Spending a Day on St. John

[Host Anne]

Anne, I have been to St. John a few times and love it. Great job laying out all of this useful information. In addition to the map you provided here, I came across this website http://stjohnfun.com with a map of the restaurants and some other information. This would be most useful to the cruisers staying overnight in STT that have more time to spend on St. John.

 

By the way, was looking at your photos of St. John and you are a great photographer! :)

 

Thanks so much for the kind comments. Love taking photos whenever I can. Glad you are finding the info useful and thanks for posting the map. I'll save that one, too!

[usvirginislandtraveler]

Thanks so much for the kind comments. Love taking photos whenever I can. Glad you are finding the info useful and thanks for posting the map. I'll save that one, too!

 

Glad to help, always love sharing a good resource I come across and can't wait to get back to St John on my next cruise...

[hj1235]

We will be cruising the Allure in November and it says we will be docked in Charlotte Amalie. Does this mean if we do it on our own we will have to take the CA ferry? I'm wondering if we should take a tour through the cruise line to get to St. Johns (and take a cab to get to Cinnamon Bay)?

 

What would you recommend?

[Ms411]

You can take either ferry if both are running on schedule. New ferries from Red Hook to St John are supposed to go into service this summer, so the CA ferry schedule may expand, but too soon to tell.

 

If you're not leaving before end of July, check back to see if anything has changed.

[Host Anne]

We will be cruising the Allure in November and it says we will be docked in Charlotte Amalie. Does this mean if we do it on our own we will have to take the CA ferry? I'm wondering if we should take a tour through the cruise line to get to St. Johns (and take a cab to get to Cinnamon Bay)?

 

What would you recommend?

 

hj ~ you will be docking at Crown Bay. It's located west of downtown Charlotte Amalie. For us, whenever we dock at Crown Bay from now on, we'll take the cruise line's excursion to St. John. When we sailed Oasis about 18 months ago, we struggled to get a taxi filled to take us to the ferry dock. The Charlotte Amalie ferry is undependable and with the limited time you have to see St. John, I think the ship's excursion is the quickest way to get to St. John from Crown Bay.

 

ENJOY!

[blue_water]

Alternatively you can experience some of St Thomas by taking a taxi to the Red Hook ferry terminal and taking the 20 min ferry to Cruz Bay. This "self-excursion" option also gives you more flexibility and freedom, and both the taxi ride and the ferry ride are a fun part of the journey for most folks.

The Red Hook ferry runs like clockwork departing every hour on the hour, while Anne is correct that the CA ferry is very irregular.

 

Have fun either way you go!

[mrs.cog]

Forgive me if these has been answered already, but can anyone give me a suggestion of a good quick place to grab a bite in St. John's.

[Host Anne]

Mrs. Cog ~ there are numerous options. If you are looking for something near the ferry dock, there is a string of restaurants along the beach to your right as you get off the ferry. High Tides, Joe's Rum Hut, Beach Bar, etc.

 

If you walk straight ahead from the ferry, there is a new place called Cruz Bay Landing (haven't tried it yet).

 

If you walk to your left when you disembark the ferry and take a short five minute walk, you'll find Mongoose Junction and there are several places here to eat - Tap Room, Sun Dog Cafe, Grotto Deli.

 

If you explore town (very close to the ferry dock as well) you'll find Woody's, Driftwood Dave's, The Barefoot Cowboy....the list goes on.

 

If you are going to Trunk or Cinnamon Bay, there are decent concession stands at both!

 

ENJOY!

[mrs.cog]

Thank you Anne! Do you have a personal favorite?

[imluvncruzn]

We just visited Cinnamon Beach a few weeks ago for the first time. Did it ourselves via taxis and Red Hook Ferry. It was so incredibly simple thanks to Anne and other posters on this thread! Cinnamon was breathtaking and out of my 16 cruises is my favorite beach of all time! The sand was very soft and fine. The water was the prettiest shade of blue and very clear. We snorkeled all the way out to the island straight ahead and saw a ton of fish. Not much to see as far as colorful coral but the fish were plentiful! As far as amenities/concessions here is what we found: This is a campground with a small camp store. You can buy ice, beer, pop, water, bug spray, snacks, etc. However, upon inspection we noticed that many of the food items in the store were expired. Just about every bag of chips we looked at had expired in a March 2013. Individual cans of beer were $4 each. The restrooms were clean and were located about 1/2 way between where the cabs drop you off and the beach (but not on the beach). There is another small store on the beach where they rent chairs. No ice here but they did sell cans of beer ($4 each). They do not have loungers at this beach but instead rent small folding beach chairs (the ones that sit low to the ground). Chairs were $10 each with a $25 refundable deposit (either cash or credit card). I wish they had the loungers it would've made my stay there that much more enjoyable! There were a lot of Mosquitos. We ended up having to buy repellant from the camp store. Oh and we did visit the new bar right across from the ferry called Cruz Bay Landing. It has a very nice outdoor area and the staff were very friendly. Mixed drinks were $7 and beer was $5.

 

 

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Edited June 14, 2014 by imluvncruzn

[blue_water]

Excellent report imlovincruzn, thanks!

[Host Anne]

Thank you Anne! Do you have a personal favorite?

 

Mrs. Cog ~ not really. They are all good. High Tide is always our last stop because it's so close to the ferry. Food has always been good. But all of these get good reviews. For a sandwich and a drink, any of them are fine.

[Host Anne]

Imlovin ~ thanks for coming back and giving us a report. It's always helpful to others. Glad you enjoyed Cinnamon. Many of my favorite photos were taken here. We'll have to try Cruz Bay Landing next time we visit! Thanks again!

[imluvncruzn]

Here are a few pics from our visit to Cinnamon a few weeks ago (I copied them right from my FB page so don't know how to make them smaller):

 

[imluvncruzn]

Here are pictures of the new bar across from the ferry in Cruz Bay:

 

[LA_CA_GAL]

Here are a few pics from our visit to Cinnamon a few weeks ago (I copied them right from my FB page so don't know how to make them smaller):

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Fabulous, fantastic, I will be there in July.

 

Thanx for the great pix, and you do not want to make them smaller. ;)

 

Great stuff.

[merinski]

What about lockers at Cinnamon? Are they secure? Just wondering about taking our camera.

[imluvncruzn]

What about lockers at Cinnamon? Are they secure? Just wondering about taking our camera.

 

We went into both stores and wandered around the campground a bit. I did not see any lockers.

[Host Anne]

Great photos, Imluvn! It is such a pretty beach and that water....no better color anywhere! Except on the other north shore beaches where the water looks the same :)

 

Merinski ~ there are lockers but we've never used them. They aren't super close to the beach. Can't say how safe they are (I would guess they are pretty safe). I only take my waterproof camera to the beach when I know I can't keep an eye on my good camera all the time. I wouldn't leave my camera equipment in a locker anywhere, but that's just me. Good luck and enjoy!

[merinski]

Great photos, Imluvn! It is such a pretty beach and that water....no better color anywhere! Except on the other north shore beaches where the water looks the same :)

 

Merinski ~ there are lockers but we've never used them. They aren't super close to the beach. Can't say how safe they are (I would guess they are pretty safe). I only take my waterproof camera to the beach when I know I can't keep an eye on my good camera all the time. I wouldn't leave my camera equipment in a locker anywhere, but that's just me. Good luck and enjoy!

Thank you

[firegal773]

Can anyone tell me where all the taxi tours take you? We will be going in December and cant decide whether to do a tour and Cinnamon with some snorkeling or to do Trunk and Cinnamon. We will be docked in St Thomas from 10a-7p.

 

Not sure if Trunk will be too crowded since we dock at 10am and are on Oasis with 5 other ships in port as well.

[Host Anne]

firegal ~ the typical taxi tour takes you along the north shore beaches, stopping at overlooks; a stop at the Annaberg Sugar Plantation ruins; and a stop at the top of Bordeaux Mountain at the overlook (some cute little shops here and Chateau Bordeaux Restaurant). They provide a history of the island and the scenery alone is worth it for me. The typical tour lasts about 90 minutes. Never tire of taking a taxi tour with new visitors to the island.

 

I'd highly recommend that you consider taking Royal Caribbeans transportation to St. John. I think they offer a couple of excursions. See if they offer one that is "St. John on Your Own" where they provide a ferry ride from the ship. As I recall, it costs about the same as doing it on your own but you don't have to get a taxi from Crown Bay to Red Hook (can be a challenge since they wait to fill a taxi and you can miss the ferry and have an hour or more wait for the next one).

 

If you do a taxi tour, you'd probably have some time to spend at one beach of your choosing. Let your taxi driver know and they will most likely be happy to drop you off there. Both Cinnamon and Trunk have plenty of taxis to take you back to the ferry dock. Trunk will be crowded with five ships but since you arrive later in the morning, if you head to Trunk last, some folks may be leaving by the time you get there. Cinnamon is always a good option. Large beach that can handle more people.

 

ENJOY whatever you decide to do.

[firegal773]

Thanks!

 

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[babyclaytonmom]

Here are a few pics from our visit to Cinnamon a few weeks ago (I copied them right from my FB page so don't know how to make them smaller):

 

 

Your photos are gorgeous! Do you know offhand if you were on the only boat in port that day? The beach looks nice and empty :)

 

Also do you or someone else on here know the name of where Carnival docks. I know it is not the one you were docked. Want to make sure I know the name to tell the taxi to take us back to the right one after visiting St. John in July.

[Host Anne]

babyclaytonmom ~

 

I believe most of the Carnival ships dock at Havensight (this is the pier closer to the Red Hook ferry to St. John). Tell us what ship you are on and I'll try to find it up for you.