US Virgin Islands National Park

[poptartler]

Hello -

 

My family is trying to go to all of the national parks (at least the ones that are easier to get to). From doing some reading online, it seems like most cruise lines going to the US Virgin Islands stop at St. Thomas and then you take an excursion or go on your own to St Johns to visit the National Park.
 

My questions include - has anyone done this before and have any recommendations for what cruise line to book or which excursion? We want to make sure we stop in the National Park Visitor Center and would probably want to do some snorkeling as well.

 

Should I be searching for “eastern Caribbean” or “western Caribbean”  itineraries?

 

Can anyone recommend how to pull this off with time to spare to get back to the boat? We’re looking for a cruise that’s 4-7 days and leaves from Florida and makes a stop at St Thomas or St John so we can pull this off. 
 

I appreciate your input!

Edited November 15, 2022 by poptartler

[Hlitner]

You would generally be looking at Eastern or Southern Caribbean (some of these embark from San Juan).  What you want is the longest port day since it does take some time to get over to St Johns.  The ideal would be a cruise that arrives in St Thomas around 8 and does not leave until 5 or 6.    Most cruise lines will have an excursion, or you can go on your own.  There are multiple options to do it on your own including some tours that leave from St Thomas and the other possibility being to get a taxi (plenty of shared taxis) over the Red Hook where you can catch the ferry across to St Johns.

 

Hank

 

 

[hallasm]

I have several times visited St.  John in connection with cruises.  
You basically have three options.  Rent a car and take the boat from Red Hook to Cruz Bay, take the boat from Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay or an excursion by your Cruise ship.
If you arrange it yourself, there are many opportunities to take a trip through the national park with local tour guides from Cruz Bay.
 If you rent a car yourself, be aware that in the USVI you drive on the left side.-  can be a challenge.  Even if you arrange it yourself, there is a risk of delays and that you will not get back to the ship before it has sailed.  It doesn't wait so it can get expensive.
 My advice is to take an excursion with the ship - I think all cruise lines have  an excursion to St. John on the program.

[Joebucks]

We decided against the ship sponsored tour as it was "4 hours," leaving at time we didn't want to wait around for. The problem with those is you're on their time, not yours. Maybe you want to stay longer, maybe you don't. I know the trip to St John can seem intimidating, which leads people to the excursion, but it's not so bad to do on your own. There's nothing special about finding taxis and the ferry. And yes, it is 100% worth it. Definitely go.

[Zach1213]

St. John is crazy easy to do on your own, so I would recommend doing it that way as long as you have the time. Most of the island of St. John is technically the national park, so even going to (most of) the beaches technically puts you in the Virgin Islands National Park. 

 

My wife and I are also trying to do the whole "hit all national parks" thing. Definitely don't expect to actually get it done, especially when you get to the "obscure" ones like Gates of the Arctic...but it's worth a try. Good luck! 

[slidergirl]

Back in the day, the now-ex and I spent a week camping in the National Park,  The Park is spread out over the island.  I think the visitor center is in Cruz Bay, the ship excursions dump everyone off at Trunk Bay to snorkel.  The campground with an amazing beach is at Cinnamon Bay.  If you could, I'd ditch Trunk Bay (nothing like snorkeling with 1000 others) and go to Cinnamon Bay.  

[Charles4515]

On 11/14/2022 at 8:42 PM, poptartler said:

We want to make sure we stop in the National Park Visitor Center and would probably want to do some snorkeling as well.

The Visitor Center is in Cruz Bay. The two cruise line excursions I have been on  one went to Trunk Bay and the other Honeymoon. I don't think we had time at Cruz Bay.The one to Honeymoon was direct so definitly no Cruz Bay on that one.  I did do the visitor center and the park four times on my own by taking the ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay. Then a taxi to the park from Cruz Bay. 

[Charles4515]

18 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Back in the day, the now-ex and I spent a week camping in the National Park,  The Park is spread out over the island.  I think the visitor center is in Cruz Bay, the ship excursions dump everyone off at Trunk Bay to snorkel.  The campground with an amazing beach is at Cinnamon Bay.  If you could, I'd ditch Trunk Bay (nothing like snorkeling with 1000 others) and go to Cinnamon Bay.  

Yes, it is in Cruz Bay so if that is a priority OP should probably not take a cruise line excursion. I have taken the ferry four times from Red Hook and once from downtown to Cruz Bay and it worked out fine. We arranged with the taxi drivers to pick us up in time for the return ferries. 

[poptartler]

8 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Yes, it is in Cruz Bay so if that is a priority OP should probably not take a cruise line excursion. I have taken the ferry four times from Red Hook and once from downtown to Cruz Bay and it worked out fine. We arranged with the taxi drivers to pick us up in time for the return ferries. 

Thanks for the insight here! It sounds like we need to do our own excursion by taking the ferry to Cruz bay, stopping by the visitor center and then finding a snorkeling spot nearby. Any suggestions for snorkeling nearby that’s walkable?

 

we aren’t locked into a specific cruise ship or company as we are just now starting to plan, but it appears the cruises all get you close enough in St Thomas to take your own ferry excursion to Cruz bay and back with plenty of time. 

[poptartler]

Thanks everyone for your insight so far! Anymore information including which cruise line you like best and why while visiting is appreciated!

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, poptartler said:

Thanks for the insight here! It sounds like we need to do our own excursion by taking the ferry to Cruz bay, stopping by the visitor center and then finding a snorkeling spot nearby. Any suggestions for snorkeling nearby that’s walkable?

 

 

Solomon Bay and Honymoon Beach are about a mile away from the visitors center and to me they are walkable, there is a trail but ask at the visitors center. You could also take a taxi to other beaches. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Charles4515

[poptartler]

9 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Solomon Bay and Honymoon Beach are about a mile away from the visitors center and to me they are walkable, there is a trail but ask at the visitors center. You could also take a taxi to other beaches. 

Ok thanks! Does the island have Uber/lyft yet? If not is it easy to find a taxi to get back to the dock to take a ferry to the cruise ship?

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, poptartler said:

Thanks everyone for your insight so far! Anymore information including which cruise line you like best and why while visiting is appreciated!

There are two cruise ship docks in St. Thomas. Crown Bay and Havensight. Havansight is to be preferred in general it is also closer to the Red Hook ferry location. (you will have to take a taxi to Red Hook)  So you probably want to prefer a ship that calls at Havensight. Check the port schedule to get an idea. Pre Covid Royal Caribbean and Celebrity were calling at Crown Bay and other lines at Havensight.

[Charles4515]

14 minutes ago, poptartler said:

Ok thanks! Does the island have Uber/lyft yet? If not is it easy to find a taxi to get back to the dock to take a ferry to the cruise ship?

There is no Uber/Lyft. The taxis are ride share, they are mostly open air vehicles. I always asked them to come back at a prearranged  time, actually they usually solicited that and they always did come back. Be sure to leave enough time to catch the ferry back. I always arranged to be back in plenty of time for the ferry so that if I missed  one that would give me plenty of time,  the next one would still make it back in time. If you post on the St. Thomas/St. John port of call forum here you  probably will get more information and more recent and up to date info than I have. Last time I was there was pre-covid. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Charles4515

[NantahalaCruiser]

In the interest of covering all of the possibilities, note that there are some cruise lines (e.g. Azamara) with smaller ships that actually stop directly in St. John itself.