3littlepeas

Every opinion is welcomed.
We rented a villa in St Thomas through McLaughlin Anderson this past summer and were very pleased with the quality of what we got. We want to repeat the experience in March 2007 and were thinking of St John or St Croix. (The fact that you can fly into St Croix directly vs having to take a ferry to St John, should we take this into consideration?) Kids love to snorkel and sight seeing. If you have any pros and/or cons about either island please let me know. Any villa recommendation also would be appreciated, I've looked into the Buccaneer's but I don't know, there are 5 of us and we love having SPACE.
Thanks!

ziggy60

Well I was in a similar situation a month or 2 ago. Wound up doing both st thomas and st croix. and just visited st john for a day. Stayed 3 nights in Secret Harbour - St thomas. Nice and spacious condos right by the ferry to st john. Kids loved the beach there and coral world in coki beach.
Short seaplane flight to christiansted which is right next to the bucanneer. The 2 islands compliment each other very nicely. Sight seeing in st thomas and relax in st croix. Great restaurants in st croix and snorkeling in buck island and its national geographic top 10 beach not to be missed. If you are here already why not do both.

3littlepeas

Thanks ziggy!
We will only have one week so I don't want to start island hoppin'...We visited secret harbour beach while on St Thomas but we prefered saphire beach...just a matter of taste I guess...I have to admit I'm sorta leaning towards St Croix...but I'm willing to listen to everyone's opinion!!!

BetsyG

We have been to both & our experience at St. John was by far the best. In fact, we have been there twice. If you don't mind renting a car & visiting different beaches, St. John is for you. Much of the island is national park. There are many villas to rent but we stayed at the Westin both times. We are also 5 & the first time we got a deal on 2 rooms there. The second time, the hotel was overbooked & we landed in a villa there which was wonderful! The beach at the Westin is marginal but the pool is fun for the kids & we usually spent the first & last day there & hit the other beaches in between. Our package to the Westin included transportation from St. Thomas to the Westin which coming from Denver made us arrive in St. John very late. The boat ride over (in the dark) was very cool. You will find much positive info on St. John on this forum. Have a great trip! Betsy

ziggy60

The ferry to st john is every hour on the hour. If you come at 5:01 they are gone, they dont wait, and you have to wait an hour. Add 30 minute ride to the ferry and 30 minutes to the ferry. I would consider that until my kids get are older. they are 5 and 4 (today - valentine baby). My kids had a blast at the Buc and the kids club there was priceless. We left them there for almost a full day when we went to buc island.

ziggy60

I should also mention that when we decided to do both we just extended our trip to 8 days. 3 in st thomas, 5 in st crox, plus 2 bonus days in st croix due to the weather in NY at the moment (we are still here but decoded to check out carambola instead of going back to the buc). And if I have to choose I would choose st croix but next time I would do exactly what I did.

ccrosner

It would help to know the ages of your kids.

St. John is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous beaches. Someday we would like to go back with our kids and rent a villa. We avoided it previously thinking that most villas have high decks and pools that would have made it difficult for me, the mom, to relax when they were young. And I don't like the idea of packing up a herd every day to go to a beach. And the beach at the Westin really isn't great--but my kids would love the pool.

We ended up in St. Croix at the Buccaneer and have never turned back. Some people may think it's boring to go to the same place every year, but we find it relaxing and fabulous for the "looking forward to it" factor. We leave Friday for our annual trip and the excitement in my house is palpable. We love it that much. For me, it's totally relaxing. I don't have to make beds, make or clean up breakfast or any other meal for that matter and my kids are free to roam the property (now that they are 11 and 9). We LOVE the good restaurants in STX and have enjoyed horseback riding and trips to Buck Island. We don't do much sightseeing but that works for us.

So it's a matter of choice. March will be busy in either spot due to private school vacations....book early. The Buccaneer asks departing guests if they want to book for next year--we always do before we leave.

Family cottages fit five but it's not huge for the kids and only one bathroom.

3littlepeas

Wow! thanks for all your nice replies, my boys are 13,9 and 7. I've looked into family cottages at Buc and man, I can't come to terms with all five of us being in the same room for 7 days, funny in my mind cottage ment "a cottage" not a one bedroom suite...anyways, I know, we're not in our hotel room all that much BUT when we are, we ALL are. We did that once at Disney and never again...it's our vacation too after all ) I've looked into Gentle winds condominiums, any toughts on that? I don't mind cooking, I actually find it quite relaxing, plus my youngest has food allergies so it works out OK for us. Nothing wrong with going out a few nights to a restaurant even if we're renting a villa
Comments anyone?

ccrosner

Can't tell you about Gentle Winds condos...check out tripadvisor.com. Also look on villa rental sites for Suite Birds of Paradise and Coakley Bay condos (they always look nice to me on websites).

The Buccaneer's family cottages are actually two adjoining rooms. The larger room, for the parents, has a king sized bed, minifridge, coffee pot and a nice high bed-sized window seat. The kids room has twin beds. With three, they add a rollaway. Not spacious for the kids but you have your own space and each room has cable t.v. There's a small dressing area with a big sink and then a bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower. The patio outside is large enough to have a table for four and two chaise lounges. Rooms 168, 169, 170 and 171 have beautiful panoramic views of the Caribbean.

jlint3024

We actually were looking into villas in St. Croix inn March. There are some good deals. We now do villas every year. Look at www.VacationRentals.com or www.vrbo.com There are a number of villas around Buccaneer....

beth48

We love St. Croix - been there three times and stayed at the Carambola. Five people would be too many in their rooms - four would be ok. However, please visit their beautiful beach and attend their Friday Night Pirate's Buffet - great food and entertainment.
Rent a car and explore - Pt. Udall has spectacular views; and do a trip to Buck Island - gorgeous, clear water!
We liked Rumrummers in Christiansted for a casual lunch or dinner; loved Kendrick's -- but make a reservation - expensive, but fabulous!

Safarichick

Definitely go to St. John. I visited all three of the U.S. Virgin Islands last year, and St. Croix was the most disappointing while St. John was the best. St. Croix, in my humble opinion, is best if you are the kind of person who likes to go to a resort and just stay there -- or if you are a diver. Flying to St. Croix from St. Thomas takes much more time and is much more expensive than the short ferry to St. John -- I know, because I did both. Have a great time!

ziggy60

Safarichik, did you have a chance to visit buck island, christiansted, and other attractions in st croix. Where did you stay while you were in st croix? we just came back from there and i'll try to post about the trip tomorrow.
we stayed in both carambola and bucanneer. If food is not important to you and you want to stay in the resort go to carmabola, otherwise go to the Buc.

barginhunter

Not sure how safarichick missed the MANY wonderful things to see and do in St. Croix. Our family explored every inch of the island. From the Beautiful east end and Point Udall, great hiking there. To the west end and the beautiful sunsets, good snoreling at the Sunset Cafe. The rain forest is there to explore, great hiking there as well. Rainbow ? was neat also. Sprat Hall Plantation, Whim Plantation and Mt. Washington Estate where a lot of fun to explore. Both the fort in Fredricksted and Christinsted offered a great look into the history of the island. When your think you have seen it all there is still more. Not to mention the good snorkeling spots to be found all over the island. Buck Island is not to be missed, Capt. Heinz was wonderful.. I say go with St. Croix you will not be dissapointed. We rented a villa there so I can not tell you about the hotels. Fjell House over looked Buck Island and gave us a wonderful view each morning. Thats about all we saw of the house, we were always out exploring, so forget it if you just want to stay at a resort, there is to much you will not want to miss....Enjoy!!

Joanne2

Agree completely with Bargainhunter - there is a TON to do (or not) on STX. I'll be heading there for the 26th time just 15 days from now and STILL have not done everything. Your kids (and you) will love the crab races and the beer drinking pig (NA beer and, honest, it's a ball - not at all tacky). Warm, wonderful people everywhere - do it!

paulajean

3littlepeas,
My family (4 of us, with a 3 year old and 1 year old) and some friends of ours and their kids (aged 18 mos and 4) decided on St. John after I did a lot of research. We are renting a car at the airport in STT and taking the car ferry over. We still need car seats and Dependable rents them for free with its cars. That way we can stock up at the grocery store before heading over. We are renting a villa that is right on the beach but is definitely a beach house versus a posh place. It has a pool and 4 bedrooms--and is reasonably priced. It is Viridian Garden through Destination St. John. Going at the end of May. I hear the snorkeling is great there. The adults in our group are divers and so we will do that as well. Babysitters will come out from the Westin to your villa, and also check out: www.christysclassics.com for babysitting too. Good luck planning!