lovestx

If you end up in Christiansted, I am pretty sure you can buy cigars at Baci Duty Free on the corner of Queen Cross and Strand streets. They sell liquor and cigars towards the back of the store.

To be honest, Frederiksted is not a big town but it is beautiful near the port area with many historical buildings. The fort is just to the left of the pier (North) and would be a short walk from the boat.

A great place to sit and enjoy the view would be the new Louis and Nacho's Beach Bar. They are about a three block walk south of the pier. Second floor, open air bar. I haven't been to Tap Deck Bar yet which is right across from the pier and may have great views too.

We were at Rainbow yesterday (not off a cruise) and were pleased with them amount of sand on the beach post-Maria. It's a bit rocky (flat, coral stones) at the entry but I didn't feel I needed water shoes.

My vote would be Rhythms at Rainbow Beach. It has just the vibe you seem to want.

Just wanted to loop back and say that we got word today that Citicard is fully refunding the amount of our Southeast Asia trip that we had to cancel due to illness. As I predicted above, this claim was harder to work through as it was more complicated (we paid through a travel agency, we got some portion of the rest of the trip refunded before we submitted the claim, etc.). So it was somewhat frustrating but a great end result and I saved a great deal of money not buying extra trip insurance.

Yes, happily, we are here. Staying in Judith's fancy this week and have no cell service, internet or tv. Posting from the gym right now

No need to buy me a drink but would love to meet you. Email is ccrosner@aol.com. Here til late March

I'm a big walker but am not sure that I would consider doing the walk from the gardens to the Cruzan rum factory. But I don't think it would be unsafe as long as you remember that the cars drive on the left hand side of the road. The bigger issue might be getting a cab to take you back to the pier from Cruzan rum factory. I might suggest you call Cruzan Rum directly and ask them if they can call a cab for you after your tour/tasting.

I have yet to hear that Cruzan is open though I know they had hoped to resume tours in January (and here we are in January!). I am guessing that's why Celebrity changed your tour.

I have not done the Captain Morgan tour but have been in their visitor center (which is nice) for a fundraising event. They are the more modern rum distillery on island having opened within the last 8 or so years so you won't get the same flavor of history, sugar mills, etc.

Why not call Cruzan to see when they are opening: 340-692-2280

You can easily DIY this just getting a cab at the pier.

A check of their website seems to indicate that they reopened in November after sustaining significant damage to the property during Maria:

http://www.sgvbg.org/

You could easily take a taxi there from the pier as it is about a 10 minute ride. I don't believe they sell food there but you could return to F'sted and enjoy lunch at Polly's on the Pier, Tap Deck, Lost Dog Pub or the new Louie and Nacho's Beach Bar.

Thanks for the review. We are booked on a similar cruise on Solstice in March 2019. Planning at least a week before embarking on it to tour the South Island. And will stay beyond in Australia.

Some of your negative experiences give me pause but am hoping that Solstice might get a refresh by the time we are on her. Have to say that we have always really enjoyed the Martini Bar and Blu (though the repeating menus can get a bit boring!).

What a lovely idea, piggiepuff. However, I don't believe there are any set opportunities for volunteers off cruise ships.

The closest children's group (that I know of) in Frederiksted is the Queen Louise Home for Children. I have heard that they have been overwhelmed by donations but not sure if they would take day visitors.

While we are on island for the winter, we volunteer to help the homeless at the Frederiksted Health Clinic's monthly homeless clinic. That is held on Friday afternoons (3rd Friday).

If you are on Facebook, you might take a look at the St. Croix Hurricane Maria Check In page and post your question there. It is a VERY active group and volunteer opportunities are sometimes posted there.

I don't like to step on Drake's toes...especially since he's a tremendous resource for STX cruisers, but I will offer some answers to the questions that are coming in this week in his absence. Please know that I haven't been on STX since Maria but will be returning there next week for a long stay. I have been following recovery efforts and on-the-ground reporting very closely.

jward, you might look into the Tap Deck Bar in Frederiksted as a possible NFL watching site. Lost Dog Pub (in its new location two doors down from the old) is another great possibility. They both have FB pages but you should be in touch with them to determine if the game you are particularly interested in will be shown on January 14. We are Pats fans and are working to make sure we have a location to watch that game. And remember, STX is on Atlantic time so the games will be played an hour later than East Coast time.

39August, the beach near the pier that Drake refers to is still lovely (according to my island friends), but the business that rented charis, sold food, was completely demolished by Maria and I don't think there's a replacement. Frederiksted has some lovely shops and the vendors will be set up near the pier on your port day; however, you can probably finish your browsing and buying in 90 minutes. So you might want to then take a taxi up to Rainbow Beach/Rhythms for the rest of your time in port. And things on STX are recovering nicely but there are many people still without power. By the time you visit in September, I would expect everything will be up and running with just a lot of damage and debris still visible.

mitsugirl, I'm glad you found the info helpful.

If you charged your airfare and cruise on a credit card, look at the insurance they offered. I used to buy trip insurance for cruises but learned that I could probably get reimbursed if I charged on my cc. I submitted a claim in August for a land trip that was cancelled while we were on it due to a death in the family. Have just submitted a claim (for a much larger amount) for a trip that was interrupted halfway through due to family illness. We do, however, own MedJet medevac insurance (5 year plan) so that helps cover those types of expenses.

Just worth your looking into and calling your credit card benefits rep to confirm.

See my other post...under St. Croix Local

Rainbow and Sandcastles are back open for business. Definitely suffered erosion during Maria (per my on island friends) but open.

I am sure that Drake will comment when he can but not sure whether he has electricity or reliable internet yet. So I will get you started.

Here are some beaches that offer chair rental, drinks and some snorkeling:

Rainbow Beach - not as nice as it used to be (according to my on island friends) due to Hurricane Maria, but there is a great restaurant with great drinks and chair, umbrella, jet ski and paddleboard rentals. Great island vibe. on the northern end of Frederiksted, about 2 miles from the pier.

Sandcastles - also in Frederiksted but south of the pier (about 1 1/2 miles I think). Also beat up by Maria but offers rentals, drinks, restaurant and some snorkeling. They have a cruise ship day pass package.

The Buccaneer - a 30 minute cab ride from the pier. The island's premier resort. Lovely beach, lounger rentals, restaurant and drinks. You will need to bring your own snorkel gear but my family loves snorkeling the reef there. $10 per lounger. No umbrella rentals but plenty of shade.

Tamarind Reef - a 30 minute cab ride from the pier. Rentals, restaurant and bar. Friends like the snorkeling there. Not sure the beach entry is a great as other places.

Cane Bay - Also suffered beach erosion due to Maria. Think you can rent loungers. Snorkeling a bit of a swim but at the famous "Wall" where scuba divers love to go. eat @ Cane Bay is there and is open for business again.

Hotel on the Cay - on an island in Christiansted harbor. A favorite of many but no snorkeling.

Hope that gets you going....

Yesterday, a CBS News producer tweeted at me asking if I was "ok". I didn't know what she meant (I guess she didn't realize my photos were from last week's cruise?) then I heard the news about the bus crash involving passengers from this week's cruise in Mexico. So sad...my heart goes out to their families, who like us, just wanted some sun n' fun for a week. This morning, I was contacted by ABC News for permission to use my Equinox photos. I said no.

The power of social media is incredible, isn't it?

The bus crash is so very sad. I was on the CC thread last night regarding the accident and there was a poster who was worried about his brother and sister-in-law whom he had encouraged to take that excursion. Everyone was so concerned for him. He posted after midnight that Celebrity had called to tell them that the had died. Incredibly sad.

Great review so I will follow....love the Equinox! And your photography is awesome!!

SamFritz, my heart is in my throat thinking of the extreme stress you find yourself in. I do hope that you get good news and will be thinking of your brother and his wife.

We are booked on Celebrity's Solstice Dec 9 and went back and forth regarding this overnight trip. In the end, we decided to fly into Queenstown a few days before our Auckland departure and have now booked the shotover jet boat, white water rafting and canyoning. In addition we plan on taking the gondola up the mountain and playing in the luge cars. (We looked at the steamship/farm tour but decided to pass although we might be able to squeeze it in the first day). We have 3 nights in Queenstown, then 1 in Auckland before we sail.

Just thought people who want to see Queenstown for all of the amazing outdoor activities might want to consider a pre or post cruise stay instead of the overnight the cruise offers (there really isn't any time in their itinerary for enjoying the wild options of Queenstown and even with 3 nights, we aren't coming close to experiencing everything!!)

Hope you are enjoying your cruise! I am in the early planning stages for a Solstice cruise in March/April 2019. Planning to spend about a week in NZ beforehand and am just beginning to think about flying directly into Queenstown for some touring around that area (our cruise does not stop in Queenstown). Then up to Auckland to start our cruise. I would welcome your thoughts on your pre-cruise travel on the South Island when you get a chance.

I used this board as a resource as I planned multiple trips this year. With four 85 year old parents still alive, we knew that our travel would most likely be interrupted by illnesses, hospitalizations or worse as the years passed. Add to that the fact that we now spend our winters on St. Croix in the USVI, and we knew we needed med evac insurance. For the previous four years (we only started cruising in 2012), we spent a lot of money purchasing trip insurance.

My research on this board had me reconsider purchasing trip insurance for each trip. We knew we needed med evac insurance for St. Croix and our other international trips. And we wanted trip cancellation/interruption insurance for each of our trips. Here's what we are now doing and saving ourselves quite a bit of money by not purchasing separate trip insurance.

We tried valiantly to purchase multi-trip medical plans that would include St. Croix to no avail. GeoBlue and others consider the USVI 'domestic' (which it is) and, therefore, don't offer multi-trip plans that include it. On the other hand, our medical insurance (we are private pay now that we're retired) won't cover St. Croix as it is 'out of network'. They do cover emergencies outside our network. So we have purchased a five year MedJet Assist plan for $1,600 for the two of us. Our hope is that we can get emergency care on St. Croix (or elsewhere in the world) and chose to be medically evacuated back to Boston if need be.

For trip interruption and cancellation, we are now using the insurance offered by our credit cards (Citicard Visa and MasterCard). We have learned that each of our major cards will provide us with $10,000 in insurance for the two of us as long as we charge some portion of the trip on the card. For our recent trip to Asia, we charged our airline tickets on our Citicard Mastercard and our land portion on our Citicard Visa so that we had each total amount covered by the $10,000 of insurance.

Sadly, we have now had two 'opportunities' to submit insurance claims to Citicard. The first was caused by the sudden death of my mother-in-law while my daughter and I were flying to California for a girls weekend in August 2017. After trying to get as much of the trip refunded as possible, I submitted a claim to Citicard for the approximately $1000 we had lost and within two months had my refund.

Sadly, again, we were called home from Vietnam halfway through our recent month-long trip to Southeast Asia. My father had been give 2 to 4 hours to live and we needed to get home (amazingly, he survived this crisis). I am now working on submitting the paperwork to Citicard to try to recoup about $5,000 in unrefunded money. I expect this claim to take longer as it far more complicated than the first.

If we do get refunded for the second trip, I will no longer even consider purchasing separate trip insurance. I will just continue to be careful to charge significant portions of any upcoming trip on different cards.

Hope this is helpful to others.

I'm not Drake but might suggest you consider a Tan Tan Tour (1/2 day) which is a really fun way to see parts of St. Croix. Another option would be to take a trip out to Buck Island....gorgeous beach, nice sail and good snorkeling.

Ginger, most of the taxis on STX are big vans so I'm guessing you'll have no trouble finding one at the end of the pier.

Cruzan Rum recently responded to a request I made about whether they were open for tours yet. They said they hoped to be by January. So you may want to double check in a couple of weeks to make sure they are open.

I think if I were you, I'd just plan to leave the ship at 8:30 to grab the taxi van and get out to Cruzan Rum. I'm not sure that there will be much to see on the West End of the island before 9 a.m. unless you just want to take a drive through the rainforest and up towards Hams Bluff.

nbhwarrior,

It's tough to compare the two options. If you are looking at cost and access comparison, beaches like Rainbow and Sandcastles would win vs. Buck Island. I am having a hard time commenting on the beaches as I know there was significant sand erosion at Rainbow (one of my favorite spots on the island) and, to a lesser extent, Sandcastles. I'm just not sure how lovely they are now. It would be great if Drake could comment as he lives in the Frederiksted area.

We've been visiting STX annually since 1998 and now spend the winters there. There are many lovely beaches and lots of friendly people for you to experience. And Buck Island is a treasure.

The trip out to buck island and the beach there is gorgeous. I'm not a big snorkeler but my family loves the Reef. It's a 30 minute ride to the christiansted dock but I think worth it. Then have lunch at Rumrunners

I can't say for certain, but the island residents are very aware that your ship will be in port that day. It will be the first ship to arrive on the island post-Maria. They are already planning special cleanups in f'sted before you arrive. So I would take a very confident guess that there will be plenty of taxis to take you into Christiansted. And there is a taxi stand at the fort end of King St. In Christiansted where you can easily get one back.

Be sure to pop in as many shops as possible in your travels. Sonya's is a great shop but there's also From the Gecko, Cache from the Sea, Mitchell Larsen glass works, Aisha, ib designs, and Adorn on Company Street. I love the clothing at Hot Heads on Queen Cross Street as well As Molly's on the same street (some great tshirts here). If you are looking for artwork or handcrafts, see if Many Hands is open in the Pan Am Pavilion.

Enjoy!!