What to do in St. Thomas?

[vjw1218]

Greetings. We are on the March 16th sailing of the ms Rotterdam and will be visiting St. Thomas. I was wondering what sites we should see and if there are any excursions that are musts.

We'd like to try an independent tour company rather than book through HAL. Has anyone tried the bus or taxi tours on the island? Are they reliable? What do you see? Bluebeard's Castle? Blackbeard's Castle?

Thanks for your help and insights.

[bunduo]

Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Take a ride aboard a submarine (www.atlantisadventures.com). If you don't scuba, this is the next best thing. This isn't a long excursion which leaves you time to do other things. $$$$

2. Take a water taxi from Red Hook or Charlotte Amalie over to St. John and spend a day at Trunk Bay or one of the other spectacular beaches. $$

3. Charter a sailboat and have a relaxing day on board sailing, snorkeling, and eating. (www.sailwinifred.com) $$$$

4. Take a walking tour of Charlotte Amalie. There is some history as well shopping.$

[jhannah]

And go up to the top of the hill and visit Bluebeard's Castle.

[Machforce1]

Lounge around on Magens Bay all day. Take a water taxi over to St. John if you really want to see a gorgeous island. I've been on Trunk Bay when the cruise ships let loose and it gets very crowded. And that's probably a massive understatement. One of the most beautiful beaches on St. John is Hawksnest beach. Most of the cruisers don't hang out there, but it's absolutely gorgeous and nowhere near as crowded. :)

[jorjen9]

I highly recommend Godfrey Tours.
http://www.godfreytoursvi.com/

[wwinfl91]

If your ship is docked there is a place you can walk to where you take a tram up the side of the hill to a great place to take pictures and just view the harbor and your ship.

The tramway web site

http://paradisepointtramway.com/cafe.html

Here are some other web sites with stuff to do in St Thomas

http://www.usvi.net/usvi/stt.html

http://www.st-thomas.com/

Have a great next cruise.

[obriendan]

I second the suggestion for sailwinifred.com. We spent the day at St. Thomas this way and it was the highlight of the cruise.

[wowzo]

Buy your liquor in Kmart and any anythingy you might have forgotten-not too far from the waterfront. We walked from our berth last time. Just ask any local.

[jaguarstyper]

DW and I had a great time perusing the shops in Charlotte Amalie. Decent prices and great selections of jewelry, perfumes, jewelry, booze and jewelry. Did I mention Jewelry? When my DW was done, it had turned into a very expensive port excursion. But hey, thats why we work. :)

Tim

[vjw1218]

I will take some time and research the sites you suggest. This is our first time in the Caribbean, so I'm sure we'll be amazed. Thanks to all for the input.

Happy cruises to all, and to all a good vacation!

Valerie

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I highly recommend Godfrey Tours.
http://www.godfreytoursvi.com/

I second Godfrey tours. We used them last summer. You got a couple hours shopping in the morning, followed by a 90 minute - 2 hour tour of the island with stops for photo ops, and a couple hours of beach in the afternoon. All this for $20pp.
Quite a few people have used Godfrey. Do a search on the internet for Godfrey Tours. I dare you to find one negative thing about him, he's that good. :)

Bill

[tlm]

We've done Godfrey's Tour twice (had my DM with us the second time) and agree he's the best. I highly recommend him.

Toni

[gorka]

By all means go native and eat at Glady's Cafe in Royal Dane Mall...buy some of her homemade ... HOT SAUCES ... excelent...we always do. Gorka.

[vjw1218]

Does anyone have any info or experience with the Nautilus excursion with HAL? We were thinking about that or the Atlantis submarine. Any thoughts?

[Italian Nancy]

First time there, we did the historical tour, paradise point, bluebeard's castle, some fort.. then dropped off in town to shop, 2nd time, (November 2004), we did Coral world and Megan's bay. We were on a Celebrity ship at the time, IMHO they should have allotted more time for Coral World and less to the beach.

We really enjoyed Coral World but didn't get to see all of it as we only had 55mins.

Shopping is always great in St. Thomas :p

[bunduo]

Does anyone have any info or experience with the Nautilus excursion with HAL? We were thinking about that or the Atlantis submarine. Any thoughts?

I can vouch for the the Atlantis submarine. It's a blast. It's fun on a couple of levels. First, it's cool to be able to ride in a submarine. Second, you get to see all kinds of colorful sealife. They feed the fish so you are guaranteed to see a lot of them. It's a challenge to try to identify all the different kinds. They go down about 80 or 90 feet. It would be really memorable for kids.

HAL lists the price at $89 for the Altantis excursion. It seems like we paid more than that privately. Double check. I can't imagine the ship's excursion costing less but you never know.

[chieft26]

We've used Godfrey twice in St Thomas....he's awesome. If anyone's interested, here's the link to book:

http://www.godfreytoursvi.com/

[blackbird71]

LOL I did not go on the Atlantis in St. Thomas but in Grand Cayman, but their shop is in the mini-mall area off the docks, I went in to buy a Tee-Shirt and the lady was on the phone telling people the sub was running a little late do to snow.... :D

[FoxyTerrier]

Here are a couple of suggestions:

3. Charter a sailboat and have a relaxing day on board sailing, snorkeling, and eating. (www.sailwinifred.com) $$$$



I checked this out, but no info on price.

How much is $$$$?

[bunduo]

We paid $120pp last year. However, that does not include the tip for first mate, Tommy. That was an additional $10 or $20pp. If you pay in cash, it is only $110. Tommy deserves the tip. He is the one that is setting the sails, guiding the snorkeling, and cooking the food. Captain Sharon, ex-school teacher and the sweetest person ever, sails the Winifred.

Tommy is my hero. He was the ground maintenance supervisor for a huge Connecticut school district. He went on vacation to St. John and decided to move down to USVI. He quit his job and moved his things down to St. Thomas where he met his wife. They are saving up to buy their own sailboat so they can sail around the world. He is living my dream.

[CeCe Cruiser]

I just returned from a cruise on the Crown Princess. We had a wonderful time on a day sail on the Winifred from St. Thomas. The owner and captain, Sharon Allen, is a fantastic hostess. The first mate, Billy, has a story for everyone, is an excellent guide for snorkeling and also washes the dishes. You can email Sharon at winifred@sailwinifred.com.

Our cost was $110 per person, cash. It is more with credit cards. Plan a 15% tip per person for Billy.

The price is similar to the Princess excursions and worth every cent!!!
Cynthia

[cajunpepsi]

We usually rent a car from Budget, just outside the mall area, its easy to navigate the island and you can stop and take pictures or shop when and where you would like.

[Go-Coastal]

My family and I did the Godfrey tour the last time we were in St. Thomas. I too recommend Godfrey Renal's tour!

Enjoy :D,

Go-Coastal

[sailingawaysoon]

Take the tram to Paradise Point and have a couple Bailey's Bushwackers...they were the best! Make sure you get your excursions and shopping out of the way first...these things were tasty and potent! Enjoy!