Paul & Karen:

Since you're coming during the "low season" the Caribbean Party at Bolongo might not be held, but it usually starts 7:00 - 7:30.

The food market near Red Hook is the "Food Center" (open until 10:00)....however, you just might want to use Marina Market in Red Hook (open until 9:00)...better quality (IMHO).

Sorry...don't know Andrew....but Ainsley's is still there....we were at Ainsley's last week.....BBQ?, not while we were there.

We always rent from Hertz...but Budget should be O.K.

Sapphire Beach is still a good place to stay...the only minus (that I can see) is that the restaurants & bars are closed. Red Hook is nearby and has lots of restaurants & bars.

Have a good trip.

F.I.

I took a look at this site. I can see why people would be upset. The site is out of date and states the restaurants and bars are open. All but 2 reviews were very old. It also appears they don't verify the reviews. I could have said I visited recently and wrote a glowing review. If you rented through an owner site; go with the reviews of the unit you have rented. I would trust the by owner site reviews; you can at least be sure the reviewer actually stayed there.

My mom and I just got back from Sapphire Beach Resort on 4/10/09, the beach is amazing there, very nice and not too busy. The room was well used, but really how often do you plan to stay in the room-other than to sleep *-) We really liked that there was a kitchen in the room, we took the taxi into Red Hook to the market and bought some things, and made most lunches in the room and hung out on the beach-so much cheaper. The pool is nice at the resort, I guess there used to be a little bar/resturant next to it? Not sure, there was a boarded up building sitting there. There is the Grapevine Grill-which is close, just a short walk past the Marina, and their food was really good, and also during the day there is the Banana Cabana on the beach if you want burgers and such and of course drinks 😎 We really enjoyed ourselves there, and cannot wait to take another adventure to the island, just hoping next time we might bump into Kenny Chesney on the street, lol.

Hope you guys have fun....

~Warmin' up in Michigan, dreaming to go back to STT.

Hi Paul and Karen,

On the Iggies website there is a page with the photos of the Carnival night they have in the description that the buffet opens at 6:30pm and music starting at 7 and show starting at 8pm. Ditto the comment about June and it getting into slower months of off season. You might check the website again, here is the link http://www.iggiesbeachbar.com/Carnivalnight.htm, and then email on contact them closer to June to double check that they are having it and double check the time. As for other resorts that have Caribbean parties; Wyndham Sugar Bay I am pretty sure has one and I think Best Western at Emerald Beach also has one. So you can check the day/time for those as well.

Also depending on when you are visiting in June you might catch an actual Carnival ;). St. John has Carnival in June and ending in the first week of July. A lot of the first events are pageants. The big week is the last week of June/first week of July when there are food fairs, the village, live bands, parade.

Andrew Douglas does still play at various restaurants/bars. What you can do is when you get on island pick up the St. Thomas/St. John This Week at the airport baggage claim. Inside in the first few pages there is usually a schedule of live entertainment. You can find in the steel pan section a list of places with live steel pan and often it says who is playing. If not you can call the places listed and ask who is playing.

--Islander

Yes Sapphire Beach Resort has had some negative reviews. But the advantage that it has is that it is right on Sapphire Beach. So if you go in knowing that you enjoy the beach, turtles, rays, sun, trees and everything. The Grapevine is up on the hill as all restaurants are closed as the association fights with the land owner. But red hook is only a mile away as well as all other locations.

So enjoy.

billd

I was wondering about the Carniva that "the Islander" was speaking of?? I will be there from 6/12/09- 6/25/2009 will be be going on then? Anything else going on during that time??

No need to worry. Sapphire is a wonderful resort. My family has a condo there and we love it! Most of the units are privately owned and have been remoleded by the owner. You'll have to check with the agency/website you rented from to see if yours is one. Like others have said there is the Banana Cabana which serves food and drinks during the day. It's a short drive to Red Hook which has all the amenities you'll need on your vacation. Enjoy!

We stayed there and LOVED it!!! We went grocery shopping without rent a car and BBQ outside or cooked! WE loved it..it was great
Unless you need to eat out all the time, it is perfect.

Thanks for the RSVP'n. I am sure the resort will be just fine. Karen and I usually get up early and have breakfast on the patio or deck and then hit the beaches on STT and STJ, come back and get washed up and go out for dinner and dancing. Low pressure to be sure.
Seven weeks and counting. Thanks again for the responses.

larry5747: The STT carnival finishes end of this week and the St John carnival is July 4th. For general events, either pick up a copy of the free weekly advertising newspaper, "Island Trader" on arrival (it comes out every Thursday) or check it out online at http://islandtrader.vidaily.com/

seaweed, have a wonderful time here!