St. John newbie groceries question

Caw954s · Post by **Caw954s** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:00 pm

Hello everyone, I so enjoy this forum, it really helps me out with planning! I have read that people take food with them from home? I was only going to take carry on luggage, but would you suggest checking in a bag filled with groceries? Is food expensive enough to spend 70.00 on checking a bag? I imagine that we will eat dinner out most days, but we will have breakfast and lunches at the villa. There are 3 adults, can you all please fill me in on what most of you do about food and water.

Thank you!

visitstj · Post by **visitstj** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 12:56 pm

Good morning. If you're planning on eating out frequently, then checking groceries may not be the best choice. When we go for 2 weeks, we check a cooler with frozen meats and usually one suitcase with non-perishables - for 4 adults and one child. We usually purchase fresh produce, bread, dairy, liquor and water on-island. Food is also cheaper on St. Thomas than St. John. Generally, food on-island is 3 to 4 times more expensive than the mainland. Hope this helps.

deejayjay · Post by **deejayjay** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 2:15 pm

We will be making our 10th trip soon. We've never taken any more food than just travel food. Yes food is more expensive than in KC, but in the scope of the trip, it isn't that lg an expense. Air tickets from kc, nightly lodging and car rental make grocerys pale in comparison. Then again it's just the 2 of us, and we cook simply while we're there.

jayseadee · Post by **jayseadee** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 2:33 pm

If you plan on eating out and only doing some lunch/breakfast in, then I wouldn't spend the money to check a bag.

We check luggage anyway and I might throw in some english muffins, crackers, cheese, etc. We buy most of what we need at Starfish or Dolphin.

Caw954s · Post by **Caw954s** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 7:39 pm

Great advice, I'm not going to worry about bringing much more than snacks, thank you all very much!

Lindy · Post by **Lindy** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:49 am

Yikes! Which airline are you using that charges $70 to check a bag??? That almost makes taking ANYTHING prohibitive. The key here is how many people are going and how often you will eat out. Often times when we go with friends there will be 7 to 9 of us which makes it very difficult to eat out on a whim. We have to plan ahead and make reservations and even then it's difficult to find a place that can accomodate such a large group. Then we run into issues with some being teetotalers, one person being vegetarian, one person doesn't eat fish, one has to eat before 6 pm, another won't eat spicy, several others are extremely frugal, etc., etc., etc. - eating at the villa just turns out to be MUCH easier. We usually have one or two who manage with carry on only so if you are allowed to check one bag at a reasonable rate we will fill a suitcase with frozen meats, cheeses, etc. We also take advantage of the US postal service deals (if it fits it ships) for nonperishables. Snack foods are especially expensive in the islands so with a large groups it pays to send all sorts of crackers, chips, etc. if you have alot of mouths to feed. If it's only a small group, then that makes eating out much easier and probably more cost effective than hauling alot of food along. If you've never been to STJ before, you can likely remove at least 1/2 of the clothing you were planning to take and throw a few food items into your suitcases. DON'T over pack on clothing because you won't use it. You wind up wearing shorts and T shirts for a few hours each days and living in your swim suit most of the time. Take multiple swim suits and plan on wearing those shorts and T shirts multiple days and taking advantage of the laundry facilities where you are staying. That way you will have plenty of room in your bag for coffee, tea, breakfast items, snack foods and a few dinner items to tide you over during your stay. You will be happy not to have to eat out EVERY meal...honest. You will be stricken with "villa gravity" like the rest of us and will find that it's just TOO hard to drag yourself away from that gorgeous sunset or the nightly tree frog serenade when you are bushed from a day of sun and surf! Plus there's nothing better than lingering over coffee in the mornings and taking in the view from you lodgings before hitting the beach. Sure you can buy it all once you get there but that means less time on the beach and you have to be aware that the cost is going to be much higher. Just depends on your priorities.

Caw954s · Post by **Caw954s** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 8:51 am

Thank you Lindy for your reply! I know you're right about the clothes, no matter where I go I bring more clothes than I need, so I will heed your advice and pass it on to family. There are 5 of us going, a couple and my husband, 21 year old daughter, and me. We will most likely split up for daily outings and meet back at the villa for sunsets. So there are 3 that I need to feed. We fly delta and it's 25.00 to check a bag 50lbs and less, 35.00 for over 50lbs, and you pay that each way. From the replies I got I think I will pack a bunch of snacks (and chocolate!) and a box of cereal but then purchase dairy, bread, fruit etc on the island. The point was well taken from a fellow Kansan that after we pay for the villa and the flights, food is a drop in the bucket! We can't wait to be on island time and try some of the great restaurants, snorkel, take in the beauty, the people, and relax.....

AquaGirl · Post by **AquaGirl** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 2:39 pm

Hello STJ Newbie
How fun to be planning a trip. I enjoy the planning part too.

We check one bag, but don't take too much food with us. We always take fruit, cheese, nuts, chocolate and protein bars for travel days. In our checked bag, we take: coffee (picky - we like Gevalia), assorted nuts (picky - we like them from Trader Joes), lots of plastic baggies, and a small container of peanut butter (picky - I like a brand with no added stuff) and cereal.

We just buy our food in STJ because we rent our car there, and don't want the hassle of buying stuff on STT and dragging it on the people ferry. We have used almost all the grocery stores on STJ.

Starfish - Probably the biggest selection when you need something specific. We like some of their prepared food from the deli section for an easy dinner. They have good muffins and nice fresh-baked whole wheat bread in their bakery section.

Dolphin - We found nice produce and good selection of chocolate here. Dealt with very nice and helpful people.

Pine Peace - Its in Cruz Bay, but a bit "hidden" so ask someone how to find it. Small store, but we found some items that weren't in the other stores. We like tropical juices for fruit smoothie drinks at the villa. They have brands that were all or mostly tropical fruit. Other brands were mostly apple juice and just a small percentage of juice. Their prices overall seem lower than Starfish, especially on a case of gallon jugs of water.

Lily's in Coral Bay - Small, but has a variety of items. One day for lunch, we stopped in there and bought fresh bread, hummous and fruit.

Love City Mini-market in Coral Bay - Very small, not much to look at on the outside. Crammed full of stuff. We've bought a few items in here, but not major grocery shopping.

Have a great trip!

Caw954s · Post by **Caw954s** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:33 pm

Thank you B&J in VA, great ideas, I'm adding nuts and coffee to my list of foods to take. I heard of starfish market, but I had not heard of any of the other markets you mentioned, so thank you for taking the time to write a little blip about each one...I can't wait to have the opportunity to check them all out!

Mrs. B · Post by **Mrs. B** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:02 am

Last year we only took a few boxes of cereal for a quick breakfast and picked up milk at the Starfish market. Food is more expensive in SJ but we felt it wasn't worth the extra baggage cost to bring it. We plan on doing the same this year.

lazylane · Post by **lazylane** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:14 am

We pack coffee and have our villa frig stocked with breakfast, lunch items, cheeses and snacks. This year we are trying a different company www.blueskymanagement.net
Convenient online shopping list and great to work with!

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:19 am

Lazylane - please let me know your opinion on that new service. We always provision and I am looking at different options for the upcoming trip.

kgolden · Post by **kgolden** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:26 pm

Your other option is to pack up a box and ship it to Connections; they will hold it for you until you pick it up~ we shipped down all the non perishables via USPS and it was great! Didn't have to shlep in on the plane or go over weight. UPS was 5x more expensive, but USPS very reasonable.

stjchica · Post by **stjchica** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:11 pm

Which one is in Cruz Bay, I always get confused? That would be more convenient for us, but was thinking someone said that wasn't the best one to go to?? Is STJ Market out by the Westin better?

Ready2Go · Post by **Ready2Go** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:42 pm

We found Pine peace to be our best place with the be prices. I really did not want the hassle of trying to pack food. We ate out most days at least once. We had breakfast at the villa and bought other things like lunchmeats,bread snacks and drinks. Altogether we may have spent $150 for 2 of us. That includes alcohol. We even had a some things left at the end of the week. Keep in mind though that neither of us are big breakfast eaters so we kept it fairly simple.

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