Question about St. Thomas with kids

[sarahste928]

I'm heading to St. Thomas on the 8/7 Eastern Magic and have a question -- if we don't take any excursions and prefer not to take a taxi, is there anything worth doing and safe within walking distance of where the ship docks?

I went to St. Thomas on a cruise ship about ten year ago, but didn't have any kids then. We went to St. Johns, and then took a taxi to shopping in Charlotte Amalie, and walked back to the ship. I remember it being a decent sized walk through some semi-rough looking spots at the time.

We'll have a stroller for our 11-month-old and our tiny five-year-old walking with us. What do you suggest? We are hesitant to take a taxi because of lack of seat belts for our children.

We were considering the Magen's Bay beach excursion, even though the bus wouldn't have seat belts either, but we figured we might just chance it.

Any ideas or suggestion? This board has been wonderful!! Thanks so much.

-- Sarah

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

The only thing really interesting (at least IMHO) within walking distance from the ship is the Paradise Point tramway. It takes you up the side of the mountain and you get a great view of the harbor and Charlotte Amalie. Here's a link to their website for more info.

There's a small mall which has popped up around the cruise ship pier over the last few year. Many of the shops downtown have stores there, too, but I much prefer wandering downtown. I'm not sure a 5 year-old would last long here, anyway.

You're right, the walk to downtown is pretty long and hot, and through a fairly seedy neighborhood.

You could look into renting a car and doing something on your own. Most rental agencies will rent a car seat as well, so it's at least worth looking into.

 

[Christine]

My mom just called from the Magic Cruise and they are in St. Thomas today. Apparently, they decided not to do any St. Thomas excursions. They stayed on the ship until about noon and REALLY enjoyed being on the ship while everyone was doing excursions. The kids loved it. They decided to go on the island now and they are at some "mini-mall" as my mom puts it. I guess they are just doing a little big of shopping and really are enjoying the relaxation of it.