The Buccaneer - St. Croix

Snorkeling Locations - There are some alright ones

by ChelleBelle888

Personally, I think that the snorkeling is better in St. John and was better in the Cayman Islands (but that was about 10 years ago and it may be different now).
However, there is decent snorkeling that can be found at:

The far left (south) side of the beach by Cottages by the Sea. The further down you go, the better it seems to get - (go past the condos).

Cane Bay seemed to be overrated to me. To see anything at all you need to go further out...but there still isn't much to sea.

Issacs and Jacob Bay didn't have a whole lot of life to them. Dead coral that I'm sure was once beautiful and not an abundance of fish.

Surprisely, the beach at the Buccaneer had snorkeling on the right side of it. There was a alot of rock ledges that underwater life gathered around.

Columbus Landing - Don't bother.

Butler Bay (I think) has some alright snorkeling...if you can figure out where it is.

Walking Tours

by catalysta

All of the main towns on St. Thomas, St. John & St. Croix offer free walking tours you can take to explore the towns & get to know the history of each settlement. It's a great way to find out what's special about each town, whether it's the wonderful old Danish fort at Christiansted, or the famed 99 Steps to the summit of Government Hill in Charlotte Amalie. Just to get you started:

Charlotte Amalie

Christiansted, St. Croix

St. John

CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX

by catalysta about The USVI Bargains are here!

If you want some great shopping bargains in the USVI’s, this is the place to go. Here’s why:
Although St. Croix is the largest of the three main US Virgin Islands, it has never cultivated the level of tourism that St. Thomas & St. John have managed to build up. This is partially because it has had other means of support for the locals through out much of the last 100 years. Also, St. Croix is slightly removed from the other islands, swinging off by itself to the south of STT & STJ. The ferry to St. Croix takes longer than the one to STJ, and doesn’t run as often.

But there is the added fact that St. Croix’s reputation hasn’t always been blemish-free. The late 1960’s & early 1970’s saw quite a rash of racial unrest & violence that hasn’t dissipated to this day.

CONTINUED BELOW

Fleas in the linens

by A TripAdvisor Member

The Buccaneer Hotel is privately owned. When there are problems, because it is not part of a hotel chain, there is no recourse for remedy.

We paid $450 per night for their top of the line "Doubloon" room. On our first night, as we turned down the bedspread, there were multiple sexual stains from previous guests (plural). When we complained about this filth, the Buccaneer's response was "the Doubloon rooms are often used by honeymooners." To the Buccaneer this is a good reason for not providing clean bedding. It was only after repeated insistence on our part for clean bedding that the bedding was reluctantly changed.

The Buccaneer does not like to be bothered, nor do they feel it is necessary for guests to have clean bedding. Also the entire bathroom had others' pubic hairs as well as "personal" remnants on the toilet.

On the second night, with supposedly clean linens, we woke to over 150 flea bites on my legs and over 50 on my husband's. The Buccaneer's remedy was to shove a can of Raid in our hands. We had to "wait for the Raid to work" before they would change the bedding.

When we ran the whirlpool tub, black slime with a stench that would make even the noblest person gag, came spewing out of the jets.

On the fourth night of our stay, once again there were fleas in the linens.

The Buccaneer in no way whatsoever will make restitution for filthy bedding, fleas or putrid unsanitary bathroom conditions.

We booked our stay in hell via American Airlines Vacations. They will not help in any way to get financial remedy. This is most disappointing. We will never book another vacation through American Airlines Vacations. They want the travel industry dollars, but they do not want the responsibility of a travel agency.

Of the Buccaneer, we spent $3,100 for a filthy room, complete with fleas in the linens not just on one night but two nights. We spent $140 for medical doctors and an additional $141 on prescription medicines all because of the flea bites.

The Buccaneer absolutely does not care if the rooms are clean or their guests comfortable.

This is an overpriced hotel, with personnel ranging from non-caring to plain ugly nasty. The Buccanner by people in the know is called "the buck-a-minute hotel. There are many reasons for this.

There are two restaurants, one serves both breakfast and lunch, the other dinner. The dinner restaurant had well prepared food, but was incredibly over priced, even by NY standards. The Galleon up the road has excellent food at reasonable prices. Also, both the Buccaneer's restaurants are open, therefore while you are dining, so are the mosquitoes and/or sand flies. The Buccaneer's solution for their diners is to give them a can of "Off" with their appetizers.

If you want to spend lots of money for a filthy room, fleas in your linens, previous guests' sexual leftovers, pubic hairs, and worse, and pay exorbitant prices for food, while getting bitten by mosquitoes, head straight for the Buccaneer.

Great for romance and our young son

by A TripAdvisor Member

My husband, son and I chose the resort Buccaneer for our second family vacation. My son is 4 and the staff were so kind and friendly given our special needs, and the fact that this paradise is also an obviously favorite place for couples. A huge benefit for us was the kids program every day, included with the rate, which allowed my husband and I some badly needed time alone together while we knew our son was safe and having fun. Our oceanview room was very spacious and luxurious and the housekeepers were incredibly friendly and professional. The memories of this family vacation, unlike our first, will be great ones because we were lucky enough to have chosen the Buccaneer. We spent most of our time at the resort's beach and dining areas, which were as beautiful as postcards. We did take the island tour offered by the resort and got to see the rest of St. Croix's history and nature. But the Buccaneer itself offers all of the natural beauty and history of the island. While we were able to enjoy the island and the shopping in the main town, we really never had the leave the resort to get a great experience of beauty, history, luxury, all on one property. The resort is expansive and warm and intimate at the same time. The staff were at our service always, and by the second day, everyone knew our names and treated us like long lost friends. Maybe because the resort is managed by a family, our family vacation was extra special. Our other resort experience, unnamed here, was uncomfortable because children weren't as warmly welcomed. Not so at the Buccaneer. We left feeling we had left good friends behind that we couldn't wait to see again. Congratulations to the Armstrong family for creating a happy place not just for us, but also for the other families and honeymooners we saw there. We plan to visit again with our parents!

Loved St Croix!!

by TripAdvisor Member JimW

We had been vacationing in the BVI, St John & Anguilla since the early 90's. We decided this last time to try St Croix and we were VERY GLAD we did. We loved it!!! A few of the things we liked; not only beautiful ocean views but also beautiful inland views which featured sweeping pastoral views dotted with sugar mill ruins framed by the sea! Excellent restaurants, great beaches, stayed at The Buccaneer which we highly recomend. St Croix is relaxing & can be quiet yet MANY things to see & do!

The whole family loved it!

by TripAdvisor Member PaigeWestHartford

The Buccaneer was fabulous. We stayed for five nights and took advantage of the “Rest and Rejuvenate” package. Due to different daily excursions, our kids, ages 4, 6, and 8, only had the opportunity to attend the kids’ camp for one day. They were disappointed that they could not go back for a second or third! The staff across the board was excellent. The family suites were ideal, and the whole setting, simply gorgeous. While we don’t have the money to splurge on vacations like this every year, I am very choosy about where I stay. The Buccaneer surpassed all my expectations, being a 4-star resort at what I consider very reasonable rates! The complimentary buffet breakfast was good steam-table fare. Beyond that, the food was reasonably priced at both the casual and more formal restaurants for lunch and dinner. Don’t miss the fried fish or calamari appetizers! We did enjoy one day driving around St. Croix and had a great meal at Kendrick’s in Christiansted. I recommend the snorkeling trip to Buck Island- all three kids loved it- but I might compare itineraries. On our half-day excursion, we had only 45 minutes of actual snorkeling followed by as much time walking the Buck Island beaches. The rest of the time was spent on the boat. Scenic as it was with several dolphin sightings, I generally prefer being in the water to being on a boat. Overall, I highly recommend the Buccaneer. My kids keep asking when we can go back!

It's like staying at a friend's villa, except ...

by TripAdvisor Member sljones

... I would suggest going out for dinner, although breakfast and lunch were just fine. This was our second trip to the Buccaneer and we again really enjoyed this peaceful, toddler-friendly resort. We stayed in a Deluxe Oceanfront room with a patio overlooking the Grotto beach and pool, as well as the lights of Christiansted. These are very large, comfortable rooms, tastefully decorated with great views and easy beach access, although the A/C is just adequate during the day if the temp gets into the high 80s. Beach lovers and snorklers might never leave the property and probably be perfectly content, except at dinner when the only choice is the Terrace, which we thought had fallen a notch or two from last year. Fortunately, we had rented a car and found that the island has an abundance of great restaurants. The whisky lobster at Duggan's Reef is a must (we did it twice). Rumrunners is very good and also a good value. Tutto Bene is an excellent, trendy place AND has A/C! Off the Wall, at Cane Bay, is a great beachside bar with good food and a fun environment. But the best food, hands down, was Galleons at Green Cay Marina, and that's saying something because all these places are memorable. We were really surprised at the number of quality restaurants given that St. Croix has only a modest amount of tourism. From what we could tell, it seems that these places (as well as numerous others we did not have a chance to try) rely on the vacation-home owners, who seem to out number the tourists by far. In fact, a few suggested to us that St. Croix lags in tourism because the locals like the island as it is, nice and quiet. The shopping in Christiansted is okay, but most would find it lacking. It certainly doesn't compare to St. Thomas. The appeal of St. Croix is its natural beauty, waters for scuba and snorkeling, plus the relative lack of commercialism. I would recommend S.C.U.B.A. in downtown Chritiansted for diving -- they are very friendly and helpful! There is also a casino on the east end of the island, but it almsot seems out of place here. There is plenty of sightseeing and exploring to do, but you'll find yourself drawn back to the Buccaneer's beautiful property. We often had the pool to ourselves and the beaches were never crowded, plus the reef offers excellent snorkeling. This resort has 5-star grounds, with 4-star rooms and a 2-star restaurant for dinner. I'll add that the Buccaneer is not "party central." It's a dignified, relaxed place, so some teenagers might find it a little boring, unless they're into golf, tennis, snorkeling or the beach.

A week in St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Island

by rden

"Just got back from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Island"

Our family of four just got back from a week in Christiansted, St. Croix. We stayed at The Caravelle Hotel. Nice hotel, clean rooms and nice people. Our room had a small refrigerator and small coffee maker. The Hotel is connected to Rum Runners Bar and Restaurant which has great food and drinks. Owners and staff are wonderful. From the restaurant dock at night we saw Tarpin, Moray Eel and Stingray. Make sure you wave to the web cam at gotostcroix.com right outside of Rum Runners on the boardwalk. We also had great meals at the Fort Christian Brew Pub and Kings Alley. Every Tuesday night there is a beach BBQ at the Harbormaster Beach Club. Catch the water taxi on the boardwalk and pay $2.00 per person round trip to cross to Protestant Cay less than 2 minutes away. We enjoyed a wonderful buffet, great Steel Pan Drum music, Mocko Jumgi Stilt Dancing and Fire Eating. Bring bug spray for the no see ums.
We paid $100.00 to Andy our taxi driver (we met Andy at the Sea Plane dock) to give us a guided island tour. He took us all around the Island. We saw the Botanical Garden, the Rain Forest, Frederiksted, Cane Bay and Salt River Bay. Our tour took 3 1/2 hours and after the tour there was no need to rent a car. We learned at the end of our trip that you can also catch a local taxi and pay $2.00 per person to go shopping at the local malls. Be prepared to make stops along the way to your distanation to pick up more passengers.They have a large grocery store, Kmart and all important Ice Cream Parlor. We noticed alot of tourist buying cases of Rum at Kmart. Bargain prices. The shops near our hotel open at 10am and close at 5pm.
We are scuba divers and we can't say enough good things about the people at S.C.U.B.A. (St.Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures). They are located next to the hotel Caravelle. The staff are friendly and helpful. We felt safe and cared for on every dive. The whole staff made our diving vacation wonderful!
We had a very good vacation!