Port Guide: St. Thomas (Havensight) - What We Think You Should Know Before You Go! - ParoDeeJay

[@jeremyagain]

We love your Port Guides. Some of our favourite content you make.

[@pensfan992]

Thank you, thank You! St. Thomas will be on my iternirary for my first cruise in March.

[@KCBAIRS]

These port guides were incredibly helpful - thanks for doing them! We are doing Carnival Breeze August 15th, out of port Canaveral, and hitting Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. So, you have videos on all these places, and now I feel like I'm well informed about our best options!! Thanks again!

[@parodeejay]

Thanks so much! Glad we could help in the cruise planning... hope you have a great one!! :D

[@nancylee908]

Great review of St. Thomas. We were supposed to be there yesterday on our cancelled cruise. This is one of our favorite ports. Thanks for telling us some things we were unaware of. Wish we were there now!

[@brantthompson199]

Thanks! We will be visiting St Thomas next summer. This will be our 2nd time although we didn’t really see much of it last time as we did do the Kon Tiki which was fun but we pretty much just hung out at the beach they took us to. Gonna do the gondola this time and just walk around. 🛳️

[@deweyski]

I vacationed in St. Thomas many years ago and loved it. Have always wanted to go back on a cruise. St. John is Beautiful and TrunkBay is a gorgeous place to snorkel. That was the first place I ever snorkeled and I loved the guided path you could follow underwater with all the signs that told you what you were seeing. Now that I have proper camera gear, I would love to go do it again. And the hsopping is fantastic. St. John has a gorgeous liitle Crystal shop I fell in love with while I was there.

[@parodeejay]

Oh wow, Dee has been wanting to snorkel at one of those places that has underwater statues or sculptures. I wonder if there's any of that action over there. But just a snorkeling trail sounds awesome too!!

[@deweyski]

@@parodeejay It has been over 25 years since I was there but if I remember right I think there were some statues as well. I do know there were plaques to read while you were down there. I found out the hard way you don't gasp in awe when you are snorkeling under water! hehehehe

[@mikesherman366]

I loved this vlog. I always look forward to these. I saw Dee's dance vid this morning. I'm working at home and got up and learned the dance. It was simple enough for even me the terrible and uncoordinate dancer. I have seen the dance before but did not know what it was. Rock On guys.

[@younglady2789]

Rock On Dee and Jay, thanks for the port guide to St. Thomas!

[@parodeejay]

Thanks for checking it out, hah... woohoo!! :D

[@susanlangford3340]

I’m so grateful for these! Checked out this one, Amber Cove and San Juan for our April cruise!

[@onthebit2bet234]

Soooo helpful - you two are awesome!!

[@bruciethecuz9031]

Great video Jay and Dee ! Good stuff to accompany our breakfast this morning. Will post our experience there to the FB page rather than here, but St. Thomas was a great stop on our 2016 cruise. Be well, rock on! 👍👍👍

[@parodeejay]

Thankee thankee! We've enjoyed St. Thomas so far and it continues to be one of our favorite stops!! :D

[@southernchristopher2680]

Great video with tons of useful information. Thank you.

[@judysmith9552]

thank you so much for posting this video. we are going to saint thomas in may and we are trying to decide what to do there.we have 8 hours port time.

[@anne-marievr5710]

You must go to St. John. Trunk Bay is still the nicest beach I have been to and I have been to al least 15 Caribbean islands

[@CruiseDayFun]

We gotta get to St. Thomas and get a couple bushwhackers! Thanks for helping us dream vivid visions of someday! #RockOn

[@parodeejay]

A definite must-have when visiting St. Thomas!! :D

[@anakerose]

We were last there in April 2018 and it was still recovering from the hurricanes. We would love to go back now that it has had a few years. The trees were still pretty bare with only leaf buds. Magens Bay had just been rehabilitated by Royal Caribbean so the trees were still being held up by ropes and there wasn't much in the way of shade. We did an excursion thru Carnival which did Magens Bay and the Skyride (which had only opened a couple of weeks earlier). It was great, but I think we'll do things on our own next time.

[@parodeejay]

Oh wow, it's always hard to see the islands just after a storm! We had a similar experience with St. Maarten... wow... glad to see it looks like St. Thomas is doing well these days!!

[@vidaudink3044]

Great video!! I found your channel while watching Tony on La Lido Loca!

[@cruisingthrulifewithcindyh4483]

My favorite port because I truly am fascinated with pirates and their history. The museum by the lift is just ok BUT the store attached to it is the best! The owner is the nicest , and friendliest and most knowledgeable of anyone I have seen there at this port. I have taken a tour which included black beards castle (which has been closed forever BUT I convinced the driver to turn his head and I climbed up and got some amazing photos. I wish they'd reopen it.. thanks again for the port guide I of course love me some turtles I'll have to check that beach out.

[@parodeejay]

We never got to check out Blackbeard's Castle, though I think Dee used to have some old work connections where we could've scored day passes maybe... that's too bad! Honeymoon Beach has become our new favorite spot, hah... it's a nice big swimming area and we didn't see any turtles at first, but we were patient and kept looking around... woohoo!! :D

[@parodeejay]

Oh wait, maybe I was thinking of Bluebeard's Castle, which is a resort. So many castles, so little time, ha ha... :P

[@guyanesesauce]

Love your video I’m a St. Thomas Virgin Islands 🇻🇮 native

[@parodeejay]

That's awesome! We love the Virgin Islands, especially our last visit to Water Island!! :D

[@Boblobblaw88]

To me....St Thomas is well worth spending more than a port-day. I spent 5 days and took a ferry to St John as well---it's fantastic. (Windmill Bar for sunset!)

[@jarrod-w3w]

I watched this video and you said you would like to visit Trunk Bay for snorkeling. We stayed on St. John’s for 2 weeks and Trunk Bay is really not all that great if you like snorkeling. Go to Maho Bay instead. You see a lot more wildlife there. We snorkeled there probably 9 days out of the 2 weeks we were there. We saw turtles, string rays, octopus, conch. and all kinds of fish including barracuda and baby sharks

[@parodeejay]

Yesssss, we did eventually make it to St. John and ended up at Maho Beach. What a find!! :D

[@jarrod-w3w]

@@parodeejay nice - glad you found it - my wife and I love snorkeling

[@thetravelingsoutherners7845]

We have not been to much of eastern Caribbean yet, Just key west and Bahamas. I am excited to get more over that way. We are booked in January for Mardi Gras so if that works out, we will finally get out to the eastern Caribbean!!

[@parodeejay]

Nice! We really enjoy a good Eastern or southern loop!! :D

[@YouCanDoItKaren]

We did the St John's on our own...St John's is awesome and worth it!

[@parodeejay]

We definitely want to get over there, and I know there's a ferry that goes to Red Hook from Havensight, but folks say to do that bit by land. Taxi to Red Hook, ferry to St. John, taxi to Trunk Bay. We'll do it eventually, I'm sure!! :D

[@YouCanDoItKaren]

@@parodeejay So we also did on our own, because the cruise we were on was staying in the area for a few days. So I knew if by chance we missed the ship we could actually take a ferry to a different island to catch up with our ship. FYI, we did NOT miss our ship.

[@stevepse]

You are correct on it being a $1 less buying through the ship! There is also a K-Mart within walking distance from the ship to find all of your things and stuff that you forgot to bring, or get an extra suitcase for all the things and stuff you bought that you did not plan on.

[@parodeejay]

Oh nice! It's always pleasant to find a standard ol' retail store to buy necessities in port, ha ha... a lot of folks love hitting the Walgreens and CVS in San Juan, things like that. Funny!! :D

[@ThePrincessJuggs]

Yes the KoniTiki was the only excursion we did, it was a new experience for us and yes drinks are included, but only had Rum punch when we went. Tons of people were taking clothes off by the end of the tour. They also visit a private island area to also cut up while you are drunk lol

[@parodeejay]

Oh wow, sounds exciting, ha ha... that's too bad there's not more versatility for the bar service, but rum punch is always welcome!! :P

[@susandiekmann]

I cannot tell you just how much I value these port guides!! I always make note of several things mentioned, and I finally know FOR SURE what I want to do there in November - WATER ISLAND! Did the snorkeling excursion at St. John a couple of years ago, and it was fun until too many people arrived. Then we couldn't go 3 feet without a flipper to the face. Not fun. How do I figure out which dock our ship will pull up to? We'll be on a RC ship next time, not Carnival. Thanks!!

[@parodeejay]

You'll mostly likely be at Crown Bay which is a super short walk to the ferry. We docked at Havensight and had to catch a cab over to Crown Bay, hah. You can usually check a couple of months ahead of your sailing to see which port you'll be at here: www.vinow.com/cruise/ship-schedule/

[@susandiekmann]

@@parodeejay Thank you! I appreciate the info!

[@travelingon7458]

We are “going” on the 1st Carnival Breeze on 8/1. Booked guarantee inside 3 people $1100 7 day. I hope we cruise and make it to St Thomas.

[@parodeejay]

Nice! Hopefully you have a great cruise, fingers crossed!! :D

[@mystitin6769]

Just caught your video about the port at St. Thomas. Lots of good information for sure. But wanted to ad something for your mobility challenged tourists. St. Thomas is NOT very accommodating for wheelchair travelers. Especially those traveling in power or motorized wheelchairs or scooters. You mentioned the Pirate Museum and the Sky lift, both of these attractions have stairs. And we (using power wheelchairs) could not visit. The port shopping at Havensite was very level and easy to get in and out of most of the shops. There are not many local tours that can accommodate these mobility devices as well. And if you use a manual wheelchair, it's better however someone said you must be able to walk on and off the jeep taxis. However, we did learn (although too late) that if you go to the information and tour guide office, located there at the port of Havensite. They will give you information to a man who does have a van taxi that can transport power wheelchairs and scooters. AND will do an island tour at the standard taxi rate! We got the information but he was booked solid by the time we learned of his service. Hoping that other travelers will find that information helpful. We hope to go back oneday and see more of the lovely St. Thomas island!

[@parodeejay]

Ah, good to know! Thanks so much for the tips and info!! :D

[@Faborplumbs]

Coral World is pretty neat. If you've ever done a small scale aquarium attraction, such as Sea Life, you'll have an idea of what you see. It has an amazing underwater viewing of the reef, with fish, coral, turtles, and more all outside the window. They also have numerous tank attractions, as well as the turtles you mentioned and tons of iguanas! It's actually pretty fun, and is right next to the beach, too. :)

[@parodeejay]

Nice! It looked tiny from the photos, so I wan't exactly sure what to make of it. We'd still love to check it out sometime on a future visit!! :D

[@tod2992]

Have these vlogs come out yet Jay? O never miss a series

[@parodeejay]

All the vlogs are out except our sneak peek at Water Island and the turtles. That’ll be in our Crown Princess series!! :P

[@JNTravels]

We love to snorkel and took a turtle/snorkel catamaran excursion. It stopped at Honeymoon beach which was great. We saw less turtles on the excursion than we did at Honeymoon beach. If you could only pick one way to spend the day, what would you do?

[@parodeejay]

For folks who have never been to St. Thomas, I'd say some exploration of the island is in order, hah. But I'm pretty sure we'll be drawn to Water Island on our future visits, and eventually St. John. It always seemed funny to me that you cruise to an island to visit its neighbors, ha ha... :P

[@manta18]

One thing I did on my FIRST trip to St. Thomas was the UNDERWATER SCOOTERS. (FUN EASY SAFE)

[@connielett6126]

How much time should I set aside to do the Paradise Point lift?

[@parodeejay]

Ten minutes up, ten minutes down, plus however much time you’d like to spend at the top. I’d give it a couple of hours minimum, including the walk to and from the ship.

[@carolynwilliams5154]

Trunk Bay is wonderful.

[@jptraveladventures]

I am going to st Thomas on Symphony in april. What dock does royal stop at?

[@parodeejay]

Crown Bay. We haven’t done a port guide specifically for that port, but it’s about ten minutes away from the Havensight dock.

[@rgruenhaus]

Where is Frenchman's reef? I will be visiting St Thomas with NCL Escape in February 2023!

[@dadams512]

I'm diving into some of your previous vlogs and have enjoyed your ratings of the ABC islands. Question: do you take US dollars for all the cabs, trams, water taxi's and excursions or do the take local currency?

[@parodeejay]

Yep, especially for St. Thomas which this port guide is about, because it's a U.S. territory. But we've never had to exchange currency while cruising anywhere... every port has accepted U.S. funds!! :D

[@janellealegriarutherford227]

First view, first like and first comment!! I'm on my shenanigans game today!!

[@lindasalconi2039]

Does ncl encore dock this port or crown?

[@parodeejay]

Crown Bay.

[@ScooterWeibels]

I've never been there is that a east caribbean itinerary stop?

[@parodeejay]

Yep, it normally shows up on some Eastern Caribbean loops!! :D

[@kathytazbir4835]

Can you do Honeymoon island with a scooter

[@parodeejay]

Honeymoon Beach over on Water Island? We'd say no. It requires climbing down into a small motorboat, then back out, and up onto a safari truck over on the island. Not scooter-friendly from what we've seen.

[@SAIKIUTO]

Like your videos. May I contact you for advice. Am taking 26 persons to cruise and stop by US Virgins Island in Jan 2022

[@ChildishDfollowsGod]

As of 4 years later, I can confirm, it is 20$ less to purchase the ticket to Paradise Point directly from location and not from cruise line.

[@KevinPodsaidMusicProductions]

We had literally 2 banana daiquiris on the mountain top, and was not feeling any pain....LoL

[@sharonhoecherl4847]

Interesting! I have been to this port 3 times and had horrible experiences twice! Both times with very rude people that run or work for the tour bus companies. They take very unkindly to anyone asking for a private taxi and get extremely rude in their responses. I would do anything to avoid this port on any future cruises that's for sure. Left a really bad taste in my mouth the first time and when it happened again this month it solidified that for me.

[@garymartin4413]

We were on the Kon Tiki excursion in Febuary. It was one of the worst excursions we have ever been on. We have over 35 cruises and I would not recommend this excursion. To answer your question on Booze If you want it you have to pay extra for it. They give you Fruit Punch>

[@parodeejay]

I was wondering about that! We saw it come over to Honeymoon Beach while we were there on our own, and that was an awesome place to chill. Someone else commented that they had offered rum punch, but that's sad if it was literally just fruit punch, hah... we need more "party" in our boat!! :P