Virgin Islands Honeymoon Reviews and Tips

Part 1 of our honeymoon (BVI)
Part 2 of our honeymoon (St. Thomas)

The point of this post is twofold - to review companies we used on our honeymoon and to offer some advice for those who are planning trips.  I hope it helps!  First up, the reviews!

Delta Airlines

We love Delta.  We don't have a lot to choose from living in a small town but I always have and I assume always will love Delta.  Mr. B used to travel for work so he has a great status with them (more on that later), which often means upgrades and other perks.  Our flights were all uneventful and actually quite pleasant. 

Caribbean Buzz Helicopters

This was the company we used to fly from St. Thomas to Scrub Island and I would highly recommend them.  This was our biggest splurge of the trip ($960 one way, ack!) but we both agree that in hindsight we would have bit the bullet and used them to get back to St. Thomas, too.  I do not do well with heights but the lovely scenery made up for any fears and our pilot, Jerry, was so nice.

 

Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina

I highly recommend Scrub Island.  The staff was outstanding, the resort itself was amazing, and it was a perfect getaway.  We were there for 3 nights, which I think was a good limit.  Had we been there much longer I feel we would have gotten bored with the few restaurants and places to lounge on the small island.  The food was pretty good but not anything that was particularly outstanding, aside from the breakfast sandwiches we got in the little market.  One of the benefits of staying at a resort with a marina is the fact they had a market filled with prepared food, wine, sunscreen, etc.  Not exactly cheap but it was convenient and appreciated.  Our room was amazing, complete with a full kitchen, gorgeous and huge bathroom, and spectacular views.  We also had 1.5 bathrooms, which was nice!

We loved this fan

We enjoyed a morning at the spa, which exceeded our expectations.  We had a couples massage and scrub treatment, which was the perfect way to prepare our skin for some sun.

Native Son Ferry

I definitely do not recommend this company, although there isn't really a good alternative at this price point.  The boat was very, very old and we were given no information or instructions about our journey.  I read a lot of Trip Advisor reviews for the different ferry companies before we went and it looks like there is no winner.  Just pick one, say a little prayer, and hope the destination is worth the journey.  There are a few small airlines that fly to Tortola, so that could be an in-between option between the ferry and helicopter.

Ritz Carlton St. Thomas

Overall I would recommend this hotel.  They were undergoing a lot of renovations while we were there, which meant some of the dining options were not available.  They had a lot to offer on-site, including a spa, water rentals (small boats, snorkel equipment, paddleboards), and a few restaurants.  We were upgraded to a one bedroom suite and we were sent to the very end of the property.  It is a "campus-style" property and everything is spread out.  Not a big deal for us, but we were once in a cab with someone who complained about it.  There were some crazy iguanas all over, which was cool - they hung out in the trees most of the time!

Our suite was nice, although I have a feeling it wasn't one of the newly renovated ones.  Apparently I did not take any pictures of the suite but it was huge, it had a giant balcony, and it had two full bathrooms!  We did not use the spa but it looked very nice.

Overall I would say we loved our time on Scrub Island but just enjoyed ourselves in St. Thomas.  I don't know if we will go back to St. Thomas but we are already talking about a Scrub Island anniversary trip. 

Tips and Tricks!

• Research: Know what you're getting into.  I don't know how I would have navigated getting from Scrub to St. Thomas if I didn't have it all planned out ahead of time.  I didn't want to plan too much but it was nice having a good idea of what we would do each day and how we would do it.
• Phones: We knew we could use our phones in St. Thomas with no issue but as soon as we crossed into the BVI it would be international.  We kept our phones on "Airplane Mode" the entire trip so we could use WiFi if we wanted it without risking a massive surprise from AT&T. 
• Money: We knew ahead of time that everywhere we went would accept US dollars so we never had an issue with that. 
• Packing: We knew what activities we would be doing most of the time and what the weather would be like so we never found ourselves wishing we brought different things.  Our room on Scrub had a full-size washer and dryer, which we used to clean our basics before heading to the second half of our trip.  This was a great way to cut down on some luggage.
• Travel Rewards: Know what rewards you have and know how to use them.  We booked our entire flight on Delta - round trip, first class, two people - for less than $100.  When we were looking at places to go we basically limited it to places we could go on what SkyMiles we had.  We also used Marriott Rewards to upgrade our rooms, meaning we usually paid for a single room but used a certain amount of points per day to upgrade to a suite.  We also took advantge of a promotion at the Ritz that had a regular rate but included breakfast and a $100/day credit toward anything at the resort.  Obviously not everyone has points and miles to use, but see what you have and stretch it as much as you can!
• Be Flexible: This was our honeymoon, after all.  Champagne bar closed?  Waahh, poor me.  Deal with it and move on.  Machete on board?  Hey, it's all part of the experience!  Gators losing?  Sweet, now we can get out of the sports bar and into the tropical sun! 
• Honeymoon Registry:  If there is interest, I may do a whole post on our honeymoon registry (Honeyfund).  Although I know these registries are a touchy subject, it worked for us and we are so happy we had one.

OK, I think that wraps it up for our honeymoon!  You know what that means - the recaps are coming!  What tips did I miss? 

We Have Pictures

I am so excited to share that today I got a package that contained quite a few treats, including our professional photos!

Personal photo

Ashley Daniell Photography went above and beyond and I am so excited to start my recaps!  In the meantime I will leave you with a few of my favorites.

 

All photos by Ashley Daniell Photography unless otherwise noted.

Bicycles in the Virgin Islands, Part 2 (St. Thomas)

For part one of our Virgin Islands honeymoon, check it out here. 

Our time on Scrub Island was the perfect combination of relaxation and adventure but on the Thursday of our honeymoon it was time to head to St. Thomas for the next three nights.  You may remember that we took a helicopter from St. Thomas to Scrub Island.  We decided to rough it and head back to civilization the old fashioned way - boat, taxi, ferry, taxi. Scrub has a private boat that takes you from the island to Tortola, which is where we would catch a ferry to St. Thomas.  We said goodbye to the island and enjoyed the short ride to our next stop.

The boat leaves every hour on the half hour and the concierge recommended we leave Scrub at 10:30 to allow plenty of time to get to our 12:30 ferry.  They had a cab waiting for us on Tortola to take us to the port at the other end of the island.  The cab ride was 45 of the most intense minutes of my life.  They drive on the opposite side of the road than we are used to but the steering wheels are in the same place as American cars, which was a little odd.  The streets were winding and hilly, taking us through some of the worst poverty I've seen in what you would expect to be a more affluent area.  There were goats in the middle of the road, chickens everywhere, and children in the street.  We went up steep hills and around sharp turns.  It was a lot scarier than I anticipated but eventually we made it to the port.

We were planning on taking the 12:30 ferry by a company called Native Son.  I researched the ferries before we left for our honeymoon and none had great reviews so we went with the one that best fit our schedule.  The cab door opened and we were greeted by a man from Native Son and a woman from another company.  The woman was trying to get us on her ferry, which left 15 minutes earlier than the one we were planning to take.  The man and woman argued with each other and with me for about 5 minutes before we just started walking into the office to buy our tickets for Native Son.  We got our tickets and sat down to wait for the 30 or so minutes before the ferry left.

Above is the small port office, where we were able to purchase a Diet Coke that expired last summer.  Yum.  It was finally time to get on the boat and we were greeted by our vessel:

Image via Panoramo

 We decided to sit on the top/outside deck because I get sea sick and I thought the fresh air would help. 

You see the gentleman in the picture?  He got yelled at by the "captain" for an item he brought on the ferry wrapped in aluminum foil.  We quickly learned the item was a machete.  NBD.  

The ride was relatively calm, even though the boat was leaning to the right the entire time.  The ferry stopped after about 30 minutes and we were all told to get off, even though I knew we weren't in St. Thomas.  Apparently we were going through customs on St. John, a fact I only learned after asking a customs agent.  We got back on the boat and made it to St. Thomas about 15 minutes later.  We hopped in a cab and 5 minutes after that we were at the Ritz Carlton.  

Concierge: Welcome to the Ritz Carlton!  Can I get you some punch?
Mrs. B: Sure, thank you!
Concierge:  With or without rum?
Mr. & Mrs. B:  WITH!

We were upgraded to a suite since Mr. B is a high-level Marriott Rewards member and we were greeted in our suite by:

Honeymooning is worth it for the champagne alone

At this point it was around 3 PM so we headed down to the beach-side restaurant for a late lunch and some much-needed refreshments.    We relaxed all afternoon and then got cleaned up for dinner at Great Bay Lounge, an on-site Japanese restaurant.  It was Halloween and there was nothing to acknowledge it, which was a little weird. 

The next day we spent wandering around the resort, lounging by the pool, and eating. 

I decided to become a walking ad for the hotel

That evening we were scheduled to take a ride on the Lady Lynsey, the Ritz's 53-foot catamaran.

The trip was a sunset cruise with cocktails and snacks. We were then dropped off on St. John for dinner, followed by dessert and coffee on the sail back.  It started out beautifully:

And then the weather took a turn:

It was pretty rough but we were able to stay (mostly) dry inside.  By the time we got to St. John the weather was better and we walked to dinner.  We had a great meal at the Waterfront Bistro and then headed to the boat for the ride back.  We met some nice people on the trip and I am glad we did it, even though the weather wasn't great.

We based the next day on watching the UF/UGA game, which ended up being a horrible decision.  We went shopping, visited the famous Duffy's Love Shack, and then went to Caribbean Saloon for lunch and football. 

Duffy's sure knows how to add some flair

When it became clear the Gators were going to lose we decided to head back to the Ritz instead of spending any more of our honeymoon watching a bad football game.  We got cleaned up and took a taxi out for drinks and dinner.  We had dinner reservations and we left early enough so we could spend a good amount of time at the place I was most excited to go - Epernay Wine and Champagne Bar.  Champagne bar!  Yes!  I had been talking about this place for weeks (months?) and I was so excited to go.  The cab driver didn't know exactly where it was so as we were driving around the block where I thought it would be he had me call them to get an exact location.  Instead of directions I got a voicemail saying they were closed for a while.  Waaahhh!!!  Oh well, we just headed to dinner at Oceana and had champagne before we were seated so we could act like we still got to goto a champagne bar.
 

Our meal was wonderful and the atmosphere was great.  It was right on the water and our table was practically on the beach.  We didn't get to enjoy the view, though, because it was raining and the plastic curtains were down. 

We took a cab back to the hotel and called it a night.  The next day we spent a little time at the beach before heading to the airport to go back to reality.  Our trip home was relaxing and we finally got to Tallahassee around 11 PM.

Up next, I will give you my reviews and some travel tips!

Did anyone else have a transportation adventure on their honeymoon?  Anyone want to go back to St. Thomas with me once the champagne bar is back open?

All photos personal unless otherwise noted.

Bicycles in the Virgin Islands, Part 1 (BVI)

You may recall that we decided to spend our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands, splitting our time between the British Virgin Islands (Scrub Island) and the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas).  It was quite an adventure and a good mix of relaxation, exploration, and eating.  Lots of eating.  Without further ado, I present to you the first part of the Bicycle honeymoon!

Our wedding was on a Saturday in Savannah and we decided to fly out from Savannah instead of driving back to Tallahassee.  We rented a car in Tallahassee and returned it in Savannah, which was perfect.  We left early Monday morning so we could have Sunday to relax and spend time with guests who were sticking around.  On Sunday we woke up early, went to our favorite Savannah coffee shop (The Coffee Fox), and spent the afternoon watching the Saints win with some friends.  Perfection. 

We woke up very early for our 7 AM flight and checked in with little trouble.  Seated in first class, we were greeted with some fizzy beverages.

Of course we had to show off our new accessories!

We flew from Savannah to Atlanta, where we spent a short layover eating breakfast burritos, the same thing we did on our engagemoon layover.  Our flight to St. Thomas was about three hours, two of which were spent watching "Love Actually" for the first time.  In related news, why did I wait so long to watch that movie?!  When we landed we were greeted by the local sights:

I will go into more detail about logistics in my honeymoon wrap-up post but long story short: It is difficult to get to Scrub Island.  We decided that hey, this is our honeymoon!  Let's take a helicopter to get there!  Best.  Decision.  Ever.  We grabbed our bags, walked to the back of the airport, and watched as our ride arrived.

 I am normally afraid of heights but for some reason this didn't really scare me.

Is that excitement or fear?

Our Caribbean Buzz pilot, Jerry, was super nice and helpful, pointing out major landmarks as we passed above.

Once we got out of the main part of St. Thomas it was nothing but water and private islands.

Since we were traveling from US soil to British soil, we needed to pass through customs on Beef Island/Tortola before heading to Scrub Island.  We were the only non-employees at the airport, which was weird but convenient.  We used this opportunity for a photo with the helicopter.

We continued on to Scrub Island and Jerry toured us around the island before landing on Scrub's helicopter pad.

We were greeted by a van that took us to the front desk, where rum punch was served as we checked in.  We had a one bedroom suite that overlooked the marina.

They knew we were honeymooners so we were greeted in our room by a bottle of champagne.

We arrived at about 3 PM and spent the afternoon sipping cocktails in the pool and relaxing.  Dinner that night was a Caribbean buffet at one of the two on-property restaurants, Tierra! Tierra!  We called it a night pretty early since we had been traveling all day and needed to be up (relatively) early for an adventure the next day!

Scrub Island has a relationship with Dive BVI and there was a day-long island hopper snorkel tour happening the first full day we were there.  We signed up weeks before we actually got there and simply had to check in the morning of the tour to get our gear.  The tour stopped at a few different snorkel spots before hitting up a boat for lunch.  Willy T's is unlike anything I have ever experienced before.  It is a restaurant on boat in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere.

This place had wifi, I kid you not.

My lunch was amazing and it seemed like everyone from our group loved theirs as well.  We got there early enough to avoid the rumored rush and left relatively quickly so we could have as much time as possible on Jost van Dyke, a small island that is home to the Soggy Dollar Bar.  It is called the Soggy Dollar Bar because you have to swim to shore to get there.  They claim to be the birthplace of the famous "painkiller" drink, so of course our group had to try some.

The gentleman with a bee instead of a face is someone we called Doctor Dave.  You see, Doctor Dave is a doctor in Michigan or somewhere cold like that.  He and his partner were on vacation in the BVI and they took this opportunity to really let loose.  The boat had rum punch and beer so some people were already feeling great before we got to Jost van Dyke.  Then the painkillers started flowing.  And flowing...  Let's just say the boat ride back was... interesting.  I get sea sick so I knew I needed to be careful throughout this voyage.  Seeing a very sick Doctor Dave made me grateful I wasn't in his shoes.  Don't get me wrong, I can say with confidence those painkillers were delicious ;)

We got back to Scrub around 4 PM and then relaxed by the pool with some of our new friends from the boat.  We met up with some of them for a casual dinner and again went to bed relatively early because we were pretty worn out.

The next day we spent very lazy - spa treatments in the morning, lazing by the beach all afternoon.

 Most of our friends from the boat were joining us at a pig roast that evening, a fun prospect for someone who doesn't eat pork (this girl!).  It was actually a lot of fun and there was plenty aside from the headed pig that I could eat.  We loved every minute on Scrub Island but it was finally time to head to our next destination the following day.

Up next, we make the harrowing journey back to St. Thomas and miss Jerry and his helicopter quite a bit.

All photos personal.