usvi-on-line
Questions for November trip
Questions for November trip
My wife and I will be staying on St. John from Nov 12 thru the 21st, and had a few questions for the forum members.
Since this will be our first trip to USVI, what kind of weather can we expect in the last half of November? (It's too late to change our plans, but it would be nice to not have to worry about Hurricanes, rain for 4 days straight, snowstorms, etc.
)
Also, any recommendations for markets, bodegas, or stores where "cheap" food, ice, and beer can be found. We are staying in a private guest house, and plan on cooking our own meals for the most part and dont really care to fork over $2-$5 plus tips everytime I want to drink a beer
Thanks!
Since this will be our first trip to USVI, what kind of weather can we expect in the last half of November? (It's too late to change our plans, but it would be nice to not have to worry about Hurricanes, rain for 4 days straight, snowstorms, etc.
)Also, any recommendations for markets, bodegas, or stores where "cheap" food, ice, and beer can be found. We are staying in a private guest house, and plan on cooking our own meals for the most part and dont really care to fork over $2-$5 plus tips everytime I want to drink a beer
Thanks!
The weather in November is quite nice. Hurricanes/heavy rains are always possible, but nothing to worry about. We often travel that time of year (and will overlap your trip a few days) and rarely had any days that were washed out - showers now and then (always at Cinnamon 
.
Last year, the weather was near perfect the first week of the month (except for the day at Cinnamon) and a very heavy shower one night.
As for groceries, nothing is "cheap". In Cruz Bay, Starfish, Dolphin, Pine Peace are popular (I think there is a new one near the Westin. Miss Lily's has a good selection in Coral Bay.
.Last year, the weather was near perfect the first week of the month (except for the day at Cinnamon) and a very heavy shower one night.
As for groceries, nothing is "cheap". In Cruz Bay, Starfish, Dolphin, Pine Peace are popular (I think there is a new one near the Westin. Miss Lily's has a good selection in Coral Bay.
janet
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Berlingirl
- Posts: 499
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:09 pm
- Location: New England
Hmmm, well, the weather is what it is. It changes and has a mind of it's own. You can never really depend upon it. I guess the only thing you won't get for sure is a snowstorm. You can depend on that and that you'll see the most beautiful beaches you can imagine.
As Jayseadee has said. There is nothing "cheap" grocery wise. (except maybe the Cruzan Rum and I don't know if you'd consider it a grocery item). The island of STJ isn't an easy place to get to for people much less groceries. No food being trucked in here on an interstate system like we have here at home to keep the cost down. It's trucked to a port, put on a freighter, sailed to the islands. Next, handed off to a distributor, loaded on to their trucks which are then ferried over to STJ. Every time it changes hands the price goes up. Therefore we see the prices we see. DH says the Dophin market is cheaper, others say the Pine Peace is cheaper. For best selection the Starfish has that down.
Many people who are on this board take their own food down. Lots of threads on that. Do a search and you can get some good tips on that.
As Jayseadee has said. There is nothing "cheap" grocery wise. (except maybe the Cruzan Rum and I don't know if you'd consider it a grocery item). The island of STJ isn't an easy place to get to for people much less groceries. No food being trucked in here on an interstate system like we have here at home to keep the cost down. It's trucked to a port, put on a freighter, sailed to the islands. Next, handed off to a distributor, loaded on to their trucks which are then ferried over to STJ. Every time it changes hands the price goes up. Therefore we see the prices we see. DH says the Dophin market is cheaper, others say the Pine Peace is cheaper. For best selection the Starfish has that down.
Many people who are on this board take their own food down. Lots of threads on that. Do a search and you can get some good tips on that.
Hoping for a USVI ticker in 2013!
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crasherino
- Posts: 281
- Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:57 pm
- Location: NYC
What they said.
To flesh out the "bring food down" thought, we brought down a cooler full of frozen steaks, chicken and lunch meat, which accounted for half our lunch/dinners. You should/could also stuff your luggage with dry food such as cereal, crackers, cookies or whatever snacks you like.
Starfish is a pretty legit Supermarket so they should have a wide enough selection for most palates, but it is a significant mark up for the reasons described above.
The age old question....is it worth it to bring down your food? The answer generally is....it depends. For some people, the saving a few bucks isn't worth the hassle, for others it is. Being that you are looking for cost effective solutions on island, I'm guessing its something you should consider.
We generally carry on our food in a soft sided cooler (check out polar bear coolers, they're great). Others have checked their food. There are merits to both, I guess.
To flesh out the "bring food down" thought, we brought down a cooler full of frozen steaks, chicken and lunch meat, which accounted for half our lunch/dinners. You should/could also stuff your luggage with dry food such as cereal, crackers, cookies or whatever snacks you like.
Starfish is a pretty legit Supermarket so they should have a wide enough selection for most palates, but it is a significant mark up for the reasons described above.
The age old question....is it worth it to bring down your food? The answer generally is....it depends. For some people, the saving a few bucks isn't worth the hassle, for others it is. Being that you are looking for cost effective solutions on island, I'm guessing its something you should consider.
We generally carry on our food in a soft sided cooler (check out polar bear coolers, they're great). Others have checked their food. There are merits to both, I guess.
Re: the market question...
We were on-island last week, and can verify that a new market has indeed just opened.
It is called "St. John Market" or "St. John Gourmet Market," and it is located on the South Shore Road about halfway between the Starfish Market and the Weston entrance.
We found the prices at the new store to be generally better than at Starfish. The quality of the fresh produce was actually very good.
They weren't completely stocked with everthing last week -- lots of staples and dairy products, but fresh meat and deli items were limited. They seem to be still ramping up the operation. I'm sure that will improve.
We were on-island last week, and can verify that a new market has indeed just opened.
It is called "St. John Market" or "St. John Gourmet Market," and it is located on the South Shore Road about halfway between the Starfish Market and the Weston entrance.
We found the prices at the new store to be generally better than at Starfish. The quality of the fresh produce was actually very good.
They weren't completely stocked with everthing last week -- lots of staples and dairy products, but fresh meat and deli items were limited. They seem to be still ramping up the operation. I'm sure that will improve.
You've gotten some good advice, but I wanted to add that several of the bars have pretty good happy hours. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I know Woody's has good happy hour prices on beer. Aside from the Tap Room, I don't think you'll find beer on tap anywhere. It's pricy to drink at the bars, but it's definitely an experience. And for some reason, I don't even notice I'm paying $6 for a drink when I'm sitting on the beach...
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California Girl
We put frozen steaks and frozen boneless chix breasts in our carry-on bags, saved a bundle...boneless rib-eye steak at starfish market was $18.99 a pound!! We shipped a 30lb box of non-perishables to the villa rep prior to our arrival, (which they put in the villa before we got there) we spent $35.00 on food that would have costed us $100.00 (package of cookies from walmart..$2.00, st. john cookies..$7.00) Be careful when shopping for bottled water, St. John Market which is 50 yards from the Westin entrance had a 24 pack for $18.99. We actually loved the new market compared to starfish..extremely friendly..close to chocolate hole..open late..very good produce..lots of wine, soda, and alcohol. Deli still being put together last week.
St. John Ice in the Lumberyard sells gallon jugs of water and you can refill them for .50. We did this our last trip and we think we saved over $60 since we didn't buy the cases of water. We filled our Siggs every day and kept a jug in the car. I don't mind warm water Also, it was environmentally friendly.
Also, it was environmentally friendly.NancyB
Re: Questions for November trip
Since this will be our first trip to USVI, what kind of weather can we expect in the last half of November?
We went in '07 over thanksgiving and had great weather. Its a bit cooler in the north shore waters (fine in the water but when we got out we would be slightly chilly sometimes, not always). The weather called from clouds and rain EVERY DAY but we only had 1 washout day (of course the day we'd planned a daysail, but the capt called us and we just rescheduled to the next day which was beautiful).
Also, any recommendations for markets, bodegas, or stores where "cheap" food, ice, and beer can be found.
I am a big fan of Pine Peace. We used to stock up at Starfish and fill in at Pine Peace, then I noticed Pine Peace, though small, has just about everything you could need. This time we did our big stock-up there - booze, bacon, sodas, produce, snacks, etc - and spent $250. We got milk, yogurt, chicken and frozen chix nuggets at Starfish and spent over $100!
It doesn't seem like they can fit all that stuff into a little market but if there is anything you don't see that you want, just ask, they usually have it somewhere.
Have a great trip!
We went in '07 over thanksgiving and had great weather. Its a bit cooler in the north shore waters (fine in the water but when we got out we would be slightly chilly sometimes, not always). The weather called from clouds and rain EVERY DAY but we only had 1 washout day (of course the day we'd planned a daysail, but the capt called us and we just rescheduled to the next day which was beautiful).
Also, any recommendations for markets, bodegas, or stores where "cheap" food, ice, and beer can be found.
I am a big fan of Pine Peace. We used to stock up at Starfish and fill in at Pine Peace, then I noticed Pine Peace, though small, has just about everything you could need. This time we did our big stock-up there - booze, bacon, sodas, produce, snacks, etc - and spent $250. We got milk, yogurt, chicken and frozen chix nuggets at Starfish and spent over $100!
It doesn't seem like they can fit all that stuff into a little market but if there is anything you don't see that you want, just ask, they usually have it somewhere.
Have a great trip!
We did the Polarbear/frozen meat/carry-on thing this year. We took 2 rib eyes, 2 chicken breasts, 2 pork chops, 1# sausage, 2# ground beef, 2 hamburger patties, and bacon with 1 sheet of Techni-ice in a 12 pack sized cooler on the plane with us. Everything except the bacon was frozen solid when we arrived at the villa 12 hours later. Our butcher told us that the bacon is harder to freeze due to the salt. We froze the meat and "ice" a couple of days before departure. I filled the cooler the day before and placed the entire package in the freezer and set the temp to the lowest setting. Since we would not be able to see the cooler at 4 in the morning, I also taped a note to the door to remind us to grab it. I didn't want to pull up the the airport and say, "OH S*#@, we forgot the cooler."
We saved who knows how much money by eating in the villa. We ate out three out of nine nights, one breakfast and most lunches. Diana served one dinner and said, "This would have cost you $40 or $50 at Zozo's." The Walmart packages of cookies and Target pancake mix also helped.
This was the first time we used our polarbear. We we were so impressed with it that we ordered the 24 pack size from our STJ villa.
We'll try to complete our trip reports this weekend.
JIM
We saved who knows how much money by eating in the villa. We ate out three out of nine nights, one breakfast and most lunches. Diana served one dinner and said, "This would have cost you $40 or $50 at Zozo's." The Walmart packages of cookies and Target pancake mix also helped.
This was the first time we used our polarbear. We we were so impressed with it that we ordered the 24 pack size from our STJ villa.
We'll try to complete our trip reports this weekend.
JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....
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nothintolose
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: New Orleans, LA
Liquor is cheaper at Pine Peace. I agree with Flip Flop in that Pine Peace seems to have everything there in that surprisingly small space.
We also like the new market and Dolphin over Starfish.
Interestingly enough, I found some things to be priced the same as here. We bought strawberries and blueberries down there last week as they were the same price they are running here. On the other hand, we noted that things like a big bottle of cranberry juice (one of our mixers) was more than double the price it is here.
Have a great trip!
We also like the new market and Dolphin over Starfish.
Interestingly enough, I found some things to be priced the same as here. We bought strawberries and blueberries down there last week as they were the same price they are running here. On the other hand, we noted that things like a big bottle of cranberry juice (one of our mixers) was more than double the price it is here.
Have a great trip!
"Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" - Dave Matthews Band
We're going to be there the same week this fall, and aren't worried about the weather at all.
Everyone has given you great advice, and we are also planning on bringing frozen goodies for the grill again, as well.
Looking forward to renting our Jeep on STT from Dependable again,too. Quickest route to 'island time', as they meet you at the airport,you're driven to their office, and simply sent on your way to the car barge/ferry at your leisure.
Ideal for cheap villa provisioning as you're able to hit a market on the way. Less hassles with taxis' and lugging your luggage. The car barge drops you in Enighed where you'll find Hercules Pate, a wonderful Bodega serving up delicious Johnny cakes.
Don't forget to try Uncle Joe's BBQ in Cruz bay, and I'm also looking forward to trying Shela's Pot just off of the ferry dock in Cruz as well.
This will be my 10th trip to STJ, and there's still so much to try with discoveries around each bend.
Good luck, and always
Smiles
MJ
Everyone has given you great advice, and we are also planning on bringing frozen goodies for the grill again, as well.
Looking forward to renting our Jeep on STT from Dependable again,too. Quickest route to 'island time', as they meet you at the airport,you're driven to their office, and simply sent on your way to the car barge/ferry at your leisure.
Ideal for cheap villa provisioning as you're able to hit a market on the way. Less hassles with taxis' and lugging your luggage. The car barge drops you in Enighed where you'll find Hercules Pate, a wonderful Bodega serving up delicious Johnny cakes.
Don't forget to try Uncle Joe's BBQ in Cruz bay, and I'm also looking forward to trying Shela's Pot just off of the ferry dock in Cruz as well.
This will be my 10th trip to STJ, and there's still so much to try with discoveries around each bend.
Good luck, and always
Smiles
MJ
Thanks for all the great tips, especially the part about The Lumberyard- When I brought the idea of sending food ahead of us to our gracious host, I was laughed at and shamed. (our gracious host owns a bar and restaurant there, and extended the services her establishments provide at no cost of our own for the duration of our stay)
Water and booze will be the majority of what we will need plenty of, and I think we will have no problems finding both in abundance thanks to the great advice you all have shared!!!! Thanks a zillion <3
Water and booze will be the majority of what we will need plenty of, and I think we will have no problems finding both in abundance thanks to the great advice you all have shared!!!! Thanks a zillion <3