St John's Cruise and Beaches Excursion

[gaylemh]

Has anyone taken this excursion from the ship. It's supposed to be 6 1/2 hours for $49. How much time do you get to spend at Trunk Bay? Are there lounge chairs available to rent? I don't want to do a tour, just go to the beach.

There are 4 different tours to St John available, from 4 hours to 6 1/2 hours and prices from $49 to $74.

 

Is it a regular ferry from the pier or a smaller boat? Any info will be helpful.

 

Want to add that it will be a packed port with 5 ships and 18,000 cruisers.

 

Thanks

Edited January 10, 2016 by gaylemh

[hancogran]

We did something very similar when we were on a Carnival ship a few years ago.. it was St. John's beaches and shopping. Most people wanted only to go to Trunk Bay and only wanted the transportation portion of the excursion. After crossing on the ferry from our ship (private ferry), there was a bus waiting for anybody who wanted to go to Trunk and whoever wanted to shop just left on their own. We were all instructed to be back at the port area (where the ferry just dropped us off) at 3:00 pm. We had a few rum punches on the ferry on the way back too. :D

 

Most of us got on another smaller bus (open sides) and were driven to Trunk Bay. Yes, there are lounge chairs available for rent as well as a snack bar where you can purchase food and drinks. If I remember right, the admission fee was $6.00 each to get in (but I could be wrong.. it's been a few years now) We were told there would be buses going back to the ferry every half hour so just to wait in a certain spot. It worked for us. Had an awesome day and Trunk Bay is truly one of the most beautiful beaches we've been to.

[Big_G]

We weren't interested in a beach day so we did the St. John On Your Own. When we arrived, we found an open air taxi that gave us a tour of the island with two other couples. St. John has incredible scenery. At the end of the tour we had time to kill so we walked through Mongoose Junction near the ferry pier. It's a villa style mall with touristy shops. We ended up at the Tap Room run by St. John Brewers for a bite to eat.

 

Forgot to mention we've done it twice and both times the ferry picked us up at the ship's pier.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Big_G

[perkli25]

We did the 6.5 hour tour to St. John. I think we had about 2.5-3 hours at trunk bay. The ferry ride itself was a lot of fun. On the ride to St. John they give you some history and point out interesting homes etc. on the way back it's more of a party atmosphere with music playing and rum punch flowing [emoji4] We loved it but more time at Trunk would have been great. However, it was all that we could get in given the ships schedule.

[SensFan11]

We've done two similar excursions, most recently in March 2014 when sailing on Oasis.

 

In St. Thomas we boarded a private, chartered boat that was docked very close to Oasis (3 minute walk away). All St. John excursions were on this boat. When we docked in Cruz Bay (the main town/port on St. John) we were told what time the boat left back for St. Thomas. Each excursion then left separately...some folks were loaded on buses for other parts of the island. On one occasion when we did a 'shopping and on your own' tour, it first started with a 30 minute walking tour of Cruz Bay.

 

Last time, once we arrived in Cruz Bay we grabbed a shared taxi to Trunk Bay...it's approx 10 min. drive away.

 

As mentioned by others, there's an admission to the park.

 

There's a stand that rents beach chairs.

 

There's also a small restaurant/bar...but be forewarned, it gets VERY busy around lunchtime. A 30+ minute wait in line to order food is common. There's also an express service bar.

 

It's more rustic than somewhere like Magans Beach, but beautiful and so much less crowded! Worth the trip to St. John, IMHO.

[gaylemh]

I forgot to ask, are there restroom on the ferry?

[geauxgirlgeaux]

I forgot to ask, are there restroom on the ferry?

 

there is a restroom but the ride isn't very long so you won't probably need it. Sit up top on the ferry - nice breeze and the scenery is so pretty. Additionally, I have done this trip several times and it is worth it. Although it is easy enough to get to St. John on your own this price is really reasonable and there is no hassle or stress getting there or back. Be sure to save a little time to walk around Cruz Bay. There is a little convenience store across the street from the ferry dock that has cheap beer and soft drinks, and there is a great smoothie shop one street back that has fresh fruit smoothies with or without rum, and they are great! Have fun!

[charleliso]

it was all that we could get in given the ships schedule