St. John by Allure excursions or own our own??

[We Be Floatin !]

Sailing Allure July 20, 2014. Our stop in St Thomas we know we would like to go over to St John. Wresting with the decisions as to buy a ship excursion that does a tour over by boat from St Thomas to St John and then you can explore for 3/12 hours own your own and then they return you to ship. Only thing that I like about that is that we will be secure if late getting to ship with it being a ship excursion.

 

We really would love to go on our own. Feel we would have more exploring time.

 

We would love any sharing and advise from those fellow cruisers who have ventured over from St Thomas to Beautiful St. John. Our time while there is 10:00 a.m. To 7:00 p.m. Thanks

[Clarea]

If I remember correctly, the ship's excursion picks you up very near the ship. If you do St. John on your own, you take a taxi to the ferry, ferry over to St. John, then do the reverse on the way back. In other words, the ship's excursion would be quicker to get to/from St. John.

[librarylady19]

It would depend in what Dock you will be using. We have docked at both. When we docked at Havensight it was quite easy to secure a taxi to the Red Hook ferry to St. John and back. When we docked at crown Bay. however, I'm glad we opted for the ships excursion as we didn't really see any taxis readily available there (it's a less used port) and further from town. Don't miss St. John - it's incredibly beautiful

Edited July 11, 2014 by librarylady19
typo

[Clarea]

Allure will be at Crown Bay.

[Life is Good Cruising]

For the excursion to St. John, we find it's best to go with the ship's excursion as they will pick you up at the pier, very easy, stress free and it's not that expensive through the ship like other excursion are.

 

Enjoy, that is one beautiful island and one of my favorites!

Edited July 11, 2014 by Life is Good Cruising

[jessandtwo]

We did the Destination St John excursion last summer via Royal Caribbean. There were 3 or 4 versions of the tour: Destination St John Shopping/Destination St John Hiking/Destination St John Coastal Cruise and maybe something else that all rode the same ferry over to St John. I think those are all still there, just under different names now, but they were the 6+ hour excursions. (Not the ones that are shorter.)

 

We had 3 1/2 - 4 hours to explore in St John and very few people on our tour. Actually there were so few people on our tour that we ended up getting the coastal tour and something else (maybe walking highlights) before being left to go explore on our own and still had the 3 1/2 -4 hours in St John. The people doing the tour were very nice and made sure to point out things to look at on the ferry ride over to St John.

 

We got to St John (even with the coastal tour) before the public ferry got there and we left about the same time the public ferry left. Everyone from the cruise ship that were on the ferry wished they had done our tour because it docked right next to the boat in St Thomas.

 

I would not hesitate to book that tour again because of the amount of time we had there, the convenience, and because we would not have had more time if we had taken the public ferry and I'm one who rarely books ship tours.

 

Now I will clarify I would not book one of the ships tours that is only a 4 hour tour, you want the 6 1/2 hour ones. The 4 hour tours left St Thomas after us and had very little time in St John and left to get back to the ship way before us. We had so much more time then they did over in St John. And they were VERY crowded.

 

Be sure to stop at Bones to pour your own favorite beverage when you get off the ferry or when waiting to go back. It's right there at the public ferry dock in St John!

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[RAYSWIN]

I heard Bones closed down on St Johns late last year????

[CyberTag]

We just did the ship excursion explore St. John's on your own. It is basically a ship sponsored ferry ride. There are plenty of taxis available once you get over to St. John's. The price was very comparable to doing the whole excursion on our own so I would just book with RCCL.

[jessandtwo]

I heard Bones closed down on St Johns late last year????

 

Oh, no! I didn't know that. We haven't been back since last summer. That's such a bummer. Is it still open elsewhere?

[ucfknight07]

We did the Destination St John excursion last summer via Royal Caribbean. There were 3 or 4 versions of the tour: Destination St John Shopping/Destination St John Hiking/Destination St John Coastal Cruise and maybe something else that all rode the same ferry over to St John. I think those are all still there, just under different names now, but they were the 6+ hour excursions. (Not the ones that are shorter.)

 

We had 3 1/2 - 4 hours to explore in St John and very few people on our tour. Actually there were so few people on our tour that we ended up getting the coastal tour and something else (maybe walking highlights) before being left to go explore on our own and still had the 3 1/2 -4 hours in St John. The people doing the tour were very nice and made sure to point out things to look at on the ferry ride over to St John.

 

We got to St John (even with the coastal tour) before the public ferry got there and we left about the same time the public ferry left. Everyone from the cruise ship that were on the ferry wished they had done our tour because it docked right next to the boat in St Thomas.

 

I would not hesitate to book that tour again because of the amount of time we had there, the convenience, and because we would not have had more time if we had taken the public ferry and I'm one who rarely books ship tours.

 

Now I will clarify I would not book one of the ships tours that is only a 4 hour tour, you want the 6 1/2 hour ones. The 4 hour tours left St Thomas after us and had very little time in St John and left to get back to the ship way before us. We had so much more time then they did over in St John. And they were VERY crowded.

 

Be sure to stop at Bones to pour your own favorite beverage when you get off the ferry or when waiting to go back. It's right there at the public ferry dock in St John!

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

I second jessandtwo's comments. We were on Oasis last summer. Both Oasis and Allure only dock in Crown Bay because they are too large to fit at Havensight. We booked the St. John coast cruise excursion, but opted to leave the ferry when docking to let off the other excursions which use the same ferry (the ferry will dock to let off certain excursions, then leave for the coastal tour, returning to Cruz Bay to let those who did the coastal tour off to explore the island.) They ferry crew were well aware that many would opt to immediately forgo their excursion options to explore St. John on their own. We headed for Trunk Bay and had well over 3 hours to spend there comfortably before heading back to Cruz Bay to explore the area. Even still, we spent a good hour just walking around and had time to visit many stores and pick up some souvenirs.

 

Very rarely would I recommend a ship excursion over going on your own. This is one of the very few instances where the cost of the excursion is equal to that of going on your own, and there is much less hassle since the ship excursion picks you up right at the dock. You won't have to worry about getting a taxi, traveling to Red Hook to catch the public ferry to St. John, and on return doing the reverse in order and hoping that traffic in Charlotte Amalie delays your ride back to Crown Bay.

[ciera123]

If I remember correctly, the ship's excursion picks you up very near the ship. If you do St. John on your own, you take a taxi to the ferry, ferry over to St. John, then do the reverse on the way back. In other words, the ship's excursion would be quicker to get to/from St. John.

 

We've gone on our own several, times, but we're doing the "St John on your own" for our May cruise for the reason Bob mentioned. We'll definitely have more time there if we take the ships tour, plus the cost is pretty much the same. ;)

Edited July 12, 2014 by ciera123

[denamo]

Sailing Allure July 20, 2014. Our stop in St Thomas we know we would like to go over to St John. Wresting with the decisions as to buy a ship excursion that does a tour over by boat from St Thomas to St John and then you can explore for 3/12 hours own your own and then they return you to ship. Only thing that I like about that is that we will be secure if late getting to ship with it being a ship excursion.

 

We really would love to go on our own. Feel we would have more exploring time.

 

We would love any sharing and advise from those fellow cruisers who have ventured over from St Thomas to Beautiful St. John. Our time while there is 10:00 a.m. To 7:00 p.m. Thanks

 

Our experience is a carbon copy of many who have reported here. Here's our report.

 

We have done this twice. We booked the excursion through the Allure. There are several choices such as shopping , beach time, or a walking tour. You will have a colored wristband to correspond to the excursion you book. Once you arrive at St. John, you can actually do whatever you want. You don't actually have to do the tour you signed up for. Just be sure you know where the boat will dock and what time it leaves in the afternoon.

 

We figured out that spending the time to get to the ferry and the cost was equivalent to just use the ship's excursion to get to St. John. Our biggest concern wasn't getting to St. John, but the return and any snags that might occur.

 

The last time we did this, the ship actually arrived late into port due to weather issues. People who had booked independent excursions were definitely flustered. We had booked a private snorkel excursion at St. John, and we were concerned about that. We were able to call once in port since we were in U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

The boat that takes passengers to St. John is docked right across the pier from the Allure, so it is easy to get to. You will meet up with the tour group and they will walk everyone over to the boat.

 

We typically like to do things independently. This just happens to be one we recommend doing through the ship.

[FOXTROT]

Have to agree we the others. This is a no brainer, TAKE THE SHIP TOUR. We di St. John on our own once. We saved a whole 2.00 over the ship tour. They were doing road construction, we almost missed the ship. :eek:

 

Don't forget to eat at Uncle Joe's BBQ. It's to the right of where the ferry docks. Or follow your nose.

[LA_CA_GAL]

Sailing Allure July 20, 2014. Our stop in St Thomas we know we would like to go over to St John. Wresting with the decisions as to buy a ship excursion that does a tour over by boat from St Thomas to St John and then you can explore for 3/12 hours own your own and then they return you to ship. Only thing that I like about that is that we will be secure if late getting to ship with it being a ship excursion.

 

We really would love to go on our own. Feel we would have more exploring time.

 

We would love any sharing and advise from those fellow cruisers who have ventured over from St Thomas to Beautiful St. John. Our time while there is 10:00 a.m. To 7:00 p.m. Thanks

 

You have gotten good advice. We are on the same cruise as you. Stop over to our roll call.

 

Also, we have booked this excursion. Having been to St. Thomas many times, as others have said, it is a no brainer. Total cost is $40, get off the Allure, walk to our ferry and avoid the horrid taxi ride to Red Hook.

 

Be aware, there will be 3 other ships in port that day, total of about 11,000 cruisers converging on the island.:eek: I think we will be the only ship at Crown Bay, so we will not have to deal with that;)

 

Next week at this time, we will be flying in to FLL. Looking forward to cruising on the Allure next week.

[LA_CA_GAL]

BTW, here is the link to our roll call.

[RAYSWIN]

Bones is still open on St Thomas. They shut down the St Johns location due to a huge increase in the rent there.

[We Be Floatin !]

Thank you all for all the great suggestions, advise and sharing your own trips. It has been so very helpful. Decision is to book the ships St John self explore excursion.

 

LA_CA_GAL we will also this time next Saturday be in flight heading to FLL. We can't wait. I will definitely go over to the Roll Call.

 

Thanks Everyone !!!

[OCruisers]

We just did the ship excursion explore St. John's on your own. It is basically a ship sponsored ferry ride. There are plenty of taxis available once you get over to St. John's. The price was very comparable to doing the whole excursion on our own so I would just book with RCCL.

 

We would also book through RCCL. Stress free and not that much of a price difference.

LuLu