Disembarking in St. Thomas??

[ExecuMom]

Around what time are passengers disembarking in St. Thomas? This is our second Eastern, but I can't recall what time we were aloud off.

We've booked our own daysail/snorkel which starts at 9 am, but is 30-minutes from the ship. I'm just wondering if it's realistic that we'll be off the ship by 8:30.

Help!

Thanks

Michele

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

You should be able to get off by 8:30. I've been able to make the 9:00am ferry at Red Hook, which is about a 20-minute drive from the ship. You'll need to get down to the theatre pretty early to have your ID checked, and then get down to deck 1 so you can be among the first off the ship.

 

[ExecuMom]

Thanks, Lloyd!

I guess that taxi's are fairly plentiful at the dock. We need to get to the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort and thought we'd hop a cab instead of renting a car.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

It will depend if everyone goes to the immigration check on time. On my last cruise some people felt the need to sleep in and not care about all the other passengers that were stuck on the ship because customs wouldn't clear us until everyone checked in....

 

[jrabbit]

Traffic is another concern. The roads are narrow. The roads leading into town in the morning go at a slow crawl, same thing in the evening leaving town - slow traffic.

So depending upon which way you are going it could be smooth sailing or slow bumper to bumper traffic (and you left town to get away from it all )

 

[ExecuMom]

What time is that?? And how is it handled. It sounds like it's different from our last Eastern in 2000

Thanks,

Michele

 

[lbgraves]

You may also want to call & confirm if the ship will be docking. When our group started calling to make reservations for excursions they found out that we are being tendered into St Thomas on our cruise. IDK how often that happens.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

I believe immigration comes on board at around 6:30AM or some insane hour. I had to go to the Walt theater with the rest of the US citizens. Once everyone is checked off and gone through immigration the ship will be cleared to re-enter the US (St Thomas USVI).......

This is how it worked this past January and Nov 2001.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Since 9/11/01, a new "security" measure requires that everyone's proof of citizenship is checked when arriving on St. Thomas (actually, when arriving at any US port after having called at a non-US port). This takes place early morning on Wednesday, after the ship is tied up at St. Thomas. Each deck is given a time to report. It usually goes pretty smoothly, but every once in a while there are people who drag the process out.

Still, I've usually been able to get off the ship by 8:30. The Renaissance is over on the north east shore, near Coki Beach, so you don't have to go all the way through downtown to make get there.

Tendering happens every so often, depending on how many ships are in port that day. It is more likely to happen during the winter, when there are more ships in the Caribbean, but you probably have a 1 in 3 chance of having to tender. If so, you can grab a cab from the tender pier downtown.

 

[ExecuMom]

Thanks, everyone for your generous replies!!

We are on the New Year's cruise and our St. Thomas day is New Year's Eve, so it may be very busy around then.

I'll call DCL to inquire on the tendering that day.

I'm a bit nervous because on our other 2 DCL cruises we only booked excusions through DCL. This time it on our own.

Thanks so much.

Michele

 

[disneykins]

Hi Michelle,
Just looked at the itinerary and we dock in St. Thomas at 7 am so I dont think you'll have a problem being off by 8:30. On our last eastern we did our own excursion, taxi to Red Hook, ferry to St. John, taxi to beach and return and all went well. We're planning on a relaxing day on the beach (Magans bay, I think) and we're just gonna take a taxi.
See you in 58 days or so!!!!

 

[ExecuMom]

Disneykins -

I called DCL and got the same info, which is great!!

Can't wait!! Maybe we'll have a meet and greet on board.

Thanks!

Michele