St. Thomas

Our cruise was supposed to stop at St. Croix, where we've never been, but due to the storms in the northeast of the US, we diverted to St. Thomas. I've been to St. Thomas a number of times, but usually jump off and visit St. John's. St. John's is 3/4 a natural, untouched preserve. Trunk Bay is voted one of the prettiest beaches in the world....why not get there every chance we get? Our best trip to St. John's was with High Pockets. We didn't have time to coordinate with them and most likely, because of the high seas, it would have been cancelled. (They may no longer be in operation since the hurricane Maria as I can't pull up their website.) We had booked a snorkel tour with Big Beard Adventures in St. Croix Big Beards but because of the high waves/trip diversion they graciously returned our full deposit. (They were only required to return 50%) so we are grateful!
It was a sunny warm day with a great breeze.

  We went out into the port for some shopping. You walk to the end of the pier and they have open air taxis for $4pp that take you into town, but you can easily get a traditional taxi for the same price.

Post hurricane Maria they are still having trouble with credit card machines, forcing you to carry around large amounts of cash much like Puerto Rico. I think the banks are not serving their clients well here. The client being the merchant and the consumer. The end result is that you shop only half as much or not at all. We returned to the ship after an hour. St. Thomas has a lot to offer, I know it does, I have just poorly planned at this port. I promise St. Thomas....next time!

There were lizards along the walkway that are easily missed by tourists as they blend in so well.

 We returned to the ship, had a nice lunch, relaxed in the Solarium and enjoyed some boat drinks & cool water!