JetBlue airlines: NEW routes: San Juan to St Thomas & St Croix

Jet Blue airlines announces that starting December 12, 2011 it is launching twice daily service between San Juan, PR and St Thomas, USVI and daily flights between San Juan and St Croix, USVI.

 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --

JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), Puerto Rico's largest carrier, today announced that it will launch San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport's (SJU) twice daily service to St. Thomas (STT) and daily service to St. Croix (STX) International Airports - the airline's 69th and 70th destinations - on Monday, December 12, 2011, three days earlier than originally scheduled. Customers seeking a jumpstart on a vacation to the U.S. Virgin Islands can also save money on flights today through 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, September 23, 2011 at www.jetblue.com/new, where trips are selling for as low as $39 each way for travel through February 15, 2012.

JetBlue's schedule between San Juan and St. Thomas, effective December 12, 2011:

SAN JUAN to ST THOMAS	ST THOMAS to SAN JUAN
Depart - Arrive 8:25 a.m. - 8:53 a.m. 3:15 p.m. - 3:43 p.m.	Depart - Arrive 9:30 a.m. - 9:59 a.m. 5:30 p.m - 5:59 p.m.

JetBlue's schedule between San Juan and St. Croix, effective December 12, 2011:

SAN JUAN to ST CROIX	ST CROIX TO SAN JUAN
Depart - Arrive 2:25 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.	Depart - Arrive 4:04 p.m - 4:44 p.m.

Read the full JetBlue press release for Puerto Rico to USVI flights.

JetBlue's inaugural service between Boston's Logan International Airport (BOS) and St. Thomas will operate for the winter season with five weekly departures beginning December 15, 2011 and will operate nonstop on the southbound flight and direct via San Juan on the northbound flight to Boston.

JetBlue's schedule between Boston and St. Thomas, effective December 15, 2011:

BOSTON to ST THOMAS	ST THOMAS to BOSTON
Depart - Arrive 9:35 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.	Depart - Arrive 3:20 p.m. - 7:29 p.m. (+1 stop SJU)

• Flights operate 5 times a week effective December 15, 2011
• Northbound flights will operate via San Juan, PR

Read more about Boston/St Thomas here.

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Jeannie Kuich : Celebration Of Life & Obituary Announcement

A celebration of the life of Jeannie Kuich will be held at Latitude 18 (Red Hook, St Thomas, USVI) from 4:30 to 6:30 on Wednesday, June 16, 2010.  There will be a cash bar.  Please bring hors d’oeuvres.

In lieu of contributions, please give to the Humane Society of St. Thomas, 340-775-0599 in the name of Jeanne Kuich.

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Jeanne Zimmerman Kuich, St. Thomas, USVI

Jeannie, to her many friends on St. Thomas, died June 9, 2010. She was born October 20, 1936 in Louisiana and lived in Houston, Texas from the time she was two. She left for college in 1954. A graduate of Colorado University in 1958 she married Mike  Kuich in Houston August 20, 1959. Jeannie and Mike moved to St. Thomas in 1967 where they went into the charter business. With Michael she co-owned 5 different sail boats ranging in size from the 50 foot Stargazer to the 84 foot Queen of Sheba. An avid sailor, Jeannie sailed the islands from Grenada to St. Thomas many times. With Mike she sailed to Bermuda 5 times, New England twice, Nova Scotia twice with one trip to Norway and all the points in between.

In 1982 she ventured on a two year sail around the world.

Jeannie is the author of the astronomy book “Soap Operas of the Sky”.  She contributed many articles on Sailing and Astronomy to such publications as Cruising World, All At Sea and the Compass plus she wrote the regular feature "Sky Lights" for the VI Daily News.

Jeannie is survived by her husband Michael Kuich, her step sister Sarah in Houston and her many friends on St. Thomas, the BVI and abroad. Jeannie was an active member of the Audubon Society and EAST.

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Thanks, Sue, for this information.

Good Experience OFFSHORE MARINE St Thomas USVI

We had a good experience yesterday that I'd like to share...

The day before yesterday we lost overboard the piece off the end of our dinghy pump hose... you know, that special adaptor necessary to inflate your Caribe dinghy? Bob is very good at finding things underwater but we couldn't look for it right away because we were going to catch a bus to go up to the mall.

Yesterday we went to St Croix Marine and they didn't have the Caribe adaptor as they are not a Caribe dealer. We then went online to check West & Defender.  Then we decided "What the heck? Let's call Offshore Marine in St Thomas and see what they have to offer."

Chuck in the parts department was very helpful. He said that they had just received a shipment of these thingies the previous day. Well, that's handy for us! As we are in St Croix, Chuck drove down and put it on the seaplane. Such service! The seaplane is still only $10 to ship a small package like this. It is faster and less expensive than Express Mail.

So, thank you Chuck & Harold.

Thanksgiving Dinner St Thomas USVI style

Here's a photo I took at Pueblo (5 days after Thanksgiving) of their Thanksgiving Dinner offer...

Click to enlarge

For $74.95, you get:

• 10-12 pound turkey
• 4 pounds of baked macaroni and cheese
• 4 pounds of peas and rice
• 1 pumpkin or apple pie
• 12 dinner rolls

Personally, I don;t feel that it is good value for $75, even taking into account that someone is preparing it for you.

How about the candied yams, cranberry sauce, baked potatoes, turkey gravy, and all the other holiday treats?

Bob prepared a wonderful BBQ steak dinner with sauteed mushrooms, candied yams, baked potatoes, etc. It was really GOOD!

Sunday Sunday Sunday in St. Thomas

Can't believe it is 3pm already.  Where did the day go?

Well, I did sleep in for an extra 45 minutes... and Bob & the kittens didn't seem to mind the extra snooze time either.

Had breakfast outside in the cockpit which was nice and then we went inside to check our email.  Sometimes the internet just seems to trap you and you're not even aware that time is passing.

I did call Kim (45 minutes!) of the charter yacht QWEST and had a nice chat.

I then posted comments from our recent guest aboard QWEST that you can read HERE on our Paradise Connections Charter Yacht Blog.

Had lunch. More email... Oops, forgot to give the cats their lunch (they are such good girls!).

Then we got to looking at recorders (musical wind instrument type) on Amazon.com. We watched the  Great Big Sea's DVD the other night who play alot of traditional Newfoundland music which got us headed in this direction.  Bob wants a Bodhran drum Should probably get an instructional DVD for that, too :)

I think I'm going to order this one.  It's a Yamaha 3-piece Soprano Recorder. It's pretty inexpensive and I like the blue, although the pink is cool, too. The instruction book costs more than the instrument but I think our neighbors will appreciate it :)

Maybe Kim & Rich will let me play along with their ukeleles?

Aren't you glad we anchor far away from the crowds?

Friday in St Thomas - Reefco, Opus, Cruiseship

On Friday, we went to Reefco to pick up a package that was quickly sent to us... Thank you US Postal Service.  Priority Mail works great to get things fast to the US Virgin Islands and is so much cheaper and less hassel than FedEx or similar that classifies St Thomas as an exotic, international destination and thus charges you through the nose (what an odd expression!).

Here are photos of the dogs of Reefco...

Edy & Denny's Jack Russell Terrier, Zoe

Tracy & David's Scottish Terrier, Connor

After chatting for a bit, we went to see if Scotty of Hi-Tech Watersports had our dive tanks ready, then we went to visit the trimaran OPUS which is a charter yacht that has a new owner-operator.

Billy bought OPUS in May this year and we were happy to meet him and see how OPUS was doing as we haven't inspected the boat in a few years as it has been out of charter. Looking good!

Billy has lived in St Thomas for over 20 years (thought he looked familiar) and thus has excellent local knowledge for running a charter yacht. He is a dive instructor who enjoys diving (some don't!) and first mate/chef Kimberly is a dive master. We are confident that OPUS will be a successful operation as they fulfill a niche that has been increasingly ignored over the past few years...  A good, affordable multihull that offers diving and fun for 6 guests with 3 double cabins. We have plenty of "luxury" catamarans but not enough of the meat & potatoes variety :) We already have our first charter group booked on Opus! HURRAY!!!

You can see Opus' online brochure: http://www.viewyacht.com/opus/ and contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters for more information.

While chatting with Billy aboard OPUS on his mooring in Elephant Bay, there was a nice sunset.

Then, there was this disturbing sight as the cruiseship was leaving port

They do have powerful bow thrusters... fortunately :)

Too close for MY comfort though, especially if I was that little yellow sailboat.

Cat Blogging Friday: St Thomas Disney Cruiseship

On Wednesday, the Disney cruiseship Magic was in port at Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

The Disney cruise ship leaving St. Thomas, USVI

Our cats, Buffy & Willow, don't like it when the megayachts sound their horns when they pass through the bridge in St. Maarten. Car & truck horns don't phase them, but boats make them go below.

I wondered what their reaction would be to the Disney's annoying "When You Wish Upon A Star" horn... sort of like mine... run below :)

Willow & Buffy hiding

Poor things... Hopefully we'll be gone before Disney comes back to St Thomas.

St Thomas USVI - Lunch with Hanalei Bay

Yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, the charter yacht HANALEI BAY invited us to lunch at Coconuts in downtown Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Franz & Diane of Charter Yacht HANALEI BAY

It was nice to see Franz & Diane again. We have had many charters aboard Hanalei Bay, plus we have clients aboard for New Years! We know that they'll have a wonderful sailing vacation and an excellent celebration to bring in the New Year.

For information about chartering Hanalei Bay, contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters.

I had the grouper salad which was very nice.  I've been wanting fish for a while.

The waiter took a group photo and said it would be up on their website next week. Franz had twisted my arm to have a Bushwacker so I hope I don't look too whacked out :)

BLOCKBUSTER closing St Thomas US Virgin Islands store

Shame on you, Blockbuster!

I was VERY disappointed today when we went to Blockbuster. We have $7+ credit and we wanted to use it up before leaving. They have $.99 DVDs Monday to Wednesday. We had already selected 3 movies and a clerk came up to us and asked if we were renting.  Yes, of course... that's the normal activity at Blockbuster :)

Well, she said they are no longer renting DVDs, but we can buy them if we wished.... WHAT?!

Turns out that Blockbuster is closing down the store in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands and also some in Puerto Rico. Bummer!

Big Bad Bummer for the employees who I think just found out about this as they would have mentioned this to us when we were just in the store a couple of days ago.

I felt so bad for them (and that we couldn't rent movies & use up our credit). To lose their jobs especially during the holiday season... How awful.

Thumbs down for Blockbuster. Boo Hiss.

St Thomas - Thanks Promenade

Yesterday morning (Monday) I sent a quick email to Lisa of the charter trimaran Promenade asking if she could pick up 6 12-packs of Coke for us when she goes to Cost-U-Less.  I thought I was probably too late and that they would be gone before receiving my request.

In the evening we were pleasantly surprised to see Rich & Lisa dinghying over to us with a stack of Coke Zero and Fresca boxes.  That was so nice of them and we really appreciate it.

Here are a few photos that Lisa took of us...

Caught relaxing on the foredeck

Buffy was being very sociable

Even Willow came out to say hello

Thanks for the photos.  Have a safe trip back to Tortola and hope to see you soon!

St Thomas USVI Saturday: Tutu Park Mall

Yesterday, Saturday, we went up to the big "country" K-Mart at Tutu Park Mall.

Again, it was a bit of a disappointment... at least it wasn't as busy as I expected for a Saturday. The only thing we bought there that we couldn't get at the smaller "downtown" store at Lockhart Gardens was a couple of pairs of shorts for Bob. They have more magazines at the big store but not really any more products that we could get excited about.

We walked down the mall and went into FootLocker but there's one across the street from where we are anchored... need new sandals... Bob's Columbia Sportwear sandals fell apart before their time awhile back and I noticed that mine have just (I hope) started to have that sandal smell.

We went to the video/music/game store near the end of the mall but we were not really in the mood. We get most all of our DVDs and music from Amazon.

The food court was sad. Only two choices and neither were appealing.

We then went outside and around to the Plaza Extra supermarket. We were told that they were better/cheaper than Pueblo, but we didn't find that to be the case. We did buy a pumpkin pie ($4.99) and enjoyed that for our lead up to Thanksgiving.

We popped in and out of Western Auto and also Office Max.  Boring!

We caught a ViTran bus back downtown with our one shopping bag.

At least it is nice to know that we haven't been missing anything :)

We'll hit Cost-U-Less for a bit of provisioning the day before we leave towards Antigua.

St Thomas USVI - Cost-U-Less & Home Depot

This morning we went to Home Depot and Cost-U-Less... but first a bit about yesterday's water run.

We went to the Yacht Haven Grande marina in Long Bay, St. Thomas, USVI to fill two jerrycans of water. They are the blue 5-gallon ones (6 gallons if you fill tiptop). The guy at the dock was very nice. He told us that water was 20 cents/gallon and that we had two 6-gallon jugs.  He asked if we wanted a receipt and we told him it wasn't necessary. He then used a calculator to figure that 12 gallons at $0.20 = $3.60.  I had $2.50 out and then gave him $3.75 instead.  I was a bit confused but didn't want to make a scene... I don't think he did it on purpose. He probably charged us for 3 jerrycans or entered 30 cents instead of 20.  Next time I'll ask for a receipt.

This morning, DPNR asked us to move.  They didn't ask the boats in front of us so we moved up with them.  The DPNR officers seemed surprised that we didn't make a fuss... we said OK no problem... He said you must move immediately... OK.  He hesitated and then told us Thank you for your cooperation and have a good day.

So, after sorting that out, we hung up the rest of the clothes to dry and then dinghied into the Coast Guard dock near the green Legislature building. We crossed the street to catch the bus and dropped off a small bag of trash into one of the three small garbage cans they have there at the corner of Vendors Plaza and the Fire Station where the traffic lights are.

We caught the VITran Bovoni bus and he dropped us off in front of Home Depot's parking lot (we didn't have to walk up the hill).  It only cost $1 (exact change for the machine) each, while the safari/dollar bus is $2.

Home Depot was a bit of a disappointment. You can tell as we only spent $17 there :)

Cost-U-Less... No tortillas? darn! Didn't see the guacamole either. We bought one of their roasted chickens ($5.99) for lunch and now have some nice leftovers.  Buffy thought it was pretty tasty, too! Coca-Cola products were a bit cheaper there at $4.39 a 12-pack but it is easier for us to walk over to the Long Bay K-Mart and pay $4.99. Good price on potato chips (same as St. Maarten Cost-U-Less).  The corn chip strips they have at this store are good ($4.95?) but really bulky to carry on the bus unless you scrunch them down in your bag :) Price on an 8-pack box of S&W corn was good ($6.95?) so got one. Bought the box of Crystal Light which is cheaper than the tube.  Only place we've ever seen it is at Cost-U-Less. We might get a blue water jerrycan from them for about $12 which is much better than the marine stores. They didn't really have anything super special though :(

Maybe we'll go up to Tutu (hopefully on a ViTran bus as I'm cheap) and check out the big K-Mart and see what Plaza Extra has for food shopping. We've been told that they are less expensive than Pueblo.  The thing about Pueblo is that they are closer and easy to get to by dinghy.

Laundry & Prices on St Thomas, USVI

This morning we went to Crown Bay Marina to do our laundry to find that they are closed for renovations for another couple of weeks.  So, we walked our clothes to the laundromat right across from Nisky Center, which worked OK as we wanted to go to Radio Shack to buy a new multimeter.

Speaking of multimeters, we went to Radio Shack the other day to buy new batteries for our current Radio Shack multimeter but the set of three cost $15.  The new unit we bought today (batteries included) came to $23.

Back to laundry...

This laundromat was very clean and airy. The machines appeared to be in good nick and they have several large tables for folding. There is a soap dispenser, too. The manager was nice and helpful but a bit tedious with his instructions on how to use the machines but I understand that...

The machines take quarters and they have 2 change machines that will change up to a $20 bill.

They have 5 or 6 standard top-loaders in the back for $3.50

The front loaders:

• small = $5.00
• medium = $6.75
• large = $11.75

Unfortunately, they didn't say how many pounds or kilo machines these were, so I can't tell you.

The dryers were $0.25 for 4 minutes. Worked well.

We then stopped in at Gourmet Gallery to pick something up for lunch. I was thinking about lettuce for our sandwiches but at $2.75 for an iceberg lettuce, I passed.  We got a dozen large eggs for $4 and a 6-pack of pita bread for $2.

Prices in general are higher in St Thomas than St Martin.  Beef is cheaper.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Home Depot and Cost-U-Less. Not sure if that will be $1 or $2 on the safari bus.  Where is the breaking point? I know Tutu is country, but is that the beginning of the country designation? We'll see.

Going to return DVDs to Blockbuster and get a few more.  Monday through Wednesday if you rent three or more "non-new-release" DVDs (the DVDs in the center part of the store, not including TV shows) they are only $0.99 each. Such a deal!!!

We are also going to take jerrycans for water and gasoline over to Yacht Haven marina to top up.

It is a nice sunny day to hang out our laundry.

St Thomas - Mail Call

Today is a much nicer day in St. Thomas USVI weatherwise.

Although, Bob did have to go and rescue a tiger that was swimming in the bay.

We hope to find it's owner.  If not, we'll adopt him.

This morning we went to Reefco Services and picked up our treasures!  Many thanks, Edy, for being our mail drop. We didn't go to St Thomas in May as we had planned so our Amazon, Harmony House, Animal Rescue Site, etc orders kind of built up and it was like Christmas with all of the goodies we had waiting for us.

 These DVDs will last us several months, especially since we usually watch at least the previous season of a series before watching the new one. Books, too!

Lots of dried vegetables & dried meat-like substances from Harmony House (see link in the left column).

So, now we are off to Radio Shack to buy a spindle or two of blank DVDs and go to Pueblo to do a bit of shopping for dinner.

Tomorrow might be laundry day at Crown Bay Marina.

Stormy weather in St Thomas this morning

It has been a pretty crappy morning weatherwise today in St Thomas US Virgin Islands.  The radio said we received 1.5 inches of rain in 90 minutes and the weather station shows a gust of 30MPH. They are forecasting more funkiness for this afternoon.

In the wee hours of the morning between 2-3am, a sailboat anchored near us in Long Bay, "downtown" Charlotte Amalie STT. They were flashing a spotlight around so I put on our deck lights for about 15 minutes to help them see us.

This morning when the alarm went off at 7am I was tired and thought about delaying putting on the coffee for a half hour... This was not to be.  There was a strange noise that we recognized as being a motor and then Bob saw a pair of masts through the port above our bed.

Our new neighbor was motoring to keep off of us. This was a bit worrying, so Bob put on foul weather gear, let out some chain, and stayed outside for about an hour until the weather let up a bit.

This photo was taken at 9:45am... MORNING!!!

I must mention that the crew from our new neighbor dropped by and apologized for being so close to us after the wind had shifted this morning. That was a nice gesture.

The water is very brown from the run-off from land.  There's also lots of stuff floating in the water that comes from the "guts" or ditches that collect lots of trash and branches, then gets washed out into the bay during heavy rains.  Quite often when this happens, people see all of this garbage floating in the harbour and blame the boats for it when in truth it is from the land dwellers... So It Goes :)

We still have a light drizzle, so we are staying put on the boat rather than collecting all of the treasures we had sent to our friends at Reefco Services. Thanks again for holding our mail, Edy. We are so looking forward to our DVDs, books, and whatever else we ordered :)

Haven't blogged in a bit. We left St Martin on Tuesday and arrived in St Thomas USVI Wednesday, cleared in on Thursday morning. More on that later, maybe.

Mail awaits us in St Thomas

Edy from Reefco, Inc (refrigeration, air conditioning, watermakers) in St. Thomas, USVI called yesterday to let us know that several of our packages have arrived, plus a bit of good old chit-chat. It will be nice to see the gang... Edy, Denny, Jimmy, and of course, little Zoe!

Looking forward to receiving our Harmony House order of dried foods which should be excellent for our passage to New England, and afterwards.

Plus there will be some DVDs and books waiting for us too... I hope the order I made from The Animal Rescue site will arrive before we leave, as I could use my new bag :)

Thanks Edy!

Monday in St. Thomas, USVI

We had to meet a friend "downtown" in Palm Passage this morning. Afterwards, we looked for the music & video store Sam Goode, but it is no longer in business. Darn, it was a pretty good shop with a good selection.

We then bopped over to Hi-Tech Water Sports which is located where the Kon-Tiki and the Leylon Sneed tied up in the area between Haulover Cut and Crown Bay Marina. Bob bought a new, snazzy mask from Scotty to replace the one that someone had stolen from us in St. Martin.

On the way back to the dinghy we ran into Eric, Evelyn, and Salty Dog from the charter yacht ALOHA MALOLO. They have had a cancellation for a 3-week charter so they are now open for Thanksgiving (hurry!) through December 18th. Contact us for more info on booking a yacht charter!

We also saw Edy & Zoe (Edy's Jack Russell terrier) while we were getting back into our dinghy. It's funny because this past week we have seen someone from Reefco every day, except Sunday, in our travels around St. Thomas.

We then went to Hook Line & Sinker in Frenchtown for lunch. This is one of the things that we miss about St. Thomas. I have so many "favorites" at this restaurant that I had a hard time deciding. I finally went with the Cobb salad. Bob had the Rueben sandwich. He says it is the best Rueben he has had in the Caribbean. Good ice tea and excellent, attentive service. The iguanas that hang out there are always cool.

It has been quite gusty again this afternoon with a little bit of a drizzle, but it seems to have quieted down now.

NEW ANCHORING RESTRICTIONS IN USVI - Christmas Cove

UPDATED with more links... Also, there will be a meeting on this at 9 a.m. Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at DPNR's conference room at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas.

Beginning October 1, 2008 the DPNR (Department of Planning & Natural Resources) is planning to remove all live aboards in Christmas Cove (St. James island), Secret Harbor and False Entrance (St. Thomas).

The article in the St. Thomas Source (August 20, 2008) says that DPNR "expects to install moorings for charter boats and other vessels whose captains want to spend the day or the night at Christmas Cove. The number hasn't been determined yet, because [DPNR] has to decide how they'll fit, Tapia [assistant director of the Dept of Planning and Natural Resources Environmental Enforcement Division] said. How long boaters will be able to stay also remains in question."

• St. Thomas Source - August 21, 2008
• The Virgin Islands Daily News - August 20, 2008

We like Christmas Cove. So It Goes spent a few days there over last Thanksgiving weekend visiting our charter yacht friends Marolanga. I don't see what the problem is as it is not overcrowded. It can be annoying when the tourist boats come and anchor too close to you, but it is only for a short time so you just grin and bear it. Why compound the rudeness of the tour boat and be a downer for the happy tourist... Just a downward spiral of events that is best avoided.

This also affects us as charter yacht brokers as many of the charter boats either begin or end their charter at Christmas Cove. It is close to Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook so it is just a short, pleasant jaunt for the charterer's first night aboard. It's a pretty spot with good snorkeling. What a shame that DPNR wants to regulate this.

We haven't been to St. John in quite a while but we have heard from friends that using the mooring balls there is best to be avoided.

There's not much space to anchor in Vessup Bay, Red Hook, St. Thomas. It is not a comfortable anchorage as it is open to the swell, not to mention the wake from ferry boats and power boats.

So, there's still Long Bay, Charolotte Amalie (I hope!). We spent a week or so there when we attended the St. Thomas Charter Yacht Show last November. We anchored near the US Coast Guard and it was OK until a cruise ship anchored in Long Bay. DPNR came and told us we had to move. They also went around and told other boats that they had to move. This is because as potential terrorists we are not allowed to be closer than so many feet to the cruise ship. We were the only boat that followed instructions and moved. DPNR never came back and checked or hassled the other boats again.

Sorry for the rant, but I find this upsetting and frustrating. I could go on and on but I'll spare you :)

No need to get into a negative mood as we have too much stuff to do...

Also, it is another pretty day in Marigot, St. Martin. We are going to go to the vet and get some more kitten food this afternoon.

Have a good one!

Airlines New Checked Bag Charges and USVI

I just read this article in the St. Thomas Source...

Checked Bag Charge May Dry Up Rum Sales, Hit V.I. Economy
by Molly Morris

May 24, 2008 -- American Airlines' new charge for checked baggage could hobble the Virgin Islands economy, which depends on duty-free liquor sales for a substantial part of its revenue. [CLICK HERE FOR MORE]

Another bit I found interesting was:

Customers who purchase domestic economy class tickets on or after May 12, 2008, but before June 15, 2008, may check one bag for free and check a second bag for $25 each way. Customers who purchase domestic economy class tickets on or after June 15, 2008 will be charged $15 each way for the first checked bag and $25 each way for the second checked bag. Carry-on luggage remains the same, with one 40-pound bag at no charge.
There are some exceptions to the charges, such as travelers who purchase full-fare tickets in economy class and those buying business or first class tickets. A complete list can be found in the American Airlines newsletter.

So, book your flights to the Virgin Islands (STT) as soon as possible to keep the cost of your duty-free rum down!

WIFI in St. Thomas, USVI

We are currently anchored in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands in Long Bay just off the green Legislature Building near the US Coast Guard dock.

We arrived on Thursday just after midnight about 10 days ago to attend the VICL Charter Yacht Show. We hooked up our equipment to see what WiFi was available. BBW was the strongest signal followed by Choice HotSpot. We didn't have time to mess with it then and we went to bed early that night, but we checked signals and they were still good.

Friday morning we decided to subscribe to Choice as they are the providers of wireless TV and they are ISPs (used to be viaccess.net which should have sent out danger signals). Choice said that they have many hotspots so that would be handy when we change our anchorage. So, we got their signup page, gave them our credit card info and signed up online. After signing up, I tried accessing the internet. zip! I did manage to log into our wifi account to see if they gave us the correctly alloted time of one week for $25 and we were unable to do anything else. I had a partially loaded weather page and that was about it. We went to the boat show and planned to check our email back on the boat at lunchtime. We spoke to many charter yachts who also were having poor service (or lack of) and were not able to reach support. They also complained about Choice is in general.... No further internet access that day.

Saturday morning was the same. We decided to try BBW (Beans Bytes and Websites) hotspot as they are an internet cafe located on the waterfront at the Royal Dane Mall. They still had the strongest signal and since we planned to be "downtown" anchored in the same spot we decided to sign up with them for a week. You cannot register online, so we took the dinghy ashore and went into the coffee shop. I told the guy about our bad luck with Choice and even though they are NOT affiliated with Choice, he gave me a $5 discount as an apology. Amazing!

I believe BBW associates your subscription with your computer's MAC address, so be sure to initially log in with the computer you intend to use. You cannot use the same account with more than one computer. Our signal is picked up by our external bridge which is connected to our Router/ Access Point and then we access that signal with both of our MacBooks with our Airport cards. If we have a couple of leftover days on our account we cannot give it to another boat, which is too bad but so it goes...

We have had excellent service with BBW (a few slow periods but so much better than our SXM experience). We are still at anchor in Long Bay in a slightly different spot as the USCG had us move because the Disney cruise ship anchored but another boat then took our spot so why did we have to move??? so it goes...

Anyway, we have signed up for a second week, even though we hope to up anchor and sail over to Christmas Cove on Wednesday to have dinner with Marolanga and meet Sasha, their Persian cat. It will be so nice to go swimming. We'll probably also be testing our windvane self-steering gear on the way.

Oh yes, almost forgot. We signed up with Choice on Friday so we waited until Monday to call to discontinue service as we didn't expect any results over the weekend. I told the lady that I wanted a refund as we did not and could not use their WiFi and she gave me to support where I was on hold for so long that I had to leave a voice mail. Well, nothing became of the voice mail and I sent an email, and another, etc. By Wedneday, I said in an email that I would come to their office to get my refund. They actually answered my message and said that they would refund the unused portion of my subscription. I told them that I expected a full refund of $25 as I did not use them for the week. The next day they wrote back to say that they had refunded my credit card $24.15... Can you believe it? They kept 85 cents :)

So, in my opinion, do not choose Choice...

and thanks for your patience with my rant :)
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