St. Croix, the largest of the USVIs, gets nowhere near as many visitors as St. Thomas, making for a more easygoing port experience. (A few years back, a spate of robberies and muggings against passengers and crew drove most cruise lines out of St. Croix, but a concerted effort by the island recently to improve conditions has brought many lines back.) The island’s Dutch heritage is evident throughout its capital, Frederiksted.
Top draw The offshore Buck Island Reef National Monument (www.nps.gov/buis ) is full of gorgeous coral reefs.
Bottoms up Tours of the Cruzan Rum Distillery in Frederiksted are refreshingly more about the working factory, the process, and the history than about the tastings at the end (though it has those, too).
