St. John's ferry companies will cut the number of round trips from Cruz Bay to Charlotte Amalie to three for the winter. Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures complain that the previous schedule of six runs a day was unprofitable.
The Public Service Commission gave the operators the OK to reduce the service "to give more financial stability to the struggling ferry companies," the Virgin Islands Daily News said in its report of the PSC meeting. Read the full story here.
The new schedule means that if you have a flight between 9 a.m. and 3
p.m., and want to take the STT-CA ferry, you better be on the 8:45 a.m boat. Otherwise, it's to Red Hook you'll go.
And this may not be the last cut. The St. John Source reported that the chairman of the Public Service Commission said the cutback in ferry runs downtown "would give the PSC enough passenger data to determine whether the downtown run should me … possibly eliminated." Read the Source report here.
The Red Hook-Charlotte Amalie ferry ride is one way to avoid the cacophony, jostling and cattle-car-like taxi-to-the-airport experience that you get taking the Red Hook ferry. (Of course, it also means you will miss out on hearing the drivers' loud rap music or inhaling his 'pine scented air freshener,' too.)
The winter schedule for the ferry ride around the east end of St Thomas to downtown C.A. has boats leaving Cruz Bay at 8:45 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 3:35 p.m. Ferries from Charlotte Amalie to St. Thomas are scheduled to leave at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
When not renting a car on St. Thomas to take over to St. John, I’ve always preferred using the downtown ferry over to St.John. I’d much rather be on a boat longer than in a taxi. I never understood why people would take a taxi to Red Hook. Can anyone share the advantage? Was it cheaper that way? Now, of course, with the cuts in service the timing will be the deciding factor (or if a rental vehicle is involved).
Easy! It’s a beautiful ride, smaller terminal, fewer crowds and more relaxed!
The downtown ferry is definitely preferable to the Red Hook ferry, unless, of course, you’re heading to that part of St. Thomas. The long boat ride on the downtown ferry is picturesque, and if you’re leaving the islands at the end of a trip it’s a nice sendoff. Plus it’s closer to the airport, so the taxi ride is less stressful – no worries about traffic delays. Another advantage is that during peak hours, taxi drivers will look over your luggage so you can hit the shops or grab a bite to eat before hopping on a taxi. Last trip I took advantage and spent an hour in town before heading to Cyril.