Shore excursion or on our own???

[lysolqn]

Posted this on the St. Thomas/St. John board but thought I'd try here as well.

 

We're trying to decide whether to take a shore excursion to St. John (from St. Thomas) or do it on our own in August. We're five adults, a 4-year old and an infant. Princess offers a four-hour excursion to St. John at $69 per adult, $55 per child. It will cost a total of $400, with minimal hassle regarding transportation to/from and while on St. John ( an advantage, considering we'll have two children with us). In addition to ferry transport, the excursion includes an open air tour of the island and a short time to wander through town on our own. We're not beach people so not spending time at any of the beaches is not a problem and visiting St. John for only a few hours is fine with us.

 

If we do St. John on our own, we'll need two taxis to the ferry from the Crown Bay pier, the ferry ride over, a tour of St. John, the ferry back and two taxis back to Crown Bay. To make our decison we need to know how much a hassle transportation (taxis, ferry, island tour) will be and,

1 - Cost of a taxi from Crown Bay to the ferry?

2 - Cost of the ferry round-trip from St. Thomas to St. John?

3 - Cost of a van or open air jitney around the island?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[margord]

Posted this on the St. Thomas/St. John board but thought I'd try here as well.

 

We're trying to decide whether to take a shore excursion to St. John (from St. Thomas) or do it on our own in August. We're five adults, a 4-year old and an infant. Princess offers a four-hour excursion to St. John at $69 per adult, $55 per child. It will cost a total of $400, with minimal hassle regarding transportation to/from and while on St. John ( an advantage, considering we'll have two children with us). In addition to ferry transport, the excursion includes an open air tour of the island and a short time to wander through town on our own. We're not beach people so not spending time at any of the beaches is not a problem and visiting St. John for only a few hours is fine with us.

 

If we do St. John on our own, we'll need two taxis to the ferry from the Crown Bay pier, the ferry ride over, a tour of St. John, the ferry back and two taxis back to Crown Bay. To make our decison we need to know how much a hassle transportation (taxis, ferry, island tour) will be and,

1 - Cost of a taxi from Crown Bay to the ferry?

2 - Cost of the ferry round-trip from St. Thomas to St. John?

3 - Cost of a van or open air jitney around the island?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

I don't know exact costs but do know that the taxi's in St. Thomas charge per person, so it does not matter how many you have to use. I think you can do this tour much much cheaper on your own. I bleieve the ferry is really minimal in costs. The only problem is making sure you do not miss the ship.

[lysolqn]

Thanks.

Just figured out that round-trip transportation from Crown Bay, St. Thomas to/from Cruz Bay, St. John will be approximately $184. Now trying to figure out what a tour of St. John will cost for seven people. Once I get a handle on that cost we can decide if the dollars we save by doing the trip on our own is worth the hassle or if we should just spend the extra dollars and go with a shore excursion.

[bubbadog]

you should check ot the ports of call board for st thomas/ st john,read a couple reviews and you should be able to find out the price,or check for a st thomas web site,have a great time:));)

[MaryPoppinz]

You might want to look into using the ferry directly from Charlotte Amalie instead of Red Hook. It may not save you any money (and it may not even be better logistically) but it's another option to look at.

 

Another thing you might do is look into a private guide for St.John who will create a tour just for your family. Ditto, the transportation arrangements in St. Thomas. You will probably be able to find guides on both islans who can accomodate the entire family in one van.

 

There are also the locals busses on St. Thomas which could save you quite a bit. You'll find instructions for using them on the St. Thomas board.

[cruiserone]

In St. Thomas there is a man called Zeddie. He is WONDERFUL and full of stories about the island. You can reach him at 340-775-6974. We have recommended him to others that loved the tour. There is also a tour guide (I cannot remember his name) and he is originally from Chicago and is a retired fireman-everyone knows him.

 

Regarding St. John-it is expensive for the ferry!! But at the dock's there are more than enough people that want to give you a tour. You could take the ferry than take a jittney ride to Trunk Bay and see the park, it is really beautiful and the water is warm and very calm. There are showers there and changing rooms. We took our whole family there 2 years ago. The only thing I can tell you is that DO NOT MISS THE FERRY!!! and be at the ferry at least 1/2 hour before the schedule says as everyone-everyone-everyone will try and get on the same ferry. It is a lot to see in one day and can be exhausting for small children (we learned the hard way).

 

In any case we love St. Thomas and St. John. You will too.:D

 

Happy Sailing. Cruiserone

[grape farmer]

Just a small word of caution, sometimes the charlotte amalie ferry to cruz bay is running, and sometimes it doesn't during the summer. Not much notice is given either, so ..... just be aware. Currently it hasn't been running for at least a week, though I think it might have started up again today. If you do it on your own, you might have to factor in going from red hook to cruz bay.

[jerseycruzers]

Last year we did the trip to St. john on our own. it was a real hassle gettting there. it was a cab to the ferry, waiting around in the heat for the ferry, a cab to the beach and then the same in reverse. we are going to St. thomas next month on the crown. i just booked an excursion. the little bit of money we saved wasn't worth it.

[#1TravelMom]

Just a thought-no one has mentioned. Everytime we've gone to St. John from St. Thomas we've rented a car driven to the ferry, drive onto the ferry with the car and toured St. John ourselves. Great day-very easy to do!

[EmmaWoodhouse]

While I am a big, big fan of doing things independently, I'd advise the excursion in this case-- our family ("kids" were 22 and 25 at the time) missed the ferry, so spent 40 minutes killing time in a really not-at-all scenic area. St. John and Trunk Bay were lovely, but if we had it to do again I just might look for acceptable options on St. Thomas-- or do the arranged excursion. Even planning ahead, it wound up being frustrating and quite expensive on our own.

[mulecruizer]

catch a cab at the dock or close by....great store close to docks to get some local jerk seasoning and such.

 

 

have the cab take you over to the ferry that takes you to saint johns. make arrangements for cab to take you back they will usually hang around we have done this several times. when you get to saint johns you can take another cab to the beaches.

 

Trunk Bay ( the most photographed beach in Carribean) Is nice and has a flagged snorkelling trail. we went to another one up the road a bit but I can't remember the name...and the wild donkeys came down to the beach. we mixed up our own Mai tais and took the bottle along ...floating in the waves and passing the bottle.

 

have fun