Flights and Ferries

Sadie,

Where are you flying out of? Washington Dulles had fares posted on UA for about 250.00 to STT one way. If you let me know where your leaving from I can do a fare shop on all the airlines for you when I get back to work on Thursday. Also the ferry between STX and STT runs 42 dollars one way (pretty sure). BUT, my friend just moved to STX and she said there isn't ferry service running between STX and STT until NOV. Just what I heard...Islander? East Ender? Anyone? Is that right?

Just let me know your departure date and city and I'll get you some prices...

Elle

I am moving to STT next month from Cleveland. I dont know where you are coming from but I got my ticket for $44 one way to Chicago on Southwest and $205 one way to STT on United Airlines as compared to $600 one way from CLE. So you have to shop around and find the best deal. Hope this helps.

According to the Virgin Island Daily News, as of yesterday there will be two fast ferries operating this year, but your STX friend is right -- it won't happen until the tourist season gets under way.

Yesterday, V.I. Fast Ferry announced they would be back in mid-December in spite of last season's losses and a 33% increase in the head tax by the V.I. Port Authority. They said the cost would be $60 per adult, but they might be adding the $2 head tax on top of that. V.I. Fast Ferry is at 719-0099.

Mermaid Fast Ferries announced in August that they would be back after a troubled first year with two ferries starting the end of October. Chris Elliot, the owner, quoted the cost at $50 for adults and $40 for children (but that was before the Port Authority raised the head tax). Mermaid is at 719-2880.

Wow! I didn't realize the ferry would cost that much! Gosh, I figured a lot of people might commut between the islands for employment. Hmmmm. I suppose it's just better to fly directly to STT. I didn't want it to be difficult for him - after a long flight and all. I just thought it might save us a little money.

Elle - I appreciate your help! He's coming from Orlando. I just did a quick search, but did not check surrounding airports. Daytona or Sanford would be our additional options. We are not sure of the date as of yet, but it will be sometime in Nov.

~S

STX is not really within commuting distance of STT. We're more than 40 miles south. There is a seaplane that goes back and forth several times a day, but it's about $85 RT.

~S, there are folks that commute between St. Thomas and St. John and thats just $6 round trip and frequent commuters get ticket books which becomes cheaper then buying a ticket one by one each time they go.

I would suggest you try and look for other specials on a ticket straight to St. Thomas rather then cheaper one to St. Croix and then a possibly taxi ride to a ferry or seaplane and then that ride. Look around for better ticket deals.

Like Linda said St. Croix and St. Thomas are a good distance away from each other.

--Islander

Thanks everyone!

I did a little checking this morning and have found a much less expensive flight for him.

Islander:

Who is the inexpensive commute through and what are the terms? Is $6 the ticket book price or is it even cheaper than that?

SailAway,

$6 round trip is what the passenger ferry cost to go to St. John from St. Thomas - Red Hook dock... thats the normal fare all year round. Its $3 each way when you buy tickets one by one.

For frequent commuters between St. John and St. Thomas- The book cost $30 for 20 tickets, you have one month to use them and only one person can use them -thats the Red Hook ferry. The Charlotte Amalie book is $80 for 20 tickets, same deal one person and one month expiration.

~S had made a comment about folks commuting to work which happens but not really between St. Thomas and St. Croix as she was suggesting or wondering about, it is much more common between St. Thomas and St. John - so I made a note that the Stt-Stj commute is feasiable because it is close and not expensive where as St. Croix is pretty far and pricey for daily commuting.

--Islander

I know I'm comparing apples and oranges here but just wanted some opinions on cost. I too was sticker shocked at the STT/STX ferry prices and also wondered about commuting (very common in Seattle at similar distances) but didn't think anyone did it to/from STX due to cost. I'm just curious why it is less expensive to go the the BVI's than it is to STX? ( I can take a car on a ferry to Canada for less then passenger service to STX.) And if a roundtrip ticket to fly STT/STX is only 85 dollars by sea plane, and ferry service is 60, well the choice seems obvious to me.

Are the prices based on the specific ferry companies/Port Authority prices/fuel prices/etc? Any insight on this? Does the price of ferry service sometimes defeat the purpose when tourist season comes around? Meaning, are guests to the islands more likely to take a cheaper ride to the BVI's then they are to STX? Just curious. I don't mean to compare ferry prices between Seattle and surrounding cities/islands to the VI, its only that those are the only prices I know and are similar to the STT/STJ prices. I don't want to be one of those newbies that say..."but on the mainland it's like this..." But if I was vacationing on a budget, I would be more prone to ignore the sister island, for the BVI's based on cost...

You have to look at a map. STT, STJ and the BVI's are all right together. Heck, you could kayak among them. St. Croix is FAR away. People do go back and forth for meetings, doctors appointments or to shop, but you won't find very many doing a daily commute.

Islander:

Silly me 🙂

Didn't catch that you had switched to the STT/STJ commute from the STT/STX topic we were on. I was utterly confused. Anyway, while I knew about the Red Hook, I didn't know about the ticket book, so that was helpful to me and may have assisted others on the board as well.

Elle_rock:

A lot of the economics are discussed in the article in yesterday's Daily News:
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=2508252

Basically, the problem is numbers. During the USVI's offf season, V.I. Fast Ferry's Salacia is making runs between Boston and Provincetown. During that six month period it carries 100,000 more passengers than it does in the same time frame in the territory. I don't know what they charge for the Boston trip, but even at $30 per person it would be a net difference of over $2.5 million over a 6 month period. When you have a 600 passenger ferry that's averaging well below 100 passengers per trip, you've got some serious inefficiencies. Add to that the competition from Mermaid and a Port Authority that thinks raising it's fees (and therefor lowering traffic) is somehow going to increase revenue and support the public it serves....

elle_rock: What is the population of Seattle and the nearby islands? My almanac says 3 1/2 million for Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton... St Thomas is about 60,000, St Croix is about 60,000, St John 5,000, the BVI 20,000... Not much, huh? Hard to get the numbers that the Washington State Ferries get. The sea between St Thomas and St Croix is open water, not nice protected Puget Sound, meaning there are lots of people who take the boat only once! The seaplane price has actually come down a great deal because of the ferry competition, and they have added flights ot Puerto Rico. Although *some* seem to think that St Thomas is big old nasty urban sprawl, it really is a pretty small town. This is why we don't have a lot of the things to which stateside people are accustomed. 😉 And yes, people do go to the BVI much more often than St Croix...And when Linda says you could kayak to the BVI, she's right! In fact, you could also windsurf or kiteboard, if you were of a mind to!

East Ender,
LOL, I know! Apples and Oranges just like I said. I hadn't even thought of the population difference contributing to the lower prices of the ferry service! I have a friend at work who's brother once jet skied from Florida to one of the outter Bahamian Islands, sounds like that is the case with the BVI's too. Didn't realize they were so close.

Sailaway,
Thanks for the financial insight. Makes sense now that I have a bette understanding. With economics like that, I would take my ferry to a more profitable market too!

Once again, thanks for your insight you guys.