Heading To The Islands Next Month

[Dood]

During the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, my wife's family are taking us on a cruise to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and the "Princess Cay" (island owned by the cruise line).

Looking forward to the trip as I believe it will afford me a chance to hop over to Anguilla and pay a visit to the Pyrat Rum location there for some tastings and an opportunity to acquire some Cask 23 at a price that is a good deal less than what I can find here.

[Edward Hamilton]

While you're in St Thomas take a short walk up the hill from the cruise ship dock to the grocery store on the right, which has a very good and affordable rum selection. A little farther up the hill is KMart, on the left, which also has a good rum selection where you might find some very good deals and where I've occasionally found rums which were obviously mispriced. Happy hunting.

Anguilla is a ferry ride across the channel from St Martin, the northerly French side, you'll have to hustle to get there and back to the cruise ship dock in a day. Check to see if someone is offering a day trip to Anguilla from the cruise ship to Sandy Ground, which isn't much of a tourist destination. The Anguilla rum company is just up the hill from Sandy Ground, but check where you're going in Anguilla before you get there as most daytrips only go to a beach for snorkeling and lunch then back to St Maarten.

If you can't make it to Anguilla there are a few places in St Martin / Sint Maarten where you can find some rum deals.

[Hank Koestner]

You might want to try to aquire a bottle of A.H.Riise while on St. Thomas.
I have heard and read that this is an excellent rum, and the only place you can find it is on St. Thomas, where it is made. I believe there is a 3 to 6 year and 6 to 12 year available. I think Ed can tell you more about this rum. It has been on my list for 2 years.
I was in Anguilla in July, and St. Martin. It might be hard to get to Anguilla and back in a day
if you have to taxi from Phillipsburg to Marigot to take the ferry to Anguilla. Most of the cruise ships dock in Phillipsburg, on the Dutch side. On a good day the ferry is about a 45 minute ride to Anguilla. In St Maarten or St. Martin, you will have no trouble finding a great selection of rums in different stores.

[Dood]

Thanks for the tips!

I'm hoping we'll be able to make it to Anguilla. My in-laws made the suggestion because they were able to make the trip on their last cruise, but I'm not sure of our full itinerary yet.

I'll keep my fingers crossed, and at the very least, make the stops you have suggested.

[Dood]

Looks like we'll be in St. Maarten for 11 hours total. Based on what I've been reading about ferry times and driving times on Anguilla, I think we can do it.

[Dood]

I leave today (this evening actually)! I'm incredibly excited...I haven't been to the islands since I started in on this wonderful habit.

Appt. for a tour of the Anguilla Rum Ltd's facility for Wednesday afternoon. I'll post pictures when I get back.

[Scottes]

Have fun, and pick up some tasty rums!!

[Count Silvio]

Godspeed, Dood.

[Hank Koestner]

Enjoy yourself. You will be in Rum heaven!!

[Dood]

I'm back. The trip was largely successful.

I managed to pick up bottles of Havana Club 7-year-old, Brugal Siglo de Soro, Appleton Estate Reserve, and made it to the Pyrat factory on Anguilla. The only regrets I have with my pickups are that I didn't pick up a bottle of Appleton Dark that I saw EVERYWHERE down there but have never seen in the States, and that our day on St. Thomas happened to also be Thanksgiving Day, so after the family sailing excursion to St. John was over, A.H. Riise was closed.

It's probably for the best...between my wife and I, we returned with 2 suitcases weighing 48.5 pounds a piece...I don't think we could have brought any more back with us anyway (she brought back a lot of stuff from St. Maarten...she loves the painted bottles).