We are back from our wedding in St. Croix and I thought I'd offer my thoughts on the trip since this forum has been so helpful to me in the past.

We were married at the Buccaneer resort on April 22, and had about 40 friends and family join us there. The overwhelming reaction to the island was very positive.

Everyone also loved the Buccaneer, including my husband and me. The rooms are big and nice, the staff is incredibly friendly and helpful, and the property itself is gorgeous. We had very little to complain about. A few guests could not get rooms at the Buc, and stayed instead at the Divi resort and the Pink Fancy hotel. Reviews of the Divi were good, except for the remote location. The property, food, staff etc seemed fine, but it is a drive to get anywhere else on the island. We were also told that the little casino there is depressing and not very fun at all. The Pink Fancy was just okay. The guests that stayed there thought you pretty much get what you pay for, plus a friendly host and a couple of cute dogs (i.e., the $5 breakfast was frozen waffles or a bowl of cereal). But there were no frills (including things like shampoo and soap in the bathroom) there.

For restaurants, we tried a number of places.
A group of 8 or so of us went to Duggan's Reef for dinner one night. Excellent food, nice ambiance, okay service, but way overpriced--to be expected in the islands, I know, but we felt this cost a little more than necessary even by island standards.

We also had a dinner for 6-8 people at the Brew Pub on the boardwalk in Christiansted. The service was good, drinks were cheap and the food was decent. Overall I'd recommend it for a quick meal in town or a fun night out with a group of people.

The rehearsal dinner was at RumRunners, which we loved. We had visited both the Buc and RumRunners on a previous trip, and neither disappointed. RumRunners food was great, price unbeatable for a dinner for 40 people, staff was very helpful and tolerant of our big group, and the view and location fantastic. I'd highly recommend this for lunch or dinner to anyone traveling in St. Croix.

A bunch of us also visited Cheeseburgers in Paradise for dinner one night. Overall I thought it was a fun place. They had live music and a little rocky area for kids to play. The tables are picnic style benches and the food is pretty basic. It was a good time overall.

The excursions most talked about by the guests were Buck Island for the stunning beaches and snorkeling, Point Udall for the view, and the island tour for the stop at the beer-drinking pigs.

I'm trying to keep this somewhat short, but feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'd be happy to discuss!

Congrats on your wedding! It sounds like you and your guests had a fine time, which is not surprising considering both the happy occasion and the good reports that the Buc usually generates.

Did the hotel give you a special rate? Did you stay there for a honeymoon or go elsewhere? How long was everybody down on St. Croix?

Dear sls--

Congrats on your wedding and thanks so much for filling us in on everything. I would love to hear more about where at the Buc you had the wedding (beach? sugar mill?), was your reception in the Brass Parrot, did Bill Bass play at your ceremony, all the good details of a wedding. Also, where did you stay?

How fun to have your rehearsal dinner at Rumrunners. It's a sentimental favorite of mine and my family's. During the month of February, they have entertainment by a family that does a great acoustic set. We were just listening to their cd the other night--Raine and Gunn. Really adds to the ambiance. Did you all just sit right on the boardwalk for the 40 person dinner?

Glad you had a good time. Hope Babylon and Patricia and Patty and Dalu took good care of you at breakfast and that the rest of the staff were warm and welcoming. Elizabeth runs a good show!

Thanks for the replies. We stayed in one of the doubloons. They upgraded us one level from what we booked, and yes, they did give us and our guests a discounted rate and a variety of extra freebies. We had guests in almost every type of room, and all were well received. I still think my favorite ar ethe luxury ocean view...on the ridge looking out over everything.

We were there for a week, with most of guests there at least 5 days. We kicked off the celebration with a welcome party at sunset on the Thursday before the wedding. That was in the Brass Parrot...just cocktails and hor deurves and the beautiful view. The wedding itself was on mermaid beach on Saturday, and yes, Bill Bass played. He is wonderful. Then we just moved over to the Mermaid restaurant for the reception, dinner and dancing. All of the staff at the Buc were amazing. Mike the events bartender, and Patricia at breakfast got special kudos from our crowd.

For the rehearsal dinner at Rumrunners they set us all up with a buffet right on the boardwalk. We basically took over, but they didn't offically close, which was nice. Kristen at Rumrunners was a real pleasure to work with. I'd do another party there in a heartbeat.

In a bizarre and convoluted twist of fate, we ended up going to the south pacific for our honeymoon--tahiti, moorea, bora bora and taha'a. I'm hoping to get to that trip report on the other board later this week.

Can I have your life...St. Croix for the wedding, Fiji and the South Pacific for your honeymoon?

Congratulations on your marriage!

sls--
Wow. All sounds good but you must be in major letdown mode now! Hard to go back to reality after a few weeks in various paradises!

Love the idea of a reception at the Mermaid. So Caribbean to me. We love our lunches there with the gorgeous water just steps away.

I agree with you that the "ridge rooms" are the most luxurious thanks to the private patio and the view. We always stay in the family cottages (room 168 to be exact) since it's perfect for our kids. But friends have stayed in the luxury oceanview and I think they're terrific.

All the best in your married life,
Carol

Just curious..
This posting does not come up when you click on Caribbean and then USVI. Nor does it come up when you type St. Croix in the search engine.
Anyone know why?

Thanks again to all for the well wishes. And yes, we know how incredibly lucky we are. It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Which has made it that much more difficult to come back to reality.

No answer for you on the posting question though...that seems odd...