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I LOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEDDDDD St. Thomas. I would go back there in a heartbeat. The place I stayed at was free (friend has a rich uncle) so I can't comment on how much I paid for lodging. I will say that the most expensive thing in the world there is the taxi's. If you plan on doing any sightseeing, I would almost recommend getting a car. I spent a TON of dough on the taxis down there. I stayed on the Red Hook side of the island in a condo next door to the Ritz Carlton which has an amazing beach. The hubs and I thought about honeymooning there at the Ritz. I believe they have a deal going on right now where you get rent a room for about $354 a night and it also includes a resort credit of $100/day that you can use on anything...food, spa, etc.
If you go, DEFINITELY go to St. John. I loved the snorkeling there. I also took a day trip to the British islands. Virgin Gorda was amazing. I spent some time exploring The Baths and soooo wish I had more time there. I was finding some fantastic deals on vrbo.com. Some of the condos were literally beachfront and only $84/night.
I could go on and on and on and on about how awesome St. Thomas is. If you want more ideas/input PM me. I would love to say more!
On a side note, St. John tends to be the "quieter/more romantic island." St. Thomas is awesome, don't get me wrong. If you want more of a nightlife, definitely go to St. Thomas. St. John just has a bit more relaxed atmosphere. I believe 75% of the island is national park or something like that....and it's only a 10 minute ferry ride from St. Thomas. If you really want to go for off the beaten path and secluded, check out Water Island on vrbo.com. It's also right off the shore of St. Thomas. I believe it's a 5 minute ferry ride and only has private residences to rent. I always thought that would be fun.
THe US Virgin islands are pretty, but just don't offer the all adult, all inclusive experience you can get on other islands. I've been to St Thomas a couple of times, and it does have great shopping!
I love St. Thomas but St. Johns even more! The reviews above are very accurate. St. Thomas has a lot more to do in the ways of shopping, nightlife etc. If you are looking for something more low key St. Johns is great. It's a really small island but fun to explore all of the beaches. You have to go to Trunk Bay! It's one of the prettiest beaches I've ever been to! We split our time on a vaca in Dec on between both islands. The Ritz on St. Thomas was awesome (we had that same deal as mentioned above) but we were not thrilled with the Westin on St. John.
Funny you should ask- I JUST got back from a family vacation to St. John a few days ago (with my family and my fiance). We had to fly into St. Thomas then take a taxi to the ferry that took us to St. John's, then take another taxi to where we stayed. It sounds more complicated than it is, and the people are very helpful and available to get you where you need to go.
We stayed in the tent cottages at Maho Bay. This is where my parents went on their honeymoon (then stayed the last 3 nights or so at a resort hotel). They went back to Maho for their 30th wedding anniversary. So this was their third trip there, and the first time for all us kids.
The tent cottages are one step up from camping, but it was beautiful and we had such a great time! As far as I can tell, it would be more affordable than some of the other destinations, and if you don't mind "roughing" it for several nights, this could be a good way to go to save money and enjoy the sights and then splurge on your last few days at one of the resort hotels.
I love St Thomas... I was there with my fiance January 2010. We stayed at Bolongo Bay. It was a small, quaint resort... we walked out our room, and we were on the beach :) They do have all inclusive there (but we didnt do that). Water was clear, clean and warm. Beachfront was a little rocky/shelly. I would go back in a heartbeat.
I suggest checking out www.tripadvisor.com for reviews of anywhere you are looking into. That was what I did !!
Good Luck & ENJOY !!
@TheFutureMrsE We went to Bolongo Bay for our honeymoon in April! Did you get to know "007", the bartender? We loved him! :)
We went to Bolongo Bay for our honeymoon. (I had also been there 3 years ago) It's a laid-back, casual all-inclusive resort. Right on the beach with great views from the ocean-front rooms. We loved it. Food is awesome, too! I have lots of pics from our honeymoon if you want to see them. Not sure what your price range is, but ours wasn't cheap. Virgin Islands are quite pricey compared to other islands...we paid $4300 for a one-week, all-inclusive including air-fare.
St. Thomas is beautiful. There has been an increased amount of violence in the town though. Just travel safe, as you would any international country, and I'd advise on not wearing your engagement ring if you plan to do anything outside of a protected resort.
a young girl was caught in the cross fire about a month ago and killed en route to an excursion from a cruise ship tour. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
@Jenn23: I loved Bolongo Bay !! We didn't go all inclusive-but had a blast !! I absolutely loved being right on the beach !! and so close to downtown and other islands...and SHOPPING....lol
We didn't get to know anyone by name... but we did spend a lot of time @ Iggies at the bar. I just loved the nightly entertainment !!
Did you post any pics here I could see ? I have a digital frame on my desk of our pics from our trip.
st. thomas was our favorite stop out of our eastern caribbean cruise back in march 2008. it was beautiful weather, beautiful water, AWESOME snorkeling and a great shopping area by the port.
@TheFutureMrsE I loved Iggies!! On "Carnival Night" (Wednesday) I volunteered my husband to be brought out on the dance floor to dance with the stilts woman! LOL And then we were in the married couples Calypso dance contest with three other couples which was hilarious! The staff knew we were on our honeymoon and called us out there. It was awesome. The snorkeling was amazing..we swam with turtles, saw BIG stingrays. We loved Coki Beach!! And we snorkeled every day at Bolongo and it was amazing! We can't wait to go back. I loved the iguanas!!! So ugly, but so fascinating. LOL Below are pics of Bolongo Bay, Coki Beach and Paradise Point. :) Do you have pics to share from Bolongo?
@Jenn23: Here are some of our pics...funny after looking thru yours, I see we have the same shots... lol
And I am also living outside of Philadelphia... actually I was born and raised in Philadelphia, but moved to Berks County, PA (other side of KOP) 13 years ago
@Jenn23: Here are some more pics
bolong1.jpg (57 KB, 30 downloads) 1 year old bolong2.jpg (77.4 KB, 28 downloads) 1 year old bolong3.jpg (73.1 KB, 32 downloads) 1 year old bolongo.jpg (47.9 KB, 30 downloads) 1 year old
i went to St. croix with my family my senior year of high school. I don't think it's quite as developed as the other us virgin islands and so might be less expensive? (i haven't been to any others though, so this is speculation). There was great shopping and snorkeling. The water is real shallow near the island and therefore quite warm and pleasant to be in. i'd go back there again.
good luck on your honeymoon planning!
I went to St. Thomas on a cruise stop and it was beautiful! I mentioned looking for honeymoon spots today to a co-worker who went on to tell me that she always uses caribbeanvilla.com to book a villa in St. John's. You should check it out, only downside is that it wouldn't be all-inclusive (which is what I am looking for too), but the prices were AMAZING.
I stayed at Bolongo and Mafolie. I loved both and each offered something different. I'd stay at both again.
Bolongo is on the water and has the 2 restaurants on property. Locals don't swim there much due to the rocks and seaweed. It's in a great location to get to Charlottle Amalie and to Redhook. I recommend NOT doing all inclusive - there are a ton of AMAZING places to eat at and it's cheaper. The customer service is great and the free stuff they offer for guests is pretty cool.
Mafolie is looks over town, Water Island, and the cruise ship docks. They offer a free continental breakfast that was seriously best I've ever had and there is a restaurant and pool bar. It's cost effective. We paid $82/night with taxes included. It is a bit more of a boutique hotel then Bolongo.
I recommend checking out http://www.stthomasblog.com/ about the violence issue. I didn't have a problem with any violence when I was there. The incident on Coki Beach really was just wrong place, wrong time. The gangs do not target tourist. As far as wearing jewelry there, not a problem. There are soooo many jewelry stores on the island that it's more weird for people not to be wearing it. The locals all wear their jewelry.
As far as activities - Coral World, snorkeling at Trunk Bay on St John, Sunny Liston Tours, and if you have passports, take a day trip to the BVIs with Pirates Penny and Stormey Petrel.
My entire trip was about $5,000 - but that includes my wedding expenses.
I really dislike St. Thomas. It's extremely over developed, commercialized, touristy, crowded. I much prefer St. John , if you insist on the U.S. Virgin Islands. If you are open to other islands, many are really special!
Cruise ships have really changed the nature of the Carribean. They just go from port to port, dumping off 15k people a day. As a result it seems like the islands are just becoming one tshirt shop after another. Just go to Key West and save yourself some airfare if you're interested in that. If you want a more true authentic island experience, try some of the islands that the big ships don't visit as much. Anguilla is great for that as is Dominica.
This ranking of the Carribean islands by National Geographic is very useful!
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We are looking at going to St. Thomas or another of the U.S. Virgin Islands for our honeymoon. Has anyone been there? How was the water? Any good all inclusive resorts? About how much did it cost? Just wanted to get a feel for it, originally we looked at St. Lucia and it was a little out of our price range.