Dec. 20, 2001 – If you're still looking for a holiday "gift that keeps on giving" for friends or family members, the Reichhold Center for the Arts offers an entertaining option: a "2001-02 mid-season subscription."
There are four programs remaining on the season — Latin music diva Celia Cruz on Jan. 26, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico on Feb. 23, reggae star Barrington Levy on March 23 and the 8th annual STARfest talent extravaganza on the weekends of May 11-12 and 19-20.
Mid-season subscriptions must be for all four presentations, with seating in the A (covered) or B sections. You can custom mix the A and B seats — which is helpful, "since the covered seating for the Celia Cruz show is already sold out!" Reichhold marketing manager Dionne Carty notes.
What you'll do is "Choose Your Own" series, as described on the Reichhold Center box office web page. The page lets you select your seats for each show and place your order by e-mail, fax, postal mail or in person. Elsewhere on the web site you can view video clips of Celia Cruz and Ballet Concierto.
Mid-season subscribers, like full season subscribers, are entitled to "a 10 percent discount on the total ticket price, preferential seating and invitations to exclusive artist events," Carty says.
Why bother to become a subscriber? Well, for one thing, it's actually less of a bother.
"Every act has been teriffic," Hurdle "Trip" Lea says of the dozens he's seen at the Reichhold, "but it's so easy to overlook the opportunity if you don't make the commitment ahead of time." That's one of the reasons he has been a subscriber since moving to St. Thomas five years ago. Another is that when you order tickets well in advance instead of waiting until the week — or the night — of the performance, "you get great seats," he adds.
Lea also notes that it is "very important" that Reichhold management "have the ongoing commitment and support early on so they can book acts with confidence."
Elesa Watlington, an energetic octogenarian who has been a full-season subscriber for as far back as she can remember, says "I always go to everything. I am the type of person who likes to learn things, know things and see things." That comes naturally enough from a career as an elementary school teacher. "I've had children and I've taught children," she says, "and I'm always into something."
Watlington, who studied piano as a young girl, says her tastes are eclectic, although she admits that reggae is not high on her list. "I don't play the piano any more, but I'm in choir," she says. "You don't be afraid at my age of being into anything. I love to be in things." And that's why she wouldn't miss an opportunity to take in a Reichhold performance.
Lea, who is with Globalvest Management Co., considers the Reichhold Center "one of the true hidden jewels of the Caribbean … It's truly a world-class venue, acoustically and comfort-wise." Finally, he says, going to Reichhold programs "is great exposure for kids. I've got small children, and it affords them the opportunity to see a wide range of performances that broadens their appreciation of the arts."
Another option for creative gift giving is tickets for just one show.
And if you're not sure of your intended recipient's musical tastes — or, even if you are sure — consider a Reichhold Center gift certificate. "They're available in $10 increments and are applicable to any Reichhold season performance," Carty says.
Ticket prices for the four programs are as follows:
Celia Cruz — $65 (A section, sold out), $42 (B section) and $25 (C section).
Ballet Concierto — $35 (A), $25 (B) and $18 (C).
Barrington Levy — $45 (A) and $35 (B and C).
STARfest 8 — $25 (A), $18 (B) and $10 (C).
Of course, if you've already finished your holiday shopping — or, again, even if you haven't — you could treat yourself to tickets, too.
For details on mid-season subscriptions, advance purchase of individual show tickets and gift certificates, call the Reichhold box office at 693-1559.

First of two parts
Dec. 20, 2001 – Last July, when The West Indian Co. put out its routine release on cruise ship traffic scheduled for the coming season and beyond, the situation looked normal — another bumper year so far for St. Thomas, and ever more passengers and ever bigger ships on the way.
WICO had just spent $20 million widening the pier at the end of the dock to allow taxi and tour buses to pick up passengers more easily, and another $4 million on a 770-foot bulkhead encapsulation to allow the new eagle-class mega-ships to berth at the dock.
Arrivals in the first seven months of 2001 were up 14 percent over the year before, generating an increase of $85 million in economic activity for the period, and the projection for calendar year 2001 was a record 1.9 million passengers. Although St. Croix port calls would be shrinking from 154 to 103 due to the repositioning of one ship and the cutback from weekly to semiweekly visits by another, the coming year otherwise looked like smooth sailing
Since then, it's been anything but.
First was the fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: Travel nose-dived in the first week or so, then rather quickly began climbing back — but with the cruise companies repositioning some ships away from departure points most passengers have to fly to, notably Puerto Rico, in favor of ports they can drive to, such as Galveston, Houston, New Orleans and Tampa. Ships leaving these mainland ports cruise one of several "Western Caribbean" itineraries — none of them calling at St. Thomas or St. Croix.
Then, in late November, came the announcement that Britain's P&O Princess Cruises PLC and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. had agreed to a merger that would create the world's largest cruise operation, a $6 billion to $7 billion enterprise with accommodations for 75,000 passengers aboard 41 ships. The deal between Royal Caribbean, now No. 2, and P&O Princess, now No. 3, would push Carnival Corp., now No. 1, into second spot.
While Carnival has 44 ships, collectively they have accommodations for 61,000 passengers.
Roiling the waters further, Carnival Corp. on Monday launched a $4.4 billion (or $4.5 billion or $4.6 billion, depending on whose report you go by) hostile bid to buy Princess Cruises by taking its own offer — worth, in any case, about $1 billion more to Princess than the Royal Caribbean deal — directly to Princess shareholders.
Meantime, for the last two months, unrelated debate has raged on St. Thomas about the economic implications for the government and the private sector of an agreement the V.I. Port Authority entered into last summer with Royal Caribbean and Carnival. It calls for the two cruise lines to partner in investing $31 million to expand the Crown Bay dock and develop and operate a shopping complex on adjacent land. Their fleets would get preferential berthing at the dock, and the companies would get 75 percent port tax breaks for 20 years.
With acrimony escalating between the Port Authority and cruise lines on one side, and WICO and local business interests on the other, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull called representatives of the VIPA, WICO and St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce boards to Government House on St. Thomas on Monday. The governor, a career educator, gave each group the same homework: to submit a position paper to him by Friday.
Turnbull made no public comment on the matter before or after the Monday meeting.
To the victors belong the seas
A Reuters news service report out of London Monday said the battle between Royal Caribbean and Carnival for P&O Princess "comes as a sharp downturn in luxury tourism, exacerbated by September's attacks in the United States, pushed operators to cut costs by seeking alliances." The report also said the cruise industry "thrived through most of the 1990s but fell out of favor over the past two years on worries about overly ambitious fleet expansion."
A meeting of Princess shareholders is scheduled for January to approve (or not) the merger with Royal Caribbean. In order for the deal to go through, 75 percent of Princess shareholders must approve it. Assuming that approval is forthcoming, the merger is to be finalized in the second quarter of 2002.
Carnival wants the shareholder meeting postponed.
According to The Associated Press, Princess executives rejected a friendly offer from Carnival on the same terms last week because they "believe regulators would reject the bid over antitrust concerns," given that Carnival already is the world's largest cruise operator. On Monday, Princess issued a release stating that it favors going with Royal Caribbean because union with Carnival would be "subject to greater regulatory risk" in both the United States and Europe.
Carnival Corp. chair Mickey Arison, however, told analysts and press representatives that Carnival "would submit the merger proposal to regulators so both deals could be examined. If regulators decide both combinations are possible, shareholders could then select the deal they prefer."
The New York Times reported that Carnival officials had first approached P&O Princess back in September, two months before the Royal Caribbean deal was announced, about a possible merger but never received an answer.
Analysts note that while Carnival is offering Princess shareholders more in cash and stocks that the stock-only offer from Royal Caribbean, the deal with Royal Caribbean would have Princess shareholders maintaining a controlling interest of 50.7 percent in the new company. According to Morgan Stanley, Carnival now has 36 percent of the North American cruise market, Royal Caribbean has 32 percent and P&O Princess has 11 percent.
One encouraging sign Royal Caribbean received after announcing its plan to merge with P&O Princess was that Norwegian authorities ruled that the transaction would not be considered taxable, a major shareholder told The Wall Street Journal. Royal Caribbean's largest shareholder, with a 24 percent stake, is Norway's Wilhemsen family.
According to the Cruise Critic web site (www.cruisecritic.com), if either Princess or Royal Caribbean pulls out of their agreement announced last month, it will have to pay the other $62.5 million.
Carnival Corp., based in Miami, is already an umbrella operation encompassing not only Carnival Cruise Lines but also Holland America, Costa, Cunard, Seabourn and Windstar. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean, also Miami based, owns Celebrity Cruises in addition to Royal Caribbean Cruises. P&O Princess, a British company, owns the Princess Cruises (headquartered in Southern California), British-run P&O, and several other smaller lines operating in Europe and Australia.
On the Cruise Critic web site, a P&O Princess spokeswoman called the agreed-upon union "a merger of holding companies, so none of the brands should be significantly impacted. They will continue to compete with each other." The web site also said the two companies would continue to trade separately on the stock market.
With regulatory agencies in the United States, Britain and Germany holding wild cards in this mega-stakes poker game, and the eventual outcome anyone's guess, the corporate conflict is meantime being played out on the stock markets in New York, London and Oslo. That may seem far removed from daily life in the Virgin Islands. But the drama is one that has immediate and long-term economic impact for the territory, in a number of ways.
What's changed already
Even before Sept. 11, the western Caribbean had become the area of fastest growth in the region, because "the cruise lines are now tapping into the heavy drive markets of the Southwest for their clientele," a July release from the West Indian Co. stated. St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John are ports of call on southern Caribbean and eastern Caribbean itineraries, but are not a part of western routes.
On Oct. 20, Carnival Cruise Lines announced that it would reposition the homeporting of it
s 1,500-passenger Holiday from San Juan to New Orleans beginning in April 2002. The ship has called weekly at St. Thomas year round. "Passengers are not flying outside of the mainland," Giora Israel, Carnival's vice president for strategic planning, said at the time, five weeks after the terrorist attacks. "We're suffering drastically with ships based outside the mainland."
At the same time, Israel said Costa Cruise Lines, a Carnival subsidiary, would leave its 1,900-passenger Costa Victoria in the Mediterranean this season. The ship had been scheduled to call biweekly at St. Thomas starting in December.
Israel also is representing Royal Caribbean in its planned joint venture with Carnival Corp. and the Port Authority. The letter of intent signed by the three entities last August calls for the Crown Bay dock expansion work to begin in the second quarter of 2002.
Carnival marketing representative Barbara McCreary said in November that the Holiday was "the only Carnival ship leaving the eastern Caribbean." The Destiny, also sailing out of San Juan, is beginning a new "best of the Southern Caribbean" route next April but will continue to call at St. Thomas, she said. A new "spirit" class ship, featuring 80 percent of staterooms with outside views, most of them with private balconies, will be making its Atlantic crossing next Sept. 5, and "we don't know yet where it will be positioned," she added.
Princess Cruises, meanwhile, repositioned its Sea Princess, which was to have sailed a Southern Caribbean route weekly from January through April of 2002, to the Mexican Riviera. St. Thomas thus is losing 14 weekly calls by the 1,950-passenger ship, which would have been sailing out of San Juan.
Dean Brown, Princess executive vice president for customer service and sales, said in announcing the Sea Princess itinerary change, "Vacationers have become increasingly interested in finding unique travel experiences closer to home." He said the company was responding by adding new opportunities for passengers to enjoy "the convenience of round-trip departure from North American ports."
Meanwhile, at the start of November, Princess Cruises added the new, 2,600-passenger Golden Princess to its Caribbean fleet — sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. The vessel is calling at St. Thomas weekly through April, and then is scheduled to return next October.
Norwegian Cruise Line, newly acquired by Star Cruises, announced last spring that it was pulling the venerable S.S. Norway out of the Caribbean for repositioning in Europe (later amended to Asia) this fall. But on Sept. 24, it did an about-face, announcing that the ship, after refurbishing, would resume Caribbean cruises the last week of December.
But NCL also canceled a total of 10 visits to St. Thomas — in December, January, February and March — of the Norwegian Sky.
WICO spokesman Calvin Wheatley noted, however, that the Holiday, Sea Princess and Norwegian Sky are all older, smaller ships that are destined to be retired from the fleets to make way for new mega-ships.
An Oct. 7 article in The Washington Post also noted that Holland America would begin using Port Canaveral, Fla., as a homeport but also would increase the number of Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale.
Part 2: The state of the cruise industry in the Caribbean, and what the implications are for the territory with respect to the proposed Crown Bay development and the territory's Long-Term Operating Agreement with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association and its member lines.

First of two parts
Dec. 20, 2001 – Last July, when The West Indian Co. put out its routine release on cruise ship traffic scheduled for the coming season and beyond, the situation looked normal — another bumper year so far for St. Thomas, and ever more passengers and ever bigger ships on the way.
WICO had just spent $20 million widening the pier at the end of the dock to allow taxi and tour buses to pick up passengers more easily, and another $4 million on a 770-foot bulkhead encapsulation to allow the new eagle-class mega-ships to berth at the dock.
Arrivals in the first seven months of 2001 were up 14 percent over the year before, generating an increase of $85 million in economic activity for the period, and the projection for calendar year 2001 was a record 1.9 million passengers. Although St. Croix port calls would be shrinking from 154 to 103 due to the repositioning of one ship and the cutback from weekly to semiweekly visits by another, the coming year otherwise looked like smooth sailing
Since then, it's been anything but.
First was the fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: Travel nose-dived in the first week or so, then rather quickly began climbing back — but with the cruise companies repositioning some ships away from departure points most passengers have to fly to, notably Puerto Rico, in favor of ports they can drive to, such as Galveston, Houston, New Orleans and Tampa. Ships leaving these mainland ports cruise one of several "Western Caribbean" itineraries — none of them calling at St. Thomas or St. Croix.
Then, in late November, came the announcement that Britain's P&O Princess Cruises PLC and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. had agreed to a merger that would create the world's largest cruise operation, a $6 billion to $7 billion enterprise with accommodations for 75,000 passengers aboard 41 ships. The deal between Royal Caribbean, now No. 2, and P&O Princess, now No. 3, would push Carnival Corp., now No. 1, into second spot.
While Carnival has 44 ships, collectively they have accommodations for 61,000 passengers.
Roiling the waters further, Carnival Corp. on Monday launched a $4.4 billion (or $4.5 billion or $4.6 billion, depending on whose report you go by) hostile bid to buy Princess Cruises by taking its own offer — worth, in any case, about $1 billion more to Princess than the Royal Caribbean deal — directly to Princess shareholders.
Meantime, for the last two months, unrelated debate has raged on St. Thomas about the economic implications for the government and the private sector of an agreement the V.I. Port Authority entered into last summer with Royal Caribbean and Carnival. It calls for the two cruise lines to partner in investing $31 million to expand the Crown Bay dock and develop and operate a shopping complex on adjacent land. Their fleets would get preferential berthing at the dock, and the companies would get 75 percent port tax breaks for 20 years.
With acrimony escalating between the Port Authority and cruise lines on one side, and WICO and local business interests on the other, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull called representatives of the VIPA, WICO and St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce boards to Government House on St. Thomas on Monday. The governor, a career educator, gave each group the same homework: to submit a position paper to him by Friday.
Turnbull made no public comment on the matter before or after the Monday meeting.
To the victors belong the seas
A Reuters news service report out of London Monday said the battle between Royal Caribbean and Carnival for P&O Princess "comes as a sharp downturn in luxury tourism, exacerbated by September's attacks in the United States, pushed operators to cut costs by seeking alliances." The report also said the cruise industry "thrived through most of the 1990s but fell out of favor over the past two years on worries about overly ambitious fleet expansion."
A meeting of Princess shareholders is scheduled for January to approve (or not) the merger with Royal Caribbean. In order for the deal to go through, 75 percent of Princess shareholders must approve it. Assuming that approval is forthcoming, the merger is to be finalized in the second quarter of 2002.
Carnival wants the shareholder meeting postponed.
According to The Associated Press, Princess executives rejected a friendly offer from Carnival on the same terms last week because they "believe regulators would reject the bid over antitrust concerns," given that Carnival already is the world's largest cruise operator. On Monday, Princess issued a release stating that it favors going with Royal Caribbean because union with Carnival would be "subject to greater regulatory risk" in both the United States and Europe.
Carnival Corp. chair Mickey Arison, however, told analysts and press representatives that Carnival "would submit the merger proposal to regulators so both deals could be examined. If regulators decide both combinations are possible, shareholders could then select the deal they prefer."
The New York Times reported that Carnival officials had first approached P&O Princess back in September, two months before the Royal Caribbean deal was announced, about a possible merger but never received an answer.
Analysts note that while Carnival is offering Princess shareholders more in cash and stocks that the stock-only offer from Royal Caribbean, the deal with Royal Caribbean would have Princess shareholders maintaining a controlling interest of 50.7 percent in the new company. According to Morgan Stanley, Carnival now has 36 percent of the North American cruise market, Royal Caribbean has 32 percent and P&O Princess has 11 percent.
One encouraging sign Royal Caribbean received after announcing its plan to merge with P&O Princess was that Norwegian authorities ruled that the transaction would not be considered taxable, a major shareholder told The Wall Street Journal. Royal Caribbean's largest shareholder, with a 24 percent stake, is Norway's Wilhemsen family.
According to the Cruise Critic web site (www.cruisecritic.com), if either Princess or Royal Caribbean pulls out of their agreement announced last month, it will have to pay the other $62.5 million.
Carnival Corp., based in Miami, is already an umbrella operation encompassing not only Carnival Cruise Lines but also Holland America, Costa, Cunard, Seabourn and Windstar. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean, also Miami based, owns Celebrity Cruises in addition to Royal Caribbean Cruises. P&O Princess, a British company, owns the Princess Cruises (headquartered in Southern California), British-run P&O, and several other smaller lines operating in Europe and Australia.
On the Cruise Critic web site, a P&O Princess spokeswoman called the agreed-upon union "a merger of holding companies, so none of the brands should be significantly impacted. They will continue to compete with each other." The web site also said the two companies would continue to trade separately on the stock market.
With regulatory agencies in the United States, Britain and Germany holding wild cards in this mega-stakes poker game, and the eventual outcome anyone's guess, the corporate conflict is meantime being played out on the stock markets in New York, London and Oslo. That may seem far removed from daily life in the Virgin Islands. But the drama is one that has immediate and long-term economic impact for the territory, in a number of ways.
What's changed already
Even before Sept. 11, the western Caribbean had become the area of fastest growth in the region, because "the cruise lines are now tapping into the heavy drive markets of the Southwest for their clientele," a July release from the West Indian Co. stated. St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John are ports of call on southern Caribbean and eastern Caribbean itineraries, but are not a part of western routes.
On Oct. 20, Carnival Cruise Lines announced that it would reposition the homeporting of it
s 1,500-passenger Holiday from San Juan to New Orleans beginning in April 2002. The ship has called weekly at St. Thomas year round. "Passengers are not flying outside of the mainland," Giora Israel, Carnival's vice president for strategic planning, said at the time, five weeks after the terrorist attacks. "We're suffering drastically with ships based outside the mainland."
At the same time, Israel said Costa Cruise Lines, a Carnival subsidiary, would leave its 1,900-passenger Costa Victoria in the Mediterranean this season. The ship had been scheduled to call biweekly at St. Thomas starting in December.
Israel also is representing Royal Caribbean in its planned joint venture with Carnival Corp. and the Port Authority. The letter of intent signed by the three entities last August calls for the Crown Bay dock expansion work to begin in the second quarter of 2002.
Carnival marketing representative Barbara McCreary said in November that the Holiday was "the only Carnival ship leaving the eastern Caribbean." The Destiny, also sailing out of San Juan, is beginning a new "best of the Southern Caribbean" route next April but will continue to call at St. Thomas, she said. A new "spirit" class ship, featuring 80 percent of staterooms with outside views, most of them with private balconies, will be making its Atlantic crossing next Sept. 5, and "we don't know yet where it will be positioned," she added.
Princess Cruises, meanwhile, repositioned its Sea Princess, which was to have sailed a Southern Caribbean route weekly from January through April of 2002, to the Mexican Riviera. St. Thomas thus is losing 14 weekly calls by the 1,950-passenger ship, which would have been sailing out of San Juan.
Dean Brown, Princess executive vice president for customer service and sales, said in announcing the Sea Princess itinerary change, "Vacationers have become increasingly interested in finding unique travel experiences closer to home." He said the company was responding by adding new opportunities for passengers to enjoy "the convenience of round-trip departure from North American ports."
Meanwhile, at the start of November, Princess Cruises added the new, 2,600-passenger Golden Princess to its Caribbean fleet — sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. The vessel is calling at St. Thomas weekly through April, and then is scheduled to return next October.
Norwegian Cruise Line, newly acquired by Star Cruises, announced last spring that it was pulling the venerable S.S. Norway out of the Caribbean for repositioning in Europe (later amended to Asia) this fall. But on Sept. 24, it did an about-face, announcing that the ship, after refurbishing, would resume Caribbean cruises the last week of December.
But NCL also canceled a total of 10 visits to St. Thomas — in December, January, February and March — of the Norwegian Sky.
WICO spokesman Calvin Wheatley noted, however, that the Holiday, Sea Princess and Norwegian Sky are all older, smaller ships that are destined to be retired from the fleets to make way for new mega-ships.
An Oct. 7 article in The Washington Post also noted that Holland America would begin using Port Canaveral, Fla., as a homeport but also would increase the number of Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale.
Part 2: The state of the cruise industry in the Caribbean, and what the implications are for the territory with respect to the proposed Crown Bay development and the territory's Long-Term Operating Agreement with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association and its member lines.

Dec. 20, 2001 – Christmas week hasn't turned out as bad as many hoteliers feared. Although there are vacancies here and there, numerous places, particularly on St. John, report they are full.
"We have a couple of rooms until Dec. 22, but we're booked from Dec. 23 'til Jan. 1," Caneel Bay Resort manager Brian Young said.
Most are repeat visitors, including the rich and famous, whom Young declines to identify, that come every year – and usually book by early spring. However, he said a few Christmas regulars canceled their bookings this fall, which opened room for some new guests.
Young said repeat guests view Caneel Bay as a gathering place to meet old friends and swap stories. "We were a little afraid people would forgo the holiday tradition," he acknowledged.
At the St. John Westin Resort, general manager Greg Lundberg said the hotel will have a 98 percent occupancy rate Christmas week. And that, he said, makes it "a normal Christmas." He said most of the guests booked early, but the hotel filled up during the last three weeks. At
At Estate Lindholm, a small inn on St. John, owner Brion Morrisette said all the rooms are booked from this weekend until Jan. 1, and bookings are starting to come in for January. He said the telephone barely rang for about a week and a half after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the momentum has been steady since then. "It's looking to be a good month," he said.
At the St. John Inn, except for a few openings on Christmas and New Year's days, the week is full. Manager Julie Aleman said business is picking up, and she expects January and February to be good.
However, Aleman said, it's evident there are fewer visitors on St. John than would normally be seen at this time of year. For example, she said, most days, cars have to honk to get around the happy hour crowd that spills over the sidewalk and into the street at Woody's Seafood Saloon and Restaurant in Cruz Bay. Now, there is no crowd in the street.
Several St. John vacation villa managers and owners also report 100 percent occupancy rate for Christmas week. "Bookings were pretty good from mid-October 'til the end of the year," Cloud Nine Villas owner Allen Glenn said, and the telephone is continuing to ring.
On St. Croix, the Breakfast Club is filled up for Christmas, owner Toby Chapin said, "and it's all repeat business, too." He said holiday guests start arriving Thursday. He'll won't have any vacancy until Jan. 8.
However, Chapin said he is worried about the rest of the season.While he's booked up for major events like the May triathlon and musical events, so far he has no need to hang out the "no vacancy" sign the rest of the season.
The Buccaneer Hotel has "a room or two" available over Christmas, but fills up starting Dec. 27 and on through New Year's, spokeswoman Christine Goodier said. "But New Year's is always fuller here than Christmas," she noted, speculating that people like to stay home for Christmas but spend the New Year holiday at a resort.
Hotels sometimes get unusual requests from guests. This year, Goodier said, she got an e-mail from a family of four that wanted the hotel to arrange a cheese fondue for them on Christmas Eve. The woman "said it was a family tradition," Goodier said, and even offered to bring the cheese if it was not available locally.
Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association, said there are still vacancies island wide on St. Thomas for Christmas week. "Only a few hotels are sold out for Christmas," she said.
Barbara Cooper, owner of Island View Guest House on St. Thomas, said her occupancy rate is about 60 percent for Christmas week. "We were busier last year," she said, noting that many of the holiday guests booked within the last couple of weeks.
The Renaissance Grand Beach Resort will see about 90 percent occupancy for four or five nights in the Christmas-to-New Year's period, general manager David Yamada said. "We're starting to see more and more short-term bookings," he said. He attributed much of the last-minute business to lowered airfares. "They're a huge help," he said.
At Secret Harbour Beach Resort, business is not as good as last year, manager Ernest Halliday said. "It looks good, but not as good as we had hoped," he said, adding that Secret Harbour, too, is getting last-minute bookings. With the reservations still being entered into the computer, he said he didn't know exactly where the occupancy rate stood.
Best Western Emerald Beach Resort will hit 85 to 90 percent occupancy, general manager Joel Kling said. "Because of the location, we'll get some last-minute bookings," he added, referring to the fact that the hotel is near Cyril E. King Airport.
Emerald Beach's sister property, Best Western Carib Beach Resort, is reopening Friday. It had closed for renovations on Sept. 1 and didn't reopen when it had only a few bookings after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Hopefully, we'll stay open," said Kling, who also manages Carib Beach. He said the hotel is looking at 60 percent occupancy for Christmas through New Year's.
Richard Doumeng, general manager of Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, said his hotel is just about sold out from Dec. 27 through Jan. 1, but January and February are behind last year. He thinks airline marketing changes may be contributing to late bookings. Many people wait for last-minute airfare deals before they book a hotel, he said.
Doumeng also pointed out that his hotel rates are lower this year than last. "This is the first time we're giving away anything in the winter season," he said.
He was referring to the "Stay and Play, We'll Pay" promotion initiated by the Tourism Department at the start of November. It gives guests booking at least three nights' accommodations the fourth night free, plus $200 in American Express traveler's checks to spend as they like. The promotion ends Dec. 25 and travel must be completed by March 31. Bookings must be made through participating tour operators.

Dec. 20, 2001 – Christmas week hasn't turned out as bad as many hoteliers had feared. Although there are vacancies here and there, numerous places, particularly on St. John, report they are full.
"We have a couple of rooms until Dec. 22, but we're booked from Dec. 23 'til Jan. 1," Caneel Bay Resort manager Brian Young said.
Most are repeat visitors, including the rich and famous, whom Young declines to identify, that come every year – and usually book by early spring. However, he said a few Christmas regulars canceled their bookings this fall, which opened room for some new guests.
Young said repeat guests view Caneel Bay as a gathering place to meet old friends and swap stories. "We were a little afraid people would forgo the holiday tradition," he acknowledged.
At the St. John Westin Resort, general manager Greg Lundberg said the hotel will have a 98 percent occupancy rate Christmas week. And that, he said, makes it "a normal Christmas." He said most of the guests booked early, but the hotel filled up during the last three weeks. At
At Estate Lindholm, a small inn on St. John, owner Brion Morrisette said all the rooms are booked from this weekend until Jan. 1, and bookings are starting to come in for January. He said the telephone barely rang for about a week and a half after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the momentum has been steady since then. "It's looking to be a good month," he said.
At the St. John Inn, except for a few openings on Christmas and New Year's days, the week is full. Manager Julie Aleman said business is picking up, and she expects January and February to be good.
However, Aleman said, it's evident there are fewer visitors on St. John than would normally be seen at this time of year. For example, she said, most days, cars have to honk to get around the happy hour crowd that spills over the sidewalk and into the street at Woody's Seafood Saloon and Restaurant in Cruz Bay. Now, there is no crowd in the street.
Several St. John vacation villa managers and owners also report 100 percent occupancy rate for Christmas week. "Bookings were pretty good from mid-October 'til the end of the year," Cloud Nine Villas owner Allen Glenn said, and the telephone is continuing to ring.
On St. Croix, the Breakfast Club is filled up for Christmas, owner Toby Chapin said, "and it's all repeat business, too." He said holiday guests start arriving Thursday. He'll won't have any vacancy until Jan. 8.
However, Chapin said he is worried about the rest of the season.While he's booked up for major events like the May triathlon and musical events, so far he has no need to hang out the "no vacancy" sign the rest of the season.
The Buccaneer Hotel has "a room or two" available over Christmas, but fills up starting Dec. 27 and on through New Year's, spokeswoman Christine Goodier said. "But New Year's is always fuller here than Christmas," she noted, speculating that people like to stay home for Christmas but spend the New Year holiday at a resort.
Hotels sometimes get unusual requests from guests. This year, Goodier said, she got an e-mail from a family of four that wanted the hotel to arrange a cheese fondue for them on Christmas Eve. The woman "said it was a family tradition," Goodier said, and even offered to bring the cheese if it was not available locally.
Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association, said there are still vacancies island wide on St. Thomas for Christmas week. "Only a few hotels are sold out for Christmas," she said.
Barbara Cooper, owner of Island View Guest House on St. Thomas, said her occupancy rate is about 60 percent for Christmas week. "We were busier last year," she said, noting that many of the holiday guests booked within the last couple of weeks.
The Renaissance Grand Beach Resort will see about 90 percent occupancy for four or five nights in the Christmas-to-New Year's period, general manager David Yamada said. "We're starting to see more and more short-term bookings," he said. He attributed much of the last-minute business to lowered airfares. "They're a huge help," he said.
At Secret Harbour Beach Resort, business is not as good as last year, manager Ernest Halliday said. "It looks good, but not as good as we had hoped," he said, adding that Secret Harbour, too, is getting last-minute bookings. With the reservations still being entered into the computer, he said he didn't know exactly where the occupancy rate stood.
Best Western Emerald Beach Resort will hit 85 to 90 percent occupancy, general manager Joel Kling said. "Because of the location, we'll get some last-minute bookings," he added, referring to the fact that the hotel is near Cyril E. King Airport.
Emerald Beach's sister property, Best Western Carib Beach Resort, is reopening Friday. It had closed for renovations on Sept. 1 and didn't reopen when it had only a few bookings after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Hopefully, we'll stay open," said Kling, who also manages Carib Beach. He said the hotel is looking at 60 percent occupancy for Christmas through New Year's.
Richard Doumeng, general manager of Bolongo Bay Beach Club and Villas, said his hotel is just about sold out from Dec. 27 through Jan. 1, but January and February are behind last year. He thinks airline marketing changes may be contributing to late bookings. Many people wait for last-minute airfare deals before they book a hotel, he said.
Doumeng also pointed out that his hotel rates are lower this year than last. "This is the first time we're giving away anything in the winter season," he said.
He was referring to the "Stay and Play, We'll Pay" promotion initiated by the Tourism Department at the start of November. It gives guests booking at least three nights' accommodations the fourth night free, plus $200 in American Express traveler's checks to spend as they like. The promotion ends Dec. 25 and travel must be completed by March 31. Bookings must be made through participating tour operators.

Dec. 20, 2001 — As we celebrate the joy and beautiful sights of the Virgin Islands during this holiday season, let us take time to reflect on the precious gift of life that is given to all Virgin Islanders. Let us take a few moments to acknowledge that we are grateful to participate in all the festivities and special family moments that characterize this time of year. This is why I spearheaded, along with other community organizations, the lighting of our towns and parks territory-wide
Let us keep in mind those who will experience sadness during this time of gaiety because they have endured tragedy or the loss of loved ones. This holiday season provides a reminder that goodwill among men and women must prevail if we are to enjoy a global peace that unifies us across a human chain of events. September 11, 2001 brought home the swiftness, with which our world can be forever altered.
We must remember in our prayers those families who will celebrate their first Christmas without their loved ones whose lives were tragically smitten by these heinous acts. Let us also remember in our prayers and thoughts the young men and women of America and our allies, who are serving in the Armed Forces, far away from their homeland. These brave and valiant soldiers are giving up their own merriment to ensure the freedoms that we sometimes take so much for granted. They are worthy of our deepest respect and appreciation.
Finally, let us share the goodwill of this season with each other – at home and abroad. Let us share our gifts – both tangible and intangible – with those less fortunate than we are. Let us ensure that our children understand that the true spirit of this season is characterized by dedication, love, and selflessness. As a community, let us create an atmosphere of devotion, caring and understanding so that we will prosper together. It is our responsibility to secure a positive future for all Virgin Islanders. May God bless the families in the territory during this joyous time, and may He bless America and the United States Virgin Islands and all of us. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Dec. 20, 2001 – More than 1. 5 million people a day are expected to see a 30-second Virgin Islands image flash across the electronic billboard called Astrovision that overlooks New York's famed Times Square from the NBC Building.
The ads will be seen not only by people in Times Square, "but also by people around the world who watch programs that are broadcast from there, including the ever-popular New Year's Eve celebration," Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards said in a news release.
The huge postcard-style ads began appearing on the 30 by 40 foot screen Monday. A total of 960 of the 30-second spots will run, positioned between 9 a.m. and 1 a.m. every day until New Year's Day.
Luana Wheatley, who handles the Virgin Islands account at Martin Public Relations, said the commercial spots running on the Astrovision screen are the same ones that are currently airing on television.
Wendall Snider, president of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, applauded the Astrovision initiative. "We have to have a presence," he said. However, he said it's anybody's guess whether the ads will induce people to come to the territory. There appears to be a current resistance to travel no matter what the destination, he said, but adding that he believes that eventually people will start traveling again.
The Astrovision ad is part of the territory's "Sea to Shining Sea" advertising campaign that shows Virgin Islands scenes. The campaign also includes 570 banner ads on the New York City subways; commercials on such major cable networks as CNN, The Travel Channel, The Weather Channel and ESPN; and radio spots airing in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
In addition, print ads are appearing in the newspapers USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, The Washington Post, The San Juan Star and the magazines Bon Appetit, Town & Country, Bride's, Modern Bride and Travel Weekly.

Dec. 20, 2001 – More than 1.5 million people a day are expected to see a 30-second Virgin Islands image flash across the electronic billboard called Astrovision that overlooks New York's famed Times Square from the NBC Building.
The ads will be seen not only by people in Times Square, "but also by people around the world who watch programs that are broadcast from there, including the ever-popular New Year's Eve celebration," Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards said in a news release.
The huge postcard-style ads began appearing on the 30 by 40 foot screen Monday. A total of 960 of the 30-second spots will run, positioned between 9 a.m. and 1 a.m. every day until New Year's Day.
Luana Wheatley, who handles the Virgin Islands account at Martin Public Relations, said the commercial spots running on the Astrovision screen are the same ones that are currently airing on television.
Wendall Snider, president of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association, applauded the Astrovision initiative. "We have to have a presence," he said. However, he said it's anybody's guess whether the ads will induce people to come to the territory. There appears to be a current resistance to travel no matter what the destination, he said, but he believes people eventually will start traveling again.
The Astrovision ad is part of the territory's "Sea to Shining Sea" advertising campaign that shows Virgin Islands scenes. The campaign also includes 570 banner ads on the New York City subways; commercials on such major cable networks as CNN, The Travel Channel, The Weather Channel and ESPN; and radio spots airing in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
In addition, print ads are appearing in the newspapers USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Daily News, The Washington Post, The San Juan Star and the magazines Bon Appetit, Town & Country, Bride's, Modern Bride and Travel Weekly.

Dec. 20, 2001 – Help is on the way for the territory's rain-ravaged roads and others in dire need of repair.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull announced on Thursday that he has directed the Office of Management and Budget to release to the Public Works Department $3.4 million of a $5.5 million fund earmarked for road work.
In a Government House release, the governor said the funding is "earmarked for road paving which will provide much-needed maintenance and repair services to roads severely impacted by recent rains."
On St. Thomas, paving is scheduled for the Wintberg Heights road from the Donoe bypass eastward to connecting roads; the Estate Contant road; the Frydenjoj Gold Hill road; the East Caret Bay road; and the Wintberg Lemon Tree road and associated roads.
On St. Croix, Estate Anna's Hope and William's Delight roads are slated for major refurbishing. Also scheduled is construction of William's Delight drainage and Mount Pleasant west sidewalk/recreation projects.
On St. John, projects include paving Fish Bay Road and several other roads.
The release of the funds will allow Public Works to move forward with the bidding and construction phases of the projects, "improving the territory's fragile infrastructure," Turnbull said.

Editor's note: This is a copy sent to the Source of another letter sent to the governor regarding the rezoning of Botany Bay.
Dear Source,
I am a full-time resident of the island of St. John. You have heard much on the impact the Botany Bay project would have on the island of St. Thomas. Now, on my third reading of the zoning, building and housing laws and regulations in the V.I. Code, I would like you to read Section 531, page one of the book:
"Declaration of policy. The Legislature of the Virgin Islands hereby determines and finds that the lands and waters comprising the watersheds of the United States Virgin Islands are great natural assets and resources; and that improper development of land results in changed watershed conditions … "
Throughout the code, the phrases "protect the natural resources of the islands," "promote the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens," and "the conservation of beaches, shorelines and the coastal zones" are expressed in the many forms that have been adopted by the Legislature. Also in the code, in different sections, the prevention of major impact to the already stressed infrastructure of the islands is stated.
Nowhere in the code does it state, imply or suggest that a developer should have the right to an excessive return on his investment. Botany Bay Partners purchased the land knowing that it was zoned R-1. Now they want to change the rules for their benefit, including tax benefits. The difference between R-1 (section 228, page 31) and R-3 (same section, page 33) is great, and with some "creative developer thinking," the impact on the property and on St. Thomas will be irreversible.
The Virgin Islands needs money. But destroying property [to get it] is not the answer, and developers do not have a positive record in correcting their mistakes. For the people living here now, and the people to come, please veto bill No. 24-0199. It is the right thing to do.
Bruce L. McMakin
St. John

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.