USVI-On-Line

Ok, everyone who was there around the time we were has done their trip reports. Well I got in the villa report, but still no trip report. I just don’t have the patience!

So I will sort of copy Flip Flop’s recent post and list some things we did that we liked, and some things we wont do again. And throw in a few pics.

Likes:
Camera
Our new Canon Powershot d10. It is really unbelievably convenient. I am really happy with the photos and it is easy enough for our 8 and 12 year olds to use. These were taken by my 12 year old:



I will say that if you go underwater, you really should not be cleaning the lens, etc…until you soak in fresh water. So if I was a perfectionist, I might recommend bringing a land camera IF you are planning to take photos all day. We had just a few photos that were ruined, probably because of a smudge or saltwater on the lens. The other thing about this camera, is that because it is designed to handle the saltwater, there are not moving parts, like an automatic lens cover, or a flip out screen. The downfall there is our screen is scratched (I am going to buy some film-wish I had thought of that earlier). And one day, our lens could get damaged if we are not very careful. Overall though --I give the camera a 10. The zoom is great, the functions are great and we got great in and out of the water shots.



Local stuff
This trip our villa was wonderful. Moonswept (see earlier post for review of villa).



One cool thing they had were lots of books about the islands. This inspired me greatly. I have always loved Guy Benjamin’s book and was able to read it for the 3rd or 4th time! Then Ned and I have always really wanted to eat stuff off the trees….which is a BAD idea of course! Our villa had some books though and we started learning some of the trees and plants, which (along with Guy Benjamin) inspired me to eat some tamarind off the tree. We were at Vies and her LOVELY daughter was nice enough to confirm that yes, the tree over the table was a tamarind tree.


Man, I love that photo, if it weren't for that darned beer!
So she helped us pick a good pod and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. Tastes just like sour candy that the kids like these days! So THEN, at Carnival (we were there only the first night) we found a booth where a lady was selling some unusual potions and she had tamarind balls! A butt-ugly wad of brown sugary paste. I bought one for $1… my family devoured it. It makes me laugh to think that a few years ago I wouldn’t never have considered even going up to that booth. But we all know how St. John gets under our skin and we just want to experience more of what the island has to offer. That is where we are. I also got to laugh my a** off while my husband sampled a large spoon of the same lady’s hot sauce! That was a classic! Fabulous hot sauce, by the way. Bought a jar for home. Too afraid to try the sex potion. Maybe will try next time.

We also visited Annaberg for the first time, which we all enjoyed and I think the kids didn’t mind. A few years ago they would have been miserable.

We also went up to Peace Hill…


Forum peeps
It was great fun meeting everyone. I won’t go into detail as many have talked about the Beach Bar party…but DJ mom had fun…a little too much and after about 4 painkillers and drinks at dinner, she wasn’t feeling real good the next day. I had NO problem getting served. Plus Ned was serving me too! Don’t know what the deal was with that, but I wish it had been a little more difficult as I suffered greatly.

Thank you Pia also for meeting me to pick up my Girl Scout troop donation! It was great meeting you in person.

Great meals
We didn’t go out a lot-Ned is a great griller and we made most of our dinners at home. We are “bring the meat from home people”. Ned makes his own rubs and marinades (sorry Ruth!) We had a fabulous dinner at Sogos (as always-love that veggie plate!), Aqua Bistro (new to us and very good-reasonable prices), Skinnys and then my kid’s new favorite The Tourist Trap. It was right around the corner from our villa, so we went twice for appetizers. It was great to show up all grubby and just hang out and have a cold one (or two, or three…) We loved the nachos especially. Enjoyed the lobster roll and meatball sandwich also. And just loved the people and service in general.

Fishing net

If anyone saw us on the beach or you weren’t sure…the nets were a dead giveaway. I bought 2 $4 nets at Outdoor World before we left. They were priceless by the end of the trip. I would say our daughters played with them for at least 5 hours every day…I kid you not. Our youngest especially.



Bless her heart, she wouldn’t give up. She only caught 4 minnows the whole trip (and threw them back of course!)

I had a feeling she was going to like that net.

Dislikes

Very few. Where we won’t go again?

Shipwreck Landing. It was not very good , poor value, and really impersonal service. We also got the "unasked for" tip (party of FOUR) already on the bill. We almost missed it and tipped again. I guess the service was so bad she assumed she wouldn’t do well. I was really offended as we still would have tipped a standard tip.

Morgan’s Mango. This is a real shame. We were really excited about going back as we had a good meal there for Thanksgiving. (We had OK meals in the past and were not big fans). But Thanksgiving was so great, we thought we were in for a great night. WRONG. We had table after table after table (that came after us) get served while we waited for our meal. Finally after a LONG time (maybe an hour or more after our appetizer) we asked and our food was “coming out any second”. It didn’t show up for at least a half hour after that. By then my daughter was almost asleep and I was really mad. We would have left, but we we were at that point of no return. The sorriest thing was that when the food came apologies were not offered. And even sorrier was that the food was really quite good, because we WILL NOT go back….there was no apology or offer to even comp a drink or appetizer. Just a bad customer service move.

So be forewarned.

Our conclusion after these restaurants….more cooking in the villa next time. We are not going to pay $100 or more for a crappy meal or bad experience. Our oldest now gets adult entrees, so it is getting more expensive. If the restaurant is not a current favorite of ours, we will not be going to some place just because it is there. We will bring more fish and meat and just have it at the villa and go to our favorite “dives” for lunch or an occasional dinner.

Westin airconditioning (and lack thereof)

We had a free room for 3 nights at the Westin. We were really happy to be booked in a suite. Which soon turned to disappointment as the ac did not work well. They sent the guy out at least 3 times to fix, but it never got cranking. We were too tired to move rooms and didn't want to take time out to do it. Basically the AC guy said the buildings are old and some just don't cool well.

It was great for a free room, but I would be very hesitant to recommend the Westin to anyone paying for a room. The sevice was good, better than many prior years, but you need that AC. Especially if they people plan to spend a lot of time at the resort. We were never there so it didn't matter as much.

So many other fun things…not many bad. It was a great vacation! I have now written WAY more than I planned…BYE!

I'm really upset that both you and Gromit and Flip Flop had bad Shipwreck experiences. It's always one of our favorite places. I'm going to PM Pat and find out what's going on....

We were on island at the same time as Flip and Gromit and were at Shipwreck twice for great meals. It's really hit and miss, I think.

But it's never been "hit or miss"...It's always consistently good. This really bothers me..

The auto tip on a table of 4 is just INSANE to me. That confirms my feeling that our autotip was basically to guarantee the waitress got her money even though she provided HORRID service.

Thing is we paid the added auto gratuity (because we had 6 or more) at Aqua Bistro, Zozos, and Sweet Plantains and didn't bat an eye, because the service in each case was top notch.

Bev let us know what you find out. I think Gromit was planning to email or pm Pat as well.

We had a dinner at Shipwreck and it was above average but certainly not outstanding. The service was good, the food was good (fresh Mahi was worth the extra cost) and the drinks were very good. They seated us and then asked us to move because of a large party that was coming in. They gave us a round of drinks for the inconvenience. We ate, drank and left before the party got there.

JIM

I am thinking they might have one enterprising waitress who is spoiling the lot. Hmmmmmm.....

Great underwater pictures! Glad to hear your thoughts on the D10. Just purchased it for our trip to STJ next week and have only checked it out in the pool so far.

I love the video feature! Did you try it out on your trip?

One more week! Can't wait!

Texas girl-
We used the video but I would not recommend letting a 12 year old do it. She just zoomed the camera around and the videos made me sea sick. Move slowly underwater for a good video.

Also, while the battery life is good, it will drain pretty fast on video, so be aware of that!

I would highly suggest you buy some of that clear film to put on your screen. Also, bring lens cleaning cloths. We used ours alot on this trip, every night and once or twice we had to use it for smudges as there is not the retractable lens or a lens cap.

I still haven't figured out editing the photos. There were some that I suspect we had on the regular mode as they were quite blue. I didn't do color correction on many and I don't have a program that corrects for underwater. So some of my photos can be improved I am sure. I just used the auto fix.

I think you will like the camera. It is just plain fun to bring it in with no worries! A real photographer might want better-but I couldn't be happier compared to the disposable we were using. We are not conscientious enough or willing to deal with underwater housing.

I'm sure you could crop that beer out of the picture. I'm a cooler person too but for fresh fish I hit up the charter captains. I've gotten tuna and Mahi Mahi.. They only give the guests 20 lbs of the catch and sell the rest.
Great report.

Gosh your girls are cute!
It was nice to meet you at the Beach Bar. You did not seem at all overserved.

Thanks for the report!

Thank you for the info on the camera. I am really thinking about getting it for my up coming trip.

And your girls are beautiful.

re: shipwreck. hubby and i had a less than stellar dinner there in january too and i thought there must be something wrong with us or the dinner we ordered or something cuz everyone else seems to like it.

shipwreck lunch, however, at least for me, was one of the best meals i had on island. it was a pulled pork special and it was TO DIE FOR! could've eaten like 5 more soo good. hubby just had a burger and it was pretty basic but he was happy with it.

Looking forward to what you all hear from Shipwreck. I'm planning to put a warning on the St. John Dining blog about them, but I'll hold up till I hear their response.

Robin, I would wait to hear from someone who was there maybe a week later or so...I know Gromit and Flip Flop were there the same week as us.

I hate to be unfair...I think it was a big issue that week, but maybe the owner was out of town that week as Bev mentioned. If things are back to normal I would hate for my comments to hurt them.

I don't feel one bit guilty for posting it here, but I am not sure how many read your blog....

Here I am feeling sorry for people...