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Mit43's Trip Review: May 13-22, 2008
Mit43's Trip Review: May 13-22, 2008
Hey Everyone,
Here is a review of our most recent trip to St. John. I will go over the basic day by day details and then make a few observations at the end. This turned out long, so thanks for your patience.
Travel Day: May 13
We decided to leave out of RDU instead of our local airport due to much better rates. We drove up last night and spent the night in Morrisville at the Holiday Inn. We visited with my son and very pregnant daughter in law. The baby was due mid-June, but see details on Day 3!
Our US Air flights went as scheduled. (RDU-CLT-STT). Upon arrival we found our soft sided cooler had been damaged by the baggage handlers. The entire bottom had ripped. Luckily all the meat was still frozen, however 3 of the juice concentrates had thawed and broken open. (What a mess!) By the way, we packed the cooler and used techni-ice the day before we left and it was still frozen 30 hours later, except for the thawed juices due to the busted cooler. We had reservations with Rachel for the drive to Red Hook. What a wonderful person! We will use her for every trip in the future. Last year it took us over 1 hours for the ride to Red Hook with a normal taxi. This trip was less than 30 minutes. She charged us $25 each which was more than we were expecting, but well worth the money to us. We were her only passengers that trip. She was kind enough to give us a bungee cord to secure our busted cooler.
Upon arrival to Cruz Bay we had to wait about 10 minutes for Curtis from Caribbean Villas to show up. Nancy was our rep, but she was on her way home from the airport at the same time we were. Curtis took us to our Jeep and filled out the paper work. We went through them because it sounded more convenient, even though they charged the same as other Jeep rental agencies. The Jeep was in bad condition. The back curtain had been sewn in place at the top and the lock cylinder was missing from the driver's door. I mentioned to Curtis that there was no way to secure the Jeep and he said it didn't matter because there were no robberies in St. John. Yea, right... Anyways, we never leave anything in the Jeep, so I didn't think much of it until we had a shower one day. The back of the Jeep was soaking wet since the back curtain could not be zipped closed.
We drove to Starfish to stock up on a few essentials. Nancy met us there and we were off to our villa.
We stayed at "Fun & Contentment" in Coral Bay. I will post a separate review for the villa, but for now I will just say that it was a great villa. It is exactly as pictured and we enjoyed our stay there. The view was gorgeous and we loved the small pool in the early afternoon and the hot tub at night. The pool only gets sun until 3pm, but that was fine with us. The road up to the villa has been a topic on here a few times so I will describe it in the villa review. Let's just say it is an adventure, but by the end of the trip I actually enjoyed it!
Ok, this first day is turning into a long section. I will be quicker on the rest. I promise!
We got settled and went down to the Aqua Bistro to grab a bite to eat. We forgot to unpack our bug spray, BIG MISTAKE! I had to go get some because the bugs ate us alive. Bug spray applied...problem solved. The food was rather plain and we didn't go back there during this trip.
Day 2:
For our first day we headed down to Salt Pond and did the hike to Ram's Head. We enjoyed it, but underestimated the length. My wife struggled the last few minutes, but we made it and were glad we did. Great view! The snorkeling wasn't very good today, but see day 8, it was much better that day. We ate at Sweet Plantains that night. I ate the ribs and they were great. My wife had the Creole dish, but didn't like it as well as I did mine. The power was out today for 3 hours during the afternoon. Not a big deal to us. They came back on while we were out.
Day 3:
The power went out again during the night. This time it stayed off for several hours. We headed out for the day and the power was back on later that afternoon when we returned. We also lost phone service and had to do without the phone until Monday.(Day 7) We headed over to Francis this morning, but the water was rough and the visibility was bad. There were high surf advisories for 2 or 3 days so we headed down the East End. We stopped at Haulover and it was a nice spot. Then we headed down to Vie's for lunch. Great spot! Her Conch fritters were the best we had. I saw an earlier review say there wasn't conch in them, but ours were loaded with conch. Her Garlic chicken was great! We went to Miss Lucy's for dinner. We enjoyed the outdoor seating as long as we could, the bugs finally won. The conch soup was wonderful! The rest was ok, but not as good as we expected from other reviews. We will give them another shot on Day 5.
BIG NEWS: My son called and grandchild #3 arrived early. My 3rd grand-daughter. Life is sweet!
Day 4:
There was a chance of rain today so we took today to head into Cruz Bay. The rain set in and stayed for the entire morning while we were there. When we got back to Coral Bay, it was bone dry. The back curtain in the Jeep made it difficult during the rain. We had to carry all our bags with us through town since the Jeep would not lock and the back was full of water. We headed back to Coral Bay and had lunch at Island Blues. The food was ok, but the service was very slow. It might have been faster if the waitress wouldn't have stopped at the bar every 2 or 3 minutes for shots with the Bartender. We grilled steaks at the villa that evening and relaxed. I mentioned that my steaks were the best on the island. That bubble burst when we went to Shipwreck! See Day 7...
Day 5:
Headed to our favorite spot on the island, Leinster Bay! Great snorkel as usual. Turtles, rays, starfish, etc... Headed to Caneel for lunch and then relaxed on their beach. We always enjoy our lunch at their Beach Cafe. Headed back to Coral Bay and stopped for smoothies at the intersection. They were great! That evening we tried Miss Lucy's again. This time the food was not as good as on day 3. The conch chowder was noticeably thinner and not as tasty. The entrees were not very good. The waitress was mad that someone would dare sit outside with the bugs and cussed them out every time she came inside. That was not pleasant and we decided to not return to Miss Lucy's this trip.
Day 6: Wife's Birthday
Today was my wife's birthday and she got to decide what the agenda was. She would spend every day at Leinster if it was up to her, so back we go! Great snorkel again! Added bonus: we met Pia and her husband today. It was great to put a face to her posts. Thanks for all the help and recommendations, Pia! Headed over to Francis for a picnic and the visibility was much better today, but didn't see as much as we did the last time we came 6 months ago. We stopped for smoothies on the way home again. (Those things are addictive!) Tonight I took the birthday girl to Chateau Bordeaux. Wow! Fantastic place! Great food and service. We loved it!
Day 7:
Pia told us we had to go to Honeymoon, so we headed that way today. Nice beach! The snorkeling is good between Honeymoon and Caneel. We headed to Skinny Legs for lunch. The atmosphere seemed more like Cancun on spring break. Not for us. The burger was good, but I'd rather not have to sit and listen to drunks scream the whole time I'm eating. That's just my opinion. Tonight we wanted to try Shipwreck since Pia highly recommended them. I ordered the Ribeye. Whoa, that is a big steak! How can they serve that big of a steak for so much less than the other places? We loved it so much that you can skip my review of dinner for the rest of the week. We went there every night for the rest of the trip. What a great place.
Day 8:
We headed to Salt Pond again today. I'm glad we did. It was much better than on day 2. The snorkeling was great. I decided to snorkel out to the rocks past the mooring balls. I would not recommend this unless you are a very good swimmer. If you are, it is worth it. On the way I was able to see a huge Eagle Ray! For lunch we headed over to Vie's again. The food was great as usual. We spent some time at her beach also. It is a very nice spot. We saw our first shark there. It was a nurse shark just hanging out under a ledge no more than 20 feet from the beach. Cool! Dinner: Shipwreck Ribeye again..I told ya!
Day 9:
This was our last full day and the sadness was already starting to set in. How could it have passed so fast??? We decided to go somewhere with a nice beach and relax. Ahhh Cinnamon! We hadn't intended to snorkel much today, but we went in one more time. About half way out to the island we saw our second shark of the week. This one was a nurse shark as well and bigger than the one at Vie's. Now all we haven't seen is an octopus. We'll have to concentrate on that next trip. We ate at the Tree Lizard. It was fine. Just basic food, but it was good. The servers were very nice. Dinner....Shipwreck!!! Why go anywhere else? Wonderful last evening on the island.
Travel Home Day:
How sad...... We packed last night so we could relax at the pool for a couple of hours. We wondered how much cash we would have if we sold everything we owned back home and moved to paradise. Wishful thinking....
We made the drive down the hill for the last time. I'm gonna miss that hair-raising drive! We drove to town and had a few minutes and a couple gallons of gas to waste so we drove around Cruz Bay a little. We happened upon Coconut Coast Gallery just past Gallows Point. What a neat place! We loved her artwork and bought a few pieces to bring home. I wish we knew about her sooner. We drove to the designated drop off point for the Jeep, but no one ever showed up or returned our calls. We finally left the key under the mat and headed to the ferry. (I finally got a call back from Curtis and told him where the keys were) Rachel met us at Red Hook and drove us downtown for some shopping. She kept our luggage for us while we shopped and met us later for the ride to the airport. We ate at the Green House restaurant while we waited for her. This was a great place. We plan on making it a regular stop in St Thomas when we are down. Rachel arranged for a porter to meet us. We were through ticketing, customs, and security in less than 10 minutes. What??? Holy Cow! I wish I would have known about that on our previous trip. USE A PORTER!
General Observations:
High season vs Low season: This was the first time we visited outside of September. Never again! I can't imagine how crowded it must be during the really high season. We want a quiet secluded trip. From now on it will be back to the deep low season. We were used to deserted beaches and flat water. What a shock! I'll gladly give up a few restaurant closings for the crowds.
Cruz Bay vs Coral Bay: We enjoyed our trip to Coral Bay, but we missed being able to walk into town and shop/eat. I think we will be staying close to Cruz Bay the next trip.
Servers: There were a couple of exceptions, but for the most part the servers who were locals (native) were much more pleasant than those who have immigrated to the island. The exception was Shipwreck. I think we just had a few bad experiences at with some of the servers at Miss Lucys, Island Blues , and Skinnys. Maybe they were having a bad day. We all have em...
To Cooler or not: Our cooler was busted this trip, but we would still rather pay the extra $25 US Air charges for an extra bag. We figured it up and the saving in just the juices we take would pay for the fee. I will take extra precautions in the future incase the cooler is compromised again. Everything will be vacuum packed individually and we will place everything in some sort of cloth bag inside the cooler so nothing can fall out if the cooler is busted again. Maybe a pillow case or something like that.
Ok, that's it! You read the whole thing??? Wow! You must be a patient person....
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to start planning the next trip!
Here is a review of our most recent trip to St. John. I will go over the basic day by day details and then make a few observations at the end. This turned out long, so thanks for your patience.
Travel Day: May 13
We decided to leave out of RDU instead of our local airport due to much better rates. We drove up last night and spent the night in Morrisville at the Holiday Inn. We visited with my son and very pregnant daughter in law. The baby was due mid-June, but see details on Day 3!
Our US Air flights went as scheduled. (RDU-CLT-STT). Upon arrival we found our soft sided cooler had been damaged by the baggage handlers. The entire bottom had ripped. Luckily all the meat was still frozen, however 3 of the juice concentrates had thawed and broken open. (What a mess!) By the way, we packed the cooler and used techni-ice the day before we left and it was still frozen 30 hours later, except for the thawed juices due to the busted cooler. We had reservations with Rachel for the drive to Red Hook. What a wonderful person! We will use her for every trip in the future. Last year it took us over 1 hours for the ride to Red Hook with a normal taxi. This trip was less than 30 minutes. She charged us $25 each which was more than we were expecting, but well worth the money to us. We were her only passengers that trip. She was kind enough to give us a bungee cord to secure our busted cooler.
Upon arrival to Cruz Bay we had to wait about 10 minutes for Curtis from Caribbean Villas to show up. Nancy was our rep, but she was on her way home from the airport at the same time we were. Curtis took us to our Jeep and filled out the paper work. We went through them because it sounded more convenient, even though they charged the same as other Jeep rental agencies. The Jeep was in bad condition. The back curtain had been sewn in place at the top and the lock cylinder was missing from the driver's door. I mentioned to Curtis that there was no way to secure the Jeep and he said it didn't matter because there were no robberies in St. John. Yea, right... Anyways, we never leave anything in the Jeep, so I didn't think much of it until we had a shower one day. The back of the Jeep was soaking wet since the back curtain could not be zipped closed.
We drove to Starfish to stock up on a few essentials. Nancy met us there and we were off to our villa.
We stayed at "Fun & Contentment" in Coral Bay. I will post a separate review for the villa, but for now I will just say that it was a great villa. It is exactly as pictured and we enjoyed our stay there. The view was gorgeous and we loved the small pool in the early afternoon and the hot tub at night. The pool only gets sun until 3pm, but that was fine with us. The road up to the villa has been a topic on here a few times so I will describe it in the villa review. Let's just say it is an adventure, but by the end of the trip I actually enjoyed it!
Ok, this first day is turning into a long section. I will be quicker on the rest. I promise!
We got settled and went down to the Aqua Bistro to grab a bite to eat. We forgot to unpack our bug spray, BIG MISTAKE! I had to go get some because the bugs ate us alive. Bug spray applied...problem solved. The food was rather plain and we didn't go back there during this trip.
Day 2:
For our first day we headed down to Salt Pond and did the hike to Ram's Head. We enjoyed it, but underestimated the length. My wife struggled the last few minutes, but we made it and were glad we did. Great view! The snorkeling wasn't very good today, but see day 8, it was much better that day. We ate at Sweet Plantains that night. I ate the ribs and they were great. My wife had the Creole dish, but didn't like it as well as I did mine. The power was out today for 3 hours during the afternoon. Not a big deal to us. They came back on while we were out.
Day 3:
The power went out again during the night. This time it stayed off for several hours. We headed out for the day and the power was back on later that afternoon when we returned. We also lost phone service and had to do without the phone until Monday.(Day 7) We headed over to Francis this morning, but the water was rough and the visibility was bad. There were high surf advisories for 2 or 3 days so we headed down the East End. We stopped at Haulover and it was a nice spot. Then we headed down to Vie's for lunch. Great spot! Her Conch fritters were the best we had. I saw an earlier review say there wasn't conch in them, but ours were loaded with conch. Her Garlic chicken was great! We went to Miss Lucy's for dinner. We enjoyed the outdoor seating as long as we could, the bugs finally won. The conch soup was wonderful! The rest was ok, but not as good as we expected from other reviews. We will give them another shot on Day 5.
BIG NEWS: My son called and grandchild #3 arrived early. My 3rd grand-daughter. Life is sweet!
Day 4:
There was a chance of rain today so we took today to head into Cruz Bay. The rain set in and stayed for the entire morning while we were there. When we got back to Coral Bay, it was bone dry. The back curtain in the Jeep made it difficult during the rain. We had to carry all our bags with us through town since the Jeep would not lock and the back was full of water. We headed back to Coral Bay and had lunch at Island Blues. The food was ok, but the service was very slow. It might have been faster if the waitress wouldn't have stopped at the bar every 2 or 3 minutes for shots with the Bartender. We grilled steaks at the villa that evening and relaxed. I mentioned that my steaks were the best on the island. That bubble burst when we went to Shipwreck! See Day 7...
Day 5:
Headed to our favorite spot on the island, Leinster Bay! Great snorkel as usual. Turtles, rays, starfish, etc... Headed to Caneel for lunch and then relaxed on their beach. We always enjoy our lunch at their Beach Cafe. Headed back to Coral Bay and stopped for smoothies at the intersection. They were great! That evening we tried Miss Lucy's again. This time the food was not as good as on day 3. The conch chowder was noticeably thinner and not as tasty. The entrees were not very good. The waitress was mad that someone would dare sit outside with the bugs and cussed them out every time she came inside. That was not pleasant and we decided to not return to Miss Lucy's this trip.
Day 6: Wife's Birthday
Today was my wife's birthday and she got to decide what the agenda was. She would spend every day at Leinster if it was up to her, so back we go! Great snorkel again! Added bonus: we met Pia and her husband today. It was great to put a face to her posts. Thanks for all the help and recommendations, Pia! Headed over to Francis for a picnic and the visibility was much better today, but didn't see as much as we did the last time we came 6 months ago. We stopped for smoothies on the way home again. (Those things are addictive!) Tonight I took the birthday girl to Chateau Bordeaux. Wow! Fantastic place! Great food and service. We loved it!
Day 7:
Pia told us we had to go to Honeymoon, so we headed that way today. Nice beach! The snorkeling is good between Honeymoon and Caneel. We headed to Skinny Legs for lunch. The atmosphere seemed more like Cancun on spring break. Not for us. The burger was good, but I'd rather not have to sit and listen to drunks scream the whole time I'm eating. That's just my opinion. Tonight we wanted to try Shipwreck since Pia highly recommended them. I ordered the Ribeye. Whoa, that is a big steak! How can they serve that big of a steak for so much less than the other places? We loved it so much that you can skip my review of dinner for the rest of the week. We went there every night for the rest of the trip. What a great place.
Day 8:
We headed to Salt Pond again today. I'm glad we did. It was much better than on day 2. The snorkeling was great. I decided to snorkel out to the rocks past the mooring balls. I would not recommend this unless you are a very good swimmer. If you are, it is worth it. On the way I was able to see a huge Eagle Ray! For lunch we headed over to Vie's again. The food was great as usual. We spent some time at her beach also. It is a very nice spot. We saw our first shark there. It was a nurse shark just hanging out under a ledge no more than 20 feet from the beach. Cool! Dinner: Shipwreck Ribeye again..I told ya!
Day 9:
This was our last full day and the sadness was already starting to set in. How could it have passed so fast??? We decided to go somewhere with a nice beach and relax. Ahhh Cinnamon! We hadn't intended to snorkel much today, but we went in one more time. About half way out to the island we saw our second shark of the week. This one was a nurse shark as well and bigger than the one at Vie's. Now all we haven't seen is an octopus. We'll have to concentrate on that next trip. We ate at the Tree Lizard. It was fine. Just basic food, but it was good. The servers were very nice. Dinner....Shipwreck!!! Why go anywhere else? Wonderful last evening on the island.
Travel Home Day:
How sad...... We packed last night so we could relax at the pool for a couple of hours. We wondered how much cash we would have if we sold everything we owned back home and moved to paradise. Wishful thinking....
We made the drive down the hill for the last time. I'm gonna miss that hair-raising drive! We drove to town and had a few minutes and a couple gallons of gas to waste so we drove around Cruz Bay a little. We happened upon Coconut Coast Gallery just past Gallows Point. What a neat place! We loved her artwork and bought a few pieces to bring home. I wish we knew about her sooner. We drove to the designated drop off point for the Jeep, but no one ever showed up or returned our calls. We finally left the key under the mat and headed to the ferry. (I finally got a call back from Curtis and told him where the keys were) Rachel met us at Red Hook and drove us downtown for some shopping. She kept our luggage for us while we shopped and met us later for the ride to the airport. We ate at the Green House restaurant while we waited for her. This was a great place. We plan on making it a regular stop in St Thomas when we are down. Rachel arranged for a porter to meet us. We were through ticketing, customs, and security in less than 10 minutes. What??? Holy Cow! I wish I would have known about that on our previous trip. USE A PORTER!
General Observations:
High season vs Low season: This was the first time we visited outside of September. Never again! I can't imagine how crowded it must be during the really high season. We want a quiet secluded trip. From now on it will be back to the deep low season. We were used to deserted beaches and flat water. What a shock! I'll gladly give up a few restaurant closings for the crowds.
Cruz Bay vs Coral Bay: We enjoyed our trip to Coral Bay, but we missed being able to walk into town and shop/eat. I think we will be staying close to Cruz Bay the next trip.
Servers: There were a couple of exceptions, but for the most part the servers who were locals (native) were much more pleasant than those who have immigrated to the island. The exception was Shipwreck. I think we just had a few bad experiences at with some of the servers at Miss Lucys, Island Blues , and Skinnys. Maybe they were having a bad day. We all have em...
To Cooler or not: Our cooler was busted this trip, but we would still rather pay the extra $25 US Air charges for an extra bag. We figured it up and the saving in just the juices we take would pay for the fee. I will take extra precautions in the future incase the cooler is compromised again. Everything will be vacuum packed individually and we will place everything in some sort of cloth bag inside the cooler so nothing can fall out if the cooler is busted again. Maybe a pillow case or something like that.
Ok, that's it! You read the whole thing??? Wow! You must be a patient person....
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to start planning the next trip!
Sooooo much fun meeting you guy's (twice 
) - everyone it was the "neat sheet" that gave them away
Shipwreck is fabulous isn't it - have never tried the steak but the fish and chips are amazing (and coming from a former "Brit" that is saying something
)
Hope to see you again soon - and again, hope my "girls" didn't get your stuff too sandy
Pia
) - everyone it was the "neat sheet" that gave them away Shipwreck is fabulous isn't it - have never tried the steak but the fish and chips are amazing (and coming from a former "Brit" that is saying something
)Hope to see you again soon - and again, hope my "girls" didn't get your stuff too sandy
Pia
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
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Robin in NC
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:19 pm
- Location: Kernersville, NC
I'm eager to read your full review of Fun & Contentment. I'm trying desperately to figure a way to get back next year, and that looks like a great value. Also enjoyed your restaurant experiences, and was impressed by your feelings about Shipwreck Landing. Will definitely head there first thing if we get to Coral Bay next time!
Robin
Robin
