Explorer of the Seas / St. Thomas question

[ajcolorado]

We're going on our first cruise and are trying to figure out if my husband & son will have enough time to go to Trunk Bay to snorkel with the family before they go on their early afternoon scuba dive. The itinerary says that we are in port from 7 - 5pm. I understand that we need to be back to the ship by 4:30. But how early can you normally expect to be able to disembark from the ship in the morning? How long does that whole process take?

 

Thank you for your help.

[vicdreyer]

Hi,

 

we just did the Explorer last month (see http://home.comcast.net/~vicdreyer/explorer2005.htm )

 

We also had originally planned to to go to Trunk Bay in the morning and then come back to do some shopping in St Thomas in the afternoon. Yes, you will have time, but it makes for a busy and 'rushed' day.

 

We had to go through a customs check before getting off the ship. This was done in 'order' depending on what deck you are on. We went to the dining room, showed our passport to a customs official and then headed off the ship. This went fairly quick..and we were off the ship by 9AM. I 'spose' if you were one of the first ones in line going through customs, you could be off the ship by between 8 & 8:30am...but figure an hour to get to Trunk Bay (taxi to Red Hook, ferry to Cruz Bay, taxi to Trunk Bay) and then figure between an hour to hour and a half to get back (it takes a bit longer because it's more crowded on the way back).

 

Hope that helps...

 

Vic

[HB Cruiser]

ajcolorado

 

When are you going on the Explorer? If you are going on May 29th, we have a thread going on the meet and mingle board. Drop in on us.

 

Tim & Crystal

[ajcolorado]

We're going in June - and I am registered for that Meet & Mingle. Our daughter is graduating from H.S. in a couple of weeks and we have relatives coming into town so I'm trying to make sure I have "all my ducks in a row" as far as the cruise is concerned.

 

There will be about 14 of us heading to Trunks Bay. What are the costs for taxis to Redhook and then to Trunk Bay once we get off the ferry. Are we a large enough group to fill a Safari Bus? What is the cost of that?

 

Thanks.

[GCBCKat57]

Just my opinion, but I think it's going to be too rushed...maybe better to enjoy one activity fully and leisurely then trying to rush through two. We were on Explorer last Sept and were thinking about the same thing, but realized we didn't want to get stressed on vacation. We stayed on St. Thomas figuring we'd be back at some time to go to St. Johns. We'll be back in Oct and will do Trunk Bay this time. Enjoy your cruise...she's a beauty of a ship and the itinerary's neat.

 

VicDreyer...just loved your travelogue...you got some great shots. Really made me excited about going back again.

 

[SlightDraw]

Did Explorer eastern and western. Just did Navigator eastern. Our recent Navigator we did not have to do the customs thing. We booked through RCI catamaran snorkeling to Buck island.

Worked great. Got off at 8am or so. Catamaran picked us up there at the dock. Hour out and about an hour snorkeling. Hour back.Great time. We then took a cab right there at the port to town. Eating lunch by 12:30. I would say we had 2 hours in town, so it does cut off some of the day. Warning: A cab ride back to the ship towrds sailing time both times took 45 min. It is such a short distance but you wont believe the traffic. Plan for travel time back to the ship!! In my opinion, St. Thomas and St.Martin are the jewel stops. Eastern or western, hands down. Snorkeling would for sure be Cayman's on the western route. So if you want to shop and this is your first cruise there, skip the snorkeling. Our first time to St.Thomas all we did was walk the island and shopped. Second time we did both.

[SlightDraw]

ajcolorado

 

Sorry I did not address a quetion of yours.

 

Remember, any tour you take while cruising you are at the mercey of the tour operators and how organised they are. That said, they are also fully aware of timing with your cruise. Problem is you are at the mercey with X amount of other people of your tour. Also Buses, transfers, cabs, etc.

 

We payed 3 bucks each one way to town.

[Cruzntime]

We had to go through a customs check before getting off the ship. This was done in 'order' depending on what deck you are on. We went to the dining room, showed our passport to a customs official and then headed off the ship.

Vic

 

Last year on our cruise we only carried our Seapass and DL on all our western Caribbean ports of call. This year we are going eastern caribbean and I am reading about all these imigration checks and passports being shown. I read that some take their passports on shore with them while others say this is too risky because of potential theft of your passport and identity. I am a little uncertain how this passport thing works on Nassua and St. Thomas. If your have a Seapass which was issued after proof of identity do you still need the passport to clear imigration at these ports? I think I would like to leave my passport on the ship but being new to using passports I am open minded.

 

Thanks.

[vicdreyer]

Hi,

 

GCBCKat57

I agree that doing Trunk Bay should be an all day trip if you don't want to be rushed.... (not much of a vacation to only spend a short time at one place and having to look at your watch all the time)

 

ajcolorado

The taxi from Havensight to Redhook ferry is about $8/person, and the taxi from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay is about $5/person (you might be able to haggle a lower price is there's a group of you going)

 

Cruzntime

The seapass gets you on ship..the passport gets you on shore. We've been to both Nassau and St Thomas several times. In Nassau we had to show our passport 'after' getting off the ship, so we did bring it with us. In St Thomas, the immigration official came on the boat to check passports. We always felt safe carrying our passports in a waist pouch on our person.