Getting to St. John

[dtbach]

Hello Folks:

 

We are going on our very first cruise in March - Eastern Caribbean. Just wondering about going to St. John, do you go there once in St. Thomas? I read a cruise review today and it mentioned taking a catamaran at about $79 each person with limited food selections available. We have two girls ages 14 (well, she's turning 14 while on the cruise) and 11. Would like to take them to some relaxing and family friendly beaches on St. John.

 

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions.

 

Darryl

[dixieva]

Try here for information on St. John:

 

 

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

 

This is the ports of call board-information on St. John and St. Thomas

[OKCruiseMan]

Been on three cruises that stopped in St Thomas. Twice we went to St. John, and once to Tortola. One of these days we will have to stay in St. Thomas.....

[daniels5759]

Hello Folks:

 

We are going on our very first cruise in March - Eastern Caribbean. Just wondering about going to St. John, do you go there once in St. Thomas? I read a cruise review today and it mentioned taking a catamaran at about $79 each person with limited food selections available. We have two girls ages 14 (well, she's turning 14 while on the cruise) and 11. Would like to take them to some relaxing and family friendly beaches on St. John.

 

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions.

 

Darryl

 

I would suggest booking an excursion through RCCL. The ferry ride is about 30 - 45 minutes. We were about 45 minutes late after all aboard and they waited on us. I was the last person on the ship.

[ciera123]

We normally don't use the ships excursions, but on St Thomas we keep going back to the Champagne Catamaran Sail. We've done this twice (we adore St John) and are doing it again in May. You sailover to St John and anchor at Honeymoon Bay. You can snorkel (saw some sea turtles that swam around us and lots of fish), swim, swim into the beach, they can take you into the beach or stay on the cat. The crew is wonderful, entertaining, knowlegable and all around fun. After you have about 1.5 hours in Honeymoon Bay you sail the long way back and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. They serve beverages of your choice, cheeses, meats and breads. You can drink as much as you want, but it's NOT a party atmosphere. It's not crowded either, like some of the cat tours are! Have fun whatever you decide!

[tlund]

We just got back from our cruise that stopped in St. Thomas. We chose to do a "historical walking tour and personal time" shore excursion through Celebrity. We weren't really planning on doing the walking tour, we just wanted to use the excursion to get to St. John. We thought it was easier to hop on a boat at the end of the pier, then to take a taxi to Red Hook then catch the public ferry to St. John. The cost of the excursion was comparable to taking the public ferry on your own.

 

Once we got to St. John, we went out on our own. We hiked the Lind Trail (about a mile) to Honeymoon Beach. The hike was not difficult and the beach was beautiful. The only way to get to Honeymoon Beach is via boat or hike. There are no great facilities there, but there were about 10 people total on the beach. Best part, the hike and use of the beach was free.

 

I was thankful that we chose the shore excursion as opposed to doing it ourselves since the boat had an engine problem and we were delayed. Since it was a ship shore excursion, they would have to wait for us. The delay just meant more rum punch for us. :D

[CaribbeanBound]

Yes, it's easy to get there on your own.

 

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

[dtbach]

I'm going to print out your information and take it with me. I appreciate all the helpful tips and information.

Darryl

[Packedready]

I really enjoyed your post. It has been a number of years since we were in St Thomas and St John. We will be arriving on the NCL Sun that docks in Charlotte Amailie. I was wondering if the $2 Safari taxes are available there also? If so, where do you pick one up. Thanks