19,000 cruisers in port

Will 19,000 passengers (5 ships) in St. Thomas be too crazy or can that port handle it. Three of the ships will be in Havensight, the other two at the other pier.

Thanks. We are a group of 8 with several who have never been there before and also on a budget so we just wanted to take the open air taxi to Charlotte Amalie, and/or maybe Coki beach.

You might want to post this over on the PORTS of CALL board for St. Thomas, to me that sounds like a crazy number of cruisers!

The resident experts on the board will be able to answer your question. :D

Will 19,000 passengers (5 ships) in St. Thomas be too crazy or can that port handle it. Three of the ships will be in Havensight, the other two at the other pier.

Thanks. We are a group of 8 with several who have never been there before and also on a budget so we just wanted to take the open air taxi to Charlotte Amalie, and/or maybe Coki beach.

That is NOT a crazy day for St thomas. With only 3 at Havensight that is no big deal. I have seen many more than that.

The other pier is far enough away that it will be a non-issue...

Don't worry there will be plenty of taxis available to go anywhere you need to go.

I heard that once there were 12 ships in port. Wouldn't want to be part of that mess.

The last time we were in St. Thomas, we were there with two other ships and it felt packed . We made our way to Coki Beach for SCUBA diving and the beach was jammed with tourists. Not very peaceful. We also went to downtown Charlotte Amalie for some shopping in the afternoon and we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic going back to the pier. It took us an hour to cover a very short distance.

St. Thomas is not the quiet, sleep little island it once was. As you drive around the island, you see Home Depot, megaplex movie theaters, and pretty much all the same chain fast food and shops you see in the US. In addition to all the cruise passengers, there are thousands of fly-in passengers as well.

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Coki Beach will be packed, for sure. If you can handle the buffet lines on the ship, the island will not be too crowded.

Been there with 6 not a whole lot of room to walk downtown.

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No on Coki Beach. We were on our 1st trip to the Eastern Caribbean last month. It was very disappointing beach....thisclose to our fellow beach goers and their lounges. One after another of local vendors to sell you drinks & food.

Just an FYI.:(

They just finished the road widening going into Havensite. As a long time St Thomas resident I can tell you that traffic is so much better on large cruise ship days and there is no traffic on days there is only one or two in port.

I believe the day of 12 cruise ships in port was forty years ago when the ships were much smaller and only held 1500-1800 passengers.

The only time I would EVER go to Coki Point would be on a non-cruise ship day. That beach is very small.

St. Thomas is not the quiet, sleep little island it once was. As you drive around the island, you see Home Depot, megaplex movie theaters, and pretty much all the same chain fast food and shops you see in the US. In addition to all the cruise passengers, there are thousands of fly-in passengers as well.

 

 

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Sheesh,Tapi. There is ONE movie theater with 5 screens. Sure there is McDonald's, but not yummy Arby's! Stateside shops? K-Mart, Home Depot and OfficeMax. Folks gotta have stuff in the VI,too! LOL ;)

Sheesh,Tapi. Folks gotta have stuff in the VI,too! LOL ;)

You're supposed to get all of your supplies from a local market, and stores must look like wooden shacks in order to fulfill the stereotype of "island living". :o (BTW, I was born and raised in a Caribbean island).

Seriously, my comment was an observation on how much the island has changed between the last time I visited and the previous time. When you live somewhere and see it on a daily basis, the changes may not be as noticeable as when 10 years go by between visits.

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Thank you for all the helpful replies. DH and I have been to St Thomas twice, first time was our first cruise before I know about Cruise Critic and we just went downtown and had Bushwackers. Second time, took a Carnival excursion and after several rum punches, headed back to ship.,:eek::D:rolleyes:

This time, we will have kids, granddaughter, and a couple of first time cruisers.

What is a good plan? Taking an island tour with a local? Walking around Charlotte Amalie on our own? First timers are on a budget so we are staying away from ship excursions. Thanks for any suggestions.

That is NOT a crazy day for St thomas. With only 3 at Havensight that is no big deal. I have seen many more than that.

 

The other pier is far enough away that it will be a non-issue...

 

Don't worry there will be plenty of taxis available to go anywhere you need to go.

Cruise ships that dock at Crown Bay vs Havensight certainly have to considered when counting how many cruisers ashore on a given day. The ride from Crown Bay to Main St., Charlotte Amalie is only a few minutes more than from Havensight. :rolleyes: My DH and I liked shopping at the stores in the Marina next to Havensight and often took a taxi there to shop though we docked at Crown Bay.

We certainly always went downtown for lunch and to shop. ;)

The cruisers from Crown Bay go to the beaches, they take tours, they take the ferry to St. John.

Of course, they are an 'issue'. :)

Thank you for all the helpful replies. DH and I have been to St Thomas twice, first time was our first cruise before I know about Cruise Critic and we just went downtown and had Bushwackers. Second time, took a Carnival excursion and after several rum punches, headed back to ship.,:eek::D:rolleyes:

This time, we will have kids, granddaughter, and a couple of first time cruisers.

 

What is a good plan? Taking an island tour with a local? Walking around Charlotte Amalie on our own? First timers are on a budget so we are staying away from ship excursions. Thanks for any suggestions.

This is a busy day for STT but not out of the ordinary. We stay at Sapphire Beach and on 20,000+ days it never got that crowded there. But it could depending where everyone goes.

With a low budget you're severely limited from looking at the best options on a busy day like a daysail or even a $50pp self-excursion to St John. But you can see a lot on St Thomas without spending a lot of $$$.

If interested in a beach -

Coki is a gorgeous beach, probably the nicest on the island. It's just a small bay with several vendors and it gets very crowded there. Magens Bay is larger but will also be packed with no room to find a nice spot away from the crowd. Lindbergh Bay (aka Emerald Beach) and Honeymoon Beach on Water Island will also be very crowded because they're so close to Crown Bay.

So for a beach day we'd grab a taxi at the port that's heading to the East End and have the driver drop us at Sapphire or Secret Harbor, or Elysian Beach for the quietest beach. SH and Elysian are a short drive from one another, and Sapphire is the other side of Red Hook along with Smiths Bay and Coki.

If not interested in a beach you can just take a 1 hr tour with a taxi driver as they provide that service. Or you can go with an organized tour if you like that kind of thing. Or you can go into town (CA) for a bit (we like Coconut's for their burger and Backstreet Bushwacker) then taxi to Paradise Point and have a drink and enjoy the view. You can take the aerial tram back down or taxi. You're docked at Havensight and it's a short walk back to the ship.

Have a great cruise!

Thank you Blue Water...I think we will either take a tour with Godfrey or EEE, and then head to a beach. If the group doesn't want the island tour, then we will just head to the beach. Thank you so much for the suggestions. I think Megan's will be crowded so we will look into your suggestions. :D

I would love to see more of the island as this will be my 3rd time there.

DEAR 2 CRUZEN,

19,000 IS A NICER AMOUNT FOR THE iSLAND, PASSENGERS, AS WELL cRUISE LINES TOO.

Most areas will be crowded.. well maybe not the ships them sevles..

Look in on Water Island, VI, USA. It to me is the nicest when you do not want the crowds , shopping/shoppers, etc..:cool:

If you want that stuff you have to put up with the masses..

:eek:

Will 19,000 passengers (5 ships) in St. Thomas be too crazy or can that port handle it. Three of the ships will be in Havensight, the other two at the other pier.

Thanks. We are a group of 8 with several who have never been there before and also on a budget so we just wanted to take the open air taxi to Charlotte Amalie, and/or maybe Coki beach.

If interested in a beach -

Coki is a gorgeous beach, probably the nicest on the island. It's just a small bay with several vendors and it gets very crowded there. Magens Bay is larger but will also be packed with no room to find a nice spot away from the crowd. Lindbergh Bay (aka Emerald Beach) and Honeymoon Beach on Water Island will also be very crowded because they're so close to Crown Bay.

 

 

Have a great cruise!

The statement highlighted above is only partially true. Magens bay is a large beach 2/3 of a mile long. The taxis drop off everyone by the concessions. This is where everyone hangs out. This is where the beach is crowded.......

....but if you walk further down the beach you can get away from the crowd. There are picnic tables, shade, and bathroom facilities further down the beach but no concessions and you will have to walk back to the same area where you were dropped of to pick up a taxi back. (Total walk time would be less then 5 minutes each way)

The statement highlighted above is only partially true. Magens bay is a large beach 2/3 of a mile long. The taxis drop off everyone by the concessions. This is where everyone hangs out. This is where the beach is crowded.......

 

....but if you walk further down the beach you can get away from the crowd. There are picnic tables, shade, and bathroom facilities further down the beach but no concessions and you will have to walk back to the same area where you were dropped of to pick up a taxi back. (Total walk time would be less then 5 minutes each way)

Actually even at the far ends of the beach away from the amenities you can't escape the feeling of being at a crowded beach as Magens is the most touted beach by both the cruise lines and drivers. The northeastern (right) end has those items, but it is just as crowded there since the chair rentals and runners are there along with the SPB rentals. We've visited it while staying on STT and even with 1 smaller ship in port it was crowded so we got our fix and stay away.

But beautiful beach, and it is typically the first beach for most visitors (those who do not snorkel, at least).

Actually even at the far ends of the beach away from the amenities you can't escape the feeling of being at a crowded beach as Magens is the most touted beach by both the cruise lines and drivers. The northeastern (right) end has those items, but it is just as crowded there since the chair rentals and runners are there along with the SPB rentals. We've visited it while staying on STT and even with 1 smaller ship in port it was crowded so we got our fix and stay away.

But beautiful beach, and it is typically the first beach for most visitors (those who do not snorkel, at least).

Once again, not entirely accurate. During the week the left end of the beach stays fairly quiet. Lots of room to spread out.

On the weekends the left end of Magens gets crowded with locals. 90% of cruise ship arrivals are not on the weekends. (AND THIS IS A CRUISE SHIP FORUM)

Trust me when I say that I do not like Magens when it is crowded. I have lived two minutes away from magens for 40 years!!!

The picture above was taken at Magens Bay on Wednesday May 7th of this year about noon which was a five cruise ship day.

It is a panoramic picture which distorts the image. BUT as you can see there is plenty of room at this end of the beach.

Once again, not entirely accurate. During the week the left end of the beach stays fairly quiet. Lots of room to spread out.

 

On the weekends the left end of Magens gets crowded with locals. 90% of cruise ship arrivals are not on the weekends. (AND THIS IS A CRUISE SHIP FORUM)

 

Trust me when I say that I do not like Magens when it is crowded. I have lived two minutes away from magens for 40 years!!!

Yes we are talking cruise ship days here. We enjoy Coki after the ships have sailed - gorgeous, intimate bay when no one else is there...

When several ships are in port Magens is the last beach we would go to or recommend for 2 cruzen. Yes even on big ship days the "quiet" end is less congested than the other end where the tables and shade are available. If you want a towel on the sand away from the relative zoo down the beach it's fine. But in our opinion (for what it's worth) there are much better beach choices on busy days. And the cost alone isn't worth it for a larger group on a tight budget.

Morningstar is closest to Havensight if a quick beach stop is all one wants, shorter/cheaper taxi and there's no admittance fee to worry about.

Just another option! :)

It's not unusual for St. Thomas to have LOTS of ship in port PLUS many "land vacationers".

Go ahead with your port plans and don't worry about it. ;)

LuLu

Thanks everyone for the information and suggestions. :)

 

The picture above was taken at Magens Bay on Wednesday May 7th of this year about noon which was a five cruise ship day.

 

It is a panoramic picture which distorts the image. BUT as you can see there is plenty of room at this end of the beach.

Sorry this end (actually the middle of magens) on this five cruise ship day is too crowded for some. :D

Sorry this end (actually the middle of magens) on this five cruise ship day is too crowded for some. :D

LOL... :p

Never saw it that quiet on a 1-ship day! But it's all good :)

2 cruze, everyone, enjoy your day wherever you go!