Sticker shock!
 

We just spent 4 days in St. Thomas after a 7 day cruise and yes the bargains in jewelery are there but boy oh boy look out for the restaurants! Food is good but St. Thomas is the Tahiti of the Carib. in that the minimum cost for an entree is about $18.00 and goes up to $40.00 or more plus drinks, dessert, appetizers and tip. And the cabs are outrageous. For one person to go to town from our hotel was $12.00 one way. Two was $8.00 pp. Three was $8.00 pp. Four was $8.00 pp. And so on. So if you have a family of 5 it will bbe $80.00 R/T! And the ride to town is < 15 min from our hotel. Just getting a large and medium pizza was $40.00! St. Thomas is very nice but be forewarned about the cost once you arrive. Aruba, by contrast is much cheaper. Cheers, Larry.

St. Thomas dining can be expensive but there are reasonable places other than the price range mentioned that are very good. A family of 5 is much better off with renting a vehicle, no question, but quite possibly the $24 fare is still less than renting a car. The convenience of having your own transportation even if just a couple is a real plus. The option is the dollar ride which are taxis that act as jitneys and make a circle of the island. You wave them down as you stand by the roadside but make sure it is a dollar ride before getting on as some taxis do both. Arbua is generally less expensive than many islands and there are those that are considerably more expensive than St. Thomas.

Don't go to NYC or visit the Hamptons any tme soon! We live on Long Island about 20 miles from NYC, a special occasion dinner at an upscale steakhouse costs $500.00 for 2 with drinks and wine!

The most expensive meal we have had to date in the caribbean is at Altamar's on Anguilla. $450.00 for 2 drinks a bottle of champagne and dinner. Cab fare on Anguilla cost for 2 r/t $60.00. Don't know the distance but the island is only 16 miles long, and we did not go that far. St. Barths is up there too, I would say equally as expensive as Anguilla.

I would put St. Thomas - middle of the road as far as $$$, just like Karibislander stated.

I'm with you SandyFeet, I'm an ex longislander with a loft in Manhattan. We rarely grab dinner out for under $100 for 2. And that's at the local haunts. Hit a good Steakhouse or moderate restaurant and the bill usually doubles. We pay $10 a pop for a martini if we miss happy hour, $7 for a beer at a cafe. We rarely cook, except weekends and eat out at least 4 days a week.
I have to skip commenting on these post. Don't get me started on transportion charges.

Virtually everything in the islands, including many foods, is imported.
And taxed. Finding anything decently priced is a scavenger hunt in the extreme. If you look at life from a local perspective, it's often amazing
how Stateside basics become pricey luxuries, most often unattainable to any but people from a-foreign. But then,
St.Thomas is the Papeete of the Caribbean so you should expect to get soaked on everything except the price of tanzanite.

Wow! What kind of champagne was it at Altamer? We've eaten there a number of times -- always had a nice bottle of wine -- bill is usually in the $150-180 range.

Try going to Atlantis on Paradise Island.You will feel like a Kobie Bryant date,make that a Mike Tyson date by the time they get through with you.

So, Jacketwatch, guess you just didn't enjoy your four days on St. Thomas?
If you'd done your research well either on this forum or on www.usvi-on-line.com, you would have found really good places to eat where entrées are priced under $15 although I really don't understand your complaining about an $18 entrée charge, particularly when you note too that, "Food is good..."

I would guess that where taxi fares are concerned, you were probably on the East end of the island and you could have taken a safari bus at $1 p.p. rather than a regular taxi or you can make a deal with the taxi drivers.

Where did you buy your pizza and was it delivered? Just asking. I'm not sure why you'd want to eat pizza while in the beautiful Virgin Islands which has such a diversity of cuisine available to titillate the most sensitive and discriminating palate, but (and again you could have researched this) you can get a HUGE pizza with whatever you want on it from the supermarket "PriceSmart" for about $9 - and there are other choices too.

Every traveler has to research properly before venturing out of home territory. There are wonderful bargains to be found on any island if you do your homework well!

Cheers, Larry!

Don't fret. We had a great time. Thanks for your concern. Cheers, resident! BTW the pizzas were delivered.