St. John “on your own” Excursion (through cruise line)

[Gatordad815]

Hi all! I posted a similar question in the Carnival forum as well.  For our upcoming spring break cruise on Carnival Breeze, our St. Thomas stop has added a St. John “on your own” excursion to the cruise planner with no description and no reviews. The cost is $39.99 for adults and $34.99 for children making the total for our family of four $151.96. I’ve previously looked up the cost/process for going to St. John outside of a ship excursion and this price seems reasonable, particularly if it guarantees we will be back to the ship on time.

 

Does anyone know what the ship excursion entails? Anybody done this and could comment on it one way or another? Any way to get at least a description of the excursion from Carnival?

 

We are a family of four (kids aged 4 and 6) and we have a late arrival in St. Thomas (11:30).  Based on the prior helpful replies on the St. Thomas page we had decided on Secret Harbour for our day.  But if the St John excursion is an easy way to get to St. John for a good price, we may do that instead. What do you all think about these 2 options for a late arrival with young kids?  Thanks for any input!

 

[tidygirl]

We did something very similar through Royal  4 years ago. It left from close to the port area and took close to 45 min each way'
We got off the ferry and walked to the visitor center and they told us how to walk to Honeymoon beach (it took about half an hour) I liked it as there weren't many people around.

My concern for you would be what time the excursion would start and end. I'm currently looking at the ferry schedules for myself in Feb and it looks like the last one that leaves St John is at 3:45 to return to Charlotte Amalie. So how much time do you actually have there? Our tour ended up being longer than they advertised I believe because we left at 11:15 on the ferry and returned at 4:30 actually didn't make it back to the port till close to 6. I wonder now if there a time difference?

To do the ferry on your own its $24 pp so it may be worth the extra for peace of mind.

[Bananas27]

Love this excursion.  My girlfriends and I did this.  Arrived and walked around a bit.  Went to the local grocery for some picnic items.  Took the open air taxi to Cinnamon Bay.  Best day ever!  There are soooo many beaches on St. John.  Do some research and try one out or walk through the National Park to Honeymoon Beach.  

[EeyoreRN]

I am also looking for much more feedback on this excursion. We will be on Royal's Freedom of the Seas and the description of the tour is "enjoy more than 2 hours to explore..."  TWO HOURS?!  We would love a full day. Our start time is 9 am, but there isn't any indication in our cruise planner what time the boat returns. Hubby and I honeymooned in Caneel Bay and we are celebrating our 30th anniversary on this cruise, would LOVE to spend a LOT of time on the north shore, swimming and snorkeling and lazing around. Is this doable on this tour? We would also consider the trunk bay snorkel in the cruise planner and would book through outside tour companies if anyone can recommend a comprehensive one that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. Would love to keep cost around $100-$150 pp max.

 

Thanks so much in advance for your feedback.

[tidygirl]

We have just boarded on the Vision and went to book that your and they told us they are not offering it! We are thinking of trying to do it on our own? We went there several years ago and really just liked exploring on our own!

[cyndyga]

I just booked this through Princess I think it was around $45 a person and leaves and comes back from the cruise port. I am hoping and looks like there is from a post above taxis to get to whatever beach you decide on? It says 3 hours on St. John... hoping there are plenty of taxis right there where you dock in Cruz Bay? I would also welcome feedback 🙂

[tidygirl]

There are plenty of taxis waiting! Prices vary on where you go. Trunk bay was $6 one way

[GMoney]

On 2/20/2020 at 4:32 PM, EeyoreRN said:

I am also looking for much more feedback on this excursion. We will be on Royal's Freedom of the Seas and the description of the tour is "enjoy more than 2 hours to explore..."  TWO HOURS?!  We would love a full day. Our start time is 9 am, but there isn't any indication in our cruise planner what time the boat returns. Hubby and I honeymooned in Caneel Bay and we are celebrating our 30th anniversary on this cruise, would LOVE to spend a LOT of time on the north shore, swimming and snorkeling and lazing around. Is this doable on this tour? We would also consider the trunk bay snorkel in the cruise planner and would book through outside tour companies if anyone can recommend a comprehensive one that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. Would love to keep cost around $100-$150 pp max.

 

Thanks so much in advance for your feedback.

Do it yourself. Since Freedom docks at Crown Bay, walk over to the marina and take the 930am ferry to STJ. It leaves Cruz Bay at 415pm. If that doesn't work for you, just take the hourly ferry to Red Hook and taxi back. 

 

Once in Cruz Bay, you can taxi to Trunk or Honeymoon or hike into Honeymoon. 

[GMoney]

On 2/23/2020 at 5:16 PM, cyndyga said:

I just booked this through Princess I think it was around $45 a person and leaves and comes back from the cruise port. I am hoping and looks like there is from a post above taxis to get to whatever beach you decide on? It says 3 hours on St. John... hoping there are plenty of taxis right there where you dock in Cruz Bay? I would also welcome feedback 🙂

There are always taxis waiting for the ferry. Just make sure you have a plan to get back from the beach.

[cyndyga]

6 hours ago, GMoney said:

There are always taxis waiting for the ferry. Just make sure you have a plan to get back from the beach.

Are there taxis at Trunk Bay waiting for departures? Thanks

[GMoney]

2 minutes ago, cyndyga said:

Are there taxis at Trunk Bay waiting for departures? Thanks

From Trunk, almost always yes. Just keep in mind that they often wait until the taxi is full before departing, so leave some cushion and don't expect to be on your way immediately. It's all very easy to do; don't be deterred. 

[EeyoreRN]

On 3/2/2020 at 12:32 PM, GMoney said:

Do it yourself. Since Freedom docks at Crown Bay, walk over to the marina and take the 930am ferry to STJ. It leaves Cruz Bay at 415pm. If that doesn't work for you, just take the hourly ferry to Red Hook and taxi back. 

 

Once in Cruz Bay, you can taxi to Trunk or Honeymoon or hike into Honeymoon. 

Thanks. I'm a dummy. I didn't even realize there was a ferry from Crown Bay!

[GMoney]

The CB ferry restarted fairly recently. In addition to it and the Red Hook ferry, there is one from downtown Charlotte Amalie that starts running again on 9 Mar I think. But Crown Bay is the way to go for you. 

[tidygirl]

I didn't think there was any ferry besides Red Hook when we were there a week or so ago.

We did it on our own caught a taxi to Red Hook- didn't make it to the 9 o'clock so had to wait till 10 then took the 2 o'clock back as we had to be back on the ship at 4:30. I'm glad we left that amount of time. We actually left Trunk Bay at 1:15 and there were taxis waiting.

[tidygirl]

I didn't think there was any ferry besides Red Hook when we were there a week or so ago.

We did it on our own caught a taxi to Red Hook- didn't make it to the 9 o'clock so had to wait till 10 then took the 2 o'clock back as we had to be back on the ship at 4:30. I'm glad we left that amount of time. We actually left Trunk Bay at 1:15 and there were taxis waiting.