Cliff,

When we first started to visit the island we took lots of food down with us, in fact on several trips shipped it ahead. Any meat I have ever taken I put in ice chest sealed it really good using dry ice and checked it.

The problem or at least the issue you have not is the inspections if you have it really sealed good. You may want to have extra tape with you to redo after they open it and they will.

I would really suggest you buy it on the island, Star Market is great has a wonderful selection of foods including meat.

Yes, it will cost you more than in the states. But the other side of that is you do not have to lug the cooler around.

Good Luck

RM

Buy the meat at home. It will be much less expensive and of much better quality. Freeze it, put it in a cooler, and then put it in a normal checked bag.

A friend going to the BVI recently had her meat and poultry seized, supposedly because of mad cow and avaian flu concerns though I suspect the agents and their families feasted for several days. Still, moving meat and poultry around is becoming more of a concern for some people -- including people with the power to make your travel experience more difficult -- so I'd recommend buying on island. It may cost a bit more than what you're accustomed to paying at home but the price difference is probably trivial relative to the cost of your vacation.

Airlines lose and misplace luggage all the time. Nowhere is it written that it can't be the bag with all the frozen food.

We took meat on on our January trip for 8 people. Checked it as carry on in a large cooler, duct taped closed. It was perfect. Everything was still frozen when we got there, and after checking out the local markets, the quality of our's from BJ's was much better. Would do it again in a minute. I always buy trip insurance and if they had lost my meat, it would have been covered! Would do it again in a minute!

I always take meat from home. We have a local butcher that does a really nice job of cutting beef, and he's cheap.

This year, I purchased about $200 worth of steaks (5 Adults for 14 days), took them home and individually wrapped them in press and seal and then put them in gallon zip lock bags. I froze them solid and then put them in a soft-sided cooler that I asked to have hand-checked at Sea-Tac. I don't add dry ice, because I thought you couldn't use it anymore.

The cooler arrived perfectly in St. Thomas, on-time, and still frozen solid.

However, here's the funny part, my 17 year old daughter's luggage took the scenic route to St. Thomas and arrived the next day. (Would have been less headache to lose the meat).

JFP

Nothing like supporting the local economy, I will buy mine there.

RM

I have always taken meat and seafood(shrimp lobster and crab) with me to all the islands I have traveled to.......always better quality and about 1/2 the price......I am a chef so I do recive a deep discounts to be fair....... I do supprt the economy while in the islands... but the super markets do charge way too much.....I know what chefs on the Islands pay per pound whole sale and the markets have up to a 120% mark up on some items.........meat and seafood...milk-cheese...

I deep freeze all my items in bulk together....like a block of ice and then wrap them in trash bags and pack them in an old suitcase and check it it in with the rest of my bags..............things to remember....the new # limit is 50 .so dont over pack....or you will have to pay extra......I have lost my bags in San Juan 2 out of 3 times and have had my bags sit on the tarmack in the sun for 3 days ......2005 .St John trip.....lost nothing and the steaks were still frozen in the center......just an opinion ......and 30 years of packing meat in suitcases for trips around the world........

I thought being a chef had to do with dealing with the items you could find locally?? When in Rome...

We always take some food with us. It’s not even really a matter of cost. More about having what we want without having to schlep around spending our vacation buying provisions. But yes, we do save some serious money doing it. People will tell you that the laughable prices charged for common grocery items are necessary because of the cost of transporting them there. But why then do you find the same thing at three different places at three wildly different prices? We pump plenty of $$$ into the local economy as it is. There’s nothing exotic and local about a box of Cheerios.

Our preference is a softside cooler (we got one from REI with wheels and a handle) that we carry on. If someone wants to look, they can look. We pack it with hard-frozen items as described above and don’t bother with dry ice. We toss in 3-4 bottles of water frozen, which act like drinkable ice packs. Some people use fruit juice, etc. the same way. Then once we’re on the island we’ve got a very handy cooler for the beach.

I agree with bringing some food with you on your trip. We bought some nice steaks from Costco and vacuumed sealed them and put them in the frezeer. Trip morning, just packed them in a small cooler with some chicken and off we were. Took the cooler on as a carry on with no problems. By the time we arrived on St. John, unpacked them at the villa they were still frozen. Cooked in a couple of nights and ate out the rest.

Eastender.......being a chef is about art, making money and keeping your customer base happy.....while on vacation I use local produce,dry goods and fish....(imported from sysco on San Juan) ...not being ripped off!!! .......I have lived on Islands my whole life....and some are just plain too gready and dont care what they charge.....Maui...St John...Nevis.....what the market can bare sometimes kills your return customers likely hood of return visit...if your going to be a greedy bastard you better have a great product to sell..that somtimes or as I see it almost always happens...how many Great meals have you had on vacation?.....just an opinion....

Hubby and I were going to bring steaks and stuff but decided we'd rather have one less piece of luggage and a lot less dishes in the sink!

My neighbor Eddie is a butcher at our local market. He thinks I should buy meat from him to take with me on vacation. He thinks that I owe my support to the community that I live in the other 51 weeks of the year.

sean: I really don't want to come across as argumentative. I am not ready for socialism to completely take over this place, though. When you say that it is greed that makes it expensive in St John, Nevis and Maui- what about St Barts, Bermuda, Mustique? Aspen, Malibu, South Beach? Perhaps these are smaller upscale resort locales. You gotta pay to play! I have never taken food with me when I travel and I've had lots of great meals. If I wanted to eat the same stuff always, I'd stay home and fix it there!

As I said, just another opinion on the purpose of travel. Friends?? 🙂

Socialism? Well let’s not argue then…every city in the world has a tourist industry….I open resorts and restaurants for a living….. …..Maui. Nevis and St John are just a few of places I have worked and lived……Maui for 16 years (seasonal) the Island went from busy and affordable to slow and very expensive for employees to live and profit …..This eliminates a quality workforce which in turn lowers quality product and then eventuality tourism suffers from poor service and staff that can not meet the expectations of the high paying clientele….vicious circle….my point is why rent a villa if you’re not going to use the kitchen? And would you eliminate the traveler that needs to budget or just does not feel a $20 breakfast with piss poor service is in keeping with there idea of what vacation means them? Simply it’s their vacation! They don’t tell you how to behave on yours……….. I thought this was a forum to help and guide more tourists to the friendly USVI ? ………..my last point is …and I apologize for my rant …….if you eat a meal at your villa and save a few bucks….wont you spend that little extra cash on t-shirts and local crafts?
……just an opinion…………..

I saw a post a while back where some people were able to mail order from Omaha Steak Co. and have the steaks shipped to their rental agency. I never tried it but I thought it was a smart idea because then you don't have to worry about carrying the cooler. Omaha Steak always has a coupon in the box if you order anything from Amazon.com. They also put coupons in our local paper in the coupon section. My parents order from them all the time and like the quality of the steaks but they are not picky eaters. All the meat is individually freeze wrapped and I believe it is shipped with dry ice. You might want to call your rental agency and see if they will do this for you. Here is the post I saw from a Destini from 6/8/05.

https://www.vinow.com/wwwtalk/read.php?4,37542,37645#msg-37645

Here is a link I found for Omaha Steak Company. They ship more than steaks too!

http://www.omahasteaks.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?Dsp=260&AID=1830&SRC=RZ0262&gad=CLKk5bQBEgjENu5S9yrRMRiIn7__AyDIoIEK&gkw=mail+order+fish&OVRAW=omaha%20steak%20co&OVKEY=omaha%20steak%20co&OVMTC=standard

Enjoy your trip. Happy anniversary!

FYI. these are the prices for shipping from Omaha Steaks, have used them in the past not on the island but in Michigan where I live, shipping to V.I. might be a factor for some.

Additional Charges
Expedited - Add $14.00
Overnight - Add $24.00
Saturday Overnight - Add $34.00
Alaska/Hawaii - Add $24.00
Canada - Add $24.00
Puerto Rico - Add $39.00
Virgin Islands - Add $125.00

maybe a misprint on their part.

having read all of the post on the issue of meat, I may continue to enjoy goat.

Hey B, Where exactly is Starfish Market?