USVI-On-Line

Question for those of you who travel in groups . . .

We are going with another couple for a week in November and can't decide whether to rent 1 or 2 cars.

We have pretty similar likes and dislikes. Would hate to rent 2 cars, but then only use 1 most of the time. BUT, on the flip-side would hate to be joined at the hip for an entire week . . .

What to do????

I always recommend 2 cars. I've done 1 car with 2 couples and it didn't work out. My husband and I were early birds and wanted to hit the beach at 8:00. The other couple... well, let's just say she was a fluffy sort of girl and needed to lounge around in bed awhile, read a book awhile, play with her hair awhile, take a shower... she was never ready until 10:00. We'll never make that mistake again.

yeah, I agree with that. I wouldn't want to be tied to another person's schedule. But that's just me.

Ya, depends on the group. When we have our party gang of 6-8 we get two cars. One car is the early car and the other the late car. We have been getting the Monteros that seat 7, if two are smaller people. Our gang of 6 for October is a time tested group that has a routine with few conflicts.

We have some friends that went with their 3 year old and another non-kid couple. The non-kid couple was getting up 3 hours after the 7AM kid. It caused some tension and they got a second car after the second day.

Depends on the group.

Cheers, RickG

I'd start out with one Nov. you sould be able to rent a car at the last min. Do the stuff you want together the first part of the week if it doesn't work out rent another one and split up.

Thanks guys, I like the idea on 1 car at the beginning and then 2 later on in the week. (after we start to wear on each other!) Maybe it could even be his or hers car!

I wasn't sure if the agencies would rent by the day or not.

Want to still be friends when we get back home.

If they have cars that aren't rented they will it will be a little more expensive
Tom

For whatever its worth, we've gone with one other couple, rented just one car, and we had no problems. One of several advantages of going with another couple is the ability to split certain costs. I do wake up earlier than others, so I sometimes use the car to go to the store or go "exploring" in the morning before everyone else wakes up. Just depends on your ability to be flexible and accomodate each other's schedules.

2 cars! If one couple gets a comfortable 4 seater,the other a Suzuki Sidekick type thing, that's even better. Being tied to each other's sleep schedules and bar plans,etc might be okay for 1 week, but I prefer 2 cars. Sometimes each couple goes their own way, sometimes the guys and gals take different ways, i.e. shopping/Island Blues.

On our first trip w/ Gromit and hubby we did one car and it was fine. But we are all pretty laid back people. Since we've done a car per couple. I think it just depends on your style.

2 cars is the safe way to go. Why risk feeling like you can't go and do whatever you want whenever you want. We find that with two cars sometimes the girls go off and do our thing in one jeep and the guys can do their thing. No one is stuck waiting around for others to return or be ready to go.

We will be getting 2 cars. I don't want to have to feel like we are holding anyone back that wants to leave early but I also don't want to be trapped if they do and plan to come back for us. I figure the island is small enough to meet up later if we know the direction they headed.

I really like vacation to be laid back and easy for everyone. We will have together time but paart time too.

Hey Jumbie Girl,

If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were talking about me.
No, scratch that. I'm just waking up at 10:00, not ready at 10:00.

Cat is just getting two cars because she and my other half both have to be the drivers

Nah, we just think it's easier not to worry and to be able to do what you want when you want. We are all pretty easy going but do want to be able to do our own things.

It just makes it easier to have no worries.

nothintolose

Too many curves! Motion sickness and I do not get along very well!

We have done both.

The first villa trip was two couples, one car, no problems as couple #2 was on their first St. John visit and had no really desire to step out on their own. We all operate on the same schedule (more or less) so it was a very smooth and pleasant sharing arrangment. Let me back up, me, hubby #1 and #2 were on the same schedule and hubby #2 sort of forced wife #2 to get with our program! We were old enough friends to make it work. (3 of us lived together before so we knew each other habits.)

The second trip with the same couple, we added one adult to the group (my mother) and one infant. Jointly, we decided to get two vehicles so neither couple was tied down. Again, it worked out really well.

This trip was with a different couple (half of which was my mother) but only one car. They didn't want to drive on the island or spend the money on a rental. It was a neutral vehicle experience. Both hubby and I got tired of driving them around to their activities. It just seemed like as soon as we were home and ready to relax, the call came in to pick them up from somewhere.

It was a little too much togetherness that really could only be avoided by forcing them to rent their own car, which may very well be a condition of their attendence next year.

Yet at the end of the day, we felt lucky to have the type of family we want to go on vacation with so why should we belly-ache about playing taxi driver.

In our experience, I think it comes down to habits and expectations. We knew going into this trip that we would end up playing taxi driver so it was a little easier to deal with.