Looked out this morning to see our ship sailing into the beautiful harbour of Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas in the U. S. Virgin Islands. It's a spectacular view.
I think I'd be on pretty safe ground in saying that the island of St. Thomas, in the U. S. Virgin Islands, is the most popular single port for cruise ships in the whole of the Caribbean Sea. Last year, and again this year, our giant cruise liner visited the port in company with multiple others, all making single-day calls. Our guide today told us that, on some occasions, there are as many as eight cruise ships in port at the same time.
I think I'd be on pretty safe ground in saying that the island of St. Thomas, in the U. S. Virgin Islands, is the most popular single port for cruise ships in the whole of the Caribbean Sea. Last year, and again this year, our giant cruise liner visited the port in company with multiple others, all making single-day calls. Our guide today told us that, on some occasions, there are as many as eight cruise ships in port at the same time.
I think I'd also be pretty safe in asserting that:
[1] St. Thomas is always crowded with visitors.
[2] The # 1 attraction in the capital, Charlotte Amalie, is the shopping.
[2] The # 1 attraction in the capital, Charlotte Amalie, is the shopping.
[3] 100% of the shopping is supposedly duty free, and cheap.
[4] Over 90% of the shopping is geared to female shoppers.
[4] Over 90% of the shopping is geared to female shoppers.
[5] Most visitors have no idea why the islands are Virgin.
[6] Hardly any of these visitors ever make it to St. John.
I'll start with # 5 first. The larger islands in the Virgin Islands group are surrounded by hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of smaller islands, islets, and rocks protruding above the ocean. I'm virtually dead certain that this is the reason why Columbus named the archipelago in honour of Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins. She was a very fashionable saint in 1492, since the astute merchants of Cologne had earned vast sums of money over the preceding century or so by appropriating the legend, transplanting it to say that it occurred in their home locale, and then selling "relics" of Saint Ursula the Martyr and her 11,000 Martyred Virgins all over Europe. The relics were, of course, courtesy of every cemetery for miles and miles around Cologne. How else do you think they paid for their spectacular cathedral?
As for # 2, # 3, and # 4, I worked those out of my system on my last crack at St. Thomas, a year ago. Of course I got taken to the Mountaintop, the birthplace of the banana daiquiri. I certainly loved the view, but the enormous gift shop took me exactly 5 minutes of a 45-minute stop to go through -- and come out empty-handed.
I clearly recall thinking, though, that St. Thomas would be a lot more beautiful if only it weren't so heavily developed. As it turns out, I was actually imagining St. John.
So for this visit, I opted for a real off-the-beaten-track option: a 45-minute ferry ride and scenic cruise to the island of St. John, and an open-vehicle tour on the island. As the map clearly shows, 60% or more of St. John is taken up by the Virgin Islands National Park. With all that protected land, it's scarcely surprising that the island has a grand total population of just over 4,000 people, nor that it is called "the Emerald of the Caribbean."
Our group certainly didn't strain the limits. Only about 140 of the 3100 passengers on Crown Princess opted to travel on the ferry to St. John. Some did the bus tour, some made a beeline for the world-famous beach at Trunk Bay on a bus shuttle, and some just went and did their own thing, whatever that might be.
To start with then, a quick look at Crown Princess in the harbour at Charlotte Amalie, as seen from the much smaller ferry.
It amuses me no end to see these massive Princess ships registered in Hamilton (that's the capital of Bermuda), because their size makes it physically impossible for these enormous vessels to squeeze through the narrows at Two Rock Passage and into the harbour at Hamilton!
On the 45-minute crossing to St. John, we got some close-up views of rock formations and surf on the smaller islands off the south coast of St. Thomas.
As we approached St. John, we saw a cruise ship anchored off the port there. Seabourn Cruises has a fleet of half-a-dozen of these elegant, yacht-like vessels, and the facilities, service, and prices all fall in line with the deluxe yacht image. Because of their small size (less than 500 passengers each), Seabourn cruises often call in at much smaller ports than the more mainstream lines like Princess. From that anchorage location, their passengers would face a 10-12 minute tender ride into the pocket-sized harbour at Cruz Bay, the principal town.
Once ashore, we split up onto different buses, according to whether we were taking the tour or just riding to Trunk Bay. To be honest, though, I'm not sure if "bus" is precisely the right name.
I rode in one of these "things" in St. Thomas last year. On the narrow, steep, twisting roads of these islands, a small hybrid like this is much more practical than an actual coach would be. And then, of course, there's the daffiest feature of the U. S. Virgin Islands -- the sight of everyone driving on the left-hand side of the road in vehicles from the United States with left hand drive. It's a long story.
Once we got up the hill and out of Cruz Bay, we immediately plunged into the National Park. Most of our road mileage was on roads winding their way through sub-tropical forests. Every once in a while, a vista opened out -- and what a vista it was!
This first one, though, was rather sad. It's the shattered remains of the Caneel Bay Resort, which was completely trashed in the fall of 2017 by Hurricane Irma. According to our driver/guide, there have been no firm plans to rebuild or reopen this property. At least, it is still possible to access Honeymoon Beach, in front of the wreckage, but you have to park by the main road and then get driven past the resort ruins to the beach on a golf cart.
And here's the world-famous beach at Trunk Bay, which has landed on several lists of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. The island in the distance on the left is Tortola, largest of the British Virgin Islands.
At the Trunk Bay overlook, our driver kindly offered to take pictures for us.
We also got a history lesson on the importance of the sugar trade in the island's earlier years. The ruins of the sugar mill at Annaberg are the best-preserved of several such ruins on the island.
Since the mill was built on another high promontory, there were more spectacular views to enjoy.
The name "Annaberg," too, like many other place names (Charlotte Amalie, Christiansted, Susannaberg, Fredriksdal) harks back to the time when the islands were one of the very few overseas possessions of Denmark, before they were sold to the United States in 1917.
After leaving Annaberg, we drove up onto the high spine of the island, and headed back west along Centerline Road. It was a rough experience. The coastal highway through the National Park is beautifully maintained, but the Centerline Road is full of speed bumps and potholes, many of which are likely the results of tropical storms. That bus-truck whatever-it-is rides rough, just like a school bus. And just like a school bus, it's the poor passengers in the back seat who take the brunt of it. Voice of experience.
All the same, the views towards the south shore from Centerline Road are impressive too.
As for the roads, this rendezvous at Rendezvous Lane shows very clearly just how steep and narrow and winding they can get. We were told that the roads are enlarged donkey tracks, but I can't help wondering how drunk the donkeys must have been.
Once we'd returned to St. Thomas and our ship, I had a refreshing swim in the pool and then returned to my room to enjoy coffee on my balcony, which overlooks the yacht harbour. And there I saw a curious newcomer. The more I studied Erica, the more I felt that this yacht looked like a stealth ship for the navy. It's not just a matter of the unusual colour, but also the very odd shape of the bow (as much of it as you can see) instead of the normal and graceful sharply-angled bow of all the other yachts around about. Very peculiar.
I clearly recall thinking, though, that St. Thomas would be a lot more beautiful if only it weren't so heavily developed. As it turns out, I was actually imagining St. John.
So for this visit, I opted for a real off-the-beaten-track option: a 45-minute ferry ride and scenic cruise to the island of St. John, and an open-vehicle tour on the island. As the map clearly shows, 60% or more of St. John is taken up by the Virgin Islands National Park. With all that protected land, it's scarcely surprising that the island has a grand total population of just over 4,000 people, nor that it is called "the Emerald of the Caribbean."
Our group certainly didn't strain the limits. Only about 140 of the 3100 passengers on Crown Princess opted to travel on the ferry to St. John. Some did the bus tour, some made a beeline for the world-famous beach at Trunk Bay on a bus shuttle, and some just went and did their own thing, whatever that might be.
To start with then, a quick look at Crown Princess in the harbour at Charlotte Amalie, as seen from the much smaller ferry.
It amuses me no end to see these massive Princess ships registered in Hamilton (that's the capital of Bermuda), because their size makes it physically impossible for these enormous vessels to squeeze through the narrows at Two Rock Passage and into the harbour at Hamilton!
On the 45-minute crossing to St. John, we got some close-up views of rock formations and surf on the smaller islands off the south coast of St. Thomas.
As we approached St. John, we saw a cruise ship anchored off the port there. Seabourn Cruises has a fleet of half-a-dozen of these elegant, yacht-like vessels, and the facilities, service, and prices all fall in line with the deluxe yacht image. Because of their small size (less than 500 passengers each), Seabourn cruises often call in at much smaller ports than the more mainstream lines like Princess. From that anchorage location, their passengers would face a 10-12 minute tender ride into the pocket-sized harbour at Cruz Bay, the principal town.
Once ashore, we split up onto different buses, according to whether we were taking the tour or just riding to Trunk Bay. To be honest, though, I'm not sure if "bus" is precisely the right name.
I rode in one of these "things" in St. Thomas last year. On the narrow, steep, twisting roads of these islands, a small hybrid like this is much more practical than an actual coach would be. And then, of course, there's the daffiest feature of the U. S. Virgin Islands -- the sight of everyone driving on the left-hand side of the road in vehicles from the United States with left hand drive. It's a long story.
Once we got up the hill and out of Cruz Bay, we immediately plunged into the National Park. Most of our road mileage was on roads winding their way through sub-tropical forests. Every once in a while, a vista opened out -- and what a vista it was!
This first one, though, was rather sad. It's the shattered remains of the Caneel Bay Resort, which was completely trashed in the fall of 2017 by Hurricane Irma. According to our driver/guide, there have been no firm plans to rebuild or reopen this property. At least, it is still possible to access Honeymoon Beach, in front of the wreckage, but you have to park by the main road and then get driven past the resort ruins to the beach on a golf cart.
And here's the world-famous beach at Trunk Bay, which has landed on several lists of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. The island in the distance on the left is Tortola, largest of the British Virgin Islands.
At the Trunk Bay overlook, our driver kindly offered to take pictures for us.
We also got a history lesson on the importance of the sugar trade in the island's earlier years. The ruins of the sugar mill at Annaberg are the best-preserved of several such ruins on the island.
Since the mill was built on another high promontory, there were more spectacular views to enjoy.
The name "Annaberg," too, like many other place names (Charlotte Amalie, Christiansted, Susannaberg, Fredriksdal) harks back to the time when the islands were one of the very few overseas possessions of Denmark, before they were sold to the United States in 1917.
After leaving Annaberg, we drove up onto the high spine of the island, and headed back west along Centerline Road. It was a rough experience. The coastal highway through the National Park is beautifully maintained, but the Centerline Road is full of speed bumps and potholes, many of which are likely the results of tropical storms. That bus-truck whatever-it-is rides rough, just like a school bus. And just like a school bus, it's the poor passengers in the back seat who take the brunt of it. Voice of experience.
All the same, the views towards the south shore from Centerline Road are impressive too.
As for the roads, this rendezvous at Rendezvous Lane shows very clearly just how steep and narrow and winding they can get. We were told that the roads are enlarged donkey tracks, but I can't help wondering how drunk the donkeys must have been.
Once we'd returned to St. Thomas and our ship, I had a refreshing swim in the pool and then returned to my room to enjoy coffee on my balcony, which overlooks the yacht harbour. And there I saw a curious newcomer. The more I studied Erica, the more I felt that this yacht looked like a stealth ship for the navy. It's not just a matter of the unusual colour, but also the very odd shape of the bow (as much of it as you can see) instead of the normal and graceful sharply-angled bow of all the other yachts around about. Very peculiar.
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