Customs in St Thomas ?

[jennat]

What time (earliest) can you get off the ship in St Thomas. We have a day sail booked and don't want to be late.

 

[zeldacruiser]

If you booked the excursion through Disney, you will report for customs at 6:30 a.m. (at least, that's what we had last week, when we docked at Crown Bay) and then you will have a specific time to meet onboard for your excursion, so you don't have to worry about what time they let people off. If your excursion is non-Disney, I don't know the earliest time we were able to get off last week, but the earliest meeting time for a Disney excursion was 7 a.m. Guests from decks 1, 2 and 5 reported for customs from 7 to 7:15 and those from decks 6, 7 and 8 from 7:15 to 7:30. I can't imagine that anyone would complain if you have a non-Disney excursion and showed up at 6:30.

 

[jhorstma]

If you booked the excursion through Disney, you will report for customs at 6:30 a.m. (at least, that's what we had last week, when we docked at Crown Bay) and then you will have a specific time to meet onboard for your excursion, so you don't have to worry about what time they let people off. If your excursion is non-Disney, I don't know the earliest time we were able to get off last week, but the earliest meeting time for a Disney excursion was 7 a.m. Guests from decks 1, 2 and 5 reported for customs from 7 to 7:15 and those from decks 6, 7 and 8 from 7:15 to 7:30. I can't imagine that anyone would complain if you have a non-Disney excursion and showed up at 6:30.

I'm in the same boat (so to speak) as the OP - I need to be in a taxi nlt 8:30 am for a non-DCL day sail. What was the earliest that people were let off the ship at Crown Bay on your cruise? Also, am I correct in assuming that there were a fleet of cabs dockside?

 

[mickeyboat]

We tendered into St. Thomas and did not reach the taxi stand until after 9AM. We were not booked on a Disney-led excursion and the Disney-led excursions we able to tender first. The immigration officials were late arriving on the ship. There was a woman when we were waiting for the tender having an absolute melt-down because she had booked a private dive charter and was missing time on that adventure. She was absolutely horrible to the CM's in the theater and earned the name "Ursula" from those sitting near her.

That being said, if all goes as planned, 8:30 should be o.k., but you never know. Is there any way you could book it later?

Good luck to you.

Denae

 

[jhorstma]

Our cruise is next week - according to the USVI cruise ship website we'll be docking at Crown Bay and not tendering, so if we can clear customs and get off the ship we should be ok. If things run late we'll call the charter and see what kind of flexibility they have, and if things go straight to heck well then we'll do something else.

 

[zacsmom]

Even though the taxis are there and waiting, they are also waiting to have full cabs before they leave. It never ceases to amaze me how many people they can fit into a cab! We took a cab at 9:15 and were told that without a doubt we would make our 10:00 ferry to St. John. Well, all along the way our driver picked up passengers and dropped them off. We politely reminded her that we needed to catch a ferry and she kept saying "No Problem", right. We got there at 10:15 for the 10:00 ferry which was pulling away from the dock. I swear that the people in the islands have a whole different outlook about time.

 

[zeldacruiser]

There was a whole lineup of vans and open-air taxi shuttles that could hold like 20 people each. It took us several tries to get on one, though, because we were only two people and they wanted us to squeeze into spaces that could not possibly have held us. Finally I attached myself to the man who seemed to be directing things until he put us on a vehicle just to get rid of me.

Other than that, Crown Bay was fine, and seemed like a much better way to do things than to tender (which I have never done).

 

[aprilgail2]

There was a whole lineup of vans and open-air taxi shuttles that could hold like 20 people each. It took us several tries to get on one, though, because we were only two people and they wanted us to squeeze into spaces that could not possibly have held us. Finally I attached myself to the man who seemed to be directing things until he put us on a vehicle just to get rid of me.
QUOTE]


Is it possible to get one for just 3 people..I would rather pay more money and have a private cab than have to share...In NYC once you hail a cab, its yours and they don't pick up other passengers....I took a cab once on Long Island and they started stopping along the way picking up others, I was shocked that other people were in "my cab" LOL....

 

[zeldacruiser]

I did not see any small vehicles at the Crown Bay dock, and right outside the dock gates is an industrial area where I don't think you could get a cab. I'm sure you could pay for the whole cab, but if each one holds, say, 20 people, you'd probably have to pay 20 times the individual fare! It was either $3 or $3.50 per person to town from the dock. These are not your NYC type of cabs! Also very exciting because not only do they drive fast to maximize business, but they drive on the left side of the road, despite the fact that most of the steering wheels seem to be on the left side as well!