Christy,
I, like you, initially planned on doing an all-inclusive on St Thomas for my honeymoon. I wanted to relax and not have to make any decisions after the stress of planning my wedding.
A couple of very good friends who were very familiar with St Thomas talked me out of doing all-inclusive and I'm so glad they did. There are so many amazing restaurants on St Thomas and on St John ( a 20 minute ferry ride away) that it would be a shame to be locked into one resort. If you really are intent on all-inclusive I would pick another island and another resort, such as the Grand Lido resorts on Jamaica.
We stayed at Secret Harbor on St Thomas and had so much fun. It's a quiet resort with fabulous beach! Sapphire Beach resort would also be a good pick as would The Ritz. I believe The Ritz does an all-inclusive package or semi-inclusive package but they don't publicize it. Call and ask if they offer it. The Ritz would be a better choice than either Sugar Bay or Bolongo Bay. Niether are awful, just not what I'd want for my honeymoon, mediocre beaches and fair to middling food.
You could also stay at Caneel Bay on St John if your budget allows. It's a truly magnificent resort with 7 spectacular beaches right on the property.
Whatever you choose to do, congratulations and good luck!!

I'll second kiersten...once you've been there, you'll wish you hadn't gone all-inclusive...a big part of the charm of the Virgin Islands is away from where you stay.

bob

Well, the reason why we wanted all-inclusive was because we went to Cancun a few years ago and loved it...We just loved the "free drinks" whenever we pleased..I'll call the Ritz and see if they do offer the inclusive plans..We are the kind of people who would be relaxing and wanting to stay in one place..I know we'd go out and do other things and may try a different restaurant or two...Thank you both for your input, and if you have any more comments, please feel free!!

Thanks again!

I forgot another thing..my fiance loves to golf and I'm sure would do that once or twice while we are there...

Christy,
Cancun is very different from St Thomas. It sounds like you haven't been there but none of the resorts are the 'stay in one place and don't move for a week' kind of places. You will WANT to explore, trust me.
I really do completely understand your reasons for wanting all-inclusive, I just don't think St Thomas is the place to do it. That's just my opinion but I was in your position only a year ago.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

So if I don't do all-inclusive, how are the prices down there??? On food, drinks, etc..Are they reasonably priced, because I don't want to pay so much money for the flight and hotel and then have no money to eat or drink on..I haven't ever been to the islands, but I work with a girl whose family is from there and lives down there..She stays with them so she hasn't ever got the experience of staying in any resort!! So she can't help me in the hotel department...I did call the Ritz and they don't offer the inclusive.

Christy,
I was looking at the Ritz website and didn't see any evidence of any type of all-inclusive or semi-inclusive package unfortunately.....
Since you're getting married in July you will be able to take advantage of low season pricing. This is a huge plus regardless of what you decide to do.
At someplace like Secret Harbor or Sapphire Beach resort you will be able to have a 1 bedroom beachfront suite for around $225 a night. The Blue Moon is the main restaurant at Secret Harbor and the food is wonderful. There is a beach bar for drinks right on the beach. (God this makes me want to go to the airport and get on the next flight out).
Marriot Morningstar Resort is another resort right on a beautiful beach. The pricing will be a bit higher there. That's my biggest problem with the two all-inclusives on St Thomas. Neither of them is on a nice beach. Not horrible but also not someplace you'd just want to plant yourself for a week.
Your fiance will be able to golf at Mahogany Run. We found the course well maintained and some of the views were spectacular. You will love St Thomas, that is something that I can promise you!
I'm trying to think of the easiest way to give you some kind of price comparisons..... As I said, we honeymooned at Secret Harbor and ate out for ALL our meals, had drinks and rented a car. We spent a total of about $3000 and an additional $600 or so on airfare from NY. We were extremely happy but that was us. You need to figure out what would make you and your fiance happy. You only honeymoon once!!
I'm very happy for you and wish you the best! If I can do anything else feel free to email me [email protected]
Kiersten

Christy: Listen to Kiersten, she sounds like a smart cookie.;-) If you stay in a condo like Secret Harbour, you can cut corners by fixing breakfasts in, or making picnic lunches. You can have cocktails before you go out to dinner, although liquor is one of the cheaper things here. (BTW, there is no such thing as a "free drink"- you paid for every single one, I guarantee!)Or your sweetie can dazzle you with his cooking expertise! Besides, July is low season, so you will get better deals. There are some very good and reasonable restaurants that will not break the bank and you won't have to face the same old boring buffet each night. All-inclusives are for places like Cancun and Jamaica...come explore!

I absolutely agree about the all-inclusive option for St. Thomas and St. John where the islands are your resort. The Ritz does offer a B&B option however that sounds like it might be a bit out of the price range. Past summers the Marriott properties did have an all inclusive option so if you are really locked into that, you might want to check with Marriott to see if they know if it will be available again - not that I would recommend it because you will want to be out and about, on day trips to either St. John or the BVI's and enjoying the islands. The Entertainment Book has several STT properties in it also and read where some folks got great prices at places like Secret Harbour which has a wonderful beach and great restaurant on site. You can breakfast in, make a light lunch and dine out and even have your own bar fixings! But, of course, that's not the same as walking up to the bar and feeling like you didn't pay for it - even tho you did! I suspect the STT all inclusives will be very different from the ones you found in Cancun!

Thanks you all for everything! I'm going to look into the Marriot and the Secret Harbor and Sapphire Beach Resort..We've got a while to think because we are getting married July 26, but I'm the type who wants to already have it booked and not worry!! So I'll let you all know what we decide, and thanks again!

Kiersten
I was looking at the Secret Harbor website, and it looks wonderful..The beach does look better than that of the Wyndham..I can even tell from the pictures on the Internet..Did you all go through a travel agent or just book the room yourself..I found out the dates we are wanting to be there with the honeymoon package it would be around 1600 for 6 nights, which I don't think is bad at all..Were the rooms nice? I haven't really been able to see any pics of the rooms..All the amenities sound exactly like what we would want...

Christy,
If you go to www.travelhop.com, you will be able see the rooms at the different hotels. The pictures are pretty accurate. Hope that helps!
Kiersten

Hi There,

If you would like to have some pictures of Secret Harbour that will show you the beach, buildings and inside of the suites, let me know. I would be happy to email some to you.

If you are in a metropolitan area that offers the Entertainment Book, you can use the coupon in the book for a 50% savings on Secret Harbour bookings.

Schultz

Schultz--
That would be great! My email is [email protected]. I am really leaning towards this resort because I've been researching it almost half the day...I didn't understand what you were talking about when you said something about the 50% savings in the coupon book...Where do I get one?

Go to www.entertainment.com. It's a coupon book with savings on lots of things including travel services. Secret Harbor is one of the participating hotels and the coupon gets you 50% off the "rack rate".
That's an unbelievably good deal. The 2003 books are available to be ordered right off the website.
6 or 7 nights will end up costing you under $1000 which will leave you alot leftover for renting a car, or restaurants or a daysail to the British Virgin Islands or shopping.
Have fun!

Thank you so much Toni for the info!!

I tried to get the book also, I couldn't figure it out , so if you find out let me know. thanks [email protected]