HAL Ships in St. Thomas

[sail7seas]

I read here that all HAL ships had been going to Crown Bay when in St. Thomas last spring and, presumably, that will be the case when they return to the Caribbean.

 

But, does anyone know......if, in the rare event, there are only one or two other ships at St. Thomas on a given day, would HAL dock at Havensight seeing as there would be room for them there?

 

Is it automatic they always go to Crown Bay regardless of available dock space at Havensight? Or Anchor? When we were on Noordam, we anchored in the inner harbor.

[eh2zed]

I read here that all HAL ships had been going to Crown Bay when in St. Thomas last spring and, presumably, that will be the case when they return to the Caribbean.

 

But, does anyone know......if, in the rare event, there are only one or two other ships at St. Thomas on a given day, would HAL dock at Havensight seeing as there would be room for them there?

 

Is it automatic they always go to Crown Bay regardless of available dock space at Havensight? Or Anchor? When we were on Noordam, we anchored in the inner harbor.

 

Don't know if it is automatic but when we were there in March on the Zuiderdam, the Noordam was our pier mate. Havensight was full and one at anchor.They have done a nice job at Crown Bay with the new buildings, shops, etc. You must shuttle to the downtown where you can walk from Havensight if you want to for 30 -45 minutes.:) :) ;) ;)

[Odd Ball]

Without knowing if there is a contract like Princess it would be difficult to answer.

Princess has a contract to always dock at Crown Bay for at least one of their ships. Even if Havensight is empty Princess still docks at Crown Bay.

 

Why not ask one of your contacts at Hal ?

It would be interesting to know if Hal has the same type of contract.

[candbgirl]

I think Crown Bay is much nicer actually. Not crowded and very well laid out. They have done a good job of building and the open air taxis are fun, quick and cheap to get into town. When were on Zuiderdam in April Noordam was our pier mate and there were 5 other ships in port that day.

[sail7seas]

We want to be at Havensight as we like the walk into town from there and also want to see the progress of the building at the Marina. They are supposed to have some fabulous shopping there when it is finally completed.

 

[Big Al B.]

Article on Crown Bay http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17611618

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were told that HAL has signed a contract to be at Crown Bay.

 

When we were there last spring there were only 4 ships there -- Princess and us at Crown Bay and just 2 other ships at havensight.

 

There were hardly any shops open at Crown Bay.

 

We also prefer to be at Havensight.

[KAKcruiser]

I e-mailed this question to HAL a few months ago but they never answered me. I also prefer Havensight. It is so much more relaxing than going into town. I can't believe that Crown Bay would be as nice as Havensight but I haven't been there in a couple of years.

[sharbin1]

Any suggestions how to find out in advance which one we'll be docking at in December?

[peaches from georgia]

You can find out the current month's schedule of docking on the 1st of that month or a few days before on- http://www.**********. Click on Cruise Ship Schedule at the top of the page and then on St. Thomas. It will tell you Havensight, Crown Bay, or anchoring in the harbor.

[sail7seas]

It is months in advance so the information is not yet up for our cruise on that site.

 

It isn't always accurate either.

 

I think KK may be correct that HAL will dock at Crown Bay even if there is space available at Havensight.......unfortunately.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We had a cruise once that started on the 28th of the month and the site that peaches named still hadn't put up the next month's schedule.

[bepsf]

I can't believe that Crown Bay would be as nice as Havensight but I haven't been there in a couple of years.

 

As Nice???

Havensight is nothing more than a Diamonds International/DelSol Strip-mall with chain-link fences along the waterfront (for Homeland IN-Security...) nowadays - and the taxi/jitney traffic on that end of Charlotte Amalie is terrible!

Can't think of a port I'd rather not be...

:cool:

 

IMHO, Tendering from the Inner Harbour is the BEST.

[peaches from georgia]

I see we have to use code.

 

vinowdotcom

[sail7seas]

IMHO, Tendering from the Inner Harbour is the BEST.

 

 

You're right, Brian, that tendering from INNER HARBOR is good. The downside for us was we missed our walk back and forth and I really want to see the progress at the Marina.

 

I've heard about what's coming for so long, I want to finally see it. We'll take a taxi out there if we end up at Crown Bay. Crown Bay is miserable location IMO Not a very good walk from there to town and unless they finally got some stores open, there's nothing there.

 

I agree the stores will be nothing we're interested in but at least it's something to window shop/look at.

[Vic The Parrot]

I was under the impression that Princess had an exclusive contract for Crown Bay .... the other lines will still use Havensight.

[bepsf]

I was under the impression that Princess had an exclusive contract for Crown Bay .... the other lines will still use Havensight.

 

Vic--

 

Don't you recall that we were at Crown Bay on the Inaugural along w/ Volendam?

The Princess ships were at Havensight that day.

 

CCL doesn't have an exclusive either - the first time I was in St Thomas at Crown Bay, I was on MSC.

[ekerr19]

As Nice???

 

 

IMHO, Tendering from the Inner Harbour is the BEST.

 

Brian -

 

THAT is the only time we go ashore... just DON'T let me ashore with Scotty again... (We spent WAY too much in the jewelry stores - he's a bad influence, lol!!!) :eek:

[Krazy Kruizers]

On other cruise lines we have also been anchored in the inner harbor -- didn't mind it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

This what I wrote about the shops at Crown Bay when we were there in March:

 

The Maasdam docked at Crown Bay yesterday and there were a couple of shops open compared to when we were there in November: Royal Caribbean, Omni, Blue Island, Milano, 7 small kiosks, and one un-named store selling clothing and gifts. They claim more will be opening soon.

 

Hopefully someone can add the names of the other shops that may have opened since then.

[Vic The Parrot]

Vic--

 

Don't you recall that we were at Crown Bay on the Inaugural along w/ Volendam?

The Princess ships were at Havensight that day.

 

CCL doesn't have an exclusive either - the first time I was in St Thomas at Crown Bay, I was on MSC.

 

 

 

Yes, I remember .... it wasn't that long ago.

 

But I was just relaying info I got from a reliable source that Princess will be the only tenants at Crown Bay. All others will use Havensight, or the harbour.

Just thought I'd share this with everyone ....

[HeatherInFlorida]

I hope Vic is right ... I see that for July it's all Princess ships at Crown Bay, but of course there are no HAL ships stopping there this month.

 

Just read that article Big Al linked to and what a dismal picture that paints! Havensight isn't so great, but at least you can rome about and pick up a few sundries.

 

I have a feeling if we go to Crown Bay, it will be a "sea day" for me unless we do a tour over to St. John. Charlotte Amalie doesn't interest us anyway.

[Betsy's Mom]

HAL ships will dock at Crown Bay. There is a signed contract with the VI Port Authority. The West India Company (Havensight) is not happy as the sales at Havensight have dropped. This is all government related as the Havensight shopping mall rentals fund the VI govenrment pension funds, very involved. The bottome line is HAL now docks at Crown Bay.

B.

[Vic The Parrot]

HAL ships will dock at Crown Bay. There is a signed contract with the VI Port Authority. The West India Company (Havensight) is not happy as the sales at Havensight have dropped. This is all government related as the Havensight shopping mall rentals fund the VI govenrment pension funds' date=' very involved. The bottome line is HAL now docks at Crown Bay.

B.[/quote']

 

 

Guess I misunderstood my "source" :confused:

[Krazy Kruizers]

That's what I told you all -- HAL now at Crown Bay. On Page 1 I listed the few shops that were open at Crown Bay when we were there in March. I was hopung that someone would add the names of any other shops they knew had opened there.