9-Hours in St Thomas

It has been my experience that Caribbean Buzz's rates are very reasonable, considering you are chartering a private helicopter. How much does it cost to get a private helicopter for the day where you come from?

have you tried sea borne airlines? they run frequently

Wait until you get back to SJU then take a trip over here.

9 hours is too short a time to explore both islands of STT & STX especially on a cruise ship visit, IMO.

You can take an island tour, explore downtown Charlotte Amalie, Havensite, check out Yacht Haven Grande, go to Magens Bay Beach, ride up to Paradise Point in Havensite on the tramway, there's a walking tour that visits historic sites in town, go for a half day sail or dive tour, try kayaking in the Mangrove preserve, take a zipline adventure, explore St. Peter Great House, just for starters.
Lots to do, little time to do it all.

Your cruise ship will will offer a variety of tours. Take the ones that most appeal to you in the time allotted.

Hard to get a true feel for STT on a 9 hour tour with ythousands of other cruise ship passengers. You'll waste a couple hours just getting back and forth by taxi and air to go to STX, only to have an hour or so there and have to get back to board ship prior to departure.

When job and time allows, come for 10 days or 2 weeks and explore all 3 islands of STJ, STT, STX.

Each island has its own unique charm as well as challenges.
No way you'll get a feel for any place in so short a time.
Good luck and enjoy the time you have to spend.

The cruise ship is likely to offer STJ excursions as well.
You can't do it all in 9 hours so chose what suits you.

9 hours is too short a time to explore both islands of STT & STX especially on a cruise ship visit, IMO.

It's completely not doable!

Ditto Alana's post. Wednesday is the busiest cruise ship day of the week in March. If you are serious about wanting to move here, then spend your day exploring work opportunities. If you want to get a flavor of the island, take an island tour, but realize that the crowds are not like that every day.

There is no way you could see both St Thomas and St Croix in 9 hours. I'm not sure why you booked a cruise instead of a week's vacation in the USVI, but that is water under the bridge. If you readjust your expectations for the day and just have fun, maybe you'll be back!

P.S. You wouldn't be able to see all the things you listed in San Francisco and the Bay area in 9 hours either. 😉

Njoy can't be serious about moving here. Wants to move to St Croix so books a cruise to St Thomas????

Most people go to work on Wednesday. Maybe OP should visit a business in his/her specialty.

All the things the OP suggests doing in her home town are tourist attractions and that's all she'll experience here on a cruise ship stop.

OP. do a pre-move visit of a few weeks so you can start to properly digest what's available on all three islands. Spend at least a week on STT (you can easily reach STJ by ferry, only 15 minutes away) and at least another week on St Croix. Also read all the information on the drop-down menus top of this page. Enjoy your cruise ship day on St Thomas but expect nothing more of it than what it is - a vacation day on a Caribbean island.

Thanks everyone for great feedback!

After two full days at sea, our ship anchored in St. Thomas, USVI.

It was on a Tuesday.

While in port visited Megans Bay for several hours, took a tour around Black Beard’s Castle and adjacent historical homes/museums, then a stroll into town.

Megans Bay was beautiful. On the day of our visit the weather was nice and warm even at 10am. Just perfect! An early visit to the beach and still despite the time there were plenty of visitors at the beach enjoying the picturesque scenery and waters. .

I was not expecting the downtown waterfront to be so busy. I recall saying to myself "Why are there so many people here walking around?" Shortly after that however we realize our ship was not the only one in port that day. In fact, there were many boats docked, several yachts in port, and several [more than 3] large Cruise Ships in port too. That explained it. With lots of tourism comes increased revenue for those in the Tourism and Hospitality areas of business so it's a good thing.

Having no preconceived expectations of how my trip would be like other than I was extremely excited to be there at last, I was pleased by the couple of people I did have encounters with. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming be it a greeting of hello, eager to engage me in conversation, but mostly it was great to have had the opportunity to visit St. Thomas, and leave with a positive memorable experience.

I have decided to visit again for a longer period of time if I can afford it. Given my schedule perhaps I'll visit for a couple of days and if everything works out, perhaps a move this year to the Caribbean.

Deciding factor will be ability to find employment, of course.

The vacation was fast and furious to say the least. As the comment above cautioned; 9-hours is not enough time to determine if a move is in order, and that 9-hours will amount to just a vacation. Yes and yes. I agree.

One day - One day trip was not enough time in St Thomas.

Then, just as quickly as we had anchored, we pulled anchor and set sail for St. Kitts.

I enjoy posting on this board and want to thank everyone who commented on my original post.

Glad you had a great visit!

Jan - April is our busiest cruise ship season. Not unusual to have 3 and more ships in port during this period. They heard to Europe, the Med and Alaska around the end of April. Things slow way down after that so for many this short burst of intense tourist activity is make it or break it time. Aug - Sept are our quietest months. Also normally the height of hurricane season tho recent years have given us storms in Oct. Many businesses close in Sept for vacations and clean-up, etc., especially restaurants.

Do come back ....and stay longer!

Thank you Alana33. I had a great visit!

glad you had a great time

speee1dy Thank you.