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At the airport... When you leave St. Croix by air, give yourself at least an hour and a half at the airport to go through customs and immigration checkpoints (two hours for direct flights to the mainland due to the number of passengers boarding). At the airline counter you will be required to show photo identification for security purposes and check your bags. Before passing through Customs you have the opportunity to shop in the airport's gift shop and/or get a bite to eat at the small local restaurant located in the lobby. This is your last chance to try some local food before you return home! After visiting the airport lobby, fill in the Customs Declaration form you were given at check-in and proceed to Customs. Present your declaration form, along with your passport, to a Customs Inspector. You then collect your bags from the luggage carousel and pass through Immigration where you present your identification and Customs Declaration form. Be prepared to have all your bags checked thoroughly, inside and out. Once past Customs and the airport screening area there are new gates with comfortable chairs and a small snack bar which serves light snacks, soft drinks, beer and cocktails. 4. Where can I get snorkeling gear? If you don't have your own snorkel gear to bring with you, you can buy some on the island at one of two Kmarts or at Cost-u-Less (the island's version of Costco, without requiring a membership) or you can rent gear at several dive shops on the island. 5. What will the weather be like while we are there? The temperature averages 82 degrees year round on St. Croix. You will find daytime highs to be around 85 in winter months and 88 in the summer. Nighttime lows will be around 74 in the winter months and 78 in the summer. It doesn't get any better than that! Rainfall varies with the time of year but there really is no season where it just rains all the time. The real difference between a "dry" season and a "rainy" season on St. Croix is that you will get a daily 10 minute shower in the dry season and a daily 15 minute shower in the rainy season. Most of the time the showers happen at night. Obviously, we can't guarantee that you will have perfect weather, but you are more than likely to have spectacular weather anytime of the year! 6. Will there be a lot of cruise ship passengers crowding the island? No! Unlike some other Caribbean destinations, St. Croix is not overrun with cruise ship passengers. St. Croix gets at most, only a couple, of cruise ship visits per week. St. Thomas, on the other hand, gets 4-6 ships in port each day! That can add up to 12,000 passengers getting off of cruise ships each morning and flocking to town and the beaches! Ouch! 7. Should we consider travel insurance? Travel Insurance can be a trip saver. There are hundreds of circumstances that could cause you to cancel your trip, return home early or even worse, force you to seek emergency medical treatment while traveling. Here are some common examples of what could go wrong.
Purchasing travel insurance it is something to consider. When selecting a company be sure to ask plenty of questions, especially concerning a particular area of concern for you. Click here for TravelGuard.com, one of the largest travel insurance companies. 8. Will my cell phone work on the island? Yes, and Maybe. Most cell phone companies have service on the island, although some may include roaming charges. ATT & Sprint definately will work and offer state to state service. Verizon has virtually no service on the island. We recommend contacting your carrier before you arrive to avoid huge cell phone charges. 9. Can I access the internet on St. Croix? Yes! Most hotels and many villas and condos offer internet connections. There are also several internet cafes on the island. BroadbandVI also offers WiFi connections in many areas of the island. For a dial-up connection you can look for a local number to connect to your ISP but we generally call home using our regular dial-up number. For example, to connect to AOL you can connect to a St. Thomas number which is local, however, AOL will charge you a surcharge of $.10 per minute to connect. Don't expect to get dial-up connections faster than 24-40K. 10. What airport do we fly into? You will fly into Henry E. Rholsen International Airport (airport code: STX). The airport is newly expanded and renovated with very modern facilities. It's recently extended runway can safely accommodate very large aircraft. 11. Is the water safe to drink? All of the water at the villas is collected rain water that is stored in cisterns below the villas. While it may be safe to drink, we recommend buying bottled water for drinking purposes. Bottled water is available in gallon jugs everywhere on the island for about $1.00 per gallon. Anytime you go out of the country, you run the risk of getting a bug that your body is not used to from the local water supply. The same would apply to someone coming to the U.S. from out of the country! 12. Do we need to conserve water while on the island? It is not absolutely necessary, however, we do ask that you try to conserve as much as possible. The water at most major hotels, and while in either Christiansted or Frederiksted, is safe to drink. The water at most private villas comes from rainwater collected from the roof and stored in a cistern under the house (this is very common in the Caribbean), or by costly water deliveries by truck. Although you are on an island surrounded by water, fresh water is very scarce. We recommend buying drinking water from the grocery store. It is not entirely a necessity but we highly recommend it. There is a lot to see and do on the island and you will have a great time exploring the island, seeing it's attractions or just beach hopping! We ourselves would never go to the island and not rent a vehicle. Click here for some recommended car rental agencies. 14. What is the currency in the U.S. Virgin Islands? U.S. Dollars. Credit cards are widely accepted and you will find many ATMs on the island. 15. What is the electric voltage on St. Croix? The voltage on St./ Croix is 110 volts, the same as on the U.S. mainland. 16. What time zone is St. Croix in? St. Croix lies in the Atlantic Time zone. We do not follow Daylight Savings Time. During the spring and summer we are on the same time as the East Coast of the U.S. When the the clocks are set back for daylight savings, in the fall and winter, we are one hour ahead of East Coast time. 17. Is there a hospital on St. Croix, and what about doctors? Yes, Juan F. Luis Hospital - Sunny Isle, located across from the Innovative Building. In fact, there is a new cardiac center that is one of the largest and most modern in the Caribbean. There are doctors of every kind available on the island. Click here for more information.
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