Surprise!!! St. Thomas Here We Come

Saturday, March 9, 2013 (Day 1)

My husband & I surprised our 19 yr old daughter with a last minute trip to St. Thomas for her Spring Break.  This was the 1st time either of us had been to the Virgin Islands so we relied alot on the information I quickly gathered from Tripadvisor.

We flew Jet Blue to San Juan, PR out of JFK.  She had no idea where we were going but she appears to have alot of stuff with her, so she's ready to go anywhere.

I really wanted a neck pillow.  I've been thinking about one & talking to my family about it for a while.  So when I saw one for sale in the Jet Blue terminal, I just had to buy one prior to boarding.  Well, this one may look comfortable, but it is NOT.  It's so big that I can't lay my head back comfortably.  $20 down the drain.  To top it off, when I got on the plane, I noticed that Jet Blue sells neck pillows on the flight for only $5.  My guess is -- their pillows are probably smaller & more comfortable.  Maybe I should buy another one...

 

This was our 1st time flying Jet Blue.  I have to say, this airline is amazing.  The airline attendants were so pleasant.  The legroom in coach is spacious, no need to pay extra for the extra legroom seats.  My husband loved the selection of free non-alcoholic drinks -- they offer Dunkin Donuts brand coffee.  He was in heaven.  Everyone who knows me, knows that I love to eat!! So I would be remiss if I didn't mention that they offer unlimited free snacks!!  I like to try new foods so I couldn't resist the "Popcorners."  They were delicious.  If you are flying Jet Blue, you must try these.  Of course this airline offers free direct tv as well as 2 free in-flight movies.  I am in love.  

 

Unfortunately, our flight from San Juan, PR to St. Thomas was delayed by an hour.  Here we are waiting at the San Juan airport -- so ready to get there.

We finally arrived around 4pm in St. Thomas. 

 

Upon landing, we stopped at the restrooms and then walked straight to baggage claim.  To our surprise, our bags were already on the belt.  After retrieving our bags, we then looked around for the Thrifty Rental Car booth.  We didn't see it so my husband went to another brand & inquired about Thrifty.  The staff member explained to him that Thrifty was off-site but she called them & told my husband they would send a shuttle right over to pick him up.  We went outside to wait for the shuttle.  After 40 minutes & no shuttle, my husband decided to call Thrifty himself to make sure a shuttle was indeed coming – no answer.  We decided then to take a taxi.  (As a side note, I want to mention -- when hiring a taxi at the airport, the taxi driver will ensure he has a full load of passengers before leaving.  So if you are one of the 1st in the taxi, you may wait a little bit before departing.)  The taxi driver informed us that Thrifty was probably closing in a couple of minutes (in other words -- no one is coming to pick you up).  He was nice enough to take us by the Thrifty office on our way to the resort.  As we pulled up, a gentleman proceeded to close the gate even though he saw the taxi trying to pull in the driveway.  My husband got out of the taxi & inquired about our reserved rental car.  SURPRISE – the Thrifty car we reserved through hotwire.com was not available.  He was told that a car would be available the next day.  So onto Bluebeard’s Castle Hilltop Villas I. 

 

 Check-in went smoothly.  We headed to the room to settle in. 

 

Here is the view from the balcony:

 

We were pretty tired after a long day of travel, so decided to grab dinner on the property.  We ate at the Cabana Bar.  It turned out to be a great choice as the atmosphere was fun & casual, we had a great view, and the food was pretty good.  We started off with the Seared Tuna appetizer ($12.50).  I had the Reuben Fish Sandwich ($16.00).  My husband had a Turkey Wrap ($12.00) and my daughter had the Chicken Melt Sandwich (14.00).  All of the sandwiches came with french fries.  There was no tax added but an 18% gratuity was automatically added.    

 

We turned in for a good night’s rest only to be awakened at 4am by the roosters.  Oh no!!  Note to self, always travel with earplugs.

(This is part 1 of a 6 day trip.  See "Slow Start in St. Thomas" for part 2)