Help with our trip...

Again with the questions....

So we are doing a short 3-4 day cruise March 23 on Sea Dream II. First ever and folks are taking us as a surprise. Anyway we are getting off at St. Thomas and that is where my dad, the itinerary master, doesn't know what to do next. So give us some thougths! Certainly not tied to St. Thomas. Not looking to spend $1500 a night or anything. But looking for something nice, maybe not so "touristy" but with some good sight seeing, local color, food etc. I am even hoping to maybe to a half day fishing charter, but dont' know what will be "biting". Basically I know nuttin' 'bout no Caribbean and need some experience from you world travelers.

How many days are you going to be in the St. Thomas area?

When we are in STT for a short period, DH and I usually stay at Marriott's Morningstar Beach which is part of the Marriott Frenchman's Reef hotel. The rooms on Morningstar are right on the beach and quite comfortable for island standards. The Ritz Carlton is lovely as well although a good bit more expensive than Morningstar.

We really prefer St. John which is a short ferry ride from STT. If we are staying a week on STJ we rent a villa. If we are staying a few days the Westin on St. John is very nice ... it was recently refurbished. Caneel Bay is supposed to be lovely although we have never stayed there.

Options for day trips from STT include Tortola and Jost Van Dyke by ferry.

I would suggest checking out the St. Thomas section of these boards for other idea.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! Will pass the info along to my Dad who is planning the trip. He basically said that when we get off the ship, we would spend the next 4 days on "the islands", so not tied to St. Thomas, our departure point.

Thanks! Will pass the info along to my Dad who is planning the trip. He basically said that when we get off the ship, we would spend the next 4 days on "the islands", so not tied to St. Thomas, our departure point.

STT is a good place to island hop since there is ferrry service to STJ, Jost and Tortola.

We did a day sail in November on Rhumbaba with Captain Bobby. We sailed form STT to STJ for snorkeling, lunch. It was a great day on the water. Here is a copy of my review off the STT boards.

Just wanted to check in after our sailing last Wednesday (Nov. 21, 2007) with Captain Bobby. The short version is we had a fantastic time and would book it again!

 

After reading reviews here on CC I contacted Captain Bobby about a full day sail for 5 of us (4 adults and a 15-year-old). After emailing back and forth with information DH called Captain Bobby with our credit card deposit.

 

We arrived in Crown Bay on HAL's Zuiderdam. We had made arrangements through Wheatley's Taxi to have a private van take us to the American Yacht Harbor which is out by Red Hook. The cost was $60 each way for the five of us.

 

We disembarked around 8:15 a.m. and were greeted by our taxi driver. It took us about 40 minutes to get out to Red Hook.

 

Captain Bobby showed up in his dingy a few minutes later and shuttled us out to Rumbaba which was on a mooring ball. At this time we met Wendy who was the other crew member for our cruise. She offered us water or soda and some fresh baked breakfast bread.

 

We had a refreshing and brisk sail across the Pillsbury Sound to a secluded area of Hawksnest Bay. We picked up a mooring ball which provided excellent protection and a great base for snorkeling.

 

While we used Rumbaba's snorkels, masks and fins, Captain Bobby and Wendy prepared an excellent lunch of grilled tuna, fillet mignon and chicken and a wonderful pasta salad and fresh fruit.

 

After snorkeling a while I used one of the noodles to float around while the rest of our gang climbed back on board. Captain Bobby offered me a gin and diet tonic with lime (I had requested diet tonic when we made our food selections) which I gladly accepted.

 

Nothing better in the world than listening to Kenny Chesney's "Old Blue Chair" CD and sipping on a GnT in the crystal blue waters in a secluded bay on St. John.

 

After bobbing around for a while I joined the rest of the group on board for lunch and beverages. We had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

 

We set the sails for a long leisurely trip back to St. John via the Middle Passage where we were treated to some incredible scenery. We could have made another snorkel stop but we prefer sailing.

 

We were back at the marina about 6 hours after we left. Our taxi driver met us as scheduled. We made a pre-arranged stop for a quick shopping trip in Charlotte Amalie and then headed back to the ship.

 

Everyone agreed that this was one of the highlights of our week!

We are looking at 2 villas on St. Thomas. One is called El Sol and the other is the Buena Vista. Both on the "mountain", which is great. More about views than beach access. Anyone per chance heard of them?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with either of them.