Six ships in St. Thomas on 11/29

[Joanandjoe]

We'll be in St. Thomas on 11/29 on the Noordam. This will be Joan's first trip there, my second (and the first was in 1958!). We did some research, and decided what we wanted to do, other than shopping: walk to the synagogue, take the tram to the top of the hill, take a taxi to Coral World and Coki beach. Then we looked at Cruise Calendar, and saw that there would be six ships in town, with over 14,000 PAX, plus crew. Ugh! We know that some experienced cruisers will stay on their ships, but that's still a lot of people for one's 1st or 2nd trip to a port.

We would like suggestions as to what to do. Should we abandon our plans and either take a ship's excursion or go some place less crowded than Coral World and Coki? Will we be able to shop, or get cabs, with so many ships in port? Is there dock space for six large ships (Noordam, Zuiderdam, Disney Magic, Mariner of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, Costa Magica), or do some ships have to tender? As people who have traveled to a lot of cool places but few warm or "beachy" ones (our second Caribbean trip in 38 years of marriage), we would hate to miss out on good St. Thomas experiences; but are we doomed to disappointment with so many ships in port?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Basic set up for St Thomas - 3 ships will dock at Havensight, 2 will probably dock at Crown Bay and 1 will tender.

VINOW - a web site will post where each ship will be at the beginning of the month - in your case - if you don't get to St Thomas until the first part of December, that site won't post anything until the last couple of days of November.

I just bet that Disney Magic, Radiance of the Seas, and Mariner of the Seas will be at Havensight. They always seem to get that area!!

[twinkletoes4445]

There will be five ships in port the day we are to be in St. Thomas. We've not been there before, so I am curious to see what the responses will be to your questions. I'm still not sure what we're going to do...hubby doesn't want a beach day, so we may do an island tour, a bit of shopping, and then eat at a local restaurant and head back to the ship. Five ships seems like a lot...six even more so.

[Roz]

The first time I went to St. Thomas, there were 7 or 8 ships in port that day :eek: , including 3 HAL ships. I took a pre-booked shore excursion, and they gave us the option of staying in town or going back to the ship at Crown Bay. I made the mistake of staying in town. It took me over an hour to get back to the ship using a taxi. There was gridlock, and the exhaust fumes made me nauseous.

On last year's cruise, I went over to St. John, and will do the same this year. Unless there's something in particular you want/need to see on St. Thomas, I'd get out of Dodge. Just my opinion.

Roz

[drdaddy]

HAL ships seem to be always the odd man out when it comes to docking at Havensight. Last year there was absolutely nothing there but they seemed to be building more storers llike Havensight. Don't want to miss your money. I was glad I booked a ship's tour because transport was not too bad back and forth.

With six ships, HAL does not stand a chance at Havensight. Even the Zuiderdam which has a large amount of pax gets kicked over the RCCL ships.

Actually, when we first went there many years we were on the Norway and tendered. The tenders bring you right to the downtown area so if I had my druthers, I would prefer to tender, especially if I am not on a Voyager class ship.

This next trip, doing St. John on our own no matter where we dock. But according to Cruisecal, only three ships, one being Crown Princess. Yikes. Could be worse. We have 2 ships in Dominica. That might put a strain on the available independent tours.

[wrp96]

Priority for docking at Havensight goes to ships that are there more frequently, and as somebody said HAL usually gets the short end of the stick, even for the spaces at Crown Bay. I can almost 100% guarantee that Mariner of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas will be at Havensight. I don't know who else will get the other space at Havensight, or the spaces at Crown Bay.

[watchdiva]

The last time DH and I were in St. Thomas there were 8 ships in port. Luckily, I had booked a trip on a sailboat called Highpockets so we were able to avoid all the confusion with that many people in port. The worst part of our day was spending a 45 minutes in a van to get back to our ship:eek: .

I'd recommend getting away from St. Thomas and heading out either on a sailboat like Highpockets with Captain Kathleen or grab the ferry over to St. Johns.

[Winchester]

I've been there when there were 8 ships in, and many times with fewer.
I don't have the same negative opinion of the possible experence. You just have to plan around the crowds. I vote for tendering if you plan to go downtown. They always let you out right in the town.

But if you plan to shop why not do so in mid PM. Get off the ship and go someplace else.

I like the tram and shops on top in front of the Havensight pier. Expensive tram ride but I think a cab driver will take you up on the small road and wait a bit while you have a drink and a look at the NICE view. You can see the whole harbor. On a nice day you can see all the way to Puerto Rico.

And if you come down again the Havensight shops at about 11 am should be less crowded, if you need to get your fix in. These are branches of the downtown stores.

Then maybe onward to Frenchman's Reef hotel (A Marriott) to lie on an uncrowded beach and have lunch. That will be the large hotel on the right as you enter the main part of the port. I think they have a boat that takes people downtown, but you can E-mail or call them for details of their offerings. There are usually a handful of cabs waiting to take people away from there.

[GOTTA-GO]

Definitely a nice beach and NO crowds. However, the lunch we had there was nothing special and somewhat pricey. Nice view though. You might be able to make some money, if you scheduled a timeshare presentation there and spent the day using their facilities while you decided whether (OR NOT) you wanted to buy a TS.

I really liked Cinnamon Bay on St. John, but cost and time wise (2 taxis & a ferry ride each way) the Marriot's Frenchman's Reef would be a better choice for a cruise stop.

If you find yourself over near Magen's Bay or Drake's Seat, stop at Udder Delight and get a shake (with or without alcohol - A great way to cool off).

[MBeamTX]

We're on Noordam on 11/21 with only two other ships, Voyager of the Seas and Carnival Triumph. That suggests that we ought to be docked at Havensight, no?

I didn't even bother going into town on our last stop at St. Thomas on Serenade of the Seas. I found plenty of good shopping at Havensight.

Happy cruising,
Susan

[Southbound]

We were in St. Thomas this past Dec. on the Volendam's Christmas sailing, along with 7 or 8 other ships. We docked in Havensight right alongside the main wall; the QM2 was anchored out. After an early breakfast, took a cab into town, did some shopping, stopped for a bite to eat & some cold liquid refreshment. As small and compact as the shopping area in town is, it didn't seem to be extraordinarily crowded, nor were the stores overly busy with customers. Decided to walk back to the ship, passing by a huge line of taxis and vans at a complete standstill as far as the eye could see. So glad we weren't sitting there in that madness. We walked at an easy pace and it took us a half hour; by taxi it would have taken double that to get back. Stopped at a liquor store in Havensight to place our order and were back on board by 3:30.

[Timethief]

Hi Guys!

Personally, my experiences in St Thomas have left me a little underwhelmed. I tend to prefer going to St John, being on St Marteen (I like the shopping better there, too!), or snorkelling at Norman Island from Tortolla. So, like you, I was looking for something interesting and different to do. I hadn't really thought about how many other cruise ships were going to be there with us for Halloween this year (I looked it up on cruisecal, and it turns out there will be 5 ships in port that day!).

I was reading the destination board for St Thomas, and someone enthusiastically recommended the Winifred, a 43' wood sailing yacht out of St Thomas. The website is www.sailwinifred.com (http://www.sailwinifred.com). They have a minimum of 2 guests, and a maximum of 6. It departs at 9:30am and returns at 3-3:30pm and includes lunch. The cost is $125 pp ($110 for cash). They make snorkelling stops, and as I recall, they have gear for you to use.

I emailled them to get information, and Sharon Allen (the captain) seems delightful and easy to work with. It might be worth looking into.

Good Luck & Keep Smiling!!!

[drdaddy]

There are oodles of private sailboats to go with at St. Thomas.

The Queen Mary, although not the largest anymore, is still the longest. I assume she tenders because, like the Norway, being that long would probably take up two berths at Havensight so I am sure the merchants there would have none of that!

It is not that my posts are so anti St. Thomas but anti merchants who are in charge of running my vacation.

[newmexicoNita]

And now we know why we are all looking for new ports to explore. NMNita

[Islandbuoy]

we went to a very lovely beach (Lindbergh) , by the airport--secluded --short cab ride-beautiful water. We've also been to a nice uncrowded beach at Red Hook.

[Joanandjoe]

And now we know why we are all looking for new ports to explore. NMNita

We started this thread because, for us, all of the Caribbean consists of new ports to explore. Keep those suggestions comming, CCers. In exchange, I'll be happy to comment on Europe (although most of my 30 plus trips there have been "land" trips, not cruises).

[newmexicoNita]

We started this thread because, for us, all of the Caribbean consists of new ports to explore. Keep those suggestions comming, CCers. In exchange, I'll be happy to comment on Europe (although most of my 30 plus trips there have been "land" trips, not cruises).Joan, I guess it would be time to mention my favorite Caribbean ports: Barbados, Dominica, Curacao and Aruba. all for different reasons: Barbados: been there both land vacations and cruises about 4 times and still haven't seen everything plus the people are awesome: Dominca, just a really pretty and different island: Curacao for the Dutch influence if nothing else and Aruba, shopping, friendly people, the best beaches and yes, gambling; We do enjoy St Thomas, but mainly cause we can buy so much booze duty free. After stopping there on many cruises, probably 10 at least and having a daughter who lived there for 2 years it really doesn't turn us on plus the people really don't care if we are there or not, I really realized this on our last cruise. This is how I felt about Totolla as well: we thing Virgin Gorda might be one of the most beautiful places on earth, but the people in Torolla were down right rude. I love to stop at the spice shop because of the selections:will never do it again I am sorry to say. I don't know what I could have done to make them so rude.....NMNita

[gizmo]

The Queen Mary, although not the largest anymore, is still the longest. I assume she tenders because, like the Norway, being that long would probably take up two berths at Havensight so I am sure the merchants there would have none of that!



The Norway did not anchor because of her length. Her draft was around 35 feet and this was the reason she could not dock.;)

Same for QM2. She doesn't dock because she can't. I think her draft is 39 feet.

Ships that have priority docking stop at St.Thomas on a weekly basis. .

[whogo]

cruiscal.com has seven ships in St. Thomas on January 4, 2007

[gizmo]

Same for QM2. She doesn't dock because she can't. I think her draft is 39 feet.

.

Sorry about that . The QM is 39 feet. The QM2 is 32 feet 10 inches. :cool:

[Sayyadina]

Personally, my experiences in St Thomas have left me a little underwhelmed.

Oh, good, I thought we were the only ones! My husband and I went on our first cruise this past March/April on the Maasdam. We were docked at Crown Point, which at that time wasn't finished yet (is it now?). We were the only ship there. The Noordam, a Carnival ship and an RCI ship were all at Havensight. So we took a 'taxi' to the shopping area at Havensight, having heard it was great shopping.

Keep in mind I was seasick the day before and wasn't up to 100% yet. Having said that, the traffic was horrendous. Following way too close, going way too fast, and none of these open-air taxis have seatbelts. Sometimes it felt like we went around corners on two wheels. On the way back we almost hit a pedestrian. We came up on him REALLY fast and I still remember he just stopped in the middle of the road, staring at us and smiling for gods sake as we laid rubber and wound up stopping about 8 inches from him. He then waved, still smiling from ear to ear, and kept walking. I rode the rest of the way with my eyes closed.

Shopping at Havensight was very good, I suppose, if you are interested in diamond-encrusted gold jewelry and expensive watches. I make my own jewelry and prefer silver so I wasn't interested in much, but I can say the prices for amber and opals were pretty good and, judging from our tablemates at dinner, prices for jewelry in general were good. Do your homework before you go, though, if you intend to buy jewelry.

DH and I decided that if we ever wound up at St. Thomas again we would stay on the ship. Everyone else seems to rave about the island, but we just didn't get it. If you wind up at Crown Point, wave to the two huge sea turtles for us if you see them; they came up right beside the pier!

[Sayyadina]

Sorry, double posted somehow!

[RustaRoo]

DH and I decided that if we ever wound up at St. Thomas again we would stay on the ship. Everyone else seems to rave about the island, but we just didn't get it.

Oh, other's get it also. The place is dirty, garbage everywhere, surly locals, poor upkeep, terrible traffic - a dump. Going to Tortola (British Virgin Islands) was like a breath of FRESH air after being in Saint Thomas. I can truly say after 3 visits - been there, done that! Never again, thank you very much.

[OceanLiner]

We were there on the Volendam in March, with NCL and RC. The problem is that major road construction has created traffic jams on par with LA and Chicago. The locals tell story after story of passengers being stranded because they did allow enough time to get back to the ship with the traffic jams caused by all the passengers attempting to get back to the ship at aprox the same time. Reports of up to 2 hours from Megans Bay.

This might be a time to experience a day at sea while at port. Just stay on the ship or only venture as far as you can walk.

[OceanLiner]

We were there on the Volendam in March, with NCL and RC. The problem is that major road construction has created traffic jams on par with LA and Chicago. The locals tell story after story of passengers being stranded because they did allow enough time to get back to the ship with the traffic jams caused by all the passengers attempting to get back to the ship at aprox the same time. Reports of up to 2 hours from Megans Bay.

This might be a time to experience a day at sea while at port. Just stay on the ship or only venture as far as you can walk.