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HOW TO RING IN 2000 WITH THREE FIGURES

There will be fireworks over both St. Thomas and St. John on New Year’s Eve, and a plethora of parties awaiting those still looking for ways to welcome the new millennium (if that’s how you’re counting). Your choice of public New Year’s Eve offerings hereabouts may be guided by how much money you have left after Christmas. The criterion for inclusion in what follows is a three-figure ticket ($99.99 doesn’t make it; sorry, Molly’s Molone’s).
For a multicultural celebration, the Interculture Network has a party aboard the Captain Vic barge. It will feature Nigerian dancers and drummers; Grupo Carabali, an Afro-Cuban band out of Puerto Rico; the Local 12 DJ ensemble from Puerto Rico and DJ Virgo from Minneapolis; and Penny Wiggins, a V.I.-born comic from Los Angeles, as emcee. This is a costumes-required affair and the price tag of $250 includes a buffet and an open bar. The boat leaves Red Hook at 8 p.m. and Cruz Bay at 8:30 and will swing back to Red Hook at 11 p.m. for a late-night pickup, and back again at 2 a.m. for an early drop-off. Tickets are being sold at the Modern Music and Just Cuts shops, or call 776-7774.
The Westin Resort on St. John has been promising midnight fireworks in advertising for weeks, with two party options — $175 for an eight-course dinner in the Cocoloba restaurant and $99 for an international buffet feast in the Beach Cafe.
Now, on St. Thomas, the Renaissance Grand Beach and Wyndham Sugar Bay Resorts and the Agave Terrace restaurant at Point Pleasant have gone together to hire a company to put up midnight sky lights, too. They'll be launched from a barge offshore. The Wyndham is an all-inclusive operation, and a reservations staff member confirmed that the only way the public can attend the "Fire and Ice Millennium Bash" on New Year’s Eve (which will feature a "fire-breathing ice dragon," "exploding desserts" and dancing to the music of The Sun Kings and the Mas Band, is by registering at the hotel. A 26-hour stay from noon Dec. 31 that includes the bash is $490 per couple. For Agave Terrace patrons, the fireworks come with a second-seating dinner from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. with dancing to the music of Urge, priced at $145. For reservations, call 775-4142. At the Renaissance’s "J’ouvert de Millennia," you can do an 8 p.m. gourmet buffet dinner plus poolside party with music by Milo’s Kings and West Indian show for $225 (or you can just come at 10 p.m. for the party part for $99). For reservations, call 775-1510.
A second set of St. Thomas fireworks is in the works for "Millennium Eve" guests at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. It will be launched from a barge between Cabrita Point and Deck Point (affording fine viewing at no charge to Cowpet Bay residents, too). The resort offers three late-night dining options — an 8 p.m. seating in the Cafe with a carnival show for $200 plus gratuity, a gourmet cruise ship theme dinner with music by James Anderson from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Dining Room for $250 plus gratuity, and a gala reception and gourmet dinner with entertainment to be announced in the ballroom for $300, gratuity and commemorative photograph included. All three entitle the celebrants to enjoy the fireworks off the beach at midnight. Yet another Ritz-Carlton option is to board the Lady Lindsay sailing vessel at the beach at 11:30 p.m. for one-hour cruise that will enable you to see the St. John fireworks as well as those put on by the Ritz; the cruise is $150, reservations at the aquatic center required. Should you wish to make a night of it, ocean-view rooms are available for $999, double occupancy, not including dinner or anything else. For reservations call 775-3333.
Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort has its traditional three-part party that starts with cocktails at 7:30 p.m., moves an hour later to the "Taste of the Reef Gala" featuring the specialty cuisines of the four resort restaurants, and winds up from 9:30 until with dancing to the music of The Starlites and Deep Unda Kova. This one’s $230, gratuity included, and the dress code is "island formal." Call 776-8500 ext. 6500 for reservations.
In Cruz Bay, Zozo’s Ristorante is doing two New Year’s Eve seatings for a special menu dinner with coordinated wines for each of the six courses. The first, at 7 p.m., is $125; the second, at 8:30, is $150. Call 693-9200 to reserve.
And then there’s Foxy’s 2000 Barefoot Bacchanal at the Callwood enclave on Jost Van Dyke. Most of the year, this is a boaties and tourists hang-out, home of the famed annual wooden boat races and good times at Foxy’s Great Harbour bar. But Foxy is a mean marketing man, and he saw the millennium crossover for what it is: a magnificent opportunity. He’s put together "10 days of Millennial Madness" attractions of which you can take your pick. The most extravagant: On Wednesday, Dec. 29, for $165 plus $30 gratuity, there’s the Old Havana Dinner and Cuban Fiesta featuring a gourmet meal, music by O2 and "our best Cuban cigars." (Since this is the British Virgin Islands, it’s legal to sell and buy the real thing — although not to bring any back across the waters.) And New Year’s Eve will bring a seven-course "Millennium Feast" (including 3 a.m. breakfast) with a premium open bar and free admission (others pay $50) to the Outback, where there will be music by The Mighty Sparrow, Imaginations Brass and Nicky "Mighty Whitey" Russell. The price? $999 — but hey, that’s for two, and bookings had left room for only eight more couples as of publication. For reservations, call (284) 495-9258 or e-mail to foxysjvd@candwbvi.net.
Now, if you don’t have a boat of your own, do not despair. Option A: For another $250 you can board the Spirit of St. Christopher big cat at American Yacht Harbor for a cruise to Jost. It leaves AYH at 3 p.m. Dec. 31 and returns at 4 a.m. or thereabouts Jan 1. Call 775-9500 for reservations. Option B: For $125 round trip, the Scarab power boats of Arriva Charters will be leaving every hour on the hour from noon to 10 p.m. on Dec. 31 for fast trips to Jost. You’re on your own overnight, with the return trips starting at 1 p.m. Jan. 1 and going hourly "until." Call 714-2628 for reservations.

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