One-way tickets

Hi Katie, congratulations on your decision. I won't be able to answer your questions about the other things you talked about, but I can answer your question on the cell phone.

I am moving to St. Croix soon and the only carriers they have in the island, for now, is Cingular and Sprint. I chose Sprint, because Oregon doesn't carry Cingular yet. I had my account all set up for me and everything. They gave me a Virgin Islands number and all. But what I noticed is, when people called me, the numbers from Sprint showed up on my caller I.D, and all other carriers showed unavailable. So, I had them change my number to a mainland number. And everything works fine now.

Since you have Cingular, you can just keep your same account, and not even worry about switching. Cingular will treat you the same no matter where you are since they also have a tower in Virgin Islands. If you want to change your number to their area code, you can do it either way. Since your phone will work no matter where you are.

Hope this helps, didn't mean to make this long. 🙂

I hope you don't mind me jumping in. So even with the mainline number you are still in their network? When we visited STX our Verizon phone told us we are out of network. It would be great to be ale to keep our cell number. People around here are pretty happy with Cingular because you can carry over your minutes.

Iris

Looks like you are going to get your answers piece by piece -

Landlords - no credit report has been run when I have rented a place here (last ten years) Reliable Realty said they were going to and I declined. It is not the norm.

Car - Once the car is here you can expect to spend a day or two hassling with Customs, Excise tax, Motor Vehicles but not more than that.

Congrats on your move.
Pamela.

I appreciate the responses...this is really great! Thank goodness about the Landlord not running credit reports..maybe some do, but I'll do the same and decline. So, is it usually just an application and first, last months rent, and deposit to get into a place? I just thought of another thing...when I leave Virginia I will need to have a forwarding address to give to my employer as well as final bills, and family/ friends etc. I would ask my husbands dad if we could use his current P.O. Box temperarily, but does the Post office allow people to share a box? Any ideas would be of great help!

I am not famillier with the post office over there but as I am making my move to STX on sept 8, 04 I went ahead and got a mailing address with Mail Boxes Etc. so that I would already have my mailing address. I do believe that the Post Office operates the same as here in the states so you might check with your local PO. Hope this helps and good luck with your move

Yes, you can share a box. USPS boxes are hard to come by. A lot of people use private mail services and there are several here on St. Thomas. If you are on the east end there is Red Hook Mail Services. On the other side of town, Nisky Mail Boxes and in the mall Lock and Key. Wait until you get here and decide which part of town is the easiest to get to.

Iris,

Yes, even with a mainland number, you can use it in Virgin Islands. But only through Cingular and Sprint. Verizon doesn't have towers around the islands, that's why it was out of network......

I was at a AT&T outlet just recently and also saw they provide cellular coverage in the Virgin Islands.

Hi Katie!

I had to jump in and say hello to a local kindered spirit -- my husband and I just moved to STX two months ago from South Arlington!

I would get a forwarding address before you move -- it already takes mail a long time to get here, and when you add in the time it takes the USPS to implement a forwarding request (no matter how much advance notice you give them), you may end up not receiving your final bills, etc from your DC/VA vendors way after they are due if you wait until you are down here to set up an address and let the USPS know. Sounds like you have the perfect temp solution with asking your father in law to add your names to his box while you get one of your ownm. I would make sure that's taken care of and you submit a change of address form to your current post office 2-3 weeks before you move. We did that and it really cut down on the time it took to start receiving mail sent to our old house.

Because you will probably be giving out your cell phone number to the folks who are shipping your car (and others) as the way to contact you, I recommend that you either get a local cell phone number with a local carrier before you leave, or be sure to keep your current nuimber for at least 4-6 weeks after you move so that everyone who might need to contact you about move related issues. Trust me, it's a bad thing to drop your current cell number too soon after you move!

If you're patient, the process for getting your car picked up and registered is time consuming but not horrible. I actually wrote a post on this subject that details our experience with it last month and talks about the tax rates, registration fees, etc. If you'd like to read it, you can find it by doing a search of the board by author.

It sounds like you''ve got everything well in hand -- we're pulling for it all to run smoothly. Will look forward to welcoming another ex-pat NoVA family to their new USVI home in a few months! In the meantime, please don't hesitate to ask other questions -- the folks on this board are the most valuable resource us island newbies could ever ask for.

HipCrip

Good morning everyone! Thanks for all the responses..really, I do appreciate it.

HipCrip- So you decided to get out of this mess here in Virginia as well? How long did you live in the area? I have to tell you this...I took your advice and I searched your old post on shipping costs for a vehicle, great info! I printed it and will keep it by my side! Thanks!

Anyone got a minute? This whole car inspection process in STT, could anyone tell me exactly what I should prepare for? What do I need to pass? Here in Virginia we have a yearly inspection that focuses on the tread on the tires, lights, horn, windshield wipers, brakes...etc. Is it basically the same in St. Thomas?

Also, I hear that to get a USVI drivers license you will have to take a written test. Is this test difficult? I've had my Virginia license now for 12 years and I can't even remember if I studied! Will I have to study for my USVI license?

One more for ya....does anyone know how I would transfer my prescription from up here to down there? What are the main pharmacies in STT?

Take it easy-Katie

Pharmacies I can, unfortunately, help you out with. The least expensive and most hassle is K Mart at the mall (340-777-3854). They typically have everything you need but are very crowded and the lines are long even if you have called/faxed in the scrip. I use Drug Farm (340-776-7098 - FAX is 340-776-8030) they are a little more expensive but always have the drugs we need and are very good to work with. Wait time is minimimal and they have been very good about filling scrips that have expired and we can't get the doc 'cause he is off island, etc. Sunrise Pharmacy people are great but the pharmacy rarely has any of the drugs we need however they are good in a pinch.
Pamela.

Hey Katie!

Glad to hear my post was useful for you -- I hope to give back as much to this board as it gave --and still gives - to us.

I was in DC for seven years -- Former Ohio Guy, who also moved down here a few months ago, lived there for 11 years at some point in his past. We both seem to be adjusting very well and very quckly to life here, which I definitely attribute to my time in that area. I love it here and have almost completely extinguished my bad DC habits, but I did find myself wanting to gesture at a guy who honked at us as soon as a light changed one day (both the honk and the angry gesture are very unisland-like behaviors). When it happened, we both sat straight up and said, "WOW -- DC driving moment!" My colleagues in DC tell me I have never sounded better: so happy, and much more stress free. I bet you'll find it/feel the same when you get here.

Like pamela, I also have extensive knowledge about prescriptions. My experience is STX based, though, so maybe it is easier/better/different on the more metropolitan STT.

For most prescriptions that have existing refills left, all you need to do is give the bottle to the pharmacy and they can make the transfer. I did have a bit more trouble getting some of the painkillers I take, which cannot be prescribed with refills. It took three in-person and phone interviews to find a local doc that woul,d prescribe them, even though I hand delivered copies of my medical records from DC to each one (would strongly recommend to anyone with health issues to bring your current medical records with you in your carry on bags, along with your medications -- it will save you time and frustration). There are only a few pharmacies on STX that are even willing to carry them, and they needed to order the quantity I needed, which took about 12-14 days to arrive. (That lag in order time was actually true for some of the non-narcotic stuff I take, too, that the pharmacy didn't carry before -- thank goodness I paid out of pocket to refill an extra month's worth of the critical ones before we left VA.)

You're asking great questions -- keep 'em coming!

HC