villas on STJ and loved it. We love the privacy that a villa affords. We beach it, eat, use the hot tub -- mostly veg out. But you've done that before so you know how it goes.
The Buccaneer will be a different experience for you. Your children are old enough that they will be able to venture out and about the property on their own. Depending on the time of year, there are usually other families around. And, of course, the family cottages attract - families - so you will have neighbors.
There are two ways to think of this. You know you love STJ, it's a sure thing. On the other hand STX would be a new adventure. Either way, you can't go wrong.
Of course, STJ has many attractions, but do they have beer drinking pigs???
If you call reservations at the Buccaneer, ask if I'm working, I'd love to chat.
Linda J
Thanks Linda. I do realize I'm comparing apples to oranges. Do you have many teenagers at The Buccaneer? We would be there in April during spring break. Do they run any specials on the family cottages or is the Internet rate of $420 as good as it gets this far in advance? What renovations is the Buccaneer working on this summer? I have airline tickets on hold for STX - its just hard to commit so far in advance.
2 Teens? I'd probably try a resort over a villa.....location less important.
Love, love, love Villas.....but I also know how stressful travel with teens can be.Keep them happy, and everyone is happy!
Enjoy!!!
We brought our early teens to STJ for a long business weekend & stayed at the Westin. Both were competitive swimmers & wanted to get to the beaches and snorkel everyday. A villa would have been better since they weren't interested in hanging at the pool since they spent every day doing that for practice. The advantage of a villa would be access to food prep! Those teens can run up a food bill at a resort just w/soft drinks & snacks. We ate dinner at the Buccaneer (stayed at Carambola) & the property was very nice..can't go wrong there. So see what they want to do, STJ villa would be hitting the beach time each day. I have to say walking around Cruz Bay during the day would be fine for teens without parents. Lots of shops/food while you hit Woody's 🙂
I highly recommend St. Croix - we have traveled many islands - British Virgin Islands - U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS with our family and finally settled into St. Croix. It has beautiful beaches - great restaurants - we use to stay at the Buccaneer before we bought a condo out at the reef in the east end of the island - we have since sold the condo and have a main house and cottage high in the hills overlooking the South Shore. One of our daughters got married at the Buccaneer. There are also several villas for rent on the island - most come with pools and have wonderful views .
There are many activities for families.
Good Luck
Thank you all for your advice. We decided to try St. Croix for 2008 and hope to visit St. John in 2009 - in a villa. We are trying to coordinate the 2008 year's trip with another family and they don't like to plan as far in advance as us. A resort will give every one more flexibility. We will most likely stay at the Buccaneer since it sounds like a really neat place, has several nice beaches and golf. We'll have fun exploring a new island and I have a whole year to research where to eat and what to do.
For those on this board flying out of Bradley airport, you can fly to STT or STX for $505 excluding taxes and fees for midweek travel in April. Not a terrible price. It will probably go down but I wanted to book on the same flights as our FF miles.
