Please Register / Login to take part in discussions about the Virgin Islands.
Hello all!
Just back from 12 days in STT/STJ. Weather was a beautiful 80 or so every day. The good: perfect weater, the wonderful beaches, the pattys, Coki Beach. The bad: waiting 2.5 hours at Budget in the airport for my reserved car (still haven't figured out what takes so long to hand out a reserved car), having a campsite at Cinnamon next to young, drunk, noisy kids and poor visibility for snorkeling due to the churned up seas. I have never seen waves so high at Cinnamon in January . Made for great body surfing for us adventurous types. I will be back again though, once you stop fighting Island time and the fact that everything will take much longer to do than you would ever expect, you're in fine shape. The islands are beautiful and the people that live there have a generous spirit. Janet
Janet...isn't Budget a trip? Would love to know who your agent was because we had the same problem last year.
I'm departing tomorrow after a week's stay. Everything was positive except for my reserved Dollar Rental Car, the shuttle never did respond to pick me up at the airport. Rented a motorcycle from "BIZ" in Havensight which I found to be more convenient than a car. I've read alot of negative things on these boards but I've got to say everyone I met was friendly and helpful. Just use some common sense, smile and be polite, you'll be fine. Look forward to returning.
Connie,
Budget Rental Car. They are right in the airport and have a site in Havensight too. Dealt with three different agents at Budget. Things are always slow in the Islands, but bringing written confirmation of all my reservations did help.
we usually go in February and the waves have been wild.....my daughter loves it!
Dear dirtydeeds,
What happens is the rental agencies are waiting for the return of their vehicles on that day, once they return, they need to be cleaned and then brought to the airport! People return the cars late as they have late departures. Many people who arrived for the holidays, didn't receive their cars at all! Over booked I guess.
Skip,
First Rental Agency, Dollar and Thrifty are NOTORIOUS for not responding at all and if they DO, they take at least an extra hour in most cases! As an airport escort, there have been very few that have gone smooth!
Hope this information helps some you out there! 🙂
I rented from Hertz in Ft Lauderdale once and waited well over and hour for a car and they told me they had 20,000 cars! As Sherri says, they have to turn cars around, reserved or not. Turn around days here creates lots of havoc for everyone!
RL
Oh, no. I'll arrive in STT a little after 2pm and hope to do a little sightseeing that day. Maybe I should adjust my expectations.
I reserved with Avis. Is it any better?
Always plan on at LEAST an hour AT the airport! That way IF it goes faster, you are doing good! lol! 🙂
Avis is usually better than those I mentioned above!
We always rent from Hertz and never had a problem.
Yes, I know that you can't bring the (Hertz) car over to St. John........we just use a taxi for our trips there.
This trip (January 10) there was no wait time.....it took 10 minutes (five if I hadn't started a conversation with the agent.
We also got a double upgrade for free (mid size to a Jeep 4X4).
F.I.
How did you get the upgrade? Care to share some tips?:)
We've used Budget at the airport our last 4 years down and have never had to wait!
All these horror stories - I guess I'll just call myself lucky.
We're coming back March 4th....I'm crossing my fingers, because we land at 4:50 and need to at least
make the last car barge to STJ. It's worked every time so far.
Lan:
Just lucky.....they were out of the mid size and the full size (Camry) just got back and wasn't ready.
Also, we have it for 2 months.
F.I.
dirtydeeds,
Your car rental notation sure kicked off the topic of discussion! I just wanted to thank you for sharing about your stay!
I got a way cool picture of my girlfriend and her hubby standing in the water, turning back and UP to look at the wave that was about to SMACK them! It was HUGE! This time of year, Cinnamon gets some large waves for sure! Hope you enjoyed your time here and also hope you will come back! 🙂
Sherri,
I come back every year for my dose of STT and STJ. It helps me get through the rest of the Boston winter! The car rental issue is often one of luck, but we were there during the New Year's holiday, so a very busy time. Plus, our plane got in at 4:50, which limited our choices. Would have liked to go with Dependable, but they closed at 5:00, so we would have had to take a taxi for three of us to Blue Beard's Beach Club and get the car the next day. Just didn't make sense. I would definitely advise people coming in to give themselves plenty of time to get to the ferry or their hotel as things do tend to move slower and you're better off to be prepared for that. Saw lots of angry people in the Budget line that night, really making things worse, but the restaurant had closed too, so there was nothing for people to eat or drink, which only added to their foul mood.
