St. John On Our Own thru RCL

[Nana57]

We have been to St. Thomas many times but have never gone to St. John. Has anyone taken this thru RCL? We would like to know how much time do we really have there. How is the area where the ferry docks? Any nice restaurants? Don't know if there is enough time to go to Trunk Bay. Any info would be appreciated.

[Kamloops50]

We have been to St. Thomas many times but have never gone to St. John. Has anyone taken this thru RCL? We would like to know how much time do we really have there. How is the area where the ferry docks? Any nice restaurants? Don't know if there is enough time to go to Trunk Bay. Any info would be appreciated.

 

Your cruise line can supply this info .

[Pookeybear1966]

We didn't sail RCL but Carnival. Upon leaving the ship we found a taxi to take us to the Ferry dock and then got ferry tickets and went over to St John on our own. We rented a jeep there and drove around the island. We stopped at Trunk Bay for awhile, stopped at sugar mill ruins, and stopped at Skinny Legs for lunch (which was so good!).

 

Second time we went to St Thomas we used a private company to take us over to St John by boat and went to Trunk Bay. It worked well. I wish we could have done what we had done previously.

 

We are going a 3rd time June 2017. Debating on what to do there again. I'm wanting to rent a jeep again and do our own thing. At least we can visit a few spots on our own and not be stuck to one beach.

[gartam]

We just did this with Royal a few weeks ago. (Bummed that it's over!) Let me say, Trunk Bay was absolutely gorgeous! We loved it. Anyway, we found this excursion to work well. In order to go to St John's on your own, you have to take a taxi from the cruise port to the ferry port, ride the ferry, then taxi to Trunk Bay or where ever you are headed on St John. The first advantage of taking the cruise excursion was that is was less expensive, even when you include the cost of the cab to Trunk Bay on St John's, and the second advantage was the convenience--the Royal excursion ferry left for St John's right from the cruise port, avoiding the whole taxi to the ferry on St Thomas. Some folks say you have more time if you go on your own, but they also advise leaving a lot of extra time to get the ferry back to St Thomas and taxi to the ship, and we found that you actually have about the same amount of time when you figure those things in. We had about 3 1/2 hrs on the beach--not nearly enough! But, again, we would have been leaving the beach at the same time either way. There are a few restaurants at the ferry port on St John's. However, Trunk Bay has a little snack bar as well. We had burgers and fries--they were comparable in cost to other island restaurants. They also serve some alcoholic drinks, but we didn't have any. One of the things we liked about Trunk Bay was it's natural setting being in a National Park. No high rises around! We enjoyed snorkelling here and saw an octopus! I haven't been to the beaches on St Thomas to compare, but you certainly can't go wrong at Trunk Bay.

Edited July 6, 2016 by gartam

[O2B@Cagain]

gartam: There are no high rises on any beach in the USVI, but you are correct, the national park does make the beaches different. And not to niggle, but St. John's is a city on Antigua. St John is an island in the USVI. :D

[Nana57]

Was the ferry ride rough going over?

[blue_water]

We have been to St. Thomas many times but have never gone to St. John. Has anyone taken this thru RCL? We would like to know how much time do we really have there. How is the area where the ferry docks? Any nice restaurants? Don't know if there is enough time to go to Trunk Bay. Any info would be appreciated.

 

see posts 2& 5 in this thread for info on going to STJ on your own. Cruz Bay has several restauranrs and shops, and depending on your time in port you can enjoy an island toyr, a nice beach (consider Cinnamon Bay if there are several ships in port that day), and shopping in Cruz Bay.

Very easy and no need to book a ship excursion. Actually the 45 minute ferry from the ship is a much rougher ride than to 10 - 15 minute Red Hook ferry. There are many other recent threads on the subject as well.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2374052

[blue_water]

Meant to add that although both options take about the same amount of time, you usually have more time on STJ by going on your own as you aren't queued with a large group waiting for others from the ship. You do want to allow a little more time for the return taxi to your port, so if your ship leaves at 6PM, for example, you'd want to take the 4PM ferry from Cruz Bay back to Red Hook. Some folks would take the 3PM ferry to be safer or to have some time to shop at the port (ferries depart each terminal on the hour).

 

The ship excursion is fine too, of course. With the ship option you get 4 - 4.5 hrs total on STJ for $39. Going on your own you determine how much time you get based on your time in port. Transpotration time is about the same and the cost is $48. So it just depends on your preferences - some folks like the freedom and flexibility of the self-excursion, and others like the group thing.

Enjoy!

[jean87510]

we did in april with celebrity self explore st john and liked the convenience of just walking to ferry at cruise port. just make sure you have money for taxis in st john. we are going back in October doing the same thing.