Customs/St. John Trunk Bay Beach Snorkel ???

[Disneycruiser#1]

Has anyone done this excursion, St. John Trunk Bay Beach Snorkel? It says the ride is 45 minutes each way and you have only 1 hour for the beach and snorkeling :(. Since we are there from 7:00 am-6:00 pm. I assume we need to be back on board by 5:15 pm.

 

What time do we (US Citizens) need to show for Customs?

 

What time does this excursion leave?

 

I assume it gives you time to shop or such but on our own we would have more time but you have to take a taxi to the water ferry over to St. Johns and then another taxi to Trunk Bay and then work our way back. I may be nervous about the timing.

 

What have you all done?

 

Thanks! Tiff

[PescadoAmarillo]

We've done the Trunk Bay trip on our own. If you are a US citizen and have a passport, you can get through customs a bit faster. We are always on an upper deck, and, on the ships we've been on, the customs process goes in order of your deck, from top down, so we get off the ship fairly early. Catch a taxi to the Red Hook ferry, and then another taxi to Trunk Bay. We've never even come close to missing the ship in the afternoon...2-3 hours max at Trunk Bay is plenty of water time, leaving time for a drink and some shopping either on St. John or St. Thomas. For a change of pace, take the ferry back to Charlotte Amalie...very relaxing, although the walk back to the ship could be more than you want, in which case grab a taxi for a couple of bucks each.

 

Really, it's so easy, this is one port where you can safely go it alone.

[Coral]

Disneycruiser - I did this tour in November and wouldn't recommend doing it via Princess tour. Our excursion was in the afternoon.

 

The customs thing in the morning is very quick and takes about 10 minutes. You are given a time to report to a lounge but if you have a tour, you can go earlier. I think our time to show up was 7:30 and we were done by 7:40.

 

Tour - we felt like we were hearded like cows. We walked down to the end of the pier and got on a huge ferry. Once we got to St. John, we were then directed to a taxi where we were stuffed into it (very little room). We were then dropped off at Trunk Bay and was given 40 minutes to go snorkeling. On our way back - we got the "tour of the island" which consisted of the taxi stopping at a view point so that we could snap pictures (we could not get out of the taxi). We were then dropped off at the ferry and brought back to the ship.

 

I would strongly recommend going on your own. This tour seemed like a waste of money (though the scenary and beach were gorgeous - we just didn't have time to enjoy it).

[Disneycruiser#1]

Thanks for your advice. We never do the ships excursions and have used some great private companies or just done it on our own. In Grand Cayman (Nativeway Watersports), Cozumel (Eagleray Divers) and Belize (Coral Breezes) just to name a few so I appreciate everyone's help and input. I do not like being treated like a herd so it is on our own.

 

Thanks again!

[Disneycruiser#1]

We will be in St. Thomas on the Princess Caribbean Princess at the end of August.

 

Which ferry should we use from where the CP docks? It sounds as if the Red Hook is faster? Is it better to use the Red Hook Ferry? Do the 2 different ferries drop off at different places on St. John's?

 

Once to get to the ferry and purchase a round trip ticket, do the ferry's run on the hour and is it first come first serve?

 

How far is St. John's from the ferry drop off?

 

Is there a fee to enter Trunk Bay? Does Trunk Bay have restrooms and a cold drink place?

 

How lmuch time should we allow to get to St. John's (Trunk Bay) and back to the Caribbean Princess? We will dock from 7:00 am-6:00 so I would think we would clear Customs and be able to get off by 9:00 am and need to be back before 5:00 pm?

 

About how much should we budget for taxi's and water taxi's and Trunk Bay fees?

 

Thanks for your help! We have never been so I want to have all the info we can. I have read evrything I can but want to make sure my info is correct! Would hate to miss the ship :(

[PescadoAmarillo]

I'm not sure I remember all the information you are asking for, but I will try to at least point you in the right direction.

 

In the morning, I recommend taking a taxi from the pier to Red Hook. You will most likely be in a large, open taxi hauling several people that leaves when it fills up, so try to find a taxi almost full instead of one just starting to fill. I don't remember the exact taxi fare to Red Hook; I seem to think it was $8 per person, but maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

For the ferry schedule, go to:

http://www.usviguide.com/taxi/stjohn.htm

 

After you get to Cruz Bay on St. John, it is about a $4 per person taxi ride (filling the same kind of taxis the same way) to Trunk Bay. At Trunk Bay, you will have to pay a small fee per person to use the park (go to: http://www.nps.gov/viis/map.htm). There will be plenty of taxis waiting to take you back to Cruz Bay for the same $4 per person, or they can take you to another beach (we loved Honeymoon Beach) on St. John first.

 

At Cruz Bay, you have a choice...take the same ferry back to Red Hook, and then a taxi back to the pier, or take a longer ferry from Cruz Bay directly into Charlotte Amalie. We loved doing this...it was very restful and fun to see all the shoals and houses we missed going along the road on St. Thomas in the morning. However, this ferry drops you off right in the center of Charlotte Amalie, and it was about a 30-45 minute walk from there back to the ship. We are walkers, and did it, but if you would rather spend your time shopping, take a taxi to the shops at the pier (for about $2-3 per person) to save yourself the time. It also depends on which side of the port you are docked at...we were at the Havensight Mall pier. If you're at the other one (don't know it's name), it is much closer to where the ferry from Cruz Bay comes in.

 

The day we did this most recently, our ship arrived late in St. Thomas. By the time we cleared customs, disembarked the ship, got a taxi and got to Red Hook, we just made the 10 am ferry. We spent 2.5 hours at Trunk Bay, an hour at Honeymoon Beach, had a drink in Cruz Bay and walked around a bit, took the 3:45 ferry from Cruz Bay to Charlotte Amalie, arrived at 4:30 and walked to the ship with plenty of time to reboard by 5:30 for our 6 pm departure.

 

But, just to muddy the water a bit...the best snorkeling we encountered on either St. John or St. Thomas was at Coki Beach, so do Trunk Bay once to be able to say you did it, but then try Coki on your next trip to see which you prefer.

[hstrybuf]

If I remember correctly, you could get drinks, rent snorkeling equipment and there were big showers to wash off the salt and sand. Restrooms were also available. I think there may have been food available, but we didn't eat for the short time we were there. Taxis back to the ferry were readily available and it isn't a long ride back to Cruz Bay. If you gauge your time on the way over then you'll have some idea of when you need to catch the ferry back to Red Hook. You might want to catch one earlier than five. Print out the schedule and you can plan from there. Have fun! :)

[LindaKE]

I have never had to clear customs at a port on either of our cruises. We are going to St. Thomas, Tortola, and San Juan. Will we have to clear customs at each port? Do you have to clear customs at a certain time even if you are waiting until later for an excurson? Can you go and come from the ship without going through customs again?

[Coral]

Linda,

 

The situation after 9/11 is that if you enter a US port (St. Thomas) after a foreign port (St. Maarten), you now have to clear customs. It is painless. I don't remember the times but it was like everyone had to clear customs from 7 am to 9 am. You simply took your passport or birth certificate/ID and went to one of the big lounges. You walk through the lounge and customs people check your passport and someone checks your name off of a list. We were then given a green card in which we had to show when we disembarked. It takes about 10 minutes.

 

Princess gives your cabin a suggested time but you can go earlier if you want. There is normally a line but it goes rather quick. Once you are cleared for the port - you can come and go as you please that day.