Shops in St. Thomas

[CruisingYiayia]

We will be sailing on the Explorer of the Seas to the Caribbean in September. We don't arrive in St. Thomas until 1:00pm. Does anyone know how late the shops stay open?

[Disneycruisers]

1:00 PM? That seems so late.

 

The shops stayed open only until 5:00 (and remember, they're an hour ahead, so your watch will only be at 4:00.)

 

I'm discouraged. We just sailed the Explorer, and booked for next spring break for the eastern. We've sailed DCL and CCL to St. Thomas, and on CCL, we weren't off the ship until 12:30! DCL has everyone awake at 7:00 am to clear immigration, and so many people complain about having to wake early (they may still go back to bed afterwards) but there's a lot more time for excursions and shopping.

 

I wonder if this time is consistent with most all lines?

[CruisingYiayia]

The Explorer will be sailing from NJ, and St. Thomas is the first stop...maybe that's why the late arrival. I want to be able to go to the beach, and also do some shopping. I'm hoping the shops will remain open later because we will be in port until 11:00pm.

[hac82]

I received a letter from the Havensight Mall a while back and they stated that that "...As a rule the stores at Havensight will stay open late is there is a late ship. Some will close at 5:00 but most will stay open until 7:00 or later if busy. Downtown stores close at 5:00."

 

I am on the Explorer in July and of course, I am interested in the times since I need to know how much time I need to protect the wallet from the DW :)

 

Regarding Daylight Savings Time:

 

St Thomas: http://www.islandhideaways.com/islands.php?island_id=4

"One hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time in the winter. The Virgin Islands do not practice daylight savings time and so during the spring, the time is the same as Eastern Standard Time!

 

St, Maarten: http://www.st-maarten.com/general_info.htm it appears that "St. Maarten is on Atlantic Standard Time year-round. During the fall and winter, noon in New York equals 1 p.m. on the island. During daylight savings time in the U.S., the hour is the same on the Eastern Seaboard as it is on the island.

 

San Juan: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/tinfo.shtml Atlantic Standard Time (AST) (EST +1; GMT -4) all year around, which means that the island does not observe Daylight Savings (one hour later than Eastern Standard Time (EST) from October to April, and the same as Eastern Daylight Savings Time from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October).

 

The stop in Labadee should not matter since we will be on ship time the whole time we are there and we do not leave the beach at all.

 

 

I hope all of this information helps.

 

[CruisingYiayia]

Thanks for the information. We have the late dinner seating, so if the shops stay open until 7pm, that would work great!!!

[phantom728]

We were on the Explorer last year and although we were in St. Thomas all day, we wanted to do some last minute shopping and some of the pier shops were shooing us out the door at 5pm their time. There were 3 ships in that day and one was docked until 10pm and that didn't stop the shops from closing. This may have changed since it's been a year.

 

Depending on what you are looking for, we found better jewelry/watch prices in St. Maarten, which was the day before. I'm glad we decided to buy then instead of waiting till St. Thomas.

 

While in St. Thomas, if you get a chance book the ships excursion to Megans Bay, I think it was $20-$25. We got a great tour of the island (which was worth the $$$) and a few hours at the beach, which was beautiful.

 

Enjoy Explorer - we had the best time on this ship and she is beautiful. We'll always have a special place in our hearts for her:)

[CruisingYiayia]

St. Thomas is our 1st stop, then St. Martin. I do remember finding a better selection and better prices in St. Martin.