HELP! Want to go to St John from St Thomas

[FSUDAVE]

We will be arriving on the Allure of the Seas from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. We want to go over to St John for the day. I see the ALLURE docks at Crown Bay instead of Havensight in St Thomas. How would you recommend we do this to have the maximum time in St John? Ship excursion or on our own? Thanks!

[Sheeba67]

We will be arriving on the Allure of the Seas from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. We want to go over to St John for the day. I see the ALLURE docks at Crown Bay instead of Havensight in St Thomas. How would you recommend we do this to have the maximum time in St John? Ship excursion or on our own? Thanks!

 

We just hopped on an open air taxi from the port to Red Hook and then got on the next ferry to St john. It was as easy as that with a lot of taxi's on both sides. Good luck and have fun.

[ABQrobin]

If you book with your cruise ship, you are guaranteed that they won't leave without you if you get delayed coming back. Just sayin'....

[jaga04]

To me, it would depend on whether the ship's excursion allowed you to do/see what you want to in St. John. If so, it would likely be more relaxing. As was already said, doing it by taxi and ferry is fairly easy, but it is a bit more of an adventure and you do have to time things to ensure that you'll get back to the ship on time. Either way, St. John is beautiful!

[Marie51]

The time I did this I found out that the ferry only runs on the hour so if you get there at 11:05 you will be waiting 55 minutes til the next ferry so plan accordingly. Same coming back.

 

If this has changed somebody let us know.

[bonvoyagebites]

We booked a daysail trip to sail on a 6-passenger sailboat. The purpose was to sail and snorkel only, so we never really set foot on St. John... if that's your plan, it was good times and a lot of fun.

 

http://bonvoyagebites.com/2015/07/carnival-victory-daysail-and-snorkeling-in-st-thomas-st-john-and-st-kitts/

 

Otherwise, perhaps a water taxi is the way to go....

[HarpHarp]

The ferries leave on the hour & take 20 minutes. If you get the 11am ferry, & take the 5 pm back, about 5.5 hours on St John. Getting back to Crown Bay takes longer than getting back to Havensight. from Red Hook , so you may feel more comfortable taking the 4pm ferry. Cost of Ferry & taxis, maybe $40-$45 each.

[andynapril]

It looks like there are only a couple ferries per day back and forth between Charlotte Amalie and St. John, but more like every hour to Red Hook. Would it be very difficult to get from Red Hook back to Charlotte Amalie (where our shop will dock)? How long would it take and there would be taxi's to take us?

[Sheeba67]

It looks like there are only a couple ferries per day back and forth between Charlotte Amalie and St. John, but more like every hour to Red Hook. Would it be very difficult to get from Red Hook back to Charlotte Amalie (where our shop will dock)? How long would it take and there would be taxi's to take us?

 

Yes, no problems getting a taxi back to the port from Red Hook.

[andynapril]

Thanks so much. Do you have any idea how long the taxi ride would be and approx cost? :)

[irishgirl4605]

Sorry if I am thick - so you get off the ship, grab a taxi to Red Hook & catch the ferry. Then when you get to St. John you can get an island tour? There is no need to make a reservation for the tour? This is only our 2nd cruise - I still feel like a rookie! The tour from our ship is $66 & is 4.5 hours. Just wondering if we would be better on our own. thanks

[Kelsey D]

Sorry if I am thick - so you get off the ship, grab a taxi to Red Hook & catch the ferry. Then when you get to St. John you can get an island tour? There is no need to make a reservation for the tour? This is only our 2nd cruise - I still feel like a rookie! The tour from our ship is $66 & is 4.5 hours. Just wondering if we would be better on our own. thanks

 

 

No need to reserve anything in advance. You can get an island tour from the ferry for $25 pp. We had the driver leave us at Trunk Bay after the tour, so we paid another $6 pp to get back to the ferry. We saved money by not booking the ship's excursion. Plus, we got both an island tour and beach time. It was very easy for us first timers.

[irishgirl4605]

Thank you Kelsey - that is a big help.

[tlund]

Just a suggestion. Royal Caribbean offers a shore excursion "St. John's on your own". This is an efficient way to get yourself to St. John. It avoids all of the taxis and ferries. We did it last year when we were on the Oasis. The boat picks you up right at Crown Bay and brings you into town in St. John's. You will have around 3 or 3.5 hours to do what you want. We hiked some trails right from town to Honeymoon Bay. It was awesome. We were basically there by ourselves and the trails were not rough to hike at all. When we made our way back into town, we still had time to walk around town for shopping and a drink. The cost of the excursion actually was right around or less than it would cost to pay for taxis and ferries. Also, if the tour boat is running late, the ship will wait for you because it is a ship sponsored tour. Rum punch is served on the way back too. Makes for less stress.

[out2sea]

Is the ships ferry ride from red hook or down town (if ship docks at crown bay)? I ask as it's pretty rough ride from town. Easy from red hook.