Ship excursion to St. John

[nautica34]

Planning to visit St. John for the first time in November, debating if I should travel to/from from the cruise line directly (Princess) or take taxis/ferry. The overall cost would be about the same and really like the convenience of going through Princess. My only concern is that upon arrival in St. John there is only 2 hours and 15 minutes allotted. Would that allow enough time to spend at Trunk Bay? How long is the taxi ride from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay. Also, anyone know what the water temperature is in late November. Thanks in advance!

[OCruisers]

The water temperatures in late November will be fine!

 

It's hard to beat the convenience of taking an excursion offered by the ship! :)

 

LuLu

[nautica34]

Thanks! Agree about the convenience, just concerned if 2 hours and 15 minutes is enough time for Trunk Bay when factoring in rt taxi to/from beach. Do the taxis fill up quickly (assume they wait until full)?

[negn]

Never enough time at Trunk Bay :). I too would vote for the cruise excursion which is the only time I use ships excursions. Less anxiety regarding getting back. I know a lot do it independently,but just 1 glitch can cause you to miss ferry back and the ship

[emcelh]

We did the ships excursion to St. John last week with NCL and it sounds like the same as what you describe. They probably use the same tour operators.

 

The ride from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay was about 20 minutes. When they drop you off they will tell you what time they'll be back to pick you up. You travel with the same group so there's no waiting for the taxi to fill up. There was also someone from the tour company with the group to make sure no one missed the taxi back to Cruz Bay. (Ours had to go looking for someone.)

 

I think we had about 2 hours at Trunk Bay.

[nautica34]

We did the ships excursion to St. John last week with NCL and it sounds like the same as what you describe. They probably use the same tour operators.

 

The ride from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay was about 20 minutes. When they drop you off they will tell you what time they'll be back to pick you up. You travel with the same group so there's no waiting for the taxi to fill up. There was also someone from the tour company with the group to make sure no one missed the taxi back to Cruz Bay. (Ours had to go looking for someone.)

 

I think we had about 2 hours at Trunk Bay.

 

Thank you! Hope you had a great time! Since the excursion is on our own, can only assume most will go to Trunk Bay. Giving the timing, it would allow approximately 1 1/2 hours on the beach. Do you remember how much the taxi was? Was the ferry/boat decent size over to St John. How long your ride over was? Princess couldn't provide any additional information which is a bit frustrating.

[out2sea]

Review of the ferry trip please

[broberts]

Planning to visit St. John for the first time in November, debating if I should travel to/from from the cruise line directly (Princess) or take taxis/ferry. The overall cost would be about the same and really like the convenience of going through Princess. My only concern is that upon arrival in St. John there is only 2 hours and 15 minutes allotted. Would that allow enough time to spend at Trunk Bay? How long is the taxi ride from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay. Also, anyone know what the water temperature is in late November. Thanks in advance!

 

We did self guided a few years ago because I thought 2 hours was not enough. Given the unpredictability of St Thomas traffic near cruise departures and ferry times, (not wanting to wait for the last possible ferry), we didn't spend much more than an hour and a half at Trunk Bay.

 

Taxi ride depends a bit on how many stops are made. Return trip is shorter. Going out there is usually at least one stop for pictures - well worth the time.

 

Don't know about water temps in November, but in January the water is wonderful.

[Eileen G]

Here is my review of our St Johns Trunk Bay ship tour last Jan. We usually do St Johns on our own but I had injured my foot and was limping badly so we went with Princess.

 

We did a Princess shore excursion on St Thomas to St Johns’ Trunk Bay. We docked at Havensight and took a ferry from right next to the ship. There was no Princess representative with us and we weren’t sure what to do when we got off the ferry. The people at the dock loaded us into safari cabs that held about 25 people and we went off to Trunk Bay. We had about 2 hours there. We were supposed to be back at the safari taxis at 12:25. They gave a 20 minute call on the beach at 12:10 so everyone would have time to shower and change. We headed to the parking lot at 12:25 and stopped for a minute to rinse our feet off but by the time we got to the parking lot all the taxis were gone. It was only 12:27 but they left us. There were two other ladies that were also left. An independent taxi driver said he would take us to the ferry for $6 each. We didn’t have any choice so we went with him. We made the ferry back to the ship so all was well. So if anyone takes this tour just make sure you are back to the parking lot on time and not a minute late. We told the shore excursion people that we were left at Trunk Bay when we got back to the ship to see if we could get our $6 dollars back and they landed up refunding us $25 PP.

 

Princess ships usually dock at Crown Bay but we were at Havensight. We would not have had a problem getting back to the ship if we hadn't made the excursion ferry since we had taken the Red Hook ferry several times on our own. We did have a good time and it was so much easier taking the Princess excursion than doing it on our own.

[nautica34]

Here is my review of our St Johns Trunk Bay ship tour last Jan. We usually do St Johns on our own but I had injured my foot and was limping badly so we went with Princess.

 

We did a Princess shore excursion on St Thomas to St Johns’ Trunk Bay. We docked at Havensight and took a ferry from right next to the ship. There was no Princess representative with us and we weren’t sure what to do when we got off the ferry. The people at the dock loaded us into safari cabs that held about 25 people and we went off to Trunk Bay. We had about 2 hours there. We were supposed to be back at the safari taxis at 12:25. They gave a 20 minute call on the beach at 12:10 so everyone would have time to shower and change. We headed to the parking lot at 12:25 and stopped for a minute to rinse our feet off but by the time we got to the parking lot all the taxis were gone. It was only 12:27 but they left us. There were two other ladies that were also left. An independent taxi driver said he would take us to the ferry for $6 each. We didn’t have any choice so we went with him. We made the ferry back to the ship so all was well. So if anyone takes this tour just make sure you are back to the parking lot on time and not a minute late. We told the shore excursion people that we were left at Trunk Bay when we got back to the ship to see if we could get our $6 dollars back and they landed up refunding us $25 PP.

 

Princess ships usually dock at Crown Bay but we were at Havensight. We would not have had a problem getting back to the ship if we hadn't made the excursion ferry since we had taken the Red Hook ferry several times on our own. We did have a good time and it was so much easier taking the Princess excursion than doing it on our own.

 

Was your excursion specific for Trunk Bay?

[Eileen G]

yes everyone got off the ferry and onto taxis to trunk bay so there was no extra charge for the taxi ride or trunk bay

[nautica34]

Eileen,

 

Thanks for the information. I like the idea of the excursion you did. I didn't see it on Princess unless it was with snorkeling which I can't do. The excursion I selected is St John on your own.

[Eileen G]

It may have been with snorkeling but you don't have to go snorkeling. We had our own gear so we skipped the area where people got snorkeling gear and went right to the water.

[nautica34]

Eileen, thanks again. I'm wondering if I should switch to the snorkeling excursion even though it cost more to ensure I'll get taxis to/from Trunk Bay.

[Eileen G]

I would say it really depends on if you want to spend all your time at Trunk Bay. With the on your own you can spend an hour at Trunk Bay and then walk around Cruz Bay a bit. The taxis are trucks with seats across the back so they carry about 20 people. There should be plenty of taxis but most will want to wait until they have a few groups to go somewhere. If you just want to go to Trunk Bay I would go with the ship. You won't have the additional taxi fare and the taxis leave right away. Remember with either tour if you don't meet the group on time they will go without you. Make sure you know how to get back to the ship on your own just in case.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Eileen G

[nautica34]

Thanks again! The "our your own" tour is through the ship which I had booked. I would like to have as much time as possible at Trunk Bay. Interesting that the tour I booked is slightly longer in duration than the snorkeling tour. I've been to St Thomas (Havensight), never been to Crown Bay dock or St John. I'm aware that I would have to take a taxi on my own to Trunk Bay. The snorkeling tour would cost more after factoring in the taxi and admission. it may be worth it especially if I can get a bit more time at the beach.