crazy to plan St John's on own with 1.5 yo?

[3firstnames]

I have looked at the posts for St. Thomas and see rave reviews for St. John's, but it looks like a fair amount of schlepping. Carnival has an excursion, but I worry about being part of a cattle call and the $$$. Anyone tried the going it on your own route with a little one?

Note: I don't feel comfortable not having her in a carseat, so that would be an additional item we would be toting around (we may get the portable one, but I can't quite decide if I feel safe with it).

[Ga_Crusin]

We've done the St John trip twice on our own, but not with one that young. Our kids were 5 & 7 the first time then 7 & 9 last time (a month ago). I think you could do it, but I really don't know about the car seat. The cab ride over to Red Hook is in a big pickup type vehicle with bench seating and no seatbelts for anyone. I don't think a car seat is possible.

 

One alternative is to take a taxi to the terminal in Charlotte Amalie, and take the ferry from Charlotte Amalie straight to St John and skip the hair raising ride across the island. That alternative is slightly more expensive for adults, but, it's cheaper for kids because they charge the same price for everyone on the taxi but the ferries have cut rates for the kids. The only drawback is that the ferry from (and to) Charlotte Amalie runs less frequently. Also, the people directing you to the taxis will discourage you from that alternative and try to get you to go to Red Hook. You can also walk if you have lots of energy; from where our Royal Caribbean ship docked, it was probably 1 1/2 miles.

 

On St Johns, we have always just rented our own car, rather than going with taxis. It is something like 10-12 each way to the beach, so if you're a group of 4, it's cheaper to just rent a car. The only trick with that is that the car rental agencies will not prebook for one day anymore. So we had to wander the streets in St John for probably 20-30 minutes until I found a place with a car for a good price. We paid about $60 for a beat up old 4 wheel drive car with the back window gone. It was perfect.

[Redheada]

Let me just say that St John is the most amazing island and if you cart yourself over there for the day - it will be well worth it!

 

I went last February with my then 2 year old daughter. We had already decided ahead of time not to do any of the cruise-excursions. I personally do alot of research and plan the activities myself.

 

When we went to St. Thomas - we took the ferry over to St John for the day. I did not lug a car seat around - so I guess that is a bad thing, but you are actually in a car very little. We took an open air taxi to the ferry (which wasnt that far) and then right when you get off the ferry there are open-air taxis to take you to whatever beach. (also we avoided Red Hook as well). The open air taxis are bench seating with lots of other people (and kids). Both rides are less than 20 mins depending on where you go.

 

We went to Cinnamon Bay (as opposed to the more popular Trunk Bay). It was the most amazing day - but if we had to add a car seat into that equation it wouldnt have worked. Not in the taxis and not on the beach. So I guess it would depend on what you want to do there. For us traveling with a toddler, every stop we planned beach days, because it was relaxing and kept the baby entertained. You can buy beach toys at both beaches and they do have showers and bathrooms - but no umbrellas. We were able to find trees, etc. on the beach and just planted ourselves for several hours.

 

I have been to many places in the caribbean and St. John is one of my top 3 spots. I have pics and stuff - feel free to email me at redheada@hotmail.com