Newbie

[M]

Ok-I've got a ticker (too fun!) saved to my desktop. Used Daisypath. Want to begin using it but am not understanding how to copy and paste it into forum messaging/signature. Tried and just got the path name posted. Any advice? I'll proceed tickerless for now.
A few questions:
Ferry cost: Auto ferry vs passenger ferry
Bag cost for passenger ferry.
If I rent a vehicle on St Thomas at the airport I'd like to go to Cost U Less for groceries before getting on ferry. I understand you have to be a memeber. How can that be done before getting there?

[TrvlJohn]

Welcome!
To add a ticker:
1. Open your profile page by clicking on profile near the top of the page.
2. Go to the Signature or Ticker section and post the code in that you got from Daisypath. should look something like this:

Code: Select all

<a href="http://daisypath.com/"><img src="http://dvcm.daisypath.com/dddWm5.png" width="200" height="80" border="0" alt="Daisypath Vacation tickers"></a>

3. Click submit.

You should see the ticker on the bottom of all of your posts.

I am sure others will chime in to answer your other questions.
-John

[augie]

We've stopped and shopped at Cost-U-Less twice, with no membership.

The first time, the lady at the checkout counter asked me, as she vigorously nodded her head to indicate that I should answer in the affirmative, "did you just forget to bring your membership card?"

[M]

Thanks John for your help. As you can see...I have a ticker. Yeah!
And thanks Augie for the info about Cost U Less..........got the 'wink wink' thing committed to memory.

[Exit Zero]

There is no membership required at Costuless - no wink,wink needed.

[EastEnder]

Be certain that your flight into St. Thomas gets in early enough for you to pick up baggage, sign out the car, stop at Cost-U-Less and get to Red Hook by 6 pm. Otherwise you'll be stuck for the night with a car full of groceries.

From the airport to Red Hook can take an hour + in traffic, especially if it is your first time making the trip. Cost-U-Less can take an hour if you are stocking up and the lines are long. It's not uncommon for cars to line up for the barge and if one of the company's happens to be down for the day, there might not be enough room for everyone.

Not attempting to dissuade you, just want to give you as much information as possible to help in your decision.

Please feel free to ask any further questions as they arise.

[M]

Thanks EastEnder. Our flight gets in at 3pm and we are not planning on checking any bags. That said, perhaps we should just grocery shop on STJ. Best grocery there? Would like to get to Villa before dark. What time is the sun going down in May? What options on ferry crossing points do we have already renting a vehicle on STT? We rented a vehicle from Budget......was told not all rental companies will let you take your vehicle over but they will. Still don't have a clear picture in my head on how the transition will go from deplaning to getting to ferry.

[FinsUp]

M...welcome!! I hope your experience with Budget is better than our first trip was..Yikes. We arrived at the counter after waiting in a very long line only to find they didn't have a vehicle even close to the one we reserved...they wanted to give us a mini van!! We waited well over an hour for turnover..after a long day of travel with 3 small kids..not a good scene. Once we got that behind us, our trip definitely got better!! Our second year we identified the things in our life that caused us stress and eliminated them. Budget was first to go. We found a wonderful car rental company, Amalie Car Rental and haven't looked back since They allow their vehicles to go to STJ. Others might have had better luck with Budget..I certainly hope so!

[hugo]

Just to clarify, you can be a Cost-u-less member, but it only gives discounts for purchases after you spend , I think, $500. Card not required.

[TrvlJohn]

Glad you got your ticker working.

You might need to do some searching for the actual ferry schedules and prices. Be sure to look at the date they were updated. Schedule and prices change regularly. The Car barge leaves from Red Hook. Passenger only ferries leave from downtown and Red Hook. If you PM me I will give you some send you some links to check.

I have always rented my jeep on St. John. My understanding is that if your jeep breaks down on St. John and you have a jeep from St. Thomas, you are on your own to get it fixed and back to St. Thomas. I do not have first-hand knowledge of this, but it has been discussed in the past. Again, not trying to dissuade you from renting on St. Thomas. Just making you aware.

There are several grocery stores on St. John (on both ends of the island). You may want to just stop the first night and get a few things and then go shopping the next day. Keep in mind, you will need to be flexible. They might have lots of chicken, but no beef or lots of beef, but no chicken and you may need to go to a couple of stores to get what you want. It is all part of the adventure.

Looks like our trips overlap. Maybe we will run into each other on the island - I will be the one with a hat and sunglasses...

-John

[EastEnder]

Thanks EastEnder. Our flight gets in at 3pm and we are not planning on checking any bags. That said, perhaps we should just grocery shop on STJ. Best grocery there? Would like to get to Villa before dark. What time is the sun going down in May? What options on ferry crossing points do we have already renting a vehicle on STT? We rented a vehicle from Budget......was told not all rental companies will let you take your vehicle over but they will. Still don't have a clear picture in my head on how the transition will go from deplaning to getting to ferry.

In order to minimize the stress of missing the barge, I recommend you forgo Cost-U-Less. As related by FinsUp, you could have a bit of a wait for your rental car and once you hit about 4 pm, Charlotte Amelie gets backed up with rush hour traffic. You can get backed up clear across the island to Red Hook. As it is, you are cutting it close for the last barge. However, if all goes smoothly you should still be able to make it.

To address your concern about details of the trip from airport to barge dock, the airport is just west of downtown Charlotte Amelie. You pass through downtown, heading east until you reach Red Hook, the eastern-most point of St. Thomas. There is a parking lot next to the ferry boat terminal where cars wait for the barges. There are a couple of barge companies, but you never know on any given day whether one might be down for service. The latest barges usually leave around 6:30, but sometimes leave early, especially if they have filled up, or sometimes wait a little later to fill up.

If worse comes to worst, you could leave the car overnight in St. Thomas and take the passenger ferry to St. John, catch a taxi in Cruz Bay to your villa and return the next day to pick up your car. It would be a bit costly, depending on how far out your villa is (for example, it could be $100 one-way out to the East End of St. John). Also I am not certain about parking in St. Thomas; whether you are allowed to keep the car overnight at the ferry dock, or whether it would be wise to do so (imagine coming back the next day NOT to find it there!).

If you get the car, hightail it to Red Hook and find that you've arrived in plenty of time to catch the last barge, you could still do some shopping on St. Thomas at Marina Market ( http://marinamarketusvi.com ), just across the street from the barge and ferry. The selection and price might not be Cost-U-Less, but you could grab some drinks and snacks for the ride over, as well as have provisions for next morning's breakfast.

On St. John, once you get into Cruz Bay, the two largest markets are Dolphin and Starfish. It's amazing the variety of goods you can now get, compared to 20 years ago. Nonetheless it shall be a bit more limited, as well as pricier, than what you can find on St. Thomas.

I strongly recommend you use Google Earth or Maps to search for and create directions to some of these places. They are not so difficult to find, but it certainly is convenient to get a feel for directions and distances prior to doing it.

[STTlover]

Instead of going rt. 38 to Red Hook, which takes you through the island and tons of shopping plazas. Which makes for more traffic. You could also take Rt. 30-32 which takes you around the East End and stop at the Food Center to load up on food/drink. Never takes us more than 1 hr total to get to Red Hook with the food center stop going this route.

[PaminMaine]

Welcome!
To add a ticker:
1. Open your profile page by clicking on profile near the top of the page.
2. Go to the Signature or Ticker section and post the code in that you got from Daisypath. should look something like this:

Code: Select all

<a href="http://daisypath.com/"><img src="http://dvcm.daisypath.com/dddWm5.png" width="200" height="80" border="0" alt="Daisypath Vacation tickers"></a>

3. Click submit.

You should see the ticker on the bottom of all of your posts.

I am sure others will chime in to answer your other questions.
-John

I have done this process several times.. no ticker for me. .LOL I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong!

[Teresa_Rae]

We've rented a vehicle from the airport and taken the car ferry 8 times. The rental on STT itself is less expensive vs. STJ, and then the ferry costs are less with the car barge if you have 2 or more people in the car (the last time I did the math anyway). If you rent on STJ you have to take a taxi to the people ferry, pay for the ferry and baggage, and it adds up.

[TrvlJohn]

I have done this process several times.. no ticker for me. .LOL I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong!

I can see your ticker. I guess you did figure it out. Good for you.

-John