I cannot believe today was the second-to-last port stop of this voyage! This cruise has been flying by, and I don’t want it to end yet. On the plus side, I got to tick a new country off my list: the US Virgin Islands. That’s right, we stopped in St. Croix and I’m here to tell you all about it. In this blog post I’ll be going over: my shore excursion bike ride in St. Croix (and what makes it special), the shore excursion meet up process, brunch at Razzle Dazzle, sunset and Greek food at The Dock, and finally experiencing the ship’s Italian restaurant called Extra Virgin. Stick around to see how my fifth day on the Scarlet Valentine’s Voyage went!

Shore Excursion – Virgin Voyages vs. Third Party

Yesterday, I wrote about how I booked the food tour in San Juan through Viator, however this excursion in St. Croix I booked through Virgin Voyages. I booked a bike tour that was specially curated by Virgin Voyages and couldn’t be booked anywhere else. What was special about this tour? Part of the proceeds went toward a St. Croix foundation for maintaining the biking trails on the island. The tour also included a stop at an ocean view plantation that served the group smoothies and vegan sliders. These two aspects aren’t part of any other bike tour on St. Croix with any other cruise company. It’s a Virgin special! 

Shore Excursion – St. Croix on Two Wheels

For full context, here is the description of the tour according to Virgin Voyages: “See St. Croix on two wheels in a 10-mile bike tour around the west end of the island. Discover nature and history as you pedal past the rainforest, coastline, and historic Freedom City while learning about the coastal ecosystem of the island. You’ll hop on your bike at Butler Bay Plantation for a walking tour of the 260-year-old estate. Enjoy a well-deserved break with a virgin piña colada smoothie, plant-based slider, and panoramic views on the estate porch.” This tour costs $115 USD per person and take a maximum of 15-ish guests.

Shore Excursion – Check-In Process

My bike excursion in St. Croix was supposed to start at 8:00 AM, but the day before I received a message on my app that the excursion time changed to 7:30 AM. Totally fine. The instructions on the app said to check-in at the Shore Things desk on Deck 7 twenty minutes prior to check-in. So I was actually supposed to check-in at 7:10 AM. Very confusing! 

I went down to the Shore Things desk, scanned my band, and was given a number. I was told to take the number with me and disembark the ship. From there I’ll see a bunch of groups holding up a number, and I’m to find the group holding my number. Simple enough – so I set out to Deck 4 and got off the ship pretty quickly. 

Upon disembarking, I immediately saw a woman in biking gear holding up my number. Perfect! I was asked to fill out a brief liability waiver and then we headed over to the bike shop at 7:30 AM on the dot. Our guide, Randy, introduced himself as a Texas transplant who moved to St. Croix years ago and fell in love with the island. In fact, throughout the tour locals were slowing down to shout, “Hey Randy!” and that’s how I knew I was in good hands. 

Let’s Bike Around St. Croix!

I picked one of the cute bikes made for shorter folks like myself and got settled in. We were all given a helmet and bottle of water. Randy would be directing us at the front of the pack while Enid would be behind us making sure we’re all staying on the road. Fun fact: You drive on the left side of the road in the US Virgin Islands. Don’t ask me why, but it’s a thing! 

You can’t learn about St. Croix without covering difficult topics like slavery, and Randy made that pretty clear from the start. We started off our biking tour stopping at a monument dedicated to General Buddhoe, who was a key figure in the emancipation against Denmark in the late 1840’s. Randy spent some time explaining General Buddhoe’s role and how he contributed to freeing slaves and the ripple effect it had for the emancipation movement. 

We carried on biking through Frederiksted learning about buildings being made of coral and the mortar including molasses. We also spoke about the impact of hurricanes on the island and how the infrastructure had been affected (the island didn’t have power for 5 months after Irma!). We learned about proper greetings and local life all while leisurely biking through town. 

We started to follow a road that remained parallel to the ocean and it was amazing getting to bike so close! There was only one moderate hill we had to bike up, but the rest was relatively flat road. After around 45 minutes of biking, we stopped at a plantation with an inn on property. The co-owner of the inn met us and spoke to us about the history of the plantation and the historical and emotional significance of some of the trees planted on property. 

Thoughts on the Bike Excursion

After stopping a the plantation for a fruit smoothie and vegan slider, we rode our bikes back to Frederiksted stopping in front of a sugarcane plantation on the way. Randy told us that the owner of this plantation supplies a significant amount of sugarcane for Captain Morgan’s rum production on the island. He shed some light on the ongoing conflict between locals who don’t want to see sugarcane produced on their island due to past trauma, and locals who believe the production will improve the local economy. Very interesting, indeed. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this bike excursion. It wasn’t just a pretty bike ride, but I actually learned a lot about the island’s history and current events. I appreciate excursions like these that show a slice of life rather than the generic bus tours that take you around the island with boring facts. Do I think the commentary may have been different if a local led the tour instead of an expat? Perhaps, and I’d be interested to know the differences. I think Randy did a fantastic job of laying out the history of the island as he understands it and went above and beyond in sharing his love of the island with us. 

Even though the bike riding wasn’t too difficult, there was one little hill that had us all panting. The road conditions closer to the plantation aren’t that great. There were potholes and plenty of rocks that needed to be dodged. There’s also no bike lane so you’ll have to be comfortable driving close to traffic. If you’re comfortable on a bike, this should be no problem for you! You can always hop off the bike and walk the hill if it’s too difficult. 10/10 would recommend this excursion!

Brunch at Razzle Dazzle

After my bike tour, I said bye to Randy and Enid, snapped a few pictures of Frederiksted (there’s really not much to see here), and hopped back on the ship. It was only 10 AM so I figured I earned myself a delicious brunch. Razzle Dazzle is the other brunch restaurant I had not yet tried, and they always seem to have walk up ability. 

You’ll recall on my first night on the ship I dined at Lucky Lotus. Well, Razzle Dazzle is the daytime concept of the same restaurant. It actually started as Razzle Dazzle first before Lucky Lotus was recently implemented on the Scarlet Lady. The brunch menu focuses on a variety of healthy eats (acai bowl, avocado toast, etc.), asian (dumplings, wonton soup), typical breakfast fare (eggs, waffles, etc.) and “naughty” items (fried chicken sandwich, smoked bacon). 

My brunch started by being presented with a tray of carbs, my favorite. I went for the chocolate chip scone and the apple cruffin (croissant muffin). Both were delicious though I wished the cruffin had more of a flakey crunch I expect from a croissant. I then ordered the sunny side up hash, a root vegetable hash stir fried with kimchi topped with runny eggs, and a side of smoked bacon. The smoked bacon is a MUST and it’s widely talked about among Virgin Voyages fans. The thick cut bacon is candied and smoked so when it hits your mouth you have the perfect combination of bite, chew, smokey, salty, sweet. 

For dessert I opted for the rainbow churros, and I thought these were just okay. They looked really pretty, but they tasted simply like fried dough coated in sugar. No cinnamon or any spices. The purple ube ice cream didn’t have any discernible flavor, though the strawberry syrup brought the dish back to life. I’d opt for the Razzle Dazzle cake instead next time!

Nap Time or Play Time?

I didn’t have much to do after brunch as I wanted to keep my day flexible. After getting back to my cabin and freshening up, I debated going downstairs to the many activities going on (trivia, workout classes, speed puzzle competition) or listening to my body and giving it a rest. The rest won out and I ended up napping to the sound of the ocean waves hitting the side of the ship. 

Opa Hour at The Dock

I was feeling reinvigorated after my nap, much so that I decided to take my kindle to The Dock to enjoy the sunset. We were also scheduled to leave St. Croix at 6 PM so this would be the perfect opportunity for me to see the sun set and see the ship leave the island. I headed down to Deck 7 all the way at the back of the ship until I found The Dock. 

There are two parts of this lounge: The Dock which is the outside portion of the lounge facing the wake of the ship, and The Dock House which is the inside portion of the lounge near the bar and where live bands play. Both serve the same menus. The Dock typically has a DJ playing electronic beats, while The Dock House tends to be more acoustic music. Which one is your vibe? 

I grabbed a seat at The Dock facing St. Croix and the beautiful setting sun. I read my kindle for a good while enjoying the chill music until I started to feel peckish. The regular Dock menu offers Mediterranean tapas such as goat cheese polenta, grilled shrimp, Spanish octopus, and hangar steak with anchovy and mint. During Opa hour, which is only from 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM, an additional Greek inspired menu becomes available. This one features a mezze platter, lamb skewer, cod souvlaki – you get the idea. 

Watching the sunset at The Dock has been one of the highlights of my cruise so far. The vibes here are chill and unmatched. Everyone just wants to hang out, enjoy some good bites, and catch the sunset. The only thing I want to mention is that there’s not a lot of shade here in the afternoon so bring a hat and sunscreen! The lounges with the umbrellas go the quickest. 

Dinner Time Already? Let’s Head to Extra Virgin

I spent another hour after the sunset reading at The Dock before I started to get hungry again. This evening I had a 9:00 PM (ship time – 10 PM actual time) reservation at Extra Virgin. For anyone that knows me, I eat dinner around 6 PM usually so this reservation was late for me. I happened to be checking the app for other dining times and a 6:45 PM (ship time) Extra Virgin slot became available. I quickly snatched that up and started walking to Extra Virgin. 

Extra Virgin is located on Deck 6 near the shops. This is Virgin Voyages’ Italian restaurant on the ship, and it’s incredibly popular. The decor inside the restaurant is reminiscent of an upscale Italian eatery that I’d find in Boston (like Contessa at The Newbury) or New York. Seating in this restaurant is in tight quarters as they try to cram as many people in this restaurant as possible. The menu is, well, Italian. Think charcuterie board and meatball appetizers, a varied pasta section, and a classic Italian meat section.

Dinner at Extra Virgin

Sitting down I was quickly served a basket of fresh focaccia and olive oil with balsamic vinegar. We’re off to a great start! I decided to go for the braised meatballs and the crispy artichoke as my appetizer. The meatballs were moist and juicy and I loved the addition of the smoky mozzarella on top. I love artichoke and this scratched that itch for me, although it could’ve packed more flavor in my opinion. 

I opted for a main course of two pasta dishes, and I requested them to be smaller portions. I went with the bucatini carbonara and the mushroom gnocchi. The gnocchi was delectable with a true melt in your mouth texture. The truffle butter sauce with spinach and mushroom was the perfect pairing with the pillowy gnocchis. The bucatini carbonara in comparison was not as great. I love a good carbonara, and while the sauce and pancetta were tasty, the bucatini was tragically overcooked and turned to mush in my mouth. I definitely see potential here and maybe on a good night the dish could be perfection. 

For dessert, I could’ve chosen between a chocolate olive oil cake or ricotta bombolinis, but to end the night I decided on a decaf affogato. Usually they bring over a cute little cart with the gelatos, toppings, and moka pot with coffee to do this table side. Because I was squeezed in a tight table, however, I was told they couldn’t bring the cart over and instead brought be a glass of gelato and poured the coffee over the top. It was still very tasty, crisp, and refreshing. Exactly what I needed to end the evening. 

Ending the Night

After dinner I walked around and took a peek at what was going on for entertainment. There was a 90’s Rock Show-ke activity (a 90’s singalong), music trivia, a whiskey tasting, live bands playing, the Lights Camera Drag show, a drawing challenge, and a Y2K party that started way too late for me. I think I was feeling pretty exhausted from the bike ride and then napping, plus work was starting to pile up for me so I called it an early night and went back to my cabin. 

The next day was going to be a sea day and the big event: Scarlet Night. Stay tuned for my next blog post in which I have brunch 2.0 at The Wake, check out a trivia challenge, try the Afternoon Tea experience, see a magic show with The Charmer, catch a comedy show, and then finally spill all the tea about the most talked about event on Virgin Voyages cruises, Scarlet Night. Until next time!