Car Barge info

Travel discussion for St. John
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dctac
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 11:03 am
Location: Tip of SJ

Car Barge info

Post by dctac »

Any info on if the barge situation is back ... I normally rent on ST from Amile but am considering renting on Stj... I have read somewhere they are back enough there isn't much back up ? Thanks any info would be appreciated.... won't be down till feb.....
iheartsj
Posts: 324
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: Car Barge info

Post by iheartsj »

Three barges running today. But you just never know what it will be tomorrow. My advice is rent your car on St. John.
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Pia
Posts: 5041
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:38 pm
Location: St John

Re: Car Barge info

Post by Pia »

It can change by the hour never mind in 5 months :)
Realtor - St John Properties
dctac
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 11:03 am
Location: Tip of SJ

Re: Car Barge info

Post by dctac »

Renting thru Amy is hard to give up!! Awesome service!! it's making me lean toward rolling the dice......
iheartsj
Posts: 324
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: Car Barge info

Post by iheartsj »

dctac wrote:Renting thru Amy is hard to give up!! Awesome service!! it's making me lean toward rolling the dice......
If you like gambling, go for it
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kklay
Posts: 504
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: Lima, Ohio

Re: Car Barge info

Post by kklay »

I've already made our reservations thru Amalie for our November trip. Call it what you want - they offer great service and it makes the start of vacation so much easlier with less hassle. If issues happen close to our vacation with the car barge I will roll with it.
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nothintolose
Posts: 1960
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
Location: New Orleans, LA

Re: Car Barge info

Post by nothintolose »

I am with kklay and dctac.

We "gamble" on Amy because of how hassle free it is, and by "hassle free", I mean that there are not tons of stipulations and rules and things that mean extra charges like there are from the St. John car rental places. There are no charges for extra drivers, no requirement of proof from your insurance company that you are covered in the Virgin Islands, no claims that we have dents or scratches on the car that were already there, no claims that we didn't fill the tank ALL of the way up. Also, contrary to some claims, she has someone on STJ if there are any problems.

We don't rent on STT because it's "cheaper", we, until this past trip, rent on STT because we usually stay our first two nights and our last night on STT so we want our car while we are on STT. It was just out of habit that we opted to rent on STT this last trip even though we didn't stay on STT. We do most of our grocery shopping on STJ other than the few things we buy for our time on STT and buy some of our gas on STJ too. So we are giving most of our business to STJ businesses, but if you want our business, you have to earn it, and Amalie always does.

Last summer, we rented from Amy in mid-July when they were back and forth between one barge and two. The entire time leading up to our trip, I was in communication with Amy, and she was amazing (as always). She offered, on numerous occasions, to let us cancel without a penalty. I contemplated renting from one of the STJ places but after reading all of their fine prints and having had family members have poor experiences with several of the places on STJ, we opted to stick with Amy and roll with whatever was dealt us. It all worked out fine. On our departure day, we took and earlier barge so as not to stress about things and spent the last few hours exploring STT like we like to do when we stay there anyway.

So, all that being said, assuming we go down next summer, we will be renting from Amy again.
"Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" - Dave Matthews Band
Pulley
Posts: 161
Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:42 am
Location: Beaufort, SC

Re: Car Barge info

Post by Pulley »

We've rented from Amy & Dependable on STT and both were great. We've also used St. John Car Rental & L&L. We've always brought proof of insurance so no big deal for us. The car barge situation has changed our thinking for our next trip. I knew someone who spent 4-5 hours at Red Hook waiting to start vacation - not for me! When it time to go back to STT he got to ferry dock a couple of hours early and was the last car to get on. If he hadn't I don't think he would have made his flight. I saw all this because YOU have decide what is less stressful for YOU.

If the possibility of wait 3-5 hours for ferry freaks you out and paying for an extra driver is no big deal then rent on STJ. On the other hand if a wait (IF it happens) isn't going to bother you and you don't want to pay for an extra driver then rent on STT. Bottom line it is your comfort zone not mine or anyone else's. All we can share is our experience strength and hope. :-)

I will say for our last trip Amy was much more expensive then we were used to. I had great service but not sure this time it was worth the difference.
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nothintolose
Posts: 1960
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 pm
Location: New Orleans, LA

Re: Car Barge info

Post by nothintolose »

The paying for an extra driver isn't really an issue with us as I rarely drive on STJ. We always have our insurance card but some companies want you to have a letter from your insurance company that you are covered or they charge you extra. It's the principle and all of the rules of the STJ car rental companies and all of the nickel and diming. Our personal experiences renting on STJ have been fine while other members of our parties have had poor experiences. Our experiences with Amy have just been even better and we are not using price as a decision maker. As I have mentioned, most of the time, we are in no rush to get on or off of STJ.

On the other hand, if we weren't staying on STT before and after, and it was definitely down to one barge, for the locals sake, we would probably rent on STJ knowing that they need to use the car barge more than we do.
"Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" - Dave Matthews Band
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