Recommendations for arrival at 1pm?

[elkdude]

We are on Explorer in June/July 2006 sailing from NYC. We arrive in St. Thomas at 1:00pm and depart at 11:00pm on Jul 3rd. Anyone have ideas for shore trips with the shortened day? Also, July 3rd is a holiday in the islands (Emancipation Day). I sent the toruism bureau an email from a link on ***** to see how shopping hours might be impacted, but no response. Thought some here may have some good ideas. Thanks!

[richtersl]

Hmmm....you actually have a fairly long day there. Don't forget that the sun should be setting at around 8 o'clock (?) so you should have plenty of daylight.

 

Not too many ships have a 1:00 arrival but you can definitely take advantage of the beaches though I'm not sure what stores will be open on that day.

 

You can also go out to dinner on the island to sample some of the local fare. The Banana Tree Grill comes to mind. It sits on a hill and you'll have some wonderful views of the harbor area as the sun sets. Cuzzin's is also nice but is in town so you won't really have the good views.

 

I'm sure others will come along with even more suggestions for dinner. None of the restaurants are within walking distance of where the ships dock. You will need to get a cab to take you to any of them. And, you'll be safer off that way.