St.Thomas to St. John query

[Rhea58]

Forgive me if this has been addressed before.

 

I will be on an NCL ship, the Gem, which docks in St. Thomas &

would like to visit St. John. How do I go about this?

 

How to get to the ferry? And once there, do any cruisers have tips

on what to see.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[Keith1010]

I am sure you will get answers here but just wanted to mention that you can also post this on the St. Thomas Ports Of Call Board.

 

Keith

[printingchick]

Best to take a cab to the Red Hook ferry. There is a closer ferry at Charlotte Amalie, but it only runs about three ferries per day in each direction. From Red Hook, they run hourly.

 

Cost is $6 each way for adults, $1 for kids.

 

My guide book recommended sticking to the east side of the island, as cabs were easier to catch from that side. Many people go to Trunk Bay, which is a gorgeous beach and you see photos of it everywhere! Preferring to escape the crowds, I chose to go to a less popular location. We took a cab to the ruins at Annaberg. The views are gorgeous from there. It's an interesting site to visit, no cost. There are also decent public restrooms just outside the area.

 

From there, we walked down the Leinster Bay trail. It's just a short distance DOWN the road from the Annaberg entrance. There are a few beaches at the end of that trail with good snorkeling. We found ourselves swimming with the sea turtles.It was a remarkable experience.

 

Doing St. John on your own is a LITTLE nerve wracking, because the window of time is so limited. But it's well worth it!!

 

As someone pointed out to me, if you're lucky enough to be on an itinerary that visits another of the Virgin Islands next (some ships go from St. Thomas to St. Croix), if the very worst happens and you miss the ship, you can always ferry from St. Thomas to St. Croix to catch your ship. Easy and inexpensive rescue plan!! I'm not saying you should PLAN to do that, but it's nice to keep in the back of your mind so you don't feel the need to panic if there's an unexpected delay!

 

ENJOY!!

[Andee]

We based our decision on whether to use Red Hook or Charlotte Amalie on the schedule--used CA in one direction, RH in the other.

 

Once in St. John, we took a jitney tour of the island because it stopped at the places I had wanted to see, based on my research. We got off the tour at Trunk Bay so we could snorkel the underwater nature trail, and caught a cab back to the ferry dock. Great day.

[cruiseapril]

How was the under water trail?

[spunkyhungry]

I just did a land vacation to St. John. It's a beautiful and interesting place!

 

The underwater trail didn't feel like a trail. It just felt like regular snorkeling. There are signs labeling the fish, but I couldn't read them clearly since I wear glasses and have to take them off for snorkeling. Still there were lots of fish to see, so that was cool. It was a little crowded though.

 

Still, Trunk Bay is a good option. It's beautiful, and there are restrooms, changing rooms, and a food/drink stand. Since it's a popular destination there are plenty of taxis. It costs $4 per person to enter the beach.

 

Hawk's Nest Beach is also really pretty and less crowded. However, the bathrooms are outhouses, and there's no food sold there.

 

Caneel Bay is nice. You can use the resort beach. The water is very calm, and there's a dock you can swim to and jump off of or sunbathe on. I also saw a turtle when snorkeling. Since we drove there we had to buy $20 worth of food/drinks to park, so I'm not sure if that fee would be waived if you arrived via taxi. The drinks were really good, though.

[lemstar]

I would take a taxi to Red Hook, ferry to St John. Lots of shops around the dock area in St John. Lots of taxis waiting to take you around. If there aren't a ton of ships in, Trunk Bay is beautiful. Cinnamon Bay is also very nice, and may be a bit less crowded. It depends on whether you just want a beach and snorkel day, or you want to see more of the island. A taxi driver will take you around too, and show you stuff.

Enjoy!

[cb at sea]

If the ship offers an excursion to St. John, do it, rather than on your own. All the different transportation issues are taken care of FOR you....and it's painless and easy.

 

I usually do things via cab or bus on my own, but this little trip involves so many different types of transport, letting the ship get you there and back is worth the cost.

[hubofhockey]

If the ship offers an excursion to St. John, do it, rather than on your own. All the different transportation issues are taken care of FOR you....and it's painless and easy.

 

I usually do things via cab or bus on my own, but this little trip involves so many different types of transport, letting the ship get you there and back is worth the cost.

 

Disagree with this. If you do it on your own, you pay less and get more time in St John. We were on the beach for an hour before the cruise ship excursion people showed up. The transfers are easy and all lined up for you. As soon as you get off the ship, the taxis are ready to bring you to the ferry dock, where you pay for tickets and transfers. The transfers wait for you as soon as you get off the ferry.

[marco]

We've done both. On our own and the ship's excursion. Honestly....I thought it was "6 a' one half dozen of the other". It's easy enough to get to/from on your own and when you add up the cost of the ferry, jitney, beach entrance, tip, the cost of doing it on your own vs the ship's excursion was pretty much the same and what we saw/did was pretty much the same. The snorkeling at Trunk Bay in St John is like swimming in the worlds biggest aquarium. It was WONDERFUL!!!!! I thought the amount of beach time on the ship's tour was sufficient, but...check out the times of when you'll be where and doing what for the ship's tour vs doing it on your own. Doing the ship's tour is the most hassle free and I'm always apprehensive about using several types of transportation on your own and the possibility of missing the trip. If I recall, the ride by cab from RH back to the ship was longer than I expected it to be, so.....just plan accordingly. No matter how you go....I think it's absolutely worth the trip!

[Andee]

We prefer the flexibility of doing it on our own--like to see what we want, when we want, for how long we want.

 

We enjoyed the underwater trail--it was fun to look for the things the signs described.