Anyone ever do the St john on your own tour?

It is basically just the ferry from the ship to St John? Looks like other tours are on the ferry as well, but this one is $5 cheaper.

St John Where?

I know of St John's Newfoundland,

St John New Brunswick,

This recent thread has a lot of good information

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1907141&highlight=st+john

We will be in St. Thomas in December and will probably do this.

St John USVI.

But just saw an article saying all the beaches and moorings are closed because of shut down. Hope it opens up soon!.

We are looking at the STO3 tour, sounds similar to STG4, but $5 cheaper.

St John USVI.

 

But just saw an article saying all the beaches and moorings are closed because of shut down. Hope it opens up soon!.

 

We are looking at the STO3 tour, sounds similar to STG4, but $5 cheaper.

But, I would assume that all the beaches on St. Thomas are open.

We plan to do the trip on our own. As you say ferry from Red Hook to Cruz bay then a short taxi drive to trunk Bay. Ferry is on the hour every hour and takes about 20 mins to do the crossing.Enjoy :)

We plan to do the trip on our own. As you say ferry from Red Hook to Cruz bay then a short taxi drive to trunk Bay. Ferry is on the hour every hour and takes about 20 mins to do the crossing.Enjoy :)

By the way, Hawksnest Bay is very nice; and much less crowded. Also, it would probably not be closed due to the government shutdown.

St. John, US Virgin Islands

We berthed at Havensight Pier in St. Thomas. Our destination was Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay on the Island of St. John for snorkeling. Despite what everyone at the pier will tell you (and they will lie to you), you can get local transportation for $2 per person in an open-air taxi to Red Hook to catch a ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John. Simply walk out of the Havensight pier main gate, cross the street, turn left and walk until you get to the Bus Stop (there is a pullover area) across from K-Mart and cross the street so that you are standing on the K-Mart side of the street. It is a leisurely 15-minute level walk. When you see an open-air taxi drive up, flag him down, tell him where you wish to go and enjoy the trip. The drive takes about 20 to 30 minutes each way depending upon traffic. The taxi will drop you off at the Red Hook ferry terminal. Pay upon exiting the taxi, go through the gates and hop on the ferry to St. John. We caught the 8:00am ferry and paid our $5.00/pp fare. Normally, you would pay at the booth prior to boarding. The very pretty ride across the bay runs about 15 minutes.

[Note: there is also a downtown ferry that runs directly from Charlotte Amalie for $10/pp. The ferry dock is a short taxi ride from the Charlotte Amalie pier. This is a very pretty 40-minute ride. As I recall, it runs less often than the Red Hook ferry.]

Upon arrival at Cruz Bay, St. John, we caught a 10-minute taxi ride ($6.00/pp) to Trunk Bay, stopping once along the way to take pictures of Trunk Bay from a picturesque spot along the road. We arrived at 8:30am which allowed us to get in free. Once the admission booth opens, it costs $4.00/pp to enter this beautiful white sand beach with clear waters, awesome views of islands and cays, nice facilities, and an underwater snorkeling trail. The snorkeling trail can be found on the right hand side of the beach. It begins on the far side of the little island and works its way around the island and ends on the closer side. The snorkeling is very good, with lots of fish and colorful coral. Including the four of us, there was a total of 7 people enjoying this beach from 8:30am to 10:15am when larger groups began arriving —– at which time we left and caught a $4/pp taxi for Cinnamon Bay. (Trunk Bay is now one of our top three Caribbean beaches).

Cinnamon Bay is part of a campground with good facilities, snorkeling equipment rentals, and kayak rentals. The beach is not as pretty as Trunk Bay but offers good snorkeling as well. Sea Turtles can be spotted here in the middle of the bay feeding on the sea grass, but we did not spot any this trip. We caught a taxi back to Cruz Bay ($7/pp) at 11:40am. We just missed the noon ferry so we ate lunch at High Tide Bar and Grill adjacent to the pier. We enjoyed the Virgin Island Pale Ale (a fruity beer made for distribution in St. John by a brewery in Maine), and especially liked the sweet mango salsa which accompanies the chips and salsa appetizer. We shopped until 1:45pm and bought tickets for the 2:00pm ferry, which was 30 minutes late arriving. A very large crowd anxiously waited in a long line in the hot sun on the pier. There was no problem getting everyone on the ferry. We arrived back in Red Hook at 2:40pm. Ignore the $7/pp taxis and wait for a $2.00 taxi again EXACTLY where it dropped you off. (Do not cross the street). We got dropped off a couple blocks closer to Havensight than the K-Mart where we picked up the taxi. St. Thomas is a major shopping destination. Havensight has a large number of shops convenient to the ship, however, the real shoppers head into Charlotte Amalie to do their shopping. It is very easy to get to St. John from the ship. We look forward to doing this excursion on our own again.

More "Secrets of the Caribbean": http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

Great tours we've taken in over 20 ports!

Keep seeing those long posts on this topic but bottom line is go the Red Hook route - taxi to the Red Hook ferry and enjoy the short ferry to Cruz bay and there are taxis lined-up for islansd tours and/or beaches. Nice trip to the beautiful East End of St Thomas and a 15 - 20 min ferry into Cruz which is nice on a sunny day. The other options are

1) Ferry from the Charlotte Amalie ferry "dock" but that is very unreliable and on a cruise you don't want that. Also a 45 minute ride in open and potentially very rough water.

2) Ferry through the ship, same long ride as above.

Total roundtrip transportation from Havensight to Trunk or Cinnamon Bay is $46pp, a little more from Crown. There is a "$2 taxi" option that would shave about $14 off the RT taxi to Red Hook. Many folks use when they aren't in a hurry to get anywhere or they aren't making the longer trip to STJ. But understand there may be some waiting time, and the bus makes several stops each way for locals. For us our limited time in port is precious and we take the taxi.

Enjoy Shamrock!:)

By the way, Hawksnest Bay is very nice; and much less crowded. Also, it would probably not be closed due to the government shutdown.

Hawksnest IS in the park...

It is basically just the ferry from the ship to St John? Looks like other tours are on the ferry as well, but this one is $5 cheaper.

On our sailing the "St. John on Your Own" tour leaves at 8:30 am and is only 4 hours. The "Destination St. John" tours leave at 9:30 am and are 6 hours 30 minutes. For only $6pp you get an additional 2 hours 30 minutes on the island, but leave an hour later. Unless things change, it appears that you can easily ditch the tour once you get to St. John. I am sure others will post about their experiences before we leave in April.

Yes, I know you can cab/bus over to Red Hook and take the ferry, but we didn't want to deal with it, :cool: so we booked one of the "Destination St. John" tours through Celebrity.

Well, I clearly spoke too soon. I received an email canceling our excursion because it has been discontinued.

Sent from my DROID RAZR

Well, I clearly spoke too soon. I received an email canceling our excursion because it has been discontinued.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR

For April they called you? Or do you have a cruise going sooner?

We were all speculating that the calls we were getting now had to do with the fact that the government is shut down, but our cruiseis two weeks away....if you got the call about April it is doubtful that it is because the government shut down.....

For April they called you? Or do you have a cruise going sooner?

 

We were all speculating that the calls we were getting now had to do with the fact that the government is shut down, but our cruiseis two weeks away....if you got the call about April it is doubtful that it is because the government shut down.....

Yup, for our April cruise. I didn't receive a call though, just an email.

Dear Guest,

As you prepare for your upcoming cruise with us, we want to make you aware of a change in your Shore Excursions program. Unfortunately, STG3 Destination St. John: Historic Walking Tour and Personal Leisure Time in St. Thomas, on the tour you recently booked has been discontinued. Please note that we've processed the cancellation of the original tour and a have issued a refund to your credit card. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to welcoming you onboard soon.

 

Thank you!

By the way, Hawksnest Bay is very nice; and much less crowded. Also, it would probably not be closed due to the government shutdown.

However, I may be incorrect.

Well, I clearly spoke too soon. I received an email canceling our excursion because it has been discontinued.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR

The same thing happened to me. I got the cancellation email today. My sailing is in 36 days. I checked and they are now offering ST03 "Self Explore St. John". It may not be listed for your sailing yet, but keep checking. It is only $34, instead of $40. It gives you a minimum of 4.5 hours in St. John. This is cheaper than going on your own via taxi and Red Hook ferry. I booked it. With any luck, the national park service will be up and running again by the time I get there. Fingers crossed! Here is the description:

Self Explore St. John ST03

Enjoy a scenic narrated roundtrip ferry ride along St. Thomas' picturesque southcoast, passing beaches, coves, hotels & luxury villas from ship pierside to Cruz Bay.

Once in St. John and armed with your Island information package, enjoy a minimum of 4.5 hours of personal leisure time to explore this beautiful emerald isle. St. John is 2/3rds National Park with many glistening white sandy beaches to choose from along with historical sites. The famous Trunk Bay is where you can hire snorkel equipment and enjoy the snorkel trail. Cinnamon Bay beach is a more private location with its historical "Arawak" archaelogical site. Hawksnest Beach was a flim location - so many options! Taxis are readily available for island tours- visit Annaberg Ruins and you'll still have time to swim, relax on one of our beaches, before heading to Cruz Bay.

In Cruz Bay take time to browse around the many boutique and custom stores specializing in local products. There are also many restaurants to choose from American, Spanish and local cusine... with over 4 hours in St. John it is limitless! On the return trip you will be offered a cool refreshing fruit or rum punch drink before arriving back to the ship.

The same thing happened to me. I got the cancellation email today. My sailing is in 36 days. I checked and they are now offering ST03 "Self Explore St. John". It may not be listed for your sailing yet, but keep checking. It is only $34, instead of $40. It gives you a minimum of 4.5 hours in St. John. This is cheaper than going on your own via taxi and Red Hook ferry. I booked it. With any luck, the national park service will be up and running again by the time I get there. Fingers crossed! Here is the description:

 

Self Explore St. John ST03

Enjoy a scenic narrated roundtrip ferry ride along St. Thomas' picturesque southcoast, passing beaches, coves, hotels & luxury villas from ship pierside to Cruz Bay.

 

Once in St. John and armed with your Island information package, enjoy a minimum of 4.5 hours of personal leisure time to explore this beautiful emerald isle. St. John is 2/3rds National Park with many glistening white sandy beaches to choose from along with historical sites. The famous Trunk Bay is where you can hire snorkel equipment and enjoy the snorkel trail. Cinnamon Bay beach is a more private location with its historical "Arawak" archaelogical site. Hawksnest Beach was a flim location - so many options! Taxis are readily available for island tours- visit Annaberg Ruins and you'll still have time to swim, relax on one of our beaches, before heading to Cruz Bay.

 

In Cruz Bay take time to browse around the many boutique and custom stores specializing in local products. There are also many restaurants to choose from American, Spanish and local cusine... with over 4 hours in St. John it is limitless! On the return trip you will be offered a cool refreshing fruit or rum punch drink before arriving back to the ship.

Thatis a descriptionof the same ferry trip. Maybe Celebrity just began to realize that everyone was using the excursions as a form of transportation to St. Johnandthenjust doing whatever they wanted to do. We have done this excursion at least 6 times, and everyone always lines up when the staff asks who would just like to skip the "tour" and go on their merry way........

We are all given bracelets that designate whether it is "shopping" historic" or "beaches"....and everyone just gets their own taxi and does whatever. It probably saves them money not having to supply guides since no one uses them.....

so now it is five dollars cheaper....and even a better deal in my opinion.....

ENJOY!!!!!

It's a little cheaper than the self-excursion via Red Hook but remember you're on the ferry in more open water for a much longer time. As long as the seas are calm it's not too bad but it is a crowded ferry.

It's a little cheaper than the self-excursion via Red Hook but remember you're on the ferry in more open water for a much longer time. As long as the seas are calm it's not too bad but it is a crowded ferry.

It never felt crowded to me. The ride was also fine, not too rough at all the day we went.

Great! It's typically rougher, that's why all of the day sails and regular ferries run from Sapphire and Red Hook. But on a nice calm day it can be ok. Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy Trunk or Cinnamon and the nice shopping and dining in Cruz.