Triumph- Day 4 / St. Thomas

[4 of Harts]

arriving in St Thomas was early... 7am but we were rolling in by 6am... I have been to St Thomas before and honestly it wasn't one of my favorite islands... it was about 10 years ago (BC- before children) and took an excursion to I think St.Johns for a catamarran snorkel ... that was a great trip but once back in St.Thomas we really didn't care so much for the people/atmosphere...

 

so... my expectations were low.

 

luckily, I was pleasantly surprised... coming off of the ship you walk down to a gate that takes you out into the port area... cabbies are everywhere... there is a government worker yelling at people prices and "t'ings"... he seemed pissed off but we needed to ask him how much and where we could get the cab to Coki Beach (we read about it)... he pointed to the long line of cabs (imagine dat mon) and said, "da charge be $9 per person"... on our sheet , it said $8... so I responded , the sheet says $8... look to kill... "listen mon I donta make da prices and probably dat sheet you have is 3 years old... da price is from da government and it's $9 per person!" I thought it was hilarious. 1st things first... their government is really kind of.. our government...haha... but moreso it reminded me of an Adam Sandler skit where Tollbooth Willie tells the charges to everyone. If you've heard it, you'd understand. I digress....

 

Anyway... we went past the taxi line and past a few shops... saw a cabbie (Simon) , and said.. "we need to get to Coki Beach and we only have $20... will you do it?" .... "sure mon, hop in" Now understand that hop in means jump into this truck/cab/tour bus without doors or sides and a canopy roof thing... now you're talking! (so that's $16 saved, each way)

 

The 4 mile trip took forever but the kids loved it and it was refreshing, a little scary and honestly downright fun. My oldest, 8, had her arms up in the air like it was a roller coaster. Let me tell ya, St.Thomas has big hills! And we went around the mountains.

 

Arriving a 1/2 hour later (avg. 8 miles per hour) we pull up to busy, busy, busy... Simon pulls someone to the side as we told him that we needed snorkel gear for us ... he found Robert who "would take care of us". And he did. Robert hooked Simon back up for 4pm so our arrangements were set.

 

Steel drums playing, beautiful, beatiful beach looking out at Thatch Cay. Robert set us up with an umbrella and two chairs... 5 feet from the beach. Pointed to a shack looking thing on the hill (turns out to be "Coral World" as I asked for an ATM location)...

 

he brought gear for my wife and jackets for my kids... knowing that I was going to be occupied enjoying my vacation... I declined the snorkel stuff... I used my wife's when she came back in...

 

the kids ran into the water and up walks a waitress offering frozen drinks, pizza, beer, sodas etc... now this is paradise. We order some drinks... I head to Coral World. Once up the stairs I see that this is where alot of the tours come to for snuba, snorkel etc.... I used the ATM and rolled back down just in time for drinks... we noticed some dog bones, large dog, Milk Bone... in the sand... somebody said, "yah, the fish like them"

 

well hell yah... I had my new best buddy Robert go get me some along with the hammer to rehammer the pulled out stake (my fault, tried to move it)... he brought a bunch back.

 

threw a couple to my wife and oldest who were in snorkel heaven... maybe only 15 feet offshore, 5 feet deep... fish are everywhere... put a Milk Bone in your hand and zowie there are more than you can imagine...

 

they head out to deeper waters, I manage my youngest as she's not so sure on the snorkel thing yet... but with masks and Milk Bones they were eating out of our hand 10 feet from shore. (you crumble it up a little for the little guys in shallower water)

 

anyway.. .long story short... Coki Beach is fabulous. I've snorkeled a bunch and this is top 2 or 3 for sure... bring Milk Bones!

 

many beers and frozen drinks later we're all burnt to a crisp (not enough sunblock as I currently am peeling like a snake)... it's time for Simon to get us back... and there he is.. walking on the beach... "Mr. Jeff, it is time sir... " Service and genuine care... love it.

 

Falling asleep on the ride home (he added a few passengers) we all felt pretty good about our new favorite place, Coki Beach. Gave him $20 plus $5 extra... shook his hand, he was happy he made some new friends... good guy that Simon.

 

Back to the ship... exhausted... showers to cool down... and naps for all... sleep past our dinner... did the buffet... not bad but it was our only missed dinner...

 

planned on alot... did... very little... went to sleep... early morning for St. Maarten tomorrow ....

[dolphin1313]

Thanks for today's review! It sounds like you're having a great vacation.

[habby]

Like you, St. Thomas was one of those islands I wasn't extremely interested in returning to. Funny, spending a week there in January changed my views completely.

 

So glad to hear you had a good experience at Coki. We were there in January and had a really nice time.

 

And, your experience with the cabs is typical for St. Thomas.

[Journey21]

Coki Beach has not gotten good reviews people said under construction and run down in ghetto looking area. We were considering it but are a little skeptical but after your review we will reconsider. Our older daughter is doing the Sea Lion Swim at Coral World so would like to be close so we can travel together. If you don't mind what did you pay for snorkel gear and umbrella and chair rental? Just want to make sure we bring enough cash for everything.

[4 of Harts]

$25 for the umbrella/chairs... $20 for adult snorkel gear and 2 vests for the kids ($10 snorkel, $5 each vests)

 

funny enough... I went to the ATM a 2nd time... requested $100 and only $80 popped out... "Son of a %$#^*&*&^%... " so, pissed off that I got screwed for $20, I reach my hand in the slot for the money and blam! There is not $20 but $40 hung up in the feeder... woohoo... I won more on the ATM than any slot on the ship!

 

Every island has its' ghetto... you go to the beach, hop on your cab for the ride home... it is beautiful there and great service... I always haved wondered why they feel it necessary to trash their own island... I dunno... but... there is alot of beauty there so do let it deter you

 

word is that there are turtles on the left (West?) side of the beach... my wife looked but didn't see them...

[VikingChick]

You posted the capers on your other reviews, do you have any capers for day 4? It was my little sneak peak to life on board. 9 days and counting! I am doing anything and everything to make the time go by faster!

[WAcruisers]

love your review so far......I am thinking of taking this one. :D

[4 of Harts]

I'm hoping to get them scanned today and posted later. Sorry for the delay... although I denied it for a week... work has become part of my life again... :(

 

working on days 5-8 now... will have them posted along with the Capers hopefully today/ tonight

[dolphin1313]

I'm hoping to get them scanned today and posted later. Sorry for the delay... although I denied it for a week... work has become part of my life again... :(

 

working on days 5-8 now... will have them posted along with the Capers hopefully today/ tonight

 

Thanks again for the great review and am looking forward to reading the rest.

[4 of Harts]

just posted more along with Capers/maps , take a look

[4 of Harts]

St Thomas map.. this time on the right thread

St Thomas map[1].pdf

[4 of Harts]

St Thomas Caper, Day 4

Day 4 caper.PDF

[4 of Harts]

Meant to add this before. People always ask about postcards. Your Steward will have some, your book with your ship information will have some and your Guest Services will as well. Photos showing Carnival ships. My kid's teachers asked for them to be sent to them. So, we decided to do that as it gave the kids the opportunity to write what they wanted to in time rather than buying them onshore and then having to write it right there on the spot.

 

My trip had 2 US controlled ports with San Juan and St Thomas. I could have and should have sent them out with US stamps on the islands so that they could be postmarked as such, but... I didn't think about it until after we sailed out of St. Thomas.

 

I went to Guest Services anticipating that they did mail on a daily basis when in port. Well, they don't. They mailed them from Miami when we got back and as of today, we still don't have them (I mailed 1 from Funship Freddy to ourselves).

 

So, if you want postcards, they are free and quite available. If you want them sent out during the cruise, take them onshore and find a post office. If in any US commonweath etc. then you can use US stamps.

[Maraprince]

QUESTION:

 

How was Immigration handled on the ship since you went in and out of US ports? Was it done by last name, deck, cabins nos. or what? How long a process was it?

 

Thanks.

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[4 of Harts]

Immigration through Customs at arrival in Miami correct ? Once you got your luggage you went through the US Citizen line (I got pulled through by my porter, worth the tip!) It went fast, through in 5 minutes. On my Customs form I declared St.Thomas and San Juan...

 

hopefully this is what you meant... if not let me know...

 

 

you got called to disembark based on your tag number that you put on your luggage the night before, given to you by your Steward, which didn't seem to correspond with deck or anything...