Relocating to Saint Thomas

I didn't read all of the posts on your relocation inquiry so I hope I'm not repeating. My fiancé and I just arrived on island this week. We are trying to find an apt that works foe us. Galleon house is an excellent place to stay while you are deciding. Also miller manor rents by the week. We figured out once we arrived that st Croix has no ferry. You have to take a sea plane which can get costly. St John is more expensive than st Thomas. Like I said we are stil in the beginning stages but would love to help if we could

I didn't read all of the posts on your relocation inquiry so I hope I'm not repeating. My fiancé and I just arrived on island this week. We are trying to find an apt that works foe us. Galleon house is an excellent place to stay while you are deciding. Also miller manor rents by the week. We figured out once we arrived that st Croix has no ferry. You have to take a sea plane which can get costly. St John is more expensive than st Thomas. Like I said we are stil in the beginning stages but would love to help if we could

Where are you working? This will likely be a factor in where you want to live.

<>

Respectfully, that is a bit of an over-generalization. Without ever having conducted a scam, I have, on rare occasions, asked for money up front from tenants who wanted to seal the deal before arriving. Otherwise, it would not be possible to hold the unit.

HOWEVER, as I remark above, such requests for money in advance of arrival are rare on my part, since tenants who rent sight unseen have far more potential for being unhappy with a unit, and that is a losing proposition for all concerned. Moreover, it is just as important for a landlord to see a tenant in advance as for the tenant to see the housing--it is a two-way street.

Best,

Islandlola

---

We figured out once we arrived that st Croix has no ferry.

I don't think this is strictly true ... someone ran a ferry for the Ag Fair, didn't they? But, yeah. No regular ferry. It sucks. The only way off is really a plane. And the flights out of STT are so much cheaper. Plus, just ... options ... if you could get to STT/STJ/BVIS relatively cheaply.

I remember when there was a ferry. In fact, there were TWO ferries, and one of them had offices in that building across from Violette's. Where did they go and why? Is there really just no demand?

We are retired so unless i get bored i was not planning on a full time job.

You are completely correct on nailing down a rental. I personally would like to meet the renters and land lords to get acquainted just makes good sense for all party's. In our case we are going to rent for a month this will give us time to look at rentals that will work for us. We have a number of Realtors and private folks e mail us with ideas of what we may be happy with so any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

We figured out once we arrived that st Croix has no ferry.

I don't think this is strictly true ... someone ran a ferry for the Ag Fair, didn't they? But, yeah. No regular ferry. It sucks. The only way off is really a plane. And the flights out of STT are so much cheaper. Plus, just ... options ... if you could get to STT/STJ/BVIS relatively cheaply.

I remember when there was a ferry. In fact, there were TWO ferries, and one of them had offices in that building across from Violette's. Where did they go and why? Is there really just no demand?

The ferry that was running between STX and STT for a few years ran onto a reef last year and has been out of commission ever since. No word on whether they will resume operations or if someone else will start a service up again. Even when they were running, it wasn't reliable as they'd shut down for days or weeks at a time, sometimes because they were waiting for parts to fix something or other times for no apparent reason. The owner was well connected and managed to get a government subsidy to open the ferry service and put the prior ferry out of business in the process. Now we have none. 🙁

With rental rates likely to drop once more on STX when the refinery workers depart this spring, the rental savings of STX compared to STT may cover the cost of a couple taking the seaplane to STT and ferries to STJ or the BVI's once a month. Who living on STT really goes even that often, much less more often? Maybe a few people, but not most. We tend to spend most of our time on the island on which we live and make a special effort to journey to some of the other islands now and then and seriously enjoy it when we do.

We figured out once we arrived that st Croix has no ferry.

I don't think this is strictly true ... someone ran a ferry for the Ag Fair, didn't they? But, yeah. No regular ferry. It sucks. The only way off is really a plane. And the flights out of STT are so much cheaper. Plus, just ... options ... if you could get to STT/STJ/BVIS relatively cheaply.

I remember when there was a ferry. In fact, there were TWO ferries, and one of them had offices in that building across from Violette's. Where did they go and why? Is there really just no demand?

One of the local ferry operators ran a special trip from St John to St Croix for the AgFair.

There have been attempted ferry operations between STT and STX for as long as I remember and to my recollection the longest any of them lasted was three years which I think was the seasonal one out of Massachusetts. The demand is not high enough. A quick 'plane flight is far more comfortable than a 60 minute crossing over open and often very rough seas which quickly led to the ferry trip being named locally as, "The Barf Barge" or, "The Vomit Comet". It's not been a fiscally viable enterprise for any operator even with local government subsidies. Even before the last one grounded off St Thomas its operators were in deep financial distress and asking the government for increased subsidies.

Cooper, just as a side note, it sounds as though you didn't avail yourself of all the information on this site before coming here! I'm not sure why so many people miss all that there is here but there's way more than the forum in the pull-down menus at the top of this page. Good luck in settling in!

IMHO east end of st Thomas with HOVENSA closing stx is going to be interesting?

I was open to either island yet my situation is different as I am not retired. However I keep hearing more and more bad news on STX. Hovensa, a large oil refinery closed and I read that 10 % of the working population lost their jobs. This was in January.

Then yesterday the hospital on STX laid off all of thei licenced practical nurses and certified nursing assistants which was 86 people. Leaving the hospital with only 90 registered nurses. I was reading in the same paper about some teachers loosing their jobs.

I feel Hovensa was just the start and it will snowball into something bad. I feel it does not make sense to move to a place that is spirialing down hill. I am sure it will filter over to STT but I don't think they will be as bad off.

All this is just the opinion of an outsider gathering information.

Keep up with the news on both the virginislandsdailynews.com and The Source on-line. The governmental right-sizing problems will be equal on both islands. Hovensa is a special St Croix problem, although gas will be trouble everywhere.

Keep up with the news on both the virginislandsdailynews.com and The Source on-line. The governmental right-sizing problems will be equal on both islands. Hovensa is a special St Croix problem, although gas will be trouble everywhere.

What is "The Source on-line?" You said "virginislandsdailynews.com and The Source on-line" so I am wondering what it is?

http://stthomassource.com/

Or http://stcroixsource.com/ , depending on which island's articles you prefer, although there is a lot of overlap.