USVI-On-Line

My trip isn't until November 27 but I'm booking my jeep early cause I'm anal that way.

I already made a reservation with Dependable and was satisfied with them last time but I'm a little worried about the car barge situation. We arrive at 3PM on Saturday and I had hoped to pick up groceries and get to the car barge. That's reasonable right?

I figure an hour to get our bag and get into the Jeep and on our way to the store, a half hour of driving and a half hour at the store. That would mean at 5, we'd get to Red Hook to wait in line. The last ferry is at what? 6PM? Hakuna Matata, right? However, I've seen various posts about ferries being out of service in dry dock and having to wait a while for the car barge. I don't mind waiting in line but I sure don't want to wait an hour and wind up missing the last car ferry over. We're staying in Coral Bay.

Then on the return trip, I thought we'd catch the first ferry over, head to Magens Beach, lunch and some shopping before the 5PM flight which is another reason I wanted to rent at STT. However, I'd be willing to forgo that in favor of staying on St. John until after lunch and then start heading over to the airport.

I saw Conrad Sutton's rates are $390 for the week and an extra $65 for return after 10:30 AM. So the price is comparable if not even better that the $464 I'm paying in STT.

So I guess my questions are:

1) Are groceries that much more in St. John than STT?

2) Are we allowing enough time to make the second to last ferry getting in at 3PM with grocery shopping? November 27 is pretty much off season which means what? fewer people but higher likelihood of a ferry being in dry dock right?

Although this is not in direct response to your questions, I would suggest a couple of other benefits of renting your jeep on STJ. First, if something goes wrong, flat tire, for example, you don't have to waste the better part of a day trying to get the jeep back to STT for the repair. Second, if you rent from Conrad you can park in his lot for free when you come into town.

We rent from Conrad every year. No complaints.

Your main concern, having enough time to catch the barge, shouldn't be a concern unless your flight is delayed. All the other arguments re: STT vs STJ car rentals are still valid though. If it were me, unless there's a real specific need to pick up something on STT, I'd skip the trauma of driving on STT and rent on STJ. Difference in grocery prices is a drop in the bucket compared to the entire cost of your vacation.

BTW mrscherry2000... We're neighbors! I'm right down the road in Shady Side...

I have to chime in with Pete. On occasion you will read some negative reports about the Suttons on this or another forum but we've never had any issues with them. They have always been friendly and pleasant and we have enjoyed doing business with them.

My personal preference is to do my business on island if I can. I figure that I am a guest on island and that I should be spending my money here. I know others feel differently and I respect their reasons for doing otherwise. I can't vouch for the price difference on groceries and maybe I don't want to know or I will have to rethink my "principles."

VERY small world Randy! My husband grew up in Shadyside next to the market.

As someone who had a bad battery up on top of Calabash boom, I can definitely vouch for the value of renting from an on-island rental agency (Courtesy Car Rental) who got there and repaired the jeep within 2 hours. We got to relax and swim at the villa while we waited.

I have no clue what we would have done had we rented in STT. It would have ruined at least the whole day and would have cost a fortune.

We too were thinking about doing the same thing last week..and God knows I have to procrastinate over everything...esp when it comes to Vacation..so I understand how you feel...lol For us...our flight doesnt get in until about 3:15 and when we added in the fact we dont have a clue where we are going (and not really crazy about driving on STT anyway we always just take a taxi to Red hook)...not to mention the flight could be late...And then Dependable told me if we were responsible if we took it to STJ that we were on our own as far as even a Flat tire...(Discount did said they had someone on STJ )..We were afraid we wouldnt make the ferry at 5 and have to stay there til 7...then we would be late getting to STJ...and then getting to where we needed to be once we are there..we figure the travel day is long enough as it is. Why chance it? Esp if something happened such as late flight..or traffic...For us it just wasnt worth it..so we scrapped the whole idea and decided to stick with the original plan and rent on STJ as we have in the past..I know there are alot that do rent on STT...but with my luck I would have 4 flat tires and 2 wrecks while I was there.. Maybe if we had an earlier flight I would try it..but not as late as ours is landing..
As far as food costs...I have no idea what the difference is...maybe someone else can help there..However..I can say ...We have always rented from Suttons..and never had any issues in the least with them at all..

So how late is Sutton's open to pick up a car?

We always go in June. So Im not sure about Nov hrs...Im guessing they will be the same...We havent had any issues getting our jeep with a 3 pm or so arrival on STT. You could call them to be sure..
Telephone
(340) 776-6479

I'm debating the same thing right now. By my calculations, Dependable on STT is about $100 cheaper (including ferry cost) than renting on STJ. So I'm trying to decide whether or not $100 is worth it. Having any issues with the rental while on STJ would suck if I rented on STT. Not having to worry about wasting a day if something does happen, and having 'guaranteed' free parking in Cruz Bay might be worth it. Back in 2007 I rented on STT and drove over to STJ because I couldn't rent on STJ (under 25). I didn't have any issues whatsoever. That was only a 5 day trip though. The next trip is 10 days which means more time that something could happen.

$100 is $100. But then again, $100 is only $100, and not too much compared to the cost of the rest of the vacation. So I might just say screw it and book on STJ.

I could be calculating the taxi + ferry wrong though (between the airport, red hook and cruz bay). What's the average cost of this for 2 people, each with a carry-on bag? I'm getting $94

Im thinking thats about right...maybe someone whos been there recently can say for sure...

Well, I think with all of your concerns, if it was me, I'd just go the STJ way. Actually, I always do the STJ way. Conrad has well maintained cars. He has a lot to park in . He shows up right away if there's a problem. There's also a few other STJ rental agencies that do the same. Like someone else said, in essence, sometimes renting on STT is penny wise and pound foolish. Now, a hundred other Forumites can give you the best of reasons for renting on STT. You're on vacation. I say make it a peaceful, easy feeling. It's only money. You can always make more. Just my humble opinion.

long response to a frequent question. done 12 stj trips since 10/04 and each trip rented on stt and found very convenient. is that a recommendation? no, now some background.

bride and i are soc sec receps and i love a bargain. 1st trip of us and adult daughter was last minute and a little afraid of local jeep rental companies on stj, so i rented a cavalier from avis at airport because it was cheaper, convenient and seemed reasonable. turns out stt rental very convenient for early afternoon arrival and later afternoon trip home to atl. on that 1st trip we had good weather and car worked fine for where we went - north shore and 1 trip into coral bay. did same for next 3 trips, rented cars form avis or budget and though we hated rude service, we liked the convenience and the savings. (only on 1st trip did we buy groceries on stt).

4th trip rented a jeep for a day on stj and wow look at all the new stuff past salt pond and even drove bordeaux mt from from coral bay back to center line, what a challange. still we reserved a car for 5th trip but we got a free upgrade to jeep. been jeeps or all wheel dr since (dependable and discount and happy with both friendly & no airprot fees so cheaper) BUTT had a couple of close encounters with ferry and a minor mechanical that left some anxious moments. continued to rent on stt but each time i wonder if this will be the one where we'll have a major breakdown, miss the last barge to stj, or miss the barge back to stt and flt home. yet we continue to do the sameoh sameoh. it's become a gamble we know we will one day lose, but it is familiar, which means a lot to old folks.

point, if i had to do over again, i wish the 1st trip had involved renting on stj. will i change to stj for next trip? no way, i'm on a roll and beating the odds is part of the fun!

papabou

We have rented from Suttons and had great experiences.

Have rented the past 5 years from Discount and also great experiences.

We too buy our groceries on STJ as the cost difference is so small compared to the entire cost of the trip and I too believe in supporting local island business. To that end, I find Slimmans more convenient to park and flatter ground than Suttons and he is a local business...not to mention closer to Beach Bar, Larry's Landing, Joe's Rum Hut and High Tide...lol

The one thing we do miss is the passenger ferry ride and the view of Cruz Bay. I do like driving on STT and I like the freedom to explore that island as well. And I do like loading our gear up into the car at the airport and not doing the taxi shuffle.

But I do understand both sides

Depending on your phone carrier, there may be some places on island where you don't have service, and in those cases it doesn't matter too much where you rented.

We had a flat awaiting us after returning from hiking the Brown Bay/Johnny Horn trails to Waterlemon (meant to hike to Brown Bay but missed the path down to the water and went all the way to Leinster Bay!). We put on the spare, took the flat to the gas station in Cruz Bay, paid six dollars to get it plugged, and picked it up later that day - no trip/call to STT or Dependable required. Of course if you have major mechanical failure that could change.

The only thing I don't like about renting on STT is that you don't get the same view of Cruz Bay as you approach STJ on the car barge that you do on the people ferry.

I like being more in control on STT before going to the airport for the flight back, rather than relying on taxis to get around.