Late arrival, getting to St Johns

[Trueblueky]

I have been watching threads on bus/ferry from St Thomas to St Johns, but have not seen this exactly.

 

Carnival arrives St Thomas at 11:30 am, departing at 7 pm.  Is that enough time to take the ferry and see the national park on St Johns?  Any issues with the ferry or park closing early?  I see the park says it closes at 4:30 daily.  Is there enough time?

Edited May 7, 2019 by Trueblueky
Added

[broberts]

https://www.usvi.net/information/transportation/ferry-schedules/st-thomas-to-st-john-ferry-schedule/

https://www.vitranvi.com/ride/schedules

[richmke]

About 45 minutes by taxi from Port to Red Hook to catch the ferry.

Ferry leaves every hour, so maybe 1.5 to 2 hours to get to St. John if you just miss it.

So, if Carnival Disembarks at 11:30 am, you might be able to get to St. John by 3 pm at the latest, and 3:30 to Trunk Bay: get off Ship by Noon; Miss the 1:00 pm ferry at Red Hook (line long to buy tickets), so you take the 2pm; arrive St. John by 2:30.

 

You can also go for the 1pm ferry from Charlotte Amaile will get you there by 2:00 pm. Website says you can buy your ferry ticket in advance.

 

Getting back, you will want to plan to get back to the port by 6:00 pm. That would mean the 5:00 ferry back to Red Hook, but plan for the 4:00 pm, in case you miss it (miss the 4pm, and use the 5pm as your backup).

 

 

[blue_water]

20 - 30 minute ferry from Havensight dock To the Red Hook ferry terminal, 15 - 20 minute ferry to Cruz Bay.  Definitely do NOT recommend the CA ferry.

 

Drivers in Cruz Bay will be waiting to provide transportation to beaches. They will also offer a mini-Island tour, that was ~$25pp in the past. So the total cost pp is ~$66 ($10 taxi to and from Red Hook, $7 ferry to and from Cruz Bay, ~25 tour, and $7 taxi from Cinnamon or Trunk back to Cruz Bay).

 

Would recommend taking the 4PM ferry back from Cruz Bay to be safe, that would give you ~2.5 - 3.5 hours on STJ depending on whether you made the noon ferry. So not a lot of time with your shorter port stop, but doable. If you are willing to take more risk of unforeseen delays you could stretch it to the 5PM return ferry...probably not that risky but...

 

Also see this thread - 

 

Edited May 7, 2019 by blue_water

[Zach1213]

Also, just for awareness and to avoid confusion, St. John is an island in the USVI; St. John's is the capital of the independent nation of Antigua & Barbuda.

 

(Canada causes confusion too; St. John is in New Brunswick, and St. John's is the capital of Newfoundland & Labrador.)