Do I need an excursion for St. John NB?

[going to see the world]

Would it be recommended to book an excursion or is there enough to do without one?

Thanks! :)

[Acey-SJ]

Would it be recommended to book an excursion or is there enough to do without one?

Thanks! :)

 

This depends on what you want to do while in port. In Saint John, cruise ship visitors are roughly broken down into 3 categories:

 

1. St. Martins and the Bay of Fundy Tides (highest in the world). Picturesque St. Martin's is a quaint fishing village where you can explore the ocean floor and sea caves when the tide goes out. It goes out so much that fishing boats are on the sea floor with no water. This itinerary typically includes a lunch at a beachside restaurant for some chowder. My recommendation is Freedom Tours http://www.freedomtours.com/shore-excursions-in-a-around-saint-john-new-brunswick

 

2. Discovering the historic area of "Uptown" where the ship docks. This is an area steeped in history with some of the oldest buildings in Canada. Popular spots are historic churches, theatre, Barbour's General Store and the Old Saint John City Market. There are 3 self guided walking tours of the area in addition to horse drawn carriage rides. You can discover this area on your own without booking a tour.

 

3. Thrill seeking - a jet boat ride through the reversing falls rapids http://www.jetboatrides.com/thrill.html or zip lining at the Reversing Falls http://www.saintjohnadventures.ca/ These excursions can be easily booked on your own and are easily accessible by a 5 minute cab ride or a city bus.

[trophy_23]

We rented a car and drove to St martins and then back to the reversing falls before turing the car in. From there we explored town within a short walk from the ship. For us it was a cheap way to do everything we wanted to do.

[travelbig]

This local tour is also good, and is a good price. We've done it before and it gives you a good overview of the area.

 

http://www.saintjohntransit.com/index.cfm?event=page.view&filename=city-tour.cfm

 

 

Just ask any of the greeters at the pier where the General Store is to catch the tour. Very easy. Just pay the driver.

[idiebabe]

We just came back from St. John and Halifax on the Carnival Glory. We booked a private tour with Roy Flowers in St. John and it was one of the best private tours we have ever been on (this was our 29th cruise)!

 

There was myself, DH, DS, DIL, and my two Grandchildren ages 6 and 20 mos. We met Roy when we got off the Ship around 8:15. He took us through the town of St. John and stopped at places that normally are not visited by the Ship's Shore Excursions. We stopped at the Reversing Falls at the beginning of the tour. We then headed out to St. Martin and to the Bay of Fundy. Again, we went out a different way then the Ship excursions and stopped at a few places along the way. We stopped at St. Martin and walked around for a bit and then headed to the Bay of Fundy. There is a restaurant there where we had Lobster Rolls, Chowder, etc. and the tide was heading out so we were able to walk into the caves after lunch. Lunch was delicious! After that we headed back to the Ship and again we stopped at the Reversing Falls which was now totally different than in the a.m.

 

Roy is not only very knowledgeable about St. John but is a wonderful, friendly, personable man. The tour alone would have been memorable but he really went out of his way to make this tour not only memorable but special. I had mentioned in an email to him that my Granddaughter was turning 6yrs old and wanted to know if she needed a carseat. When we were at the Restaurant at the Bay of Fundy he brought out a cake his Wife made for Hailey, presents for Hailey and my other Granddaughter and also brought his Guitar and played Happy Birthday while we all sang. This was priceless (and a surprise for us all)!!!

 

I cannot say enough about Roy Flowers and how special and enjoyable he made our day! We all ended the tour back at the Ship wishing we could have spent more time with him. If you are in St. John and have an opportunity to book Roy Flowers, I guarantee this will be one of the best tours you have ever taken and a highlight of your cruise!!!

[wiskt]

I've been to St John twice and did not do an excursion either time. I will next time I go. One thing to keep in mind are the streets can get somewhat "hilly" if walking.

 

If you like self exploring and want to "do your own" here are some things to explore. Pretty much everything is to the Left of the cruise port.

 

1- about 1 block up and across the street there is CALLAHAN's PUB right around the corner. Stop in for a beer. It's a great little pub. It used to be the old Post office/fire dept when they still had the horse drawn carraiges. It has a lot of old photos of the town and the local bartenders are great for info. I've stopped in there with my dad and we met a few great locals that told us some nice things to check out while in town.

 

2- Exit Callahan's and go up the hill to the right. I believe 2? blocks and then make a left. There you will find the old TRINITY CHURCH and is a nice photo opportunity stop. The inside is really nice as well if you can get there while they have the doors open.

 

3- Exit to the right leaving the front of TRINITY and you will hit the MAIN STREET with some shops. Further up the hill is a small park for more nice photos.

 

(while walking all this route you will probably be following the horse drawn carriage that tours the immediate town and can get a few photos of that as well)

 

4- Head back down the MAIN street all the way to the bottom and you will see the ship on the Left at the port. There are usually some local vendors selling items on the corner.

 

You can follow the boardwalk for a nice stroll along the bay and some great photos.

 

-or- across from the vendors is the local inside marketplace. They have some stores and places to grab some food. There is a postal stop there as well to mail post cards. You can pick up some good clam chowder also. If I recall correctly, out the back side you can go thru the local farmers market.

 

St John is a quaint little interesting town, but more of an industrial port than most. You can spend the day on your own and get in a little exercise while doing it.... as welll as save some money with excursions. However, once, twice on your own and it is time for an out of town excursion.

[vplsh]

We just came back from St. John and Halifax on the Carnival Glory. We booked a private tour with Roy Flowers in St. John and it was one of the best private tours we have ever been on (this was our 29th cruise)!

 

There was myself, DH, DS, DIL, and my two Grandchildren ages 6 and 20 mos. We met Roy when we got off the Ship around 8:15. He took us through the town of St. John and stopped at places that normally are not visited by the Ship's Shore Excursions. We stopped at the Reversing Falls at the beginning of the tour. We then headed out to St. Martin and to the Bay of Fundy. Again, we went out a different way then the Ship excursions and stopped at a few places along the way. We stopped at St. Martin and walked around for a bit and then headed to the Bay of Fundy. There is a restaurant there where we had Lobster Rolls, Chowder, etc. and the tide was heading out so we were able to walk into the caves after lunch. Lunch was delicious! After that we headed back to the Ship and again we stopped at the Reversing Falls which was now totally different than in the a.m.

 

Roy is not only very knowledgeable about St. John but is a wonderful, friendly, personable man. The tour alone would have been memorable but he really went out of his way to make this tour not only memorable but special. I had mentioned in an email to him that my Granddaughter was turning 6yrs old and wanted to know if she needed a carseat. When we were at the Restaurant at the Bay of Fundy he brought out a cake his Wife made for Hailey, presents for Hailey and my other Granddaughter and also brought his Guitar and played Happy Birthday while we all sang. This was priceless (and a surprise for us all)!!!

 

I cannot say enough about Roy Flowers and how special and enjoyable he made our day! We all ended the tour back at the Ship wishing we could have spent more time with him. If you are in St. John and have an opportunity to book Roy Flowers, I guarantee this will be one of the best tours you have ever taken and a highlight of your cruise!!!

 

I am so glad to hear you had a great time with Roy. We have him booked for a tour on August 1. Looking forward to it even more now!

[going to see the world]

We just came back from St. John and Halifax on the Carnival Glory. We booked a private tour with Roy Flowers in St. John and it was one of the best private tours we have ever been on (this was our 29th cruise)!

 

There was myself, DH, DS, DIL, and my two Grandchildren ages 6 and 20 mos. We met Roy when we got off the Ship around 8:15. He took us through the town of St. John and stopped at places that normally are not visited by the Ship's Shore Excursions. We stopped at the Reversing Falls at the beginning of the tour. We then headed out to St. Martin and to the Bay of Fundy. Again, we went out a different way then the Ship excursions and stopped at a few places along the way. We stopped at St. Martin and walked around for a bit and then headed to the Bay of Fundy. There is a restaurant there where we had Lobster Rolls, Chowder, etc. and the tide was heading out so we were able to walk into the caves after lunch. Lunch was delicious! After that we headed back to the Ship and again we stopped at the Reversing Falls which was now totally different than in the a.m.

 

Roy is not only very knowledgeable about St. John but is a wonderful, friendly, personable man. The tour alone would have been memorable but he really went out of his way to make this tour not only memorable but special. I had mentioned in an email to him that my Granddaughter was turning 6yrs old and wanted to know if she needed a carseat. When we were at the Restaurant at the Bay of Fundy he brought out a cake his Wife made for Hailey, presents for Hailey and my other Granddaughter and also brought his Guitar and played Happy Birthday while we all sang. This was priceless (and a surprise for us all)!!!

 

I cannot say enough about Roy Flowers and how special and enjoyable he made our day! We all ended the tour back at the Ship wishing we could have spent more time with him. If you are in St. John and have an opportunity to book Roy Flowers, I guarantee this will be one of the best tours you have ever taken and a highlight of your cruise!!!

 

 

can you please tell me how I could look into booking with him?

[Acey-SJ]

can you please tell me how I could look into booking with him?

 

http://roystours.webs.com/

[davispigeon]

We rented a car and drove to St martins and then back to the reversing falls before turing the car in. From there we explored town within a short walk from the ship. For us it was a cheap way to do everything we wanted to do.

 

We also rented a car. Very nice way to get around and since we booked ahead of time, cheaper than an excursion!

[InTheSticks]

Acey, thank you for the link to Roy's website. I just booked him for Oct. 20. We really appreciate all the information you've provided on Saint John, NB.

[eh2zed]

When googling or using TripAdvisor about Saint John , New Brunswick use the full spelling Saint John. This is to protect about getting wrong info that might pertain to St. John's, Newfoundland.

[vplsh]

We toured with Roy on Monday, August 1 and had a wonderful time. We called him, as he had asked, at about 8AM St. John time, and let him know we were ready for the day. The Carnival Glory was about an hour late, but Roy was waiting for us outside the port area. We started out on our tour and spent the next 6 hours together, including a wonderful stop for lunch. Unfortunately, because we were so late getting in, we were unable to walk into the Bay of Fundy due to the tide coming in.

 

We all highly recommend Roy and his tour! It is well worth the cost!!!

[idiebabe]

Acey, thank you for the link to Roy's website. I just booked him for Oct. 20. We really appreciate all the information you've provided on Saint John, NB.

 

You will have a GREAT time with Roy! Please give him a big hello (and hug) from "Hailey's" family!

 

Thanks and have a GREAT cruise!