LindaJ

We were considering a visit to St. Thomas. But then I we saw this article in the online version of the Virgin Island Daily News with pictures of horrendous crowds due to 8 cruise ships being in at once. Yuck!!! Is this what we can expect at this time of year???<BR><BR>http://www.virginislandsdailynews.co...home?id=613004

Ronnie

Sorry Linda, hope that picture doesn't dissuade you. The photographer went to the smallest beach to show the people there. Poor planning on their part, there are tons of other beaches to go to, if plaaned correctly. Other than that, there are only 3 of those 8 ship days this season. That was one of them, the next is Christmas Eve and then New Years Eve. We can't help that tourists want to visit here during the holidays! Trust me, for years the local cruise ship people have been trying to have the cruise lines stagger the visits, but this happens every holiday season! I have seen a total of 15 ships in one day! Imagine that, so 8 is a blessing!<BR><BR>And, they closed of main street to vehicular traffic and the usual traffic jams were unseen!<BR>Ronnie

cdt

LindaJ, you have correctly identified the biggest negative about this generally gorgeous island.<BR><BR>We were there last Christmas and planned our activities around the cruise ship schedule, which is available at a couple of websites and also in publications available on the island.<BR><BR>For instance, we visited Magen's Bay on a day when there was only one ship in port. We snorkeled at Coki Beach starting at 8 am, well before the &quot;cruisers&quot; started showing up.<BR><BR>When the ships are numerous they can also have an impact at the more popular spots on nearby islands: e.g., Trunk Bay on St. John, The Baths on Virgin Gorda, Cane Garden Bay on Tortola.<BR><BR>If you know there are going to be 8 ships in port on a given day, make that a &quot;hang out at your resort&quot; day, or visit a lesser-known beach (there are several on St. John).<BR><BR>To us, the high number of cruise ship passengers was one negative factor versus about 20 positive ones for St. Thomas and its neighbors. We will be going back.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>U

caf

For those of us who love the caribbean, cruise ships can be a real curse. Though I empathize with local vendors who can make a lot of money from cruise ship passengers who get dropped off in their ports, for those of us who stay on an island for more than a few hours the crowds delivered by these ships are a real turn-off. In my view, islands can't have it both ways. If they choose to profit from the quick bursts of cruise ship passengers, then they will alienate the extended visitor who is paying top dollar to be on an island which he doesn't want overcrowded. Personally, though St. Thomas has some positives, I usually try to pass through as quickly as possible on my way to more pristine venues. To me even ONE cruise ship in port is too many!

GM

Please do not let this 1 article turn you off to St. Thomas. I agree that the cruise ships' travelers can crowd out the popular beaches (i.e., Magens Bay) and there's tons of shoppers in Charlotte Amalie, but please consider staying at a resort that is away from Charlotte Amalie (i.e., The Renaissance - we stayed there this year - or the Ritz Carlton). These private properties have their own nice beaches. And if you stay on St. John or St. Croix, you even are farther away from the cruise folks. We like Frenchman's Reef but it's right near the docks, making the road down into Charlotte Amalie very crowded. We take the shuttle boat into town or go to other places to eat other than Charlotte Amalie &quot;when the fleet is in&quot; when staying at Frenchman's. It's a very pretty island, don't nix it all together due to the crowds.

xxxx

Actually with the ships in it's like a party in CA. Of course, I check the schedules and avoid the party but there are plenty of beaches (unknown and otherwise) that the cruisers don't know about. Traffic can get backed up especially with the thousands of leemings fleeing back to the ship combined with the residents but you have to admit that the cruisers do provide for good people watching. There are times that I've been on island even in season in the shops and if you sneezed there wouldn't be anyone to hear you. You just work with it and have a wonderful time anyway.

Ronnie

Made a small mistake. Those 8 cruise ship days this month will be on Christmas Day and New Years Day! Wonder if the stores will close early at 1 pm as they usually do on those days?<BR>Ronnie

LindaJ

Here's another article stating that the record is 17,157 cruise ship passengers in one day. Thank you for the encouragement, but we go on vacation to relax away from the crowds, so we will look elsewhere.<BR><BR>http://www.virginislandsdailynews.co...home?id=568563

info

Dear Linda - it seems that without really listening to what well-meaning people have been advising you on this post, you've decided to look elsewhere because you discovered another article stating the RECORD number of cruise ship visitors in one day. What year was that, by the way? What day of the year? Can't quite understand why you asked a question to which well-meaning and qualified people have responded and then arbitrarily decide to &quot;look elsewhere&quot; because you happened across something in a newspaper article which you take as truth above what (the majority of) all these nice people have told you.<BR>I've lived here for 20 years and can assure you that, as a visitor, the tourist traffic even on a big cruise ship day (and these are few and far between) won't affect you in the least.<BR>And, by the way, since there are many people posting on these sites who love to knock those of us residents who try to offer kindly advice to prospective visitors, I DO have a business here but I do NOT rely on the tourist industry or the tourists to keep my business going. And I do NOT own real estate here.. The USVIs are simply a wonderful group of islands which I'm very proud to call home and which have an enormous amount to offer those with varied interests in their travels with the BVIs within easy reach for a day trip. There's no need for any hotel/villa/condo visitor to deal with any cruise ship crowds - St. Thomas is plenty big enough to accomodate everyone.<BR>Do please reconsider your thoughts before missing out on one of the best vacations you might ever experience!<BR>

GM

to the poster 'Info'<BR><BR>I agree with you; and it sounds like LindaJ already had her mind made up NOT to go to St. Thomas.<BR><BR>Her loss, cause she won't be able to enjoy the great things of STT, STJ, STC and the BVI's. Those of us 'in the know' realize that you shouldn't believe absolutely everything you read....

Hattie

Thanks GM, you hopped in before I did and I was going to say the same thing. Couldn't agree more with info and with you. Too bad that people don't read and absorb input from real people and rely on the negatives they see from the press - like the crime issues here. That's enough - if I bring that up, we're going to get the usual barrage of nonsense.<BR>LindaJ do you believe everything you read?

tanman

no problem. LindaJ and the other nay sayers can head elsewhere. Just leave a bit more room for those who choose to enjoy America's Paradise.

Cathy

As someone who cruises and takes long term vactiaons in the caribbean, if you do your homework, you can always avoid the cruise crowds.<BR><BR>On the days that there are alot of cruise ships, go to a beach. Most cruise passengers go wherever the cruise director tells them to go. For St. Thomas, this means shopping and Magens Bay and Trunk Bay on St. John. If you avoid those places, you will be fine.<BR><BR>Realize that many other popular island destinations like Grand Caymen have many cruise ships in as well. Another option is to travel in the off season. The flowers in bloom in the summertime make St. Thomas so beautiful! And the water is calmest for snorkeling that time of the year as well.

xxxxx

Grand Cayman now gets over 1 million cruise ship passengers a year, compared to about 2 million a year for the USVI. Grand Cayman has steadily allowed increased cruise ship arrivals to offset the decrease in air arrivals since Sep 2001, so it is getting almost as bad as the USVI. It's a shame to see these islands and their environments (such as the reef systems) overwhelmed.