ingrid

Just won the Buccaneer for five nights in an oceanfront deluxe room on luxury link for $1000 with breakfast, 1 day rental car, 2 hours tennis, and 1 spa treatment. So I'm pretty excited.

Any tips for the Buccaneer? Any oceanfront rooms that are better than others?

Are there any good travel books about St Croix?

I'll be with my 15 year old daughter so we were planning to do:
-riding horses on the beach
-trip to Buck Island
-snorkeling on Cane Bay
-kayaking at the Buccaneer

Any thoughts on the above activities?

Also, any recommendations for restaurants? We are looking for cheap but really good ones.

Thanks!

HowardC

Last fall we won a LL auction at Buccaneer and went in Nov. Not sure what your auction included but ours was for a Dubloon suite right on the water. It was awesome. You might ask to be upgraded to one if one is available. The auction is a good deal and you get your moneys worth. The breakfast is buffet style and super. You can do the buffet and also order off the breakfast menu too at NO aditional charge.!! The resstaurant on the beach (not the one by the pool ) is very good for lunch. Since we were there house hunting saw lots of the island but didn't do many activities. I would eat a Big breakfast, light snack and splurge for dinner. Two places we really liked were Salud in Christiansted and South Shore Cafe. We took taxis to dinner as I was rather unfamiliar with the island. Dinner at Buc was quite good and some nights they have entertainment. Went to Duggans Reef twice for lobster dinner and was not very impressed. The Cultured Pelican is great for Sunday brunch. In Feb we stayed at Tamarind Reef and the food at their restaurant is very good in a casual atmosphere. One night --forget which-- they have crab races about 5 PM. Check out www.gotostcroix.com for lots of info. Bottom line closing on our new house this month and moving shortly thereafter. Enjoy St Croix.

ingrid

HowardC- thanks for the information. Did you feel like you had to ask/argue for everything that was supposed to be in the package (not sure what was included in your package but in ours we are supposed to get welcome cocktails,etc) or was it automatically given to you?

HowardC

Didn't have to ask/argue for anything. The staff at the front desk and concierge in the lobby were great. We had massages car for one day welcome drink etc. Ask for the car and make massage appts a day in advance. We didn't even use the car as I had a realtor. Believe on Mon or Tuesday there is a cocktail party for guests at the Sugar Mill on Property with Jumbie stilt walkers. Above our package they gave us a lovely vase of flowers and wine, cheese and fruit platter. Great place to stay. Don't remember if I did a trip report in Nov but do a HowardC search and there may be one along with lots of other info I have posted. Also do a St Croix search as there have been a lot of posts on Fodors

Bubbles4711

Ingrid,

We just got back from a week at the Buccaneer. You will enjoy it. When are you going? They are currently doing a lot of construction on the property. The expect to be done by November. The main building is closed. The only restaurants open are the Mermaid (for breakfast and lunch) and the Brass Parrot (for dinner). The employees couldn't have been more accommodating to us.

We used the 1 day car rental. I didn't think we needed it for more than one day since we were mainly there to relax. Breakfast was good and the wait staff was extremely friendly. My only complaint was that the pastries and breads were not covered. The Mermaid is an open air restaurant. We would also grab lunch to go and take it back to our lounge chairs on the beach. The also offer a boxed lunch for day trips to Buck Island. I was thankful that we got a boxed lunch on our departure day. The snack bar at the airport was very small and offered hot dogs, drinks and chips.

I recommend talking to the Concierge (Emmy). She took care of recommending restaurants and arranging taxis to pick us up at our room for dinner each night. We ate at RumRunners, Bacchus, Tutto Bene (excellent lasagna), Duggan's Reef, The Galleon and Cheeseburgers in Paradise. All were very good. We did eat the Brass Parrot our first night. We had a $100 dining credit with the package. The only "cheap" restaurant was Cheeseburgers. RumRunners and Duggan's were mid-priced and the others were a little more expensive but well worth it. The taxis that run from the hotel are great. When we were finished eating dinner, we would have the waiter or hostess call the Buccaneer and request the driver that dropped us off. He would pick us back up and return us to our room. You don't pay until you are picked up and returned. They are very efficient and nice.

There isn't much shopping in downtown St. Croix like on some other islands. We stopped in town the day we had the rental car. Before leaving I had read postings on other sites about St. Croix being unsafe. Don't believe them! I was completely comfortable the entire week.

Enjoy!

ingrid

Hi Bubbles, thanks for the information. The Buccaneer sounds great and we are very excited! We will be there at the end of August. Can you tell me a bit more about the construction? Was it loud? Is the construction going on everywhere at the resort?

HowardC

We also ate at Bacchus. It was a nice experience, very popular and a little pricey. Had lunch at Rumrunners and thought it was a tourist trap. except for the location on the water it was only average. Someone at Buc recommended Paradise Cafe in Christiansted and wish we'd gone there. Another very nice restaurant is Elizabeths at the Palms resort. Ask to eat on the Terrace where they have entertainment. Good idea to make reservations at restaurants through the concierge. Buccaneer is very large spread out and hilly. They do have shuttle vans to transport you around the property if you don't want to walk. Just call the front desk. As I recall they also have shuttle service to Ch'sted on a daily basis. Think it leaves at 10 AM. Forgot the cost.

Bubbles4711

Ingrid,

The construction wasn't loud when we were there. They started working on the roof at the nearby building at 8 which I didn't think was unreasonable. They also had the roadway torn up near the oceanfront rooms. I'm sure that will be done by the time you get there. The main building is closed so the lobby is moved near the beach, also near the oceanfront room. The concierge sets up each morning at the Mermaid during breakfast so that is very convenient. They were also working on the tennis courts but not to worry, people were using the other courts. You may want to schedule your time early in the day as it gets very warm and humid as the day goes on. One thing we did enjoy is that this is the "quiet" time. The Mermaid beach (our favorite) was very quiet. We were able to have a lounge chair and small table every day.

My husband kayaked and snorkeled all with equipment from the Buccaneer. They also have rafts for floating in the ocean. On our first day there was a wedding held on the beach. It was lovely and a nice surprise.

Overall there was construction but it didn't affect us in the least bit. And the staff is so accommodating. My only complaint was the extremely noisy air conditioning unit in our room. It made sleeping a little difficult but at least you couldn't hear the neighbor snoring!

Enjoy! If you have any other questions, let me know.

Knowing

ingrid,
Please do a trip report when you get home. I have read good things about this resort and that people should stay in the main building for its "atmosphere." Not sure if that's where the oceanfront deluxe rooms are or not.

ingrid

Thanks for all the answers..

Now for a ton of questions:

1) How much does the Buccaneer charge for a ride from STX airport to The Buccaneer? Somewhere a guy said that the Buccaneer pays for the tab, but is that really true?
2) We are staying in a deluxe oceanfront room. Is there any number room that is the best?
3)Are the oceanfront deluxe rooms secluded? How many rooms are in the same building? Are all oceanfront deluxe rooms on the ground floor? I'm worried about safety after reading a tripadvisor review about breakins...
4) How much does the shuttle from the Buccaneer to town cost? On the Buccaneer website it says $5..is that one way or round trip???

Questions about St Croix:
1) We would love to go Sandy Point Refuge Park. On the website it says that they are closed during peak turtle nesting times...Will it be open by August 22-27?
2) For Buck Island...half day or full day?


Thanks so much!!!

Bubbles4711

Ingrid,

I'll try to answer some of your questions. Not sure about the charge from the airport to the Buccaneer. Shuttle service was included in our vacation package. The Buccaneer offers a daily shuttle in town during daylight hours. I'm not sure of the price but I believe it is $5. If you are getting a rental car, you can visit Christiansted that day. Not much shopping, though. There isn't much to see in Frederiksted and it is kind of depressed. We drove through the day we had a rental car. Never stopped, though. As for evening taxi service to restaurants we paid $9 each way to dinner at Bacchus, RumRunners and Tutto Bene - $6 to The Galleon and $12 to Duggan's Reef. Taxi costs are based on the distance and Duggan's Reef was much further away from The Buccaneer.

The oceanfront rooms are not secluded and are one story as are all the other rooms, with the exception of the main building but that is closed for construction. I wouldn't worry about safety. All vehicles to and from the Buccaneer must pass through a security gate. I saw the tripadvisor report, too, and was worried that we'd picked the wrong island and wrong resort. Our experience last week was great. We felt very safe the entire time not only at The Buccaneer but also on our dinner trips and daylight touring. As someone else said, use common sense and use the same judgment that you would at home.

We did not take the Buck Island trip but we did see the catamaran come to the Mermaid dock twice daily. It seemed to be more crowded for the half day than the full day trip. It was great that they picked you up right at the resort.