FYI
Cruise ships do not spend the night in port. Most will leave before sunset.

if you are staying a EB and you get there about 3PM then I would go to PP and watch the sunset. You could do a sunset cruse by it will be late before you get settled.

I would not go to St. john the next day. I would consider doing something on the east end, perhaps a sail, but you need to watch your time as traffic is a problem.

billd

We have two sons living on STT and have been numerous times, via cruise and air. Although St. John was very nice, beautiful quiet beaches, different "craftier" shopping, I didn't think it offered the easily seen, spectacular views. It is a great option on a second or third time trip to STT, but personally, I think your original plan is probably a good one for you. I don't ever make strict plans for the day of arrival, knowing all that can go wrong or just not as fast as expected with travel. You could leave the first night up in the air and see how you feel when you arrive and how much time you actually have. Enjoy your trip!

I believe St. John has more spectacular views. Been to St. John about 10 times, but I have only spent one day and a tour on St. Thomas.

rose wrote:
I believe St. John has more spectacular views. Been to St. John about 10 times, but I have only spent one day and a tour on St. Thomas.

I strongly second this vote, but must confess that I've spent much more time on STJ than STT. The views, feel, and atmosphere of STJ are, in my opinion only of course, far superior. It just feels a lot less touristy and built-up to me, and the fact that so much of the island is covered with park land is a huge plus ... again, that's my perspective only of course.

Thank you for the responses - lol, now I have more to think about and still not sure what we will do. Considering we have half the day on Wendseday to chill/lime/settle in, then the entire day on Thursday to do whatever we want, it is making this a tough choice. We have no "ship curfew" so we can return as late as we like on Thursday as we are staying in our hotel again that night, so once again time is not an issue.

On one hand being a Virgin Island virgin I want to just stay the 2 days on St. Thomas and do lots of ship type excursions just to get a feel of the Caribbean, but on the other hand I have a great feeling we will both like it so much we want to come back at least on a cruise ship and I know St Thomas is easy to do on a cruise ship tour.

Again, the cliff notes for my long and drawn out initial rum inspired post is: we are NOT on a cruise ship, we have two full nights at a hotel and Thursday we have the ENTIRE day to do whatever we want with no cruise ship curfew........ ahhhh choices choices choices! As of now I have the entire time filled up with relaxing and shopping and of course touring the beautiful and tourist places of St. Thomas, but the more I think about it if/WHEN we return to STT it might be on a cruise ship limiting the time we have to check out St. Johns............ oh my, my head is spinning now!! (side note - the husband has been to Hawaii and loved it but never the Caribbean. I have been to neither but think I will like the Caribbean more and need ideas to persuade him to like the Caribbean, lol. Also, we are going to Hawaii in October of 2012 so I will forge my own personal opinion then, but I'm still thinking the Caribbean, mainly the USVI, is where I would rather be!)

This time around I suggest you stay with STT. STJ is my favorite but unless you are emotionally driven to go it will only add stress to what you want out of your vacation...limin in the VI. You need to take a ferry, decide where to go and how to get there when you have already said beaches are not necessarily your motivation. Stay on STT and take your time doing what you like. Enjoy yourselves and if/when you decide to return you can consider more time on STJ.

Thanks, Chris! I pretty much have everything planned well already for STT, so we will just take it S L O W and enjoy STT, then if we really love it and the Caribbean make a plan to come back and hit STT and look at STT pictures in the meantime, lol. You can / this thread, my mind is made up, we will just take it slow on STT, but if we absolutely love the Caribbean and USVI we will make sure we can get to STJ as well as a brief stop at a couple British islands!

Cancel your reservation at EB and head straight to St. John. There are a couple of smaller inns in Cruz bay (St. John Inn, Tamarind, Cruz Bay Boutique).
Rent a jeep for the day and drive up the North Shore road, pulling over at every scenic stop. There is nothing that compares to the views along this road. It will be the highlight of your vacation. Skip St. Thomas, you'll thank me later.

cruzan1 wrote:
There is nothing that compares to the views along this road. It will be the highlight of your vacation. Skip St. Thomas, you'll thank me later.

There are quite a few fantastic viewing photo stops along the roads in STT - enjoy STT and take STJ as it comes this trip or next time.
none of Cruzans STJ hotel recommendations has a beach and Emerald Beach is just beautiful for your short stay - why stay in a crowded loud bar ridden town like Cruz Bay when you have a wonderful hotel already booked on a wonderful island like St Thomas.
You can click on cruzan1 and read all the 7 previous posts and decide if that is the kind of referrals you might want.

The two islands couldn't be more different. One is busy (STT) but offers more of the services you're likely used to at home. The other is nature and very relaxed. Locals on STJ sometimes refer to STT as St. Trauma (grin) simply because it's much more active there and they're accustom to a much slower pace. If you like the conveniences of home (rest, shopping) then stay on STT. If you love beautiful beaches & nature and want a getaway like no other; There are no finer or more breath taking beaches in the VI than STJ's North shore (or the world for that matter). Megan's bay is pretty but it can't hold a candle to any of the beaches on STJ's North shore.

A couple things to keep in mind. If you're just going to STJ for the day, keep an eye on your ferry times.They don't run after a certain time (or even "on time" for that matter) and if you miss the last one you'll be staying the night with us. Don't buy a round trip ticket on the car ferry unless you're absolutely sure you will be on the exact same boat heading back (just don't do it). Different boats are run by different companies have their own rates, and do not reciprocate.

You'll need transportation on STJ so either bring a jeep from STT or rent one here. It's much less expensive and less hassle to take the people ferry over to STJ, rent a jeep here, explore and drop it off when you're done. Round trip car ferry will set you back almost as much as the daily jeep rental itself. There are plenty of jeep rental places within walking distance from the STJ dock. Most rental places will give you a map but you can get one at the end of the dock from the information booth. What ever you do... Don't rent a moped for island sight seeing. They're fine around Cruz but it's extremely dangerous to venture through the mountains on one and they're not powered well enough to get you over some of the larger mountains without a little extra foot turbo.

There are three main roads on STJ. North Shore, Centerline and South Shore. North Shore is likely where you'll want to travel as most all of STJ's top beaches are on that side of the island. The annaberg sugar plantation ruins are on that side of the island and are an interesting visit as well. Make sure you bring your camera with you. These are memories you'll have to show the folks back home because you just can't describe it well enough to do it justice.

Centerline will take you through the center of the island to Coral bay and beyond but it's not as scenic as North Shore. South shore is more local residential with exception of the Westin. If you're on North shore and you come to a confusing fork in the road just remember; The high road takes you to centerline rd and the low road takes you back to north shore where you came from (you'll understand when you get there).

If you end up in STJ and decide you want to explore the island, make sure you have a full tank of gas before you venture out. There's only one gas station on the island and that's in Cruz. There are no fuel options in coral bay other than the good graces of a local with a stash. Be mindful that the other locals (wild donkeys & goats) roam the streets at will with the cars. You never know when you'll turn a corner and find one, the other or both... impeding your path.

One more thing. Don't forget your sunblock... 15 minutes of sun in the VI is like an hour in FL. . Bring bug spray to STJ if you plan to be here after dusk, or just stop in any local restaurant for a bite and ask to borrow theirs.

We hope you'll take the time to visit us and one of the worlds best kept secrets. Happy travels. Here's a link that will give you a birds eye view of STJ.and if you move it around a little you can explore STT as well.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=18.352896,-64.747839&spn=0.055722,0.090895&t=h&z=14&vpsrc=6