USVI-On-Line

I believe that there are 3 companys that do the car ferry to Cruz Bay from Red Hook.
Do they accept credit cards? cash?
Two companies have similar rates and the 3rd is about $10 more...why?
Is it better to buy a RT ticket or one way?
Do they honor each others tickets?
Perishables---would it be wise to buy a cooler and ice and buy meat/fish/dairy items on STT--OR, do you think the wait time on the dock may lead to having them spoil?
We are traveling on Saturday-3/31, and being the weekend before Easter, I'm not sure if we will be waiting a long time.
Thank you all SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!

I only by one way tickets for the car ferry because ive gotten burned by getting to the dock and the other ferry is there and I would have to wait for the one I b purchased the round trip for to come back and once the one I bought on broke down and I was stuck with an unused ticket.

I would get a cooler. As I recall we had to shut the car off on the ferry so that means no A/C. I also agree that buying a one way is the better way to go.

Do you have to remain in your car on the barge?

Just by oneway tickets.Odds are you can't wait on your barge.As far as ferries go,the newest one has a bar and siiting area upstairs.Great way to get into the island mode.

No you do not have to stay in your car - all 3 companies have seating areas.

The newest one, the Mister B does not have a bar and the one that does is currently out of service since a truck rolled off into the water taking out the cables on the ramp but they maybe up and running depending when you are coming.

Pia

I think they just take cash.

Two barges, Cpt. Vic and Roanoke are cheaper and will take each other's tickets on the return trip to STT. If you can get on one of those, buy a roundtrip.

General (Boyson) is more expensive (don't know why) and won't accept the other's tickets on the return trip. If I get stuck on Boyson, I buy a one-way ticket.

If I purchased perishables on STT, I would want something to keep them cool just in case wait times are longer than you expect. If you buy some frozen goods, they may keep the other stuff cool enough.

You don't have to stay in your car.

I understand the Mister B is much faster than the other boats. Does each barge have a schedule, or do you just take them as they come?

They have schedules, although they aren't usually right on schedule:

Roanoke: Every even hour (6:00, 8:00, etc.) from 6 -6
Vic: Every odd hour (7:00, 9:00, etc.) from 7 - 7
Boyson: Every hour on the half (6:30, 7:30, etc) 6:30 - 6:30

Sundays they start a little later.

This upcoming trip will be our first experience with the car barge. We have always rented our cars on St John, but after checking with 4 or 5 companies, and no availabilty, I rented from Budget at the airport.

How much is a one-way? Round-trip?

adkmts wrote:Perishables---would it be wise to buy a cooler and ice and buy meat/fish/dairy items on STT--OR, do you think the wait time on the dock may lead to having them spoil?

We bring a collapsible cooler, and last year we also and brought a backpack cooler (great for going to the beaches requiring a bit of a hike. While the thermal qualities of these types of coolers are not as good as a rigid cooler, we found them to be good enough for the trip over.

Here is a great online retailer for packpack and collapsible coolers that we used: http://www.keepyourcooler.com/

Are all of these car ferries located next to each other?

Car ferries all come to the same spot, because they come at different times (Roanoke on even hours, Vic on odd hours, Boyson on half hours). I have never figured out WHAT the price is. It always seems to be a little different. It's "about" $40 round trip on Roanoke and Vic and "about" $50 on Boyson.

So far we're 4 for 4 on being able to use a round-trip ticket...our luck could certainly change though!

We always load up on groceries in Red Hook before boarding the car ferry...and definitely use a cooler. Then we get in line at the ferry dock and take which ever ferry shows up first. Not all of the car ferries take passenger vehicles to STJ, so keep that in mind...just because you see a ferry pull in doesn't mean that it's one you can take.

We always stay in the car on the trip to STJ...and if it starts getting really hot, we'll turn on the car for a couple minutes and crank up the a/c.