Help...cruise excursion or on our own???

[amhcruise]

We will be on the NCL Epic for an 8:00-4:00 day in St. Thomas. We definitely want to go to Trunk Bay, but we are wondering if we should do NCL's excursion or do it on our own? I have read that the NCL excursion will only give us about 1 1/2 hours on the beach. Will we have more time if we venture out on our own? Cost is not the concern...our concern is maximizing time at the beach. Admittedly, we are not world travelers, so the idea of venturing out on our own is a bit intimidating. It would only be worth it if it will give us significantly more time at Trunk Bay.

 

I know there is a lot a lot of postings about getting to TB, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer about whether doing it on your own saves a lot of time?

 

Any info is much appreciated! :)

[computerworks]

(post will probably be moved to Ports of Call board...)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133

 

You can do it on your own and get more time on St. John's..a bit more

 

Ferries leave from near cruise dock and take 45 mins; more ferries from Red Hook on East end of St. Thomas with more flexible schedules and 20 min trip, but it's a bit of a wash if you have to take a cab there and back.

 

On St. John's you'd cab and back to TB

 

The ship probably catches the 10 a.m. ferry near the dock

 

We're on the Gem in Feb and will be renting a scooter in St. Thomas and car-ferrying over to St. John's.

[Starrgazer50]

We will be on the NCL Epic for an 8:00-4:00 day in St. Thomas. We definitely want to go to Trunk Bay, but we are wondering if we should do NCL's excursion or do it on our own? I have read that the NCL excursion will only give us about 1 1/2 hours on the beach. Will we have more time if we venture out on our own? Cost is not the concern...our concern is maximizing time at the beach. Admittedly, we are not world travelers, so the idea of venturing out on our own is a bit intimidating. It would only be worth it if it will give us significantly more time at Trunk Bay.

 

I know there is a lot a lot of postings about getting to TB, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer about whether doing it on your own saves a lot of time?

 

Any info is much appreciated! :)

 

Yes, you will have more beach time if you ventured out on your own. Don't be intimidated, it's easy to get to. I did this on my Jan 2011 NCL cruise for the same reasons..

Try to be the first off the ship. Take a taxi to the Red Hook Ferry, take the Ferry over to St. John, Cruz Bay and then a taxi to Trunk Bay. Trunk Bay is CASH only. No ATM's around, so if you need money get it while in Cruz Bay or on the ship. Don't remember what time I got there, but I was on the 2:30 ferry to get back to the ship by 5:00pm. Got back in way more than enough time. I visited TB and also took a taxi over to Cinnamon Beach. I hope to do this excursion on my own again, but this time I will tour the island.

 

 

http://www.stjohnguidebook.com/

The guide has the ferry information inside.

I would call the phone number to get an update of the leaving and departure schedule.

[ltzol]

Just check to see how many ships are in port. I know when we are there in January, there are like 7 or 8 ships, so I opted to do the NCL excursion. I was just too nervous about doing it on my own with so many people there that day.

[Goldilocks875]

I'm not sure when you are in St. Thomas, but looking at the ships in port the day we're in St. Thomas- there's going to be somewhere in the 11,000+ cruisers in port. I'd definitely check to see how many ships would be in port, and then make a decision from there.

 

We wanted to go to St. John for sure, so we opted to do an excursion through NCL- just to give us peace of mind.