St. Thomas to St. John

[xcell]

would you suggest ship excursion if you are travelling with young ones (dd10, dd7). i have been to st,. thomas a few times and would really like to see st. johns but not sure if all that travelling would be good for the kids...

 

an excursion that would sail you there directly to look around would be nice...

[ChrisFlCruiser]

I also am not one that does too many ship excursions, but have done the Champagne sail twice. I saw a number of turtles as well as fish last time. The drinks flow on the way back. I got confused an got on the other catamaran last time, turns out they are the same company, but different colored sail covers or something... they just got me in the dinghy and put me on the right catamaran. So funny. The drinks flow like crazy post snorkeling.... be careful as I recall a big buzz that was unexpected from the rum swizzles with a "floater" of rum on top.

:)

[OCruisers]

:D Funny above ... getting on the wrong catamaran! LOL

 

LuLu

~~~~

[blue_water]

We took the Carnival excursion to STJ on our first visit there and have always gone on our own all these years since. Just so much nicer to be on your own and meet others in the taxi and on the ferry doing the same thing, and no queue waiting for your fellow cruisers to leave. The ride form CA is45 minutes through typically much rougher water, whereas the RH ferry is 20 minutes.

The Red Hook ferry is the only real option because the CA ferry is not reliable. Taxi to RH, ferry to Cruz Bay, and taxi to Cinnamon Bay is about $48pp roundtrip.

 

I don't think anyone here has mentioned the East End of St Thomas. Many ppl head directly to STJ and never experience the gorgeous beaches on the East End. Just making note of that as you have another 1.5 hours of beach time on Sapphire or another beach by staying on STT. But the beaches of STJ are also beautiful, and I would go to Cinnamon to avoid the crowds at Trunk, or if you want a more romantic experience go further out to the more secluded beaches, or head to Smith's Bay on STT.

 

And like Augie said, buy return ferry passes in RH and have a few more minutes to relax at the Beach Bar with a painkiller. With luck you'll fall in love with STJ and decide to stay, and you can bid Bon voyage to your fellow cruisers. ;)

Edited November 28, 2013 by blue_water

[SuperTrooper00]

We just did this exact same trip that the OP is asking about (it was our 2nd time doing it). It is easy peasy and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It will cost you almost $100 for the 2 of you to do it. Here is the simple plan…

 

Get off your boat and look for the organized truck/wagon taxi's. They are in a line and all over. Tell the taxi porter you want to go to Red Hook. Its $10 pp to get there. It will take about 20 minutes.

 

At Red Hook, they have built up the Ferry building incredibly nice. They have food, clean restrooms, a shop, and a bar. The Ferry leaves every hour on the hour (not the half hour like someone said). But your Ferry tix there. I can't quite remember the cost, but I think maybe $7 per person, each way.

 

After the short Ferry ride, find the organized taxi trucks in St. John's. Tell them you want to go to Trunk Bay. This was less than $10 pp if I remember correctly.

 

Once you arrive at Trunk Bay, you will pay a small fee to enter as its a natural park.

 

If you make the 9 or 10 am Ferry, you will easily have 3-4 hours on Trunk Bay which is plenty of time.

 

Reverse the above and enjoy one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The greatest benefit to doing this on your own (outside of not being part of a cattle call) is the freedom you get and the length of time you are at the Beach. This couldn't be easier, and with the way they have built up this trip, it is so easy to do it now. 10 years ago the ferry dock was a shack and a port-a-potty. No joke.

[augie]

And like Augie said, buy return ferry passes in RH and have a few more minutes to relax at the Beach Bar with a painkiller. With luck you'll fall in love with STJ and decide to stay, and you can bid Bon voyage to your fellow cruisers. ;)

 

What a great thought!

 

:cool:

[Host Anne]

Don't rub it in, Augie!!!!

[gsquaredb]

I was looking at the ship excursion cost and its $34pp which includes the ferry to Cruz Bay. I wonder if this is the regular ferry that runs from Charlotte Amalie or if the ship(RC) has their own ferryboat? The regular ferry costs $26 rt.

[Host Anne]

gs ~ that sounds very inexpensive for a ship's excursion. Can you tell us what cruise line? If RC is Royal Caribbean, I do believe that they have a ferry that picks up near the dock in Crown Bay (for Allure and Oasis). I do not recommend the ferry from Charlotte Amalie. It is not dependable and the ride is long and often very bumpy. We only take the ferry from Red Hook.

 

If you can get an excursion to St. John from the cruise line for $34, I'd jump on it.

[Ron_L]

Don't rub it in, Augie!!!!

 

He has a mean streak sometimes :rolleyes: :cool: :p

[gsquaredb]

Ok so Royal Carribean has its own ferry that picks up near where the ship docks? Is it a 45 minute(each way) ride in bumpy/rough water? Does it depend on the time of year - January?

[blue_water]

You have several options including a ferry through the ship from downtown, a ferry on your own from downtown, and the Red Hook ferry.

Sea conditions may not be bad in January, no way of knowing. The RH ferry is much more regular than the downtown ferry, your ship ferry should run, just takes 45 minutes through more open waters. Personally I would prefer to be on a cat or monohull than a ferry but the seas may be fine. The RH taxi/ferry is just the best option for going on your own, and some like me prefer going on our own. But I'm sure you would be just fine on the ship excursion and the downtown ferry, just different choices for different folks.