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Hi All,
We got back from STT on May 27 (I know it's been a couple of weeks but I'm finally back to reality and ready to relive it again). Being from Colorado it was kind of a long trip down, we had to stay in Charlotte both ways but overall the flights on US Airways were nice and easy.
We arrived on a Monday afternoon and had rented a car with Avis. Everything we smooth at the airport, got our luggage and off to the car. The car was a joke, not that we needed anything special but considering my husband is an elite member with Avis we were both a little shocked at our beat up, run down Chevy Cavalier that puttered up the hills but at least the A/C worked!! The island is pretty easy to navigate but the driving is scary (thank god my husband did all of it :). We arrived at our hotel, the Marriott Frenchman's, around 3:30 and headed right to the pool. The pool at the Marriott is great...great views of Charlotte Ameile, the ships coming in and out of port and a nice swim up bar. Once we had our umbrella drink we were ready to roll! We ended up just eating at the resort that night at Captain's Cafe, not great and probably won't go back but it was easy and convienent.
Tuesday we went to Megan's Bay and loved it. Although there were 3 ships at port and a lot of cruise excursions so it was kind of crowed until about 2:30 but was still awesome. They have a full service snack bar and bar, prices were fair ($5 for a hamburger, $6 for frozen drinks) and they don't skim on their alcohol. My husband ordered a rum and coke that was basically rum with a splash of coke. If I had a dollar for everytime we heard "whoee, this isn't like my morning swims off the Jersey shore!" It was pretty funny. On the way back we had to stop at Udder Delight for a famous milkshake and boy was it worth it!!
Wednesday we went on a day sail with New Horizons. We made two stops on St John for snorkeling and had f&b all day. It was so beautiful and nice to be on the water for a day. We did, however, realize at the end of the day that we were on the wrong cruise...I signed up online before our trip and signed up for a trip on Thursday that was suppose to go to BVI and soggy dollar bar so that was kind of a bummer but we still had a great time!
Wednesday night we ate at Havana Blue and it was AWESOME!! Our priciest meal of the week but well worth it. The views were amazing and the food was really good...would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice meal out.
Thursday we went shopping downtwon, no ships were at port so it was nice and relaxed. We ate at Glady's and it was a nice laid back cafe with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Food was good too. After shopping we drove to Mahogany Run to check it out, glad we didn't golf because it was way too hot!! But got a nice shirt and hat for my hubby. Stopped at Udder Delight again for another tasty treat (it is vacation :)).
Friday we took the ferry to St John. Parking in Red Hook was interesting, we ended up parking in a big dirt lot where a lot of locals park and walking to the ferry port which was kind of scary (no sidewalks). The ferry ride was quick, easy and beautiful. Once on STJ we walked around and shopped a little before catching a taxi to Trunk Bay. Nice ameneties (snacks, snorkel rentals, showers) and good snorkeling but it was super windy so we couldn't really enjoy hanging on the beach. We headed back to town and had lunch at Margarita Phil's...a little pricey but our shrimp chalupa was our favorite meal of the trip and the margarita's were yummy! Once back on STT we made a stop at the legendary Duffy's and were just starting to have a good time when we realized that we were out of cash and Duffy's doesn't take credit cards (bummer). Wished we could have partied longer.
Friday night we went to Hook, Line and Sinker in Frenchtown and were extremely disappointed. The service was really bad (never brought us our wine we ordered), the food wasn't very good (they ran out of bread) but the scenery was entertaining...we watch a slightly intoxicated lady crawl into a docked boat to sleep the night away.
Before heading to airport Saturday we stopped at The Greenhouse for lunch, good atmosphere, views and food! We had heard mixed reviews of the airport and going through customs but it was pretty smooth, dropped the car off and to the gate area in about 30 minutes.
Misc thoughts....we really loved our time in USVI and can't wait to go back with friends or family. Liquor is so freaking cheap that we'll plan on making a lot of our own drinks next time and would like to rent one of the many villas. For those that have never been, I compare the islands too....STT is more of a Maui, more developed, crowded, more ameneties where as STJ is more of a Kauai. Less people, crowds, development...just a really cute, quaint island. We felt a little more welcomed by the locals on STJ than we did STT but STJ seemed to be a littly posher as well. Prices were what we expected, most meals between $8-15 unless it was a nicer rest. (Havana Blue was $25-30pp). Drinks were from $5-8, beer was cheaper, especially Heineken which was $2 some places. The beaches were all spectacular and the water simply amazing. I don't know that there is a prettier place anywhere.
Thanks so much to everyone who posts on this board...it gave me so many tips and ideas and I kept referring to it the entire trip. To everyone going later this summer/year....I'm jealous. I don't have to tell you to have fun because you will!! Thanks for letting me relive and bore you with this post (or distract you from work for a few minutes).
ColoSun
Very nice perspective! My fiancee and I are honeymooning on STJ the first week of August. I also have enjoyed reading everyone's comments ton the board.
thanks for the trip report. I am from CO as well, Glenwood Springs, and now live in Charlotte. My cousin just graduated CSU and for her gift we are taking her to STJ with us this Friday. I have not spent much time St. Thomas, but I have to say I felt many similarities to CO. Especially STJ with the National Park. To me it seems the same kind of person migrates there as the type of person that typically does so to the western slope. I also found many attitudes to be similar. Of course there are a lot of differences and many of the similarities are probably due to the tourism factor, that being said, I couldn't help feeling at home.
Great trip report. I was shocked to hear about your bad experiance at Hook, Line and Sinker, We've had lunch there at least 10-15 times over the past 7 years and have not had a disappointing meal or service.
Where in Charlotte? I live in Charlotte also!
Dilworth..........AND WE ARE LEAVING TOMORROW! I can barely stand myself...........
Cool! I live in SouthPark!
Great trip report! And thanks for distracting me from work. 😉 I really enjoy reading about everyone's trips.
Hi Colosun,
I enjoyed reading your trip report and I am glad you liked it here (STT) so much :)!!!
We just returned from a trip to CO,. Love it there too :)!
Best,
Mell
SO MUCH INFORMATION!! WHOA
We are planning a trip in sept. (havent reserved anything yet)- now I'm worried. Should we rent a car? Should we go with the all - inclusive plan at sugar bay? I want our honeymoon to be AWESOME!!
Any suggestions would be appreciated. This is suppose to be a trip of a life time. 🙂
Jeniffer,
First of all congrats on your up-coming wedding.
IMHO I would NOT go all inclusive on St. Thomas, there are way to may great resturants to experiance than, having to have all of your meals time at same place.
I would highly recommend renting a car, you'll save money over taking taxies and your free to explore were, and whenever, you want at your own pace.
My wife and I spent our honeymoon (Sept. 89) on St. Thomas, well actually Water Island, but spent much of our time on STT., you'll have a great time.
Hi Jennifer,
I agree with "OIT" DO NOT go all inclusive. The restaurant scene here is wonderful (great food to be found absolutely everywhere) and each place you go to will be a different and very unique dining experience. It would be a real shame to miss out on this and to limit yourself to mediocre, chain hotel food.
I would strongly recommend renting a car. Having a car will cost you much less than taking taxis around the island.
September is low-season here, so I don't think you will have much of a problem finding a place to stay. That said, I would make reservations A.S.A.P. -- after all this is your HONEYMOON we are talking about here girlfriend :)!!!
You are going to have a great time!!! If you want to do some exploring, plan a day trip to St. John and charter a boat to the BVI's (Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda in particular are wonderful).
Do a search on this board. There are pages and pages of great information to help you plan your trip.
Congrats and all the best to you and your fiancé:)!!!
Jennifer,
If you havent booked yet, call some b&b's. They may not be all inclusive but the host/hostess will treat you like family. And that leaves you free to go anywhere you want and have...say filet mingon and maybe a cheeseburger for the other. You can go where you want, when you want, to do what you want. I have never planned a trip to St. Croix to stay all inclusive at the resorts. Usually, a B&B, couple of ideas and the cards fell. IMHO this makes the vacation personal. If you wake up, get some coffee, watch the sun rise and miss breakfast because things are better in the room with no maid service at the time, at least you haven't paid for it. Hop in the car "after" and do some exploring and have an awesome lunch with a view... My DH and I watch and listen to our friends fabulous all-inclusive honeymoons and whatnot.. but we've noticed that the experience is missed. We had a great friend who did all inclusive sandles trip and spent 6000 for a week no airfare inc. DH and I spent 2000 for two weeks on St Croix and had a great time... Now we are moving there. We were so relaxed that the DH had a gecko fall asleep on his shoulder and Momma at the Dominic Club WAS impressed with that...
At an all inclusive you feel obligated
Make it your time to have fun; no obligation
(By the way all inclusive offers free booze. Pack your mix and buy the booze on island. Believe me you will save in the end).
Have a wonderful trip and don't sweat anything...Just show up and it'll be good.
THANKS THANKS THANKS
I'm clear on renting a car and not going all inclusive. I like the idea of staying at a hotel and having access to a pool, room service, spa. Can anyone suggest a nice, cozy, hotel?
One other thing - should we make all the reservations ourselves or stay with the travel agent (that hasnt got back to us after 5 days).
HAVE A GREAT DAY!!
JEN
I would suggest Caneel Bay for your trip. I have also stayed at Estate Lindholm and loved it, but think you are looking for a little more for this particular trip. My sister just stayed at Caneel Bay and had a wonderful time.
We stay at the Elysian Beach Resort on STT, it has, beach, pool, spa, and two resturants adn is close to the East End. Since your going in off season you should get a good rate for your room. The Elysian is a Timeshare resort so you'll get nailed with the sales pitch...go to the pitch, take the VIP packet...and the bottle of rum and say "No thanks". The VIP packet has some good discount coupons ie: 2/1 day sails / dinner cruise, X% off here and there et., worth the 1 1/2 sales pitch.
As far as using a travel agent...I think the one that hasn't call you back in 5 days would be fired (jmho). I haven't used an agent in years, I think I'd shop both an agency and the internet for the best deals.
Hi Jeniffer,
Once again I agree with OIT.
If you are comfortable with researching travel options online, there is no reason IMHO to use a travel agent. It has been more than a decade since I have used a travel agent -- even for travel to some very remote places on this planet.
If you know how to surf the net, you should quite easily be able to get all of the info you need and book your travel via the Internet and email (sometimes a few phone calls are needed too).
I have never stayed at the Elysian Beach Resort, although I live close to it. I did check out their exercise facility (to join possibly), and the property looks very nice from the outside.
Again, the Internet is your best source of information. I like to check out the travel reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.com/
My husband and I mostly did vacation rentals when traveling here before we moved, and we just moved here in February so I am not very familiar with most of the hotel rooms here.
If you want to do some research, and narrow down a few choices for your dates, I would be happy to "scope out" a few places for you and give you a reporting as to my overall impressions of the rooms, etc. This is a small island so I am within a 5-20 minute drive of most of the major resorts here.
Just so you know, the two places that CJ mentioned are on St. John, which is also a lovely, and very popular, place to honeymoon.
Good luck with your planning :)!
Bit of a price difference between Caneel and Lindholm. At that time of year Lindholm would run $150-200/night. Caneel's nightly rates would start at $350 and keep rising, depending on choice of accomodation.
Jen: Your question is stuck under a thread named "Trip Report." You might get more response if you start a new thread- maybe "Honeymoon in September" or such! 🙂
There are so many choices!! I don't know where to start. LOL
I will drop the travel agent - or maybe she already dropped me?
I will get online tonight and look for hotels.
thanks for all your help
Jen
