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Ports during holiday......

rlsii488

By rlsii488,
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rlsii488

rlsii488

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We are considering a last minute Christmas cruise. One of the main ports is St Thomas. I've searched, but to no avail, were able to find if any of the shops will be open on Christmas Day.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thank you!:eek:

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Karysa

Karysa

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We are considering a last minute Christmas cruise. One of the main ports is St Thomas. I've searched, but to no avail, were able to find if any of the shops will be open on Christmas Day.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thank you!:eek:

 

I would suggest going to the review section and look at cruises that stopped at St. Thomas on Christmas Day last year. This will give you a very good idea of what stores and excursions were open on Christmas Day in 2012. Some stores also have websites and e-mail so you can check that way as well.

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spookwife

spookwife

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my experience last year on Nassau: lousy..

 

not only did our ship sponsored tour guide never show, most of the shops were shut down. a few were open and we did find a nice item for MiL, but looking in the shop windows I was despondent on not being able to have more options.

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Karysa

Karysa

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my experience last year on Nassau: lousy..

 

not only did our ship sponsored tour guide never show, most of the shops were shut down. a few were open and we did find a nice item for MiL, but looking in the shop windows I was despondent on not being able to have more options.

 

It was Christmas. Wasn't there a part of you that was happy that people were at home with their families?

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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

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my experience last year on Nassau: lousy..

 

not only did our ship sponsored tour guide never show, most of the shops were shut down. a few were open and we did find a nice item for MiL, but looking in the shop windows I was despondent on not being able to have more options.

 

However, the OP was asking in particular about St. Thomas, which I am assuming is the port of call they will be at on Christmas. St. Thomas may offer a different experience with options compared to your experience at Nassau.

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spookwife

spookwife

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It was Christmas. Wasn't there a part of you that was happy that people were at home with their families?

 

 

 

you can have quality family moments any day of the year not just on major holidays. it's just a date on the calendar. if you were not going to show up to give the tour you should never have offered it in the first place.

 

as for being home? sorry, I am a military brat and spouse and half my family are fire fighters and EMTs. they don't get holidays off either.

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spookwife

spookwife

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However, the OP was asking in particular about St. Thomas, which I am assuming is the port of call they will be at on Christmas. St. Thomas may offer a different experience with options compared to your experience at Nassau.

 

which is why I clarified and mentioned my experience by name in Nassau. never implied that the experience would be identical, only what mine was at that location. with many of the islands being similar demographics it is not a stretch to assume the experience could be similar.

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Karysa

Karysa

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you can have quality family moments any day of the year not just on major holidays. it's just a date on the calendar. if you were not going to show up to give the tour you should never have offered it in the first place.

 

as for being home? sorry, I am a military brat and spouse and half my family are fire fighters and EMTs. they don't get holidays off either.

 

I am a RN and DH an ICU physician therefore I know a thing or two about missing family holidays but missing Christmas because you are giving a tour and missing Christmas because you are saving lives are not really the same thing to me.

 

I do think that the tour should not have been offered on Christmas Day. Perhaps this was a miscommunication between the tour operator and the ships excursion people.

Edited by Karysa
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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

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which is why I clarified and mentioned my experience by name in Nassau. never implied that the experience would be identical, only what mine was at that location. with many of the islands being similar demographics it is not a stretch to assume the experience could be similar.

 

Understood and not criticizing as on Christmas in particular, the experience could be similar anywhere. While many of the islands are similar, the demographics of St. Thomas (USVI) and Nassau (Bahamas) are quite different. My thought in my response is that St. Thomas merchants, etc., may treat the day differently - in particular if there were ship based excursions offered and booked.

 

Just for comparison to your experience - and not to suggest something similar with St. Thomas - last year on Explorer our Christmas Day stop was at Port Canaveral. There were a couple of excursions available - mostly involving the Orlando area attractions which were open anyway on Christmas. But the Kennedy Space center - which closes on Christmas - actually opened for the first time for tours from Explorer and another NCL ship that was in port. Very unique day!

Edited by leaveitallbehind
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Tiggertastic

Tiggertastic

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we are on a cruise that stops in st thomas on christmas day, in fact there are so many ship in st thomas that day that ours has to tender

 

The ship is running the full compliment of excursions

 

Last year I emailed a couple of shops and asked them directly if they would be open - give this a try

 

We have not bothered this year as we've booked an excursion and won't have time to shop

 

I bet senor frogs is open!

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rlsii488

rlsii488

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Thank you everyone for your replies.

 

We have decided to make the best of any situation during the day. Open shops or not.

 

If this is a day that the locals share with their family and friends, my Husband and I totally respect that......after all, the island is beautiful in it's own right, we will find something to do I'M SURE.

 

Happy Holidays to all, and Happy-Happy Cruising! :D

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BlueRiband

BlueRiband

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We are considering a last minute Christmas cruise. One of the main ports is St Thomas. I've searched, but to no avail, were able to find if any of the shops will be open on Christmas Day.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thank you!:eek:

 

Is Christmas day even a port day? I would think that many lines would spend the day at sea for the reasons mentioned - too many venues would be closed.

 

Now you know - if you book this trip your shopping opportunities will be very, very limited.

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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On our last cruise, we were on Maui on Christmas Day. We weren't interested in doing any excursions on that day anyway, so I didn't check. But I had never been to Whaler's Village, north of Lahaina, so I checked the website. No holiday info at the time I'd checked, so I went on their Facebook page and asked there. I immediately got an answer that the shopping center will be open. We did go and have a great time. Not every store was open, but that was fine (and nice that workers did get time with families), some were open. My teen even got a jump on after Christmas sales as one store had great specials on clothing that appealed to her (and the teens and young 20ish employees were hopefully getting much needed money by working).

 

The museum wasn't open, but again that was fine. The beach nearby was open:) and busy.

 

BTW, I've worked on holidays (even Thanksgiving in a hospital when I was a student...and that was fine because I wasn't going to fly 3,000 miles to spend the time with my family). My hubby has worked holidays, including Christmas and New Years as he works in public safety, which is open 24/7. That's fine, as he's needed.

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rlsii488

rlsii488

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Is Christmas day even a port day? I would think that many lines would spend the day at sea for the reasons mentioned - too many venues would be closed.

 

Now you know - if you book this trip your shopping opportunities will be very, very limited.

 

 

One would think, but there appear to be 5 ships in St Thomas Christmas Day.

 

It's all good.....as one poster mentioned.....we can make snow angels in the sand.

 

Thank you! :D

Edited by rlsii488
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spookwife

spookwife

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Is Christmas day even a port day? I would think that many lines would spend the day at sea for the reasons mentioned - too many venues would be closed.

 

Now you know - if you book this trip your shopping opportunities will be very, very limited.

 

you'd think that but no.. port days for both Xmas eve and the Day itself. had a great excursion( through the ship) in Port Canaveral on the 24th( the weather was a bit nippy but the excursion itself was very nice)

 

if nothing else it makes me want to go BACK to Nassau on a non holiday....

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