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Opinions/feedback on St. John's excursion from Princess

elycelynne

By elycelynne,
in Princess Cruises

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tartan cruiser

tartan cruiser

Posted
Posted

We did that tour last year on our Regal cruise. I liked the fact that the ferry picks you up and drops you off right on the dock so need for taxi to red hook for the ferry. The tour was nice but no beach stops, just drive bys. The shopping was about 30 minutes at the end right in town where the ferry docks.

 

A few years back we went to St. John using the red hook ferry. We wanted to snorkel and wanted more time. In the end we couldn't really snorkel anyway because it was too rough. The price was about the same both doing on our own(I think we saved about $5 pp) and with Princess. I would recommend the Princess excursion, especially if you just want the tour. Don't have to worry about missing the ship because you missed the ferry or got caught in a traffic jam returning from red hook. JMHO

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Orlando Vic

Orlando Vic

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am so glad that you asked about this tour because I do have a strongly held opinion and it isn't positive.

 

DW and I took this tour several weeks ago. When we disembarked from the ship, we looked around to see if there were any signs directing us to a meeting spot. There were none. There were two ship's officers (one a senior officer) standing nearby so we asked them where we should go. They directed us to the far end of the dock. I have a mobility impairment so it took a while to schlep down there. When we arrived there we were told that the tour meeting place was where we had just been. I was not happy.

 

We boarded a boat that was to be our transportation to St. John. Because we were among the last to board, we had to sit outside on the deck. The boat was so crowded that there was absolutely no room inside. The boat departed with a very full load (excessively so, IMO) and ten minutes later it began to rain. Sitting outside with no shelter, we got quite wet.

 

The land portion of the tour of St. John was fine. On the return boat trip, the captain chatted continuously and without a break of any kind. When we arrived back at the dock, he brazenly asked for tips and stood at the bow of the boat with a large jar labeled "tips". You could not disembark from the boat without almost bumping into him.

 

If this sounds like your kind of shore excursion, go for it. Between Princess' disorganization and the lousy experience on the boat, it was the most disappointing tour we have ever taken with Princess and I made sure to give an earful to the shore excursions manager the next day.

Edited by Orlando Vic
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Vacation Nut

Vacation Nut

Posted
Posted
How strenuous is the hike?

 

Thanks

 

We have done this hike twice, because I love the view at the top and then the culminating beach is lovely. There are frequent stops to discuss the plants so the pace is easy. If you never walk at all and get winded easily you might call it strenuous, but if you ever take walks for an hour with a little uphill (not much) you will find it fine.

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tartan cruiser

tartan cruiser

Posted
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Orlando Vic, I agree Princess should be more specific regarding where you meet to board the ferry. Our tickets said at the end of the pier but the ferry was right across from the ship only a few steps from where we got off the ship. No signage or anything. Thankfully we found the ferry before we walked all the way down the pier. I would be upset as well. We docked at Havensight. Just an FYI as I think this is where most Princess ships dock now.

 

Our ferry was not as crowded as the sounds of yours. Coming back from St. John it was very hot so we wanted to sit inside(as did everyone else)where there was air conditioning. It was crowded but we still found a place to sit. As far as the Captain talking non-stop, someone did narration on the way over, which I found very interesting, but was pretty quiet on the way back. All in all I thought it was a pretty good excursion. It sounds like your's started off on the wrong foot and with the rain and all never really improved. Hopefully that was a one off and not the norm now.

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iceleven

iceleven

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Posted

We did a much shortened excursion offered by Princess. I believe it was called "St. John on Your Own." Since we had been there before we thought that it would be nice to be able to take the ferry that Princess offered and not have to bother with a taxi to Red Hook + ferry. We never seemed to have enough time to explore the town so we thought lunch and a little shopping would be fine.

 

Unfortunately, we arrived on a Sunday and everything was closed until 11a.m. and our return ferry was to leave at 1p.m. We ended up having to walk around and window shop where all the shops were closed. Having had an early breakfast on the ship we were getting hungry so instead of having a nice lunch out by the water,as we had hoped, we ended up having to go inside a dark deli and share a sandwich.

 

I wouldn't recommend that tour unless it was on a weekday. Having dropped us off at 9 and having two hours to explore a town of less than 4 city blocks was definitely not worthwhile.

 

St. John is a beautiful island, far more beautiful than St. Thomas and very much worth a tour of the entire island.

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kcdancerkc

kcdancerkc

Posted
Posted

Not booked a Princess tour as of yet....usually book from ideas at sister site tripadvisor....went to honeymoon beach....St. John, divine!

I wish of all the lines we have tried so far, they rarely are specific when they want money for "beach break", i want more info before I sail off with 50 others!

How can I research what beach is what we want with non-descriptive "beach break". :confused:

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msmoger

msmoger

Posted
Posted
I can highly recommend the Champagne Catamaran to St John offered by princess with snorkeling and lunch. Everyone seems to love it.

 

 

http://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.page?tourCode=STT-810

 

I agree with this assessment, although I wouldn't call it lunch. It's more like the description provided on the website:

 

"After snorkeling board the catamaran, where you'll enjoy complimentary fresh baked breads, cheeses, fruit, complimentary".

 

There was also unlimited rum punch, beer, water and soft drinks. It was a lot of fun. The crew on the catamaran was a lot of fun both times also.

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