St. Thomas and Virgin Islands

[CarolinaGirl2010]

This short blog was written this week by an insider in St. Thomas. I think that they're trying to get their tourism jump started again.

http://quietcruiser.com/quietcruiser%20home/why-the-virgin-islands-are-still-a-top-cruise-destination-an-inside-look-post-irma

[Hlitner]

We stopped at St Thomas, last week, while on the Celebrity Reflection. Our ship docked at Crown Bay at the single open berth (the other is occupied by the "Grand Celebration" (previously the Carnival Celebration) which has been tied up for around 2 months. That ship is chartered by FEMA and being used to house workers involved in restoring the island services.

 

At the time we docked, we heard a rumor that the Havensight area piers were closed (not sure this was true) due to some construction. The port at Crown Bay is fully functioning with most of the shops (not too many at this port) operating. There were adequate numbers of taxis for those wanting transportation. While cruising in to the port we noticed lots of smaller wrecked craft washed up against the shore line. A look around the Charlotte Amalie area showed plenty of blue tarp roofs (normal after a hurricane). The tourist areas do have power, but some of the residential areas are still waiting to have their power restored. A policeman told us his house still has no power (after more than 2 months) and his home sustained some damage despite being made out of concrete and capable of handling 150+ MPH winds. He also said that wind speeds topped 200MPH in some parts of the island.

 

Some on our ship went to Magans Bay or Sapphire Beach....but we decided to stay aboard after walking around the port and nearby area. Our favorite beach when docked at Crown Bay is called Emerald Beach which is located near the airport at Lindbergh Bay. The hotel/resort on that beach is not accepting bookings until Feb 1....although the policeman told us that he thought some of the facilities might be open. Since we suspected there were no working bathrooms....we decided to skip our usual sojourn over to that beach (popular with some crew....but not usually crowded with cruise passengers).

 

After talking to a few locals at and near the port (including 2 police) it is obvious that the island really wants cruisers to come to their island. Tourism is very important to the island and all should feel very welcome. Unlike some other islands, the folks on St Thomas have always had a great "can do" spirit which was evident by talking to some locals. One elderly gentleman had lost his clothing store (and all the inventory) and has been fighting with his insurance company for two months (with no payments). FEMA would do little since he had some insurance...so this guy was caught between a rock and hard place. So he had set up a small stand at the port and was selling what little inventory he was able to obtain since the two hurricanes. His attitude was that he would help himself...rather than relying on others...and this from a guy who had to be near 80!

 

Personally, we were happy to spend some money buying stuff we do not need....just to lend a hand to these wonderful folks.

 

Hank

[JaniceB]

Thanks for sharing the article and Hank for the report.