{"id":46426,"date":"2014-04-04T19:47:59","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T23:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/?p=46426"},"modified":"2016-04-21T15:54:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21T19:54:53","slug":"check-out-some-of-these-st-thomas-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/2014\/04\/04\/check-out-some-of-these-st-thomas-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Check out some of these St. Thomas sites during your Caribbean cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Thomas is the transportation hub of the U.S. Virgin Islands and offers a wide variety of activities and attractions. Whether you want to stay close to the bustling port of Charlotte Amalie\u00a0or explore some of the more underdeveloped parts of the island, you’ll find plenty to do during your Caribbean cruise<\/a> vacation.<\/p>\n

The travel pros at CruiseExperts.com put our heads together to come up with the most interesting places to visit in St. Thomas. Here our our top picks:<\/p>\n

Blackbeard’s Castle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ready to experience some fun Caribbean history and lore? Then you must pay a visit to Blackbeard’s\u00a0Castle. Originally built as a military installation by the Dutch in 1678, local legend claims that that the five-story watchtowers was used as a lookout post by the pirate Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. Visitors can climb up to the top for good views of the harbor.<\/p>\n

The admission fee includes access to the colonial homes that are also on the property and a tour of a rum factory, where a guide will explain the distilling process. It’s best to visit the castle earlier in the day when it’s still cool and before the crowds arrive.<\/p>\n

Coral World Ocean Park\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

If you will be traveling with children on your cruise vacation, sometimes it’s just fun to get involved in\u00a0some “touristy” activities. Coral World Ocean Park does the job. Voted the “Top Attraction in the Virgin Islands,” Coral World allows visitors to get up close and personal with interesting Caribbean marine life. Throughout the day, the park’s staff gives talks about marine biology while feeding the animals.<\/p>\n

\"coral-world-ocean-park-sea-trek-experience-fish\"<\/picture><\/a>

Photo courtesy of Coral World Ocean Park<\/p><\/div>\n

Visitors also have the opportunity to pet and feed various see creatures for themselves, and even\u00a0swim with them for an additional fee. The park also\u00a0has\u00a0various restaurants and gift shops. Coki\u00a0Beach is also nearby if you want a place to relax after a busy morning.<\/p>\n

\"coral-world-ocean-park-sea-lion\"<\/picture><\/a>

Photo courtesy of Coral World Ocean Park<\/p><\/div>\n

Magic Ice\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ice sculptures in the Caribbean? You must think we’re kidding. Believe it or not, St. Thomas is the home to the world’s largest ice gallery. All of the center’s exhibitions\u00a0–\u00a0including sculptures, a children’s slide\u00a0and wedding chapel –\u00a0are all made of ice.<\/p>\n

There is also an exhibit that emphasizes the rich history of the Caribbean. Here, you will find sculptures about piracy’s “Golden Age” and receive drinks from a pirate ship ice bar. Be sure to bring a coat!<\/p>\n

St. Thomas Synagogue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Built in 1796, St. Thomas Synagogue\u00a0is the second-oldest Jewish temple in the western hemisphere and has been declared a National Historic Landmark. The first Jewish settlers came to St. Thomas from Denmark in the mid-18th century, and the congregation continues to flourish.<\/p>\n

The temple has a very unique design that’s hard to forget. The floor of the synagogue is made of sand to symbolize the exodus of Israelites from Egypt. There is also a small museum that visitors are welcome to explore.<\/p>\n

Are you ready to embark on an exciting Caribbean cruise vacation? Call a CruiseExperts.com agent now to book your next cruise. We’re here to answer any questions you may have and provide suggestions for interesting things to do. Not interested in spending time in a warm climate? Don’t worry! We can provide you information about Alaska cruise tours<\/a> or nontraditional, but very exciting, European cruise vacation<\/a>. There’s no need to wait! Call us at 1-888-804-CRUISE (2784) or visit our website, www.CruiseExperts.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Thomas is the transportation hub of the U.S. Virgin Islands and offers a wide variety of activities and attractions. Whether you want to stay close to the bustling port of Charlotte Amalie\u00a0or explore some of the more underdeveloped parts of the island, you’ll find plenty to do during your Caribbean cruise vacation. The travel … Check out some of these St. Thomas sites during your Caribbean cruise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":46428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,10,30,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caribbean","category-did-you-know","category-informative","category-our-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}