St. John/Trunk Bay Question on Eastern

[pjfreeman21]

I was wondering if anyone knew the price of going from St. Thomas to St. John. I read where it takes about 45 min to an hour to get to. We would like to then go to Trunk Bay and wanted to know the price to get there also. We wanted to go to Trunk Bay and enjoy the beach for most of the day and maybe snorkel (how much to rent equipment). I checked on the excursion with Disney and it was $48 per person, but it only allowed 5 hours total (about an hour to get there and hour back to ship, which left only about 1.5 hours to snorkel) I don't like being pushed for time. I would like to do this on my own and maybe save some money, too. However, I understand if I go with Disney they won't leave us if we are late. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks!

[honeydog714]

We have been there twice, once on Disney's excursion and once via a private provider. If I was to do it again I would go back with Disney's as both time's we were cutting it very close to get back in time. It is a long trip over but a beautiful one, the hour and a half snorkel time was fine as it is very calm water so you can see an awful lot in that hour and a half.

 

Each time the part we went to was totally non developed so there really is not any "beach time" it remided me of gilligans island, there was nothing there but sand trees and beautiful fish.

 

Some people sat down on the sand but there are no chairs or things like that. With Disney's provider you had the choice to snorkel right off the boat or if you preferred you they would bring you to shore via little dingies for a shore entry. The other provider only had you go off the boat.

[autumnlala]

As far as beaches go in St. John, the previous poster is correct, St. John is a mostly undeveloped island (which makes it so great for snorkeling!!), so the beaches are more natural than what you would find in Florida or on the Atlantic coast. However, Trunk Bay does have wonderfully soft sand and unlike most American beaches there are big trees for shade if you want to get out of the sun. No chairs, but you're there to snorkel, you can lounge in chairs on the ship!! One really neat thing about Trunk Bay is that near the shore there is an underwater "snorkel trail" with signs that identify the fish you will likely see. It's a great place for a new snorkeler to start :)

 

Have a great time, you won't regret making the trip to St. John, it is much more picturesque than St. Thomas.

[pjfreeman21]

Thanks for your help. Both of you have helped my wife and I decide what to do. As of now we are going to go through Disney to book our St. John Snorkel trip ($46 or $48 per person). If I remember correctly, I think I saw 2 trip to choose from. The first is the boat ride over to St. Thomas and then cab ride to Trunk Bay. I think the other was boat ride the whole trip. I need help with this if you know. Also, I think we are going to go to Orient Beach in St. Marten. What part of Orient Beach would you go to? I have done some research (not sure if it is correct). It seems that most of the nudity is to the south part of the Orient. I know they could walk the beach if they wanted, but I'm thinking that we could go to the Northern part of the beach (e.g. Coco Beach). I have just heard how pretty this beach is and we would like to have a nice long beach day on this island. I believe we are in port until 7 p.m. Also, do you know how much a cab would be to get to Orient Beach. Thanks!!!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

How to get to Trunk Bay from Charlotte Amalie:

This is about a year or so old so the prices may be off by a couple dollars.

 

Take taxi to Red Hook for ferry to St.John $10.00 pp 2+ people

**** 17 minutes

 

Take ferry from Red Hoook to Cruz Bay $5.00pp

**** 15 – 20 minutes

 

From Cruz Bay take taxi to Trunk Bay $6.00 pp 2+people

**** 12 minutes

Admission to Trunk Bay is $4.00 per adult 17 and up

 

**** ferries leave Red Hook at 6:30am, 7:30am, and then hourly starting at 8:00am running until midnight

 

ferries leave Cruz Bay hourly starting at 6:00am until 11:00pm

 

Bill

[pjfreeman21]

Thanks for all your help! I am thinking of booking through Disney St. John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel Tour. It states on Disney's Website that the excursion is from 7:15 am to 1:10 pm. Does this mean that we leave the ship at 7:15 and return around 1:10? Also, I know this may be a crazy question, but what time does topsiders start serving breakfast? Will we have time to eat a big breakfast before we leave the ship? Thanks!

[macbasset]

SSOceanlover is right with the costs; we were just there two weeks ago and it cost our family of 3 $125 to get to Cinnamon Bay and back. Cinnamon Bay is $1 farther by taxi past Trunk Bay; both are beautiful but Trunk Bay is more crowded and has an entrance fee. Cinnamon Bay, the next beach, is a mile long and just spectacular. It was the best beach we have visited in the caribbean including st. thomas, st. martin, jamaica, labadee, grand cayman, cozumel. However, it was fabulous. We had been to trunk bay and wanted to try a new beach.

[pjfreeman21]

SSOceanlover is right with the costs; we were just there two weeks ago and it cost our family of 3 $125 to get to Cinnamon Bay and back. Cinnamon Bay is $1 farther by taxi past Trunk Bay; both are beautiful but Trunk Bay is more crowded and has an entrance fee. Cinnamon Bay, the next beach, is a mile long and just spectacular. It was the best beach we have visited in the caribbean including st. thomas, st. martin, jamaica, labadee, grand cayman, cozumel. However, it was fabulous. We had been to trunk bay and wanted to try a new beach.

 

Thanks for the info. I am thinking we may try Cinnamon Bay now. I'm sure both beaches are pretty. I'm not in to big crowds. I would enjoy walking the mile long beach. Is there good snorkeling there. Also, what time did you get off the boat to go to Cinnamon Bay. Does it take about an hour to get there, too? How long were you there and what time did you have to come back? Sorry for all the ?'s.:rolleyes:

[macbasset]

When we were there in July, I wasn't on a cruise; I won a trip to St. Thomas and we were staying there. We have been there several times on disney and are going again in November on disney. The first ferry in the morning is 9 am. If you dock early and can get a cab to red hook, that is the earliest I believe. The next is at 10 am. Later, I think they are on the half hour. Most of your time is spent sitting around waiting and various points. There is shady outdoor restaurant at Cinnamon Bay that serves burgers, hotdogs, club sandwiches, etc. and takes credit cards. There is a small convenience store there too. You can rent kayaks, sailboats, windsurfers, etc. There is a submerged plane that you can snorkel around on the left side of the beach. The cabs and drivers are sitting there waiting at the parking lot to return you to the ferry, so no worry about transportation and it is pretty quick. One ferry takes you to red hook for $5 each and the other takes you to downtown charlotte amalie for $10 each. We walked from downtown to the cruise ship area in about 15 minutes. Or, you can take a cab from red hook directly back to the ship for $10 each. Do a google search for ferry times for red hook to st. john and check your itinerary to see what time you get into st. thomas. We did Coki beach in st. thomas and it was great water and lots of fish, but small and crowded. We did two days back and forth to Cinnamon Bay because it was so nice. (Even with the cost of transportation.)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

ferry schedule

 

Bill

[macbasset]

That must be an older ferry schedule; the prices aren't what they were a couple of weeks ago. Red Hook to Cruz Bay is $5 each and $5 back. Charlotte Amalie (downtown in shopping district) is $10 each to Cruz Bay and $10 back.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

That must be an older ferry schedule; the prices aren't what they were a couple of weeks ago. Red Hook to Cruz Bay is $5 each and $5 back. Charlotte Amalie (downtown in shopping district) is $10 each to Cruz Bay and $10 back.

 

Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

 

Does this one sound correct?

updated ferry schedule

 

Bill

[autumnlala]

One warning I just thought of: When I was leaving St. John last summer (not on a cruise, I went for a wedding), we all took the ferry back to St. Thomas to catch our flights home and it BROKE DOWN. They fiddled with it for a while, then turned around, took us back to St. John, fixed it, and finally we went to St. Thomas. We were about an hour delayed, all missed our flights, etc.

 

So, consider leaving yourself extra time if you do an excursion on your own rather than through Disney, there could be things outside your control and you could potentially miss getting back to the boat!!! When you add up all the costs you don't save that much to do it yourself rather than through Disney. It is a shame the day in St. Thomas/ St. John is so short on the cruise, since there is so much to see and do!

[pjfreeman21]

Thanks for your help. I need more advice. We have booked this excursion with Disney and it is scheduled to leave at 7:15 am. However, (don't laugh when I ask this) I noticed on another web site that Topsiders doesn't open until 7:30 for breakfast. I don't want to miss a meal (ahaha). What should I do?

[California4Me4Ever]

As far as breakfast is concerned I would order from room service for early delivery. The selection is somewhat limited but at least you can have something before you hit the road. You may also want to grab something from the night before and keep it in the mini-fridge; I don't mind a sandwich for breakfast and it sure beats a growling stomach.

 

In my experience it usually works out to be just a bit more cost to go with the excursion from the ship than doing it yourself. And if you are going on any type of boat that could potentially break down this is a huge consideration IMO. You are paying extra for the peace of mind of knowing you won't get left behind. And if you are going with kids this is a comfort! I was surprised at how much the taxi prices had gone up the last time we were in St. Thomas; it actually worked out cheaper to go with the shore excursion than going on our own. It also depends on your level of comfort with your own punctuality and abilty to adjust your schedule as changes come up (if you have to wait for a taxi/ferry/taxi/etc.). On our last cruise one of my husbands excursions was actually cancelled because the ferry service was out of comission. We also had two of our departures held up while waiting for people to roll back onto the ship. If you do go out on your own make sure someone knows where you are going so if there is a problem they will know where to start looking--even a little itinerary left on your table in your cabin will be better than nothing.

 

Either way you will have a great time! Do what feels the most comfortable. And remember, it's just money!

 

Happy sails!