St John Tour advice

[PurrSusan]

We've been to St Thomas twice so this time we want to visit St John. We'll probably take the ferry ride through the ship but I'm not sure what to do after that. We would like to see some of St John & not just the beach. Should we:

Do the STO3 RCCL self-explore tour with just the ferry over & then take a tour on our own?

Do the STO8 Ultimate Island Tour where we take the ferry followed by a tour through the ship?

Do the STL2 Coastal Cruise through the ship? Do you basically see the same things from the boat as you do from the land (on the STO8 tour)?

We plan to go to one of the beaches afterwards.

 

Thanks for any insight anyone can give us :)

[Life is Good Cruising]

We've been to St Thomas twice so this time we want to visit St John. We'll probably take the ferry ride through the ship but I'm not sure what to do after that. We would like to see some of St John & not just the beach. Should we:

Do the STO3 RCCL self-explore tour with just the ferry over & then take a tour on our own?

Do the STO8 Ultimate Island Tour where we take the ferry followed by a tour through the ship?

Do the STL2 Coastal Cruise through the ship? Do you basically see the same things from the boat as you do from the land (on the STO8 tour)?

We plan to go to one of the beaches afterwards.

 

Thanks for any insight anyone can give us :)

 

We've done the 2 of your three choices through RCI. For the self explore, we do that one only when we just want to hang around Cruz Bay and Mongoose Junction, shop and have lunch and done the Island Tour.

We enjoyed both excursion. Your third choice, which I read, sounds interesting. The ultimate is a land tour and the cruise is a water tour. If this is your first time in St. John's, I would go with the ultimate land tour, but if your a boat lover and been to St. John's before, then go with the cruise tour.

[PurrSusan]

Thanks for your reply! I'm assuming that the land tour from RCCL is the same one we would be taking if we if we took just the ferry (through RCCL) & then took a land tour on our own when we get off (?) Guess I'm trying to say that, since we want to take a land tour anyway we might as well do it all through the ship---am I thinking right?

[Life is Good Cruising]

Yes you are correct. If you just take the ferry over and then do your own land tour on St. John, it would be very similar to the Ultimate Island land tour that RCI is offering. I personally would take the Ultimate Island tour offered by the cruise line if this is your first time in St. John. It is one beautiful island, enjoy your day there!

[blue_water]

These are good options, but we'd go on our own for the most flexibility and freedom. Not a huge difference, but you can often avoid a queue when departing, and it's just nice to do this independently rather than with a group. You'll meet tons of people on the taxi to Red Hook and on the ferry who do this often because it's easy and fast.

Just grab a taxi going to Red Hook, take the 20 mon ferry to Cruz, hop a taxi for an island tour and either get dropped at a beach or return to Cruz Bay for lunch and shopping. Total cost is about $60 pp including the island tour.

We enjoy shopping in Cruz, much more laid back than Charlotte Amalie and there are excellent jewelers there like St John Bracelets and great spots for lunch and drinks.

The champagne cat is also a great way to see the beautiful coast and have some time on STJ if you don't want the self-excursion.

However you go enjoy your day!

Edited July 18, 2014 by blue_water

[Life is Good Cruising]

In St. Thomas we find RCI excursion prices are pretty much the same price as doing them on your own. The ferry ride over to St. John's from Red Hook would be a 20 min ride and you would have to take a taxi over to Red Hook and then a return taxi back to the pier. The ferry ride taken through the cruise line would be 45 min and the ferry would be a short walk from the cruise ship, very convenient IMO.

 

Self Explore St John - STO3 is $34 and is 6 1/2 hours

 

St. John Ultimate Island & Nat'l Park Beaches - STO8 is $59 and is 6 1/2 hours

 

Destination St. John: Coastal Cruise of National Park Beaches - STL2 is $40 and is 6 1/2 hours

[PurrSusan]

I had noticed that the prices were pretty much the same. We usually do non-ship excursions but, when I mentioned this on our rollcall, several posters noted that they felt stressed when doing the ferry on their own. One even mentioned that they almost missed the ship due to the traffic in St Thomas :eek: I liked the idea of going early (as soon as we are cleared) and it looks like the ship's excursions go so much later. Anyway, I appreciate the info and yes, we will definitely have a wonderful time no matter which way we go :)

[blueteam]

In St. Thomas we find RCI excursion prices are pretty much the same price as doing them on your own. The ferry ride over to St. John's from Red Hook would be a 20 min ride and you would have to take a taxi over to Red Hook and then a return taxi back to the pier. The ferry ride taken through the cruise line would be 45 min and the ferry would be a short walk from the cruise ship, very convenient IMO.

 

Self Explore St John - STO3 is $34 and is 6 1/2 hours

 

St. John Ultimate Island & Nat'l Park Beaches - STO8 is $59 and is 6 1/2 hours

 

Destination St. John: Coastal Cruise of National Park Beaches - STL2 is $40 and is 6 1/2 hours

 

Keep in mind that Cinnamon Bay is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

[monicajay]

I did STL2 by myself because my husband woke up not feeling well. We had planned to do the taxi/ferry thing but I wasn't up for that alone. I bought the excursion less than an hour before the departure. It was quick and easy leaving from right beside the ship.

 

I enjoyed the boat trip over to St. John very much although at times the commentary was a bit cheesy.

 

Traveling along the shoreline of St. John close to all the beautiful beaches was just amazing. It was early and many of the beaches were still empty. Once back at Cruz, I took a safari taxi to Trunk beach for some snorkeling. The driver stopped at a couple of look-out points along the way so people could take pictures.

 

The boat trip back was good and the included rum punch was excellent.

 

Luckily for me I met up with a couple we had met in the dining room one day at lunch and they kind of 'adopted' me for the day.

 

This is the only ship tour I have ever done and felt it was certainly worth the price and a good easy way to see St. John.

[Life is Good Cruising]

I had noticed that the prices were pretty much the same. We usually do non-ship excursions but, when I mentioned this on our rollcall, several posters noted that they felt stressed when doing the ferry on their own. One even mentioned that they almost missed the ship due to the traffic in St Thomas :eek: I liked the idea of going early (as soon as we are cleared) and it looks like the ship's excursions go so much later. Anyway, I appreciate the info and yes, we will definitely have a wonderful time no matter which way we go :)

 

Double check the departure times again for St. John excursions, those tours usually leave shortly after arriving in port.

I just checked our excursions for January 2015 and the Ultimate and the Coastal tour had 2 departure times, 8:30 am and 10 am, but did not see the Self Explore St. John for our sailing.

[Life is Good Cruising]

Keep in mind that Cinnamon Bay is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

 

IMO, the entire island is beautiful :)

[blue_water]

I had noticed that the prices were pretty much the same. We usually do non-ship excursions but, when I mentioned this on our rollcall, several posters noted that they felt stressed when doing the ferry on their own. One even mentioned that they almost missed the ship due to the traffic in St Thomas :eek: I liked the idea of going early (as soon as we are cleared) and it looks like the ship's excursions go so much later. Anyway, I appreciate the info and yes, we will definitely have a wonderful time no matter which way we go :)

 

Not a problem for most ppl, either way you need to be aware of the time and take a return ferry at least 2 hrs before back on ship time.

[PurrSusan]

Double check the departure times again for St. John excursions, those tours usually leave shortly after arriving in port.

I just checked our excursions for January 2015 and the Ultimate and the Coastal tour had 2 departure times, 8:30 am and 10 am, but did not see the Self Explore St. John for our sailing.

 

Thanks again---I'll check that out. If the Ultimate is available for 8:30 that would be great for us! I was just going by what I had read on some other posts. We usually like to see as much as we can on our first visit to a port so an island tour with beach afterwards would be good---then, if we feel like we should have just gone to a beach we'll have an excuse to come back--LOL!!

[fishman620]

Does Cinnamon Bay have good snorkeling, or is it more of a swimming, relaxation beach?

[blueteam]

Does Cinnamon Bay have good snorkeling, or is it more of a swimming, relaxation beach?

 

 

IMHO it's a unique best-of-both-worlds scenario. West side quite sandy, East side rocky and snorkely.

 

 

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[fishman620]

So if we take a day excursion from St. Thomas from our cruise ship and we have the option of being dropped off at Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay, then taking a taxi back to the ferry dock to meet up with our group, and we choose Cinnamon Bay because it has better snorkeling.... How easy is it to get a taxi back to the ferry dock, and how much time will it take to get back. Do we negotiate a price before taking the taxi, if so what is a decent price. Thanks for any advice.

[fishman620]

Does being at Cinnamon Bay on a Sunday make it more difficult to find a taxi back to the ferry?

[Life is Good Cruising]

So if we take a day excursion from St. Thomas from our cruise ship and we have the option of being dropped off at Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay, then taking a taxi back to the ferry dock to meet up with our group, and we choose Cinnamon Bay because it has better snorkeling.... How easy is it to get a taxi back to the ferry dock, and how much time will it take to get back. Do we negotiate a price before taking the taxi, if so what is a decent price. Thanks for any advice.

 

 

Cinnamon Bay would be about a 15-20 mins taxi ride from the ferry and I believe the taxi charged us $8 pp. Don't think you have to negotiate a price as they have set rates to the beach.

 

Whatever beach you decide to go to, you can ask that taxi driver to come back at a specific time to pick you up. We do that in most of the ports, never had a problem with taxi returns. There should also be taxis waiting to take people back to the ferry.

Don't know if Sunday makes a difference at all. Hopefully someone else can answer that question for you.

[fishman620]

Our tour on RCI will drop us off at Cinnamon Bay, but we have to taxi back to the ferry. So I won't have a chance to ask a taxi to come back to pick us up. Bummer!

[O2B@Cagain]

If there are visitors, there are taxis. Cinnamon always has taxis (safaris) waiting. They may want to wait to fill up, so be patient.

[blueteam]

If there are visitors, there are taxis. Cinnamon always has taxis (safaris) waiting. They may want to wait to fill up, so be patient.

 

 

True! I was a bit frustrated waiting around for taxis both at Cinnamon and the Cruise Terminal. I saw smart travelers asking for "private taxi", but I'm not sure what that was exactly.

 

 

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[skiiergirl]

Anyone have any recommendations for lunch spot in vicinity of ferry terminal in St J?

 

Does the Red Hook ferry ever sell out and leave people behind?

Edited March 11, 2015 by skiiergirl

[Big_G]

Anyone have any recommendations for lunch spot in vicinity of ferry terminal in St J?

 

Does the Red Hook ferry ever sell out and leave people behind?

 

The Tap Room in Mongoose Junction. It's owned and operated by St. John Brewers.

 

http://www.stjohnbrewers.com/

 

I've never taken the Red Hook ferry. We're not fans of the taxi ride to and from Red Hook so we always do the ship excursions that leave from the cruise pier.

[O2B@Cagain]

There was a fire at the Tap Room in January. They have a place, the Temp Room, behind Mongoose Junction, and are hoping to rebuild bigger and better soon. The Sun Dog Cafe in Mongoose Junction does a great lunch.

 

And to skiiergirl, they will put another ferry in service if need be, but that is usually only for activities like St John Festival, etc.

[blue_water]

Yes the Tap Room will rebuild, but the staff was impacted the most of course and I hope most are working at the Temp. We were at the Duffy's Love Shack 20th anniversary party in Jan and normally drinks are free but they charged $1/drink to contribute to the Tap Room staff. Needless to say we and most others there tipped heavily.

 

I suppose the Red Hook ferry could fill up at the most popular times but we've never had a problem, and we much prefer the taxi to RH and taking that ferry over. If taking the last ferry back that will get you back to the ship on time I'd be in line 1/2 hr early. You can see the dock from the Beach Bar which is a nice lunch spot on the beach.