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My wife and I are spending a week in May at Maho Bay and wanted to ship a box with a few items. Does anyone know if Connections in Cruz Bay will hold our package until we get there? How much time should I give a box from Nebraska to get there? Given it gets there at all 😉 Hear USPS was the way to go. Any advice is appreciated. Also, anywhere to purchase beach chairs on STJ? Would rather not have to ferry over to STT's Kmart if we don't have to. Thank you in advance for any advice.
I can't speak for Connections. As for transit times we usually allow 7 - 10 days for USPS and 3 - 5 days for Fedex. We're just west of Indy.
If you are shipping to St. John, you will use USPS. We don't have regular FedEx service on island and it is very costly. Usually the USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes are the way to go. I also recommend that you use Delivery Confirmation. And for the best service yet, you can use USPS Click N Ship on www.usps.com. You pay and print your postage online. This is the best way because the label is printed in the exact way that their scanners like to read, bar code and all. Connections will charge a fee for holding your box. You can visit their website for more info.Connections
Priority Mail generally takes between 5-10 business days to arrive to St. John. Sometimes less, sometimes more, but I would send the box out no less than 10 days before your arrival. How you address the box will have bearing on how fast the box gets here. So if you don't use Click N Ship, make sure that you address in ALL CAPS, no abbreviations or punctuation, like this:
JOHN DOE
PO BOX 37
ST JOHN VI 00831-0037
And for beach chairs, the hardware store usually has them. They are on the second level of the Marketplace. Park in the back lot, they are right there, the first store you see. The beach chairs are usually outside. If they don't have any, the pharmacy usually has some too. They are also on the second level of the Marketplace.
stjohnjulie and T shirt1,
Thank you for all the information. Really appreciate it. Is the "Marketplace" the Starfish Marketplace? Not sure if there is another one. We were down last Oct but only for 3 days and stayed on STT. We spent two days on STJ and fell in love with it. We are coming back for 8 days in May and can' wait. Thank you again.
As I'm still waiting for packages shipped to connections, not sure I can recommend them.
A package was sent, got lost enroute. I was told by connections NOT to check with USPS as they (connections) would handle it from their end. I would check in daily with connections and nothing. Finally on the day we were leaving, I stopped into the main post office in St Thomas and was told that my package had been shipped back to dead storage in Atlanta, 3 days earlier. So much for connections handling things.
Yes, the Marketplace is the complex where Starfish Market is 🙂
Wanderer... I'm sure Connections said they would handle it because they are the 'owners' of PO Box 37. The mail in the VI has troubles for sure. There are some things that you can do to help ensure that your package is delivered in a timely manner, but sometimes there are still screw ups. Using the boxes that the Post Office provides, and using their online Click N Ship for a label are two things that really help ensure a timely delivery. Even minor errors in addressing can cause delays or cause packages to be returned. Connections not only receives mail for many visitors, they also are where many residents receive mail because we have such a limited number of PO Boxes and sometimes you have to wait a very very long time to acquire one of your own. I'm sorry you didn't get your box! That is a real bummer. Hope you had a good time while you were here.
