HAL and St. Croix...

[ekerr19]

I thought read somewhere that a few of the cruise lines are thinking of re-introducing St. Croix to several of the itineraries in the Caribbean.

Has anyone else heard this? We've been there once - I wasn't too impressed, so when I read about it, I wondered if it were true...

[gizmo]

I read somewhere that authorities on St. Croix were trying to get the cruise ships back.

I been there once. Our ship went there because of a hurricane that destroyed St.Marteen's the previous week. We snorkled and saw some of the island. There wasn't much to see.
If I ever went back, I would go see the pig that drinks beer and buy him one. :D

[ekerr19]

If I ever went back I would go back, I would go see the pig that drinks beer and buy him one. :D

We missed that one! :)

DH & I wandered off the beaten track a bit - boy, I don't recommend it. If they do start to port there again, I think some major changes need to be done first.

[gizmo]

The beer drinking pig :D



http://www.st-croix.net/fun/pigs/index.html

[gizmo]

This is from an article June, 2004.
MSC Italian Cruises' newest ship, the 1,756-passenger Opera, will dock in Frederiksted for seven visits from December through March. St. Croix also will welcome MSC's 1,586-passenger Lirica on May 18.

[anngie]

The problem with St Croix is that the ship has to dock in Fredericksted. This is the area where some problems occurred several years ago. Some passengers from a ship went into an area that was unsafe and had an incident. The passengers had been warned not to venture into some areas. I think St Croix got a bad rap. We spent a whole week at a lovely hotel in Christianstead on St Croix 2 years ago. The harbor there is a breathtaking sight but it is too shallow for cruiseships. It is a lovely town with wonderful shopping. There are a lot of beautiful areas on the island to see. St Croix is actually a larger island than St Thomas.
It is a shame that the cruise ships discontinued their stops at St. Croix. The people there are very friendly and I hope that the cruiselines will give St Croix another chance.

[gizmo]

I don't think it was an isolated incident. I believe there were a lot of problems with pax from different ships and cruise lines. Many discontinued stopping in St.Croix.

[MandyGirl]

We, too, enjoyed spending time on a land-vacation to Christiansted in 2001. Loved the harbor area! We never even went to Fredericksted - just from the airport to Christiansted (and of course Buck Island!). However, we had read message boards and did not go to Fredericksted for the reasons other posters posted.

It's sad that one incident (or a few in a row) can cause such a beating to a port of call. I've been following some recent armed robbery incidents (http://www.onepaper.com/stjohnvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=1096604099) on St John on other message boards that can be disturbing... especially since we have stayed at the location where one occurred last week. Of course I realize not many of these large ships anchor at St John, as they dock at St Thomas and passengers take a ferry, but it's still a top destination to us. Of course, I know if I just followed police reports in local newspapers, then I'd be discouraged as well. No place is crime-free... unless it is top-secret that nobody knows about!!

[elmorejj]

I agree. St Thomas is not particularly safe at night either. We have had land vacations there and I love the Island but there are many places I wouldn`t go to. Its all a matter of knowing where you are and being cautious when in unfamiliar places. I too wish they would put St Croix back on some itineraries....jean :cool:

[Stevesan]

We live in Houston, TX. Have done for 30+ years without incident; however, not a day passes without murder, rape and general mayhem reported in the local news. There are certainly neighborhoods here I wouldn't walk day or night, same as pert near anywhere. We once spent a marvelous week in St croix, also without incident: we practiced "be careful out there". Likewise, lets be careful about trashing places we've never been!!! It should be noted that St Croix offers world class diving and snorkeling. Arguably, the best in the Caribbean.

[sail7seas]

We have to been to St. Croix on the ships about 3 or 4 times and usually enjoy it well enough.


One visit that we were there, there was a Princess ship in with us.
The locals approached both ships and requested they stay in port a little later than scheduled and they wanted to run a "street party" for the ship passengers. They were trying to hard to be sure the pax all loved their island and would send their friends and relatives. They want the tourism so badly.

They had music and food on barbeques and dancing and vendors, t-shirts, .....they allowed the ships to open their casinos and shops as an incentive for the Captains to agree.

DH and I had our dinner in the ship's dining room and then we went down the gangway to see what was going on and it was a great time.

The people were very friendly and everyone had a safe, enjoyable visit.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The couple of times that our cruise ship stopped at St Croix, we did ship's tours and followed orders not to go venturing off by ourselves. We enjoyed the island.

But for a while there, passengers were having problems on the island and the cruise ships stopped going there. Not enough police to take care of the few trouble makers.

[sail7seas]

I seem to recall that cruiselines reps and Carnival, in particular, tried hard to work with the local authorities to do more to assure passenger safety. The local politicians either were in denial there was a problem or were unwilling to do what was necessary to provide more police presence and to be stricter about arrests and prosecutions.

When the cruiselines could not see anything was being done to provide more safety, they had little choice but to pull out. In the course of about a month, the schedule of cruiseships due to call on St. Croix went from about 1,200 (I'm not sure of the number) to down below 100.

The best way to get one's point across is to aim for the wallet!!

[divinggirl]

So they won't stop in St. Croix but will in Montego Bay?!?! That place is a hole, and quite dangerous if you're not careful, or sometimes even if you are. Ocho Rios is maybe a bit better, but not much.

[jazzsea]

One of the best things about St. Croix is a visit to Buck Island. Buck Island is an underwater National Park. The snorkeling is out of this world. We stayed in St. Croix for a week about 20 years ago then flew to Martinique and sailed on a Windjammer Barefoot cruise.

[Tvisitor]

If the ships go back to St Croix, and I am on one of them, I'll go directly to Christiansted. The cab ride from Frederikstad to Christiansted is a nice one. As stated in other posts, the harbor there is beautiful. That is where the upscale shopping is.

[sail7seas]

So they won't stop in St. Croix but will in Montego Bay?!?! That place is a hole, and quite dangerous if you're not careful, or sometimes even if you are. Ocho Rios is maybe a bit better, but not much.

I agree. We do not get off the ship when we have a stop in Jamaica.

They cannot eliminate every port where there have been any problems. There would be no islands left to visit. I think they use common sense and statistics we do not have available to us when choosing which ports are simply too dangerous or pax have made too many complaints about. If you recall, they ask us to rate what we think of each port on the end of cruise questionaires. I would imagine those ratings are carefully analyzed and then such things as port facilities; cooperation of various port authorities/local authorities; infrastructure and accessibility of good tours are all things that enter the equation.


There was a fair amount of crime in St. Thomas not long ago; and Guadaloupe; and Jamaica.......the ships have to go somewhere.

[Isis]

We went to St. Croix just before Celebrity stopped going there. We took a private catamaran trip to Buck Island and loved it. The locals there felt strongly that the ships not going there was more political and Money oriented then crime related.

[anngie]

When we spent a week in Christianstead the locals told us that the hulaboo was all over a cruise ship mall tentatively planned for Fredericksted. It was all politics and feuding over who was going to get profits that it generated. We were also told that when the cruise ships stopped coming the economy was so bad that the crime got worse. We walked to restaurants at night in Christianstead and stayed within the boundaries that we were told to stay in and never felt unsafe there.
If a cruise ship were to stop in Savannah the passengers would be advised not to stray into any darkened streets or alleys at night and to stay away from certain areas.