Hi - friend's wedding in St. John in mid-April - it's looking cost prohibitive, mostly because we can't seem to use pts (Marriott and Hilton) and miles (United) very easily. We're looking at alternative air routing through San Juan (from Chicago), but my main question is: can we stay on St. Thomas but still attend the wedding and other events in St. John easily by use of the ferry? This would allow us to use some hotel points to defray costs. I looked up some basic ferry info, but couldn't get a real sense of the feasibility of this, if any. Any thoughts or comments on this? Anyone ever try something like this?

Thanks for any help.

Wingsfan

The short ferry ride between St. Thomas and St. John leaves very often. You can easily stay on St. Thomas and then attend the festivities in St. John.

BETWEEN RED HOOK (St. Thomas) and CRUZ BAY (St. John): $3 one way, children under twelve $1. It is a 15 to 20 minute ride. Hourly service to midnight.

BETWEEN CHARLOTTE AMALIE WATERFRONT (St. Thomas) and CRUZ BAY (St. John): $7 one way - 45 minute ride. 6 Daily roundtrips.

Here is the cost and schedule: http://www.st-thomas.com/week/ferries.html

Thanks very much Steve - saw that schedule; in your opinion, is this a feasible way to do things? Looks like for Sat night we'll have to stay with someone on St. John but otherwise it seems doable. Do you think it would still feel like a relaxing way to do things? Appreciate your insights and help. Thanks.

i think your idea is sound. imo st. thomas is more interesting than st. johns anyway. (i know you're not supposed to go to the tropics because they are interesting, but....)

just be sure not to miss that last ferry.

Thanks Moondog - that is reassuring to hear. Thanks to you and Steve I've booked 3 award nights at the Marriott on St. Thomas. If we can figure out these flights for cheaps, we may be able to do this after all. Appreciate your help both of you.

Thanks,
Wingsfan

WingsFan - here is some more info for you:

Taxi rates on St. John itself:
http://www.gotostjohn.com/taxis.htm

Car rental companies on St. John:
http://www.gotostjohn.com/carrentals.htm

Water activities on St. John:
http://www.gotostjohn.com/water_acti...tm#boatrentals

Info about the National Park:
http://www.gotostjohn.com/national_park/index.htm

Dining on St. John:
http://www.gotostjohn.com/dining.htm

Have a great trip!

Hey Steve - thanks very much. As usual, FTers come through. Good to get firsthand thoughts/recommendations here. Thanks!

If you have UA miles and ORD-SJU/STT is not available, you can try using them on USAir's CLT-STT or PHL-STT flights. US is nothing special but at least you won't have to pay for the flights.

If cost weren't an issue, I would strongly recommend that you stay in St John. St John is far more beautiful (and interesting, IMHO) than St Thomas. The water is amazing, the snorkelling is fantastic and the food is stunning. The National Park itself is worth the additional cost of staying on the island. St Thomas is almost like a big city with row after row of shops compared to St John.

Also, depending on where the wedding is in St John, you may want to rent a car from St Thomas and drive it across using the car barge (Hertz won't let you do this but most of the other companies do - Avis comes to mind) instead of taking a taxi to Charlotte Amalie/Red Hook, ferrying across and taking taxis once you get there (only the Gallows Point resort is within walking distance of the St John ferry dock). The cost will add up quickly. Having a car will also be more flexible since the Marriott is located away from the downtown area. Parking in St John is usually not a problem. The car barge leaves from Red Hook and takes about 30min. Also, car rental in St John is 2x more expensive than St Thomas.

It's doable to go back and forth on the ferries (passenger or car) since they are very frequent but if you can, consider staying in St John. You won't regret it!

Although the car ferry is an option, just beware that it costs $35 roundtrip for the car, the ferry takes twice as long (instead of 15-20mins it takes 40 mins), and it doesn't run as late into the evening.
see: http://www.st-thomas.com/ferries.html (Look under car ferry)

I would echo blueDC's comments above. St. John is wonderful and very different from St.Thomas. If there's any way you can manage it I would try to stay on the island.

Not sure what your budget is for accomodations, but there are a few budget hotels/inns in Cruz Bay. You might investigate someplace like the Inn at Tamarind Court. Here's a link to their web site:

http://www.innattamarindcourt.com/pages/1/index.htm

Good luck!

While I agree, we stayed cheap on STT and then took a taxi/ferry to St. John for several entire days - a very viable alternative.

To the OP, just leave 20-30 min for the taxi, 30 min for the ferry, and maybe 20 min on St. John to arrive, and the same back. That's 3 hours out of the day, but you can pretty much get the full day in on St. John without much of a headache.