HELP! Disney Fantasy St John Trunk Bay Snorkel etc

Hello,

I am in need of info from anyone who has taken the Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean cruise to Tortolla and St Thomas etc. We are trying to plan out our day, and we need some timing info.

We want to take the St John Trunk Bay & Snorkel excursion, but we cannot find any specific detail of what time we would actually begin the excursion so we would know how much time we had left to sightsee Charlotte Amalie OR shop or take the Paradise Point skyline tram ride up the mountain. Can ANYONE HELP???? If you have taken this excursion what time did you meet on board and when did you actually RETURN from the excursion? Did they return you to the ship or drop you off in town? We've never been to St Thomas before so know nothing about it.

We leave in May.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Southern Reader

You have about 3 hours of total travel time each way back and forth from Charlotte Amalie to Trunk Bay. Generally you are at Trunk Bay for at minimum 3 hours but you won't want to leave as it is absolutely gorgeous. As to what time the excursion leaves - it really varies by ship and date but I would expect around 8:30 or 9am if your ship docks at 8am. There may be a short amount of time for you to shop near the port when you return to Charlotte Amalie. Honestly, having been there many times and going to different areas to shop trying to find something worth buying, the shopping there is the pits and I wouldn't even bother. It's mainly a bunch of jewelry shops selling overpriced no-brand pieces that you can get anywhere in the USA for less than 20% of what you would pay there and a few duty free liquor stores and a small number of tourist shops selling cheap souvenirs, beach towels, swimsuits and cheaply made sundresses that they ship in from China. I love to shop, but I have always come away empty handed in Charlotte Amalie.

I agree...do the St. John excursion...and if you have to skip the shopping, you won't have missed much! No "bargains" anymore!

Hi there,

Would we have time to go up on the tram ride to the mountain view? Does the tram ride take you to the place they call Mountain Top? We just wanted to peruse the place called Vendor's Plaza for some inexpensive souvenirs. Hence the need to know times as our ship in only in port till 4pm

I would not worry about making it back in time for shopping or that trip up the mountain . Trunk Bay is worth the sacrifice .

St Thomas is on almost every Eastern Caribbean itinerary for every cruise line . You will be back someday most likely .

Hi there,

Would we have time to go up on the tram ride to the mountain view? Does the tram ride take you to the place they call Mountain Top? We just wanted to peruse the place called Vendor's Plaza for some inexpensive souvenirs. Hence the need to know times as our ship in only in port till 4pm

The tram ride is expensive - $21 per person. You ride the tram up the mountain and there is a scenic overlook which is very pretty, but you can see almost the same view from the top deck of your cruise ship. There is a quick service restaurant/bar and gift shop at the top owned by the tram with the same cheap stuff as in all the other tourist stores as I recall but nothing else of interest. We took some photos and left. You can walk to the tram from the ship.

Vendors Plaza is not worth going to unless you like buying cheap made in China stuff, cheap fake purses, etc from sketchy people.

Mountain Top is much further away on the North side of the island from where the ships dock. If there is no traffic, it takes about 20 minutes to get there by taxi. If there is traffic, you can expect a much slower drive. You can see it on the map here along with the Port located on the south side of the island near Havensight:

http://www.mountaintopvi.com/tfile_map_big.jpg

Honestly, the excursion to Trunk Bay on St. John is the best of the excursions offered cruise ship passengers in St. Thomas. Short of chartering a private yacht to take you around the USVI's for the day, there really is no better way to spend your time in St. Thomas. Trunk Bay is one of the most beautiful places on earth. There is a small store at Trunk Bay that sells the typical tourist items. There is also food and snorkle equipment available there. What I tend to buy is beach towels with the name of each island on them because we have a swimming pool at home and use the beach towels daily in summer. Some people buy Christmas ornaments (most of which are made in China.) IDK, there just is not much worth buying on the islands so we tend to focus on great experiences instead.

Hi all,

I am still looking for the excursion's departure time from the ship AND return time to the ship.

We really want to go see St, John, but we also want to see either the Old synagogue on St Thomas or take the tram ride to the top of the mountain overlook. The Disney Cruise line says the excursion is 4 to 4.5 hours long. The ship docks at 6:45 am and it says we can disembark at 7:45 am. The ship leaves port at 4 pm. That is 8 hours in port with only 4 1/2 hours max for the excursion so our plans all depend on its departure and return time.

I am trying to find out what time we take the excursion to see if we have time before the excursion, or after it, to do the 1 or 2 other other things we want to do. SURELY someone out there reading this has taken a recent Disney Fantasy cruise ( and this excursion) who can tell me.???????? Pretty Please???

Thank You