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Pictures from our trip last year, May 2005
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 7:17 pm
by California Girl
I finally got our pictures from May last year posted in an online photo album.
You must be aware that our trip last year was very different from most of the trips you read about on the forum, as it was an Incentive trip that my husband won for having top sales in his company. We spent most of our time on St. Thomas doing "company stuff" and never getting away from the hotel and Charlotte Amalie until the very last day when we could do whatever we damn well felt like doing. Thus, we booked a 4-hour "sightseeing tour" to St. John with no idea whatsoever of what lay in store for us!
These pictures are the results of that trip. Our pictures after our trip next May will be ever-so-much better! But you might enjoy these as well 
http://www.pbase.com/thegripps/st_thomas_st_john_2005
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:26 pm
by mbw1024
these are great! pretty good photos for a girl who wasn't feeling well
Looking forward to the pics from your 2007 trip!
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:40 pm
by Coden
Absolutely stunning!! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!
Thnx so much for the fix!! (((HUGS)))
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:46 pm
by cat
I loved them! You certainly saw a lot in such a small amount of time for someone that was sick!
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:49 pm
by Kentuckygirl
We have done the company incentive trip a few times too, yet not to the Virgin Islands. Your pictures are great, but I know that you are going to love doing your own thing this time! It is great having the free trip, but I love the planning part too.
When is it that you go in 2007?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:56 pm
by California Girl
kygirl wrote:
When is it that you go in 2007?
We'll be spending the first week of May on St. John, and I can hardly wait!
2005 pictures
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 8:24 am
by sea-nile
I loved your pictures as well!
We were on STJ in late May/early June 2005. When in May were you there?
You got some really nice pictures on STJ considering the short time that you were there. Did you snorkel on STJ? We will be going back to STJ in early June 2007. Save some rum for us! I look forward to your trip report and your 2007 pictures!
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:19 am
by liamsaunt
Great pictures, CG! I can't believe how much of the island you saw in only four hours.
How did you like staying at the Frenchman's Reef? The outside looks nice. Were the rooms comfortable?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:41 am
by Kentuckygirl
California Girl, You are there a couple of weeks before we are. I'm sure I'll be picking your brain when you get back with all my last minute questions!
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:02 pm
by California Girl
Liamsaunt: Frenchman's Reef was nice, but I have always had a low opinion of Marriott hotels. They look great on the surface, but in my experience, there is always "shabbiness" underneath. First, they gave us a room where the toilet ran constantly and the icemaker didn't work, but also ran all the time. We moved to another room, and there was stucco missing from the ceiling of the outside deck and you could see the rebar up inside and when the deck got wet from the evening rains, it got scary slippery. I had to have extra towels brought up so we could sop up the water. I'm so serious... you could crack your skull if you slipped out there. The staff (other than at the reception desk) was generally unfriendly and seemed to be annoyed at any request you made - and believe me, I am not hard to please and I don't ever ask much. Every time we went by the timeshare desk we had to arm ourselves with "no thank you" before we got assailed once again about attending their presentation. I was not impressed with the buffet restaurant (breakfast or dinner!), but the little "deli" was really nice and if you walked down to Morningstar Beach, Coco Joe's restaurant was just great (a bit expensive, but convenient and good food). And the gift shop! Ouch! I was shocked by the prices there! I think I paid about $8 for a little cardboard box of bandaids! I think I'd investigate other places on STT if I were to go there again and stay at a hotel/resort.
Kygirl: I will be happy to have you pick my brain when we get back. We'll be staying in the Coral Bay area so I will have a good idea of what's what on that entire island when we return
P.S. Another comment about Frenchman's Reef: It's very remote from anything. You have to take a taxi or the hotel's ferry (which they charge for) to get to Charlotte Amalie. A lot of the time we felt sort of captive in the fact that we didn't have a rental car and couldn't get anywhere on foot.
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:59 pm
by Bob & Anita
Wonderful pictures. Our favorite is one that you shared with the forum before:
Should be used on the VI calendar.
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:12 pm
by California Girl
Bob & Anita: Thanks for the totally awesome compliment! Maybe we'll give Steve Simonsen a run for his money on the 2008 calendar with the new pix we take on the next trip! (yeah, right!) 
Re: 2005 pictures
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 2:46 pm
by California Girl
sea-nile wrote:I loved your pictures as well!
We were on STJ in late May/early June 2005. When in May were you there?
You got some really nice pictures on STJ considering the short time that you were there. Did you snorkel on STJ? We will be going back to STJ in early June 2007. Save some rum for us! I look forward to your trip report and your 2007 pictures!
We were there the first week of May, and it was SO PERFECT that that's why we scheduled our trip next year for the same time frame. We didn't snorkle on STJ, but that's only because the person at the activities desk at Frenchman's Reef, who booked our tour, sort of forgot to tell us we'd have a 2 hr. snorkel stop at Trunk Bay and we didn't take our swimsuits. So we sat & watched everyone else snorkel. 
In retrospect, I don't know why I didn't just go in in my clothes. What a dummy! 
Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2023 3:52 pm
by liamsaunt
Thanks for the Frenchmans Resort feedback. I guess it won't make it to the stay-someday list. Secret Harbour is so great, we'll probably just stick to there for our trip ending visits to STT.