St John - Difference between X excursion options?

[xrae]

We are trying to decide which St John option we will do and I'm not sure what the difference is between these two excursions. Hoping someone who has done one or the other can describe in more detail. We want something with a lot of flexibility and both of these seems to be ferries to the island with lots of free time, which is what we are looking for. Thanks.

 

Destination St. John: Coastal Cruise Of National Park Beaches -

6.5 hours - $44.00

See St. John and all its beauty. Cruise along the pristine northwest shores of St. John and revel in its breathtaking National Park vistas. Pass deserted islets and hidden coves as you admire the British Virgin Islands on the horizon. Choose a beach to visit or take an island tour (at your own expense) in one of the fun, open-air safari coaches as you'll have approximately 3.5 hours of leisure time once you return to Cruz Bay.

 

 

Self Explore St. John

6.5 hours - $37

Enjoy at least 4.5 hours of personal leisure time to explore St. John, a beautiful emerald isle made up of two-thirds National Park, many glistening white sandy beaches, and a variety of historical sites. At famous Trunk Bay, you can rent snorkel gear and explore underwater, while Cinnamon Bay beach is a more private location. Or visit Hawksnest Beach, a popular film location before heading to beautiful Cruz Bay. The options are endless. Go enjoy.

[HawaiianShirtDay]

Are these options from St. Thomas? I think we did the Self Explore. We used it as a transport from St Thomas to St John. We then took a quick cab over to Trunk Bay and paid only a few bucks to get in. We LOVED Trunk Bay. It's phenomenal. But be warned- it's not a Caribbean resort style beach. It's a national public park.

[gimletgal]

We are trying to decide which St John option we will do and I'm not sure what the difference is between these two excursions. Hoping someone who has done one or the other can describe in more detail. We want something with a lot of flexibility and both of these seems to be ferries to the island with lots of free time, which is what we are looking for. Thanks.

 

Destination St. John: Coastal Cruise Of National Park Beaches -

6.5 hours - $44.00

See St. John and all its beauty. Cruise along the pristine northwest shores of St. John and revel in its breathtaking National Park vistas. Pass deserted islets and hidden coves as you admire the British Virgin Islands on the horizon. Choose a beach to visit or take an island tour (at your own expense) in one of the fun, open-air safari coaches as you'll have approximately 3.5 hours of leisure time once you return to Cruz Bay.

 

 

Self Explore St. John

6.5 hours - $37

Enjoy at least 4.5 hours of personal leisure time to explore St. John, a beautiful emerald isle made up of two-thirds National Park, many glistening white sandy beaches, and a variety of historical sites. At famous Trunk Bay, you can rent snorkel gear and explore underwater, while Cinnamon Bay beach is a more private location. Or visit Hawksnest Beach, a popular film location before heading to beautiful Cruz Bay. The options are endless. Go enjoy.

 

The only difference is that the 1st option continues to cruise around the island of St. John and returns the passengers to Cruz Bay for an hour less of "leisure time" :)

[cruzccl]

I have done the second option a few times. Picks you up near the cruise dock and returns you back. Once on St. John's, you can do as you like. Plenty of taxis to take you were you want. As long as your back by they time they tell you, it's a no brainer choice. Have fun!

[xrae]

The only difference is that the 1st option continues to cruise around the island of St. John and returns the passengers to Cruz Bay for an hour less of "leisure time" :)

 

Oh hey look at that! 3.5 hours vs. 4.5 hours, you solved the mystery! Thanks so much! That really helps. :D

[BubMunkeyBles]

We've done the self explore in the past and are again this one coming up. I'd rather save the few bucks and explore more and relax. But it's the same charter boat over for everyone in those tours.

[kayehall]

I have done the first one. Boat ride around St John is nothing special. We also "used" it as a means of transportation to St John. We ended up staying in the port area of St John. Next time will venture out on our own more. But loved the port area. Much more relaxing and enjoyable than the craziness of St Thomas

[vickykay]

We have also done option 2 as well as going to St. John's on our own. Also highly recommend this excursion for the ease and convience. We enjoyed the boat ride over, with commentary about the island from the captain. Took taxi over to Trunk Bay. Enjoy.

[Holly2]

I have gone to St. john on my own and the Celebrity option was much easier. Only Celebrity excursion which seemed like a good value.

However, the island cruise wasdisappointing and would do the "on your own" in tbe future. Easy to get to trunk bay.

[HawaiianShirtDay]

The excursion boat captain is quite a character. He likes to talk. He pointed out a landmark and said "oh its not visible today because of the bad storm we just had." A local shuttle driver later told me "that captain is full of BLEEP. We didn't have any bad storm." Funny moment. Also, try to sit on the top deck of the boat. We got splashed quite a bit sitting outside on the bottom. It wasn't too bad until the salt water gets behind your sunglasses.

[New Hampshire]

Fo years we have gone to St John on our own via taxi to Red Hook, ferry to St John and then rented a jeep. This is a fairly expensive day and the timing has to put you on the 9 AM ferry to St John and the 3 PM ferry back to make it at all worthwhile. We used to take the 4 PM ferry back until the time that the ferry was filled to capacity with people left at the dock when it pulled out. I have no idea how those people made it back in time to their ships. After that we moved our departure to 3 PM.

 

Last year we decided to try the self explore option offered through Celebrity. It certainly was an economical way to get to St John. Unfortunately, it was a very windy day and the ferry could not come to the pier where the ship was. We had to walk to the Marina to get it. What should have been a ten minute walk turned out to take 30-40 minutes for the passengers to all make it to there and board the ferry. The ride over was very rough and wild and when we got there learned that all the beaches were closed to swimming except Caneel Bay. Our departure time back to St Thomas was moved to earlier than it was supposed to be because of the walk back to the ship from the Marina. We only had a little more than three hours on St. John which was disappointing.

 

My experience does not reflect what others might have experienced on a normal weather day when the ferry comes right to the cruise pier. I would give it another try the next time we're on a ship in St Thomas.

 

St John is my favorite place on the planet and we have been taking an annual land vacation there in rental villas since 2008. Next one is in April. If your only experience with St John is a visit from a cruise ship, youndon't knowvwhat you're missing! Happy hours, restaurants, night life......PARADISE!!!