St. John from Crown Bay - DIY or ship's excursion?

[librarylady19]

We want to return to St. John for another visit to the beautiful beaches. Reflection docks in Crown Bay, last year we docked at Havensight. unsure about transport from CB (read of issues getting taxis).

 

Does anyone have experience with the ship excursion to St. John? We just plan on using the ferry - not the walking tour or island tour.

[themutis]

While this is probably not the information you are looking for, the last time we were in St Thomas, we did a day sail over to St John. The owner of the sailboat arranged for a car from the port to Red Hook Bay. We hit several beach on St John and even got to swim with some sea turtles and saw an octopus! It was the highlight of our trip.

[CaroleSS]

We did the math and the ship's excursion is just slightly more expensive than DIY, so for the sake of convenience, we'll be doing the ship's excursion. Another reason for our choice is that there will be 6 other ships in port that day :eek: and we just don't want the hassle of fighting the crowds for a taxi!

 

Like you, we will split off once we arrive in St John. We plan to find a jitney and do an island tour., but I've read that taxis to the beach are easy to find.

 

Good luck...either way, enjoy your time on St John.....it is a beautiful island!

[neverenoughtime]

We did the math and the ship's excursion is just slightly more expensive than DIY, so for the sake of convenience, we'll be doing the ship's excursion. Another reason for our choice is that there will be 6 other ships in port that day :eek: and we just don't want the hassle of fighting the crowds for a taxi!

 

Like you, we will split off once we arrive in St John. We plan to find a jitney and do an island tour., but I've read that taxis to the beach are easy to find.

 

Good luck...either way, enjoy your time on St John.....it is a beautiful island!

 

We too did the math and opted for the ships excursion. We very rarely take ship tours but this was a great value. We were met at the dock not 20 feet from the bow of the ship to board the boat to St Johns. That alone probably gave us an extra hour or two in St Johns. The Captain was great - informative and funny! We did hang around for a really brief island tour, then went to the National Parks building and followed the path to the beach. Had a great day! Highly recommend it!

 

PS There is a webcam at the end of the dock in St Thomas. We wrote a message in the sand to our kids, and Grandma made sure they saw it!

[CaroleSS]

So did you take a privately chartered boat as opposed to someone taking you to the ferry to St John? How did you arrange getting back from St John back to the ship?

[Ugaaucruisers]

Last year we did the excursion to St. John via the ship (Eclipse). it was great, and we too were met right at the ship and our charter boat was just a few feet away. We did the Island tour (about 30 mins. it was just of the town and a few highlights...enjoyable) and then took a taxi to Trunk Bay. It was wonderful. Great excursion! This year we might do a chartered sailboat because of the good snorkeling.

[themutis]

We chartered the boat High Pockets (see Trip Advisor) and sailed from Red Hook (St Thomas) over to St John's Caneel Bay. The sailing was amazing! Once over at St John's we snorkeled in two different areas and then had an amazing lunch on board before sailing back to St Thomas. Captain Kathleen arranged for a car to take us back to the port. It was a great day!

[glenneagle]

We just did this last week.

We usually do the trip on our own,taxi to red hook then the ferry,

This time we did the $40 ship tour.It was much easier.

We took a cab from the drop off point to trunk bay.It was a few dollars.

Spent a few wonderful hours on the beach.There were plenty of cabs back to the meeting point.We left the beach at 2.30 and had time to spare.

Enjoy a wonderful day in St John....

[librarylady19]

Thanks everyone....CC always comes through:)

Will book the ships tour today (in 6 cruises, this will be the first time we booked a ship excursion!)

 

I checked the port calendar and only one other ship docks at 8 (and at Havensight) so St. John should be relatively uncrowded. Can't wait.

[librarylady19]

While this is probably not the information you are looking for, the last time we were in St Thomas, we did a day sail over to St John. The owner of the sailboat arranged for a car from the port to Red Hook Bay. We hit several beach on St John and even got to swim with some sea turtles and saw an octopus! It was the highlight of our trip.

 

Almost booked something like this, but we re doing a boat charter in St.. Martin the day before and wanted some beach and shopping time. I know DH would like to return to St. John Brewing too :)

[Bosjoe]

Thanks everyone....CC always comes through:)

Will book the ships tour today (in 6 cruises, this will be the first time we booked a ship excursion!)

 

I checked the port calendar and only one other ship docks at 8 (and at Havensight) so St. John should be relatively uncrowded. Can't wait.

 

We did this on the last cruise it was the easiest, also with as many ships in port you won't have to deal with the traffic. Trunk bay was not that crowded and it was a great day.

[Dunmore2]

We chartered the boat High Pockets (see Trip Advisor) and sailed from Red Hook (St Thomas) over to St John's Caneel Bay. The sailing was amazing! Once over at St John's we snorkeled in two different areas and then had an amazing lunch on board before sailing back to St Thomas. Captain Kathleen arranged for a car to take us back to the port. It was a great day!

 

Do you know the names of the places where you snorkeled?

[glenneagle]

We snorkeld at trunk bay.

[Lois R]

Thanks everyone....CC always comes through:)

Will book the ships tour today (in 6 cruises, this will be the first time we booked a ship excursion!)

 

I checked the port calendar and only one other ship docks at 8 (and at Havensight) so St. John should be relatively uncrowded. Can't wait.

 

Hi Sandi:) this is just from my own experience but I have done

plenty of ship's excursions over the years and most have been

quite good:).....I realize many people ****HATE THEM****

(not saying you do) but it really depends on the port, the tour,

what is comfortable for the person, etc. You know I sail solo and

there have been quite a few culinary excursions I have done~all

through the cruiseline due to the fact you could not book elsewhere.

When I look back, I have enjoyed ALL of them:D the most recent

one was in Dominica in November. FUN, Interesting, AND DELICIOUS!

 

I know you will have fun on the cruise and I hope the excursion is

good as well:)

[dkjretired]

Do you know the names of the places where you snorkeled?

 

Trunk Bay actually has an underwater snorkeling trail.... If a lot of ships are in port it can get crowded...

[dkjretired]

Almost booked something like this, but we re doing a boat charter in St.. Martin the day before and wanted some beach and shopping time. I know DH would like to return to St. John Brewing too :)

 

Sandi

 

Here's a link to one of the best excursions we ever did and its in St. Thomas. Little pricey but loads of fun.

 

http://www.bossusvi.com/

[wvufan]

We chartered the boat High Pockets (see Trip Advisor) and sailed from Red Hook (St Thomas) over to St John's Caneel Bay. The sailing was amazing! Once over at St John's we snorkeled in two different areas and then had an amazing lunch on board before sailing back to St Thomas. Captain Kathleen arranged for a car to take us back to the port. It was a great day!

 

We went with High Pockets a few years ago-phenemenol. Kathleen is special!

 

We docked at Crown Bay last month. As we were going to many other ports I didn't feel compelled to do a lot in St. Thomas and was tempted to simply stay on the ship. However, I had read a tip on Emerald Bay, so decided to check it out for future reference. Very quick short taxi ride (it is actually walking distance but I recommend the taxi). Beach was great. No snorkeling. If someone is only looking for a beach it is ideal and there is no hassle getting there.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[Lotus Girl]

Hi Sandi:) this is just from my own experience but I have done

plenty of ship's excursions over the years and most have been

quite good:).....I realize many people ****HATE THEM****

(not saying you do) but it really depends on the port, the tour,

what is comfortable for the person, etc. You know I sail solo and

there have been quite a few culinary excursions I have done~all

through the cruiseline due to the fact you could not book elsewhere.

When I look back, I have enjoyed ALL of them:D the most recent

one was in Dominica in November. FUN, Interesting, AND DELICIOUS!

 

I know you will have fun on the cruise and I hope the excursion is

good as well:)

 

Hi Lois

 

We are on Equinox in March. Can I ask if it was the Cooking Caribbean, Rum & Nature culinary excurion that you did and can you tell me a bit more about it? When it says in "someones house", was it a big house to accomodate the cruise ship passengers and what sort of thing did you make etc. Any help would be appreciated as I am interested in this but I am a slightly fussy eater!

 

Thanks

 

Karen

[jenniebnyc]

Been going to St. John annually since 1988.

 

I would grab a cab and take the downtown ferry (not red hook).

 

Do you need beach or food recs? Let me know!

 

 

And CC folks, please, it's not St Johns! It's St. John!

[Lois R]

Hi Lois

 

We are on Equinox in March. Can I ask if it was the Cooking Caribbean, Rum & Nature culinary excurion that you did and can you tell me a bit more about it? When it says in "someones house", was it a big house to accomodate the cruise ship passengers and what sort of thing did you make etc. Any help would be appreciated as I am interested in this but I am a slightly fussy eater!

 

Thanks

 

Karen

 

Hi Karen:) yes, it was that excursion in Dominica and it was fabulous:)

The home is beautiful...it is up in the mountains. 3 cousins who are

from Dominica are your hosts. They are lovely gals and you are outside

while cooking. They have an expanded patio with quite a large "breakfast bar"....actually it is a countertop that is used for prep. The cooking

area is what would be considered large enough for catering. The grounds are lush with lovely fruit trees. Really beautiful.

We had about 12 on the tour and if you want to help cook you may

and if you want to just watch you can do that too.

Our group was very fun and diverse. What we had....we cooked fish,

plantains in a delicious coconut breading, salad, fresh fruit, and a rum

punch that was probably the best I have ever had and I am not a big

rum gal. The 3 gals explained alot of what is grown in the area and

they helped those who needed it. Oh we also red beans and rice.

As for being a fussy eater? The food was VERY good....flavorful, not

"too spicey", all very fresh and I do remember our group definitely

had a good time.:) But of course, I don't know what you like....

I enjoyed everything I helped cook and eat:D

[monicajay]

Thanks everyone....CC always comes through:)

Will book the ships tour today (in 6 cruises, this will be the first time we booked a ship excursion!)

 

I checked the port calendar and only one other ship docks at 8 (and at Havensight) so St. John should be relatively uncrowded. Can't wait.

 

I did this on our recent RCL cruise (they use the same operator) and it was my first ship excursion ever. My DH woke up feeling terrible and didn't feel like getting off the ship. I was less keen on going to Red Hook by taxi on my own. Bought this at the last minute and had a wonderful time. I chose the STL2 which included staying on the boat for a tour along the coast of the National park and seeing all the beaches from the water. Absolutely stunning! I still had plenty of time to taxi to Trunk Beach for a couple hours of snorkeling. Depending on which option you pick you will be given a different color wrist band. I highly recommend the National park option.

 

The rum punch flowed on the way back and it was a delightful day. Certainly felt it was a very good value for the money. My only negative is that I would have preferred if the departure was earlier. We had already been docked for 2 hours before the excursion was to depart.

 

Saved my day as I'm not sure what I would have down alone. Before the excursion departed I met up with a couple we had previously had lunch with and they 'babysat' me for the day.

 

Enjoy your excursion.

[just_looking]

Hi Karen:) yes, it was that excursion in Dominica and it was fabulous:)

The home is beautiful...it is up in the mountains. 3 cousins who are

from Dominica are your hosts. They are lovely gals and you are outside

while cooking. They have an expanded patio with quite a large "breakfast bar"....actually it is a countertop that is used for prep. The cooking

area is what would be considered large enough for catering. The grounds are lush with lovely fruit trees. Really beautiful.

We had about 12 on the tour and if you want to help cook you may

and if you want to just watch you can do that too.

Our group was very fun and diverse. What we had....we cooked fish,

plantains in a delicious coconut breading, salad, fresh fruit, and a rum

punch that was probably the best I have ever had and I am not a big

rum gal. The 3 gals explained alot of what is grown in the area and

they helped those who needed it. Oh we also red beans and rice.

As for being a fussy eater? The food was VERY good....flavorful, not

"too spicey", all very fresh and I do remember our group definitely

had a good time.:) But of course, I don't know what you like....

I enjoyed everything I helped cook and eat:D

 

Thanks for this fantastic review. I've just booked this tour for our April 13 Summit cruise. Your description is so much better than the one on Celebrity's website! :)

[Lois R]

Thanks for this fantastic review. I've just booked this tour for our April 13 Summit cruise. Your description is so much better than the one on Celebrity's website! :)

 

Thank you so much. It was one of the best excursions in the Caribbean

I have ever done:)

[LunaSeaRetreat]

We took the ship's tour that included a walking tour. The captain was the tour guide! It was interesting. Afterward he arranged for taxis to meet us at the ending point of the walking tour to take us and others to Trunk Bay (or wherever you wanted to go.)

 

It was a great day. Next time we will take the boat tour that was mentioned above and find a beach.

 

Cynthia

[wdblake]

The advantage of DIY is that you can get there earlier before the crowds show up and you can stay longer since shore excursions limit your time. DIY can be daunting since you have to taxi to ferry, ferry to island, taxi to beach then reverse coming back. We went to trunk bay and it was spectacular. As far as snorkling goes though I have heard the trail is pretty depleted of sea life due to the reduced amount of coral.