Carnival Trunk Bay Snorkel excursion

[MindTheGap1918]

Has anyone ever taken the Trunk Bay Beach Snorkel excursion offered through Carnival? Carnival listed the excursion as being 4 hours long, which doesn't seem like it leaves you much time to snorkel once finally reaching Trunk Bay on St. John? Any input would be appreciated. :)

[hockeyboy]

RCCLs excursion left a bit over an hour to snorkel. Reef around Trunk is dead. Too many people stepping on the coral leaching suntan lotion, kicking coral. There is great snorkeling in St. John, but not at Trunk.

[MindTheGap1918]

Hmm, that is something obviously to consider. I hear the beach itself is worth visiting though. The number of ships in port that day may also sway my decision.

[pghsteelerfan]

I just posted this response & pictures on another post about Trunk Bay where someone mentioned all the coral was dead and remembered seeing this post. I've seen a few other posts recently that mention that the coral at Trunk Bay in St. John is dead and some say it's not even worth snorkeling there. I'm not an expert on snorkeling (this was my 4th time overall) or what dead coral looks like, but there was a lot to see when we were there this past May and I was amazed (again, I've only snorkeled 4 times). I'm attaching a few pictures (out of almost 200) that I took while snorkeling the underwater trail at Trunk Bay just to give you some idea of what there is to see, so you can decide whether it's worth it or not. There were a lot more fish than my pictures show, but I had a hard time getting them to stay still long enough for a picture. I did get a couple decent ones, which are attached. I'm sure bread or cereal off the ship would have helped, but I forgot to bring some.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Caribbean Sunsets]

We did the Princess St. John Trunk Bay Snorkel excursion on Thanksgiving Day. We had about an hour and 20 minutes of beach/snorkel time. The beach is absolutely beautiful! I thought the water was a little cooler compared to the other islands we visited.

[4Dreamers]

Hello,

 

Is there any way to get to Trunk Bay without an Excursion ?

[MindTheGap1918]

You can take a taxi from the dock to Red Hook and catch a ferry over. It runs hourly from St. Thomas to St. John. If you search back through the boards, you'll find a lot of helpful information. This thread has been the most helpful to me...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1196166

[cruiztime]

Does the Carnival excursion take you right from the ship, or do you have to find your own way to Red Hook?

[MindTheGap1918]

Based on what I've read, the excursion leaves right from the ship. The price covers the transportation as well as the snorkeling in Trunk Bay.

[pghsteelerfan]

Yes, when we went on the Carnival excursion in May, we took a ferry from right where the ships are docked. The ferry heads past the Marriott resort and around the southern side of St. Thomas and over to St. John. It's about a 45 minute ride.