St. Johns Excursion from St. Thomas

[jkshu80]

I am leaving on a cruise next week, and when I went to the Princess personalizer the information is no longer available to book the excursions. Does anybody have any information on boat trip to st. Johns?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Jenn

[Toto2Kansas]

I am leaving on a cruise next week, and when I went to the Princess personalizer the information is no longer available to book the excursions. Does anybody have any information on boat trip to st. Johns?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Jenn

 

 

There is usually an all day (sometimes only a half day) catamaran excursion to St. Johns. But you only anchor off the shore at the beach for snorkeling or swimming to shore (they will also take you to shore in the dingy if you aren't comfortable swimming in). You get a good view of the coast line, but the trip over can be somewhat rough, and you only anchor off the shore as I said previously. We have done this excursion many times, and it is great. One of these days we are going to actually spend the day in St. Johns instead of just viewing it from the coastline. If memory serves me correctly, the last time we took this excursion it was around $129 per person, and included lunch and unlimited open bar. But the price may have increased since then. Enjoy!

[jkshu80]

There is usually an all day (sometimes only a half day) catamaran excursion to St. Johns. But you only anchor off the shore at the beach for snorkeling or swimming to shore (they will also take you to shore in the dingy if you aren't comfortable swimming in). You get a good view of the coast line, but the trip over can be somewhat rough, and you only anchor off the shore as I said previously. We have done this excursion many times, and it is great. One of these days we are going to actually spend the day in St. Johns instead of just viewing it from the coastline. If memory serves me correctly, the last time we took this excursion it was around $129 per person, and included lunch and unlimited open bar. But the price may have increased since then. Enjoy!

 

 

Thank you for the information!! Is there any way to be able to actually spend the day on St. Johns, do they not allow you to walk off onto the island when you are on the catamaran tour?

[taszmom]

All I can tell you is the last time I went to St Thomas, I took a shore excursion to St Johns and it was fantastic. Get your bearings before and then sort out where you are going.

[MaryPoppinz]

Thank you for the information!! Is there any way to be able to actually spend the day on St. Johns, do they not allow you to walk off onto the island when you are on the catamaran tour?

 

If you are asking whether be touring the island as well as snorkeling....not on this particular tour.

 

If you're interested, it is easy to get to St. John on your own, with a little time for both snorkeling and touring. Check the St. Thomas ports of call board for the detailed instructions.

[Toto2Kansas]

Thank you for the information!! Is there any way to be able to actually spend the day on St. Johns, do they not allow you to walk off onto the island when you are on the catamaran tour?

 

The ships tour is more or less just a catamaran snorkeling trip. The beach they take you to in St. Johns (I think it's name was Honeymoon beach) is not close to anything within walking distance in the time they allow you there. I would see about doing this on your own if there is nothing offered through the ships excursions that actually allows you time on the island.

[C&F]

We did it on our own 2 years ago. It is not to difficult. Took a cab from Crown Bay to Red Hook ferry terminal. Ferry to St. John. Then did the same thing in reverse. We did feel a bit rushed as the travel times is about 45 mins to 1.5 hours depending on traffic. I used to have the site with the ferry times. I'll see if I can find it. You can also take a cab to Charlotte Amalie and take the ferry from there. I think its a longer ferry ride from there, but less of a cab ride than to red hook. We only did the Red Hook ferry, so can't comment on the Charlotte Amalie route.

Search the St. Thomas/St. John boards and you will find great info. We were going to do it again this year, but decided to try Emerald Beach instead. Its about a 20 minute walk to the beach from the ship. Of course, we could still change our minds, lol.

[missygirl]

We also did like C & F...we docked... caught a cab to Red Hook... took the ferry over to St. John..got another cab to Trunk Bay...a lot cheaper than the ship excursion and very simple to do. It has a great snorkle area. We brought our own equipment but you can rent it there. It has restrooms and a grill open for food (burgers ect). St. John has to be one of my top beautiful islands that I have visited.

 

Have a great time

Missygirl

[Dushi]

We tried to do the St John excursion on our own in 2005 but between the traffic and all the ships in port (5) it wasn't worth the trouble.

 

In 2008, while on the Caribbean Princess, we decided to just book the day trip through the ship. The ship was docked east of Charlotte Amalie, much further away from Red Hook. The excursion included a boat which picked us up not far from where the ship docked. Once we arrived in St John, we boarded the open air truck buses that took us for a ride around the island stopping at the various beaches and photo stops. Our boat also accomodated the other excursion that takes pax to Trunk Bay for snorkelling. My only complaint was that I would have liked to walk around St John for 30-60 minutes to shop or get a snack.

 

If you decide to stick to a ship's excursion, you should have no problem booking one while on board.

[Mapu]

We have always done St. John on our own without a problem. We take a cab to the ferry (depends which ferry based on where you dock). If you dock at Crown Bay just walk or take a cab into Charlotte Amalie and take the feryy from there. It is a longer ferry ride but closest to that dock. If you dock at Havensight you will want to go to Red Hook by cab. We usually try to be off early (by 3PM) giving us plenty of time to get back to the ship. Go to the ports of call boards you will find lots of info.

[Psee]

Highly recommend Trunk Bay. It's one of most beautiful beaches in the world! :cool:

[themerle]

Go to the Princess website and then to shore excursions. There are several excursions to St. John. One is an island tour. The island is beautiful and the driver will point out areas where stars have homes and you will have amazing views of some of the beautiful beaches. We really enjoyed our excursion having been to St. Thomas a few times.

[hubofhockey]

Highly recommend Trunk Bay. It's one of most beautiful beaches in the world! :cool:

 

Agreed - very easy to do it on your own and you get more time at the beach and in town. The cruiseline excursions are boat trips. Trunk Bay is beautiful. Get off the ship early and catch a cab to the ferry docks and you're all set.

[TomCruises]

You can take the ferry over for $10-$15 pp each way. Once you get there you can do what you like. Or if you book the excursion on the ship, I recommend the snorkel trip at Trunk Bay!

[PirateGal]

We have always done St. John on our own without a problem. We take a cab to the ferry (depends which ferry based on where you dock). If you dock at Crown Bay just walk or take a cab into Charlotte Amalie and take the feryy from there. It is a longer ferry ride but closest to that dock. If you dock at Havensight you will want to go to Red Hook by cab. We usually try to be off early (by 3PM) giving us plenty of time to get back to the ship. Go to the ports of call boards you will find lots of info.

 

How long/far is the walk from Crown Bay to Charlotte Amalie? We are planning to do the St. John's trip on our own in October. We're in good healthy condition so a bit of walking doesn't bother us!

 

Thanks!

[Mapu]

How long/far is the walk from Crown Bay to Charlotte Amalie? We are planning to do the St. John's trip on our own in October. We're in good healthy condition so a bit of walking doesn't bother us!

 

Thanks!

It is maybe a 10-15 minute walk. Once on St. John there are Safari buses that you can take to specific beaches or stay on for a ride around the north shore beaches. In addition to Trunk Bay another great snorkeling beach is Honeymoon Beach which you get to by getting off the safari bus at Caneel Bay. You go through the parking lot and take a road down to the left that will get you there. Two other great snorkeling beaches are Hawksnest and Oppenheimer (sometimes called Gibney Beach). Hawksnest is obvious the safari bus drivers all know Oppenheimer.

[Gabrielle R.]

WE just got off the CB on June 29. We did the Champagne Catamaran tour through Princess. I think it was around $78-$89 per person. WE took an open air van to the docks (About a 20 minute ride- due to traffic there about 15 minutes back). Then we boarded the Cat to St. Johns. Only had about 20 people n board. WE went to Honeymoon Bay. Snorkeled saw Lots of fish, sea turtle and even a baricuda! WE could go ashore to the beach if we wanted. Then when we were done lots of drinks and snacks on board. Another excusion I heard about was a hike at St. Johns which ended at Honeymoon Bay. That sounded very nice too.

 

We chose the ships tour since I knew we were not in port for long and I wasn't sure if there would be more then one ship at the pier. IT turned out there wasn't, but it could be really busy if there was another ship in town.

 

Have fun whatever you chose!

[rcacace]

How long/far is the walk from Crown Bay to Charlotte Amalie? We are planning to do the St. John's trip on our own in October. We're in good healthy condition so a bit of walking doesn't bother us!

 

Thanks!

 

It's more like 25 to 30 minutes to walk into town. If your in no hurry, as we usually are, then walking would be an option but if you're planning to take the water taxi to St John it would be a shame to have just missed it for the sake of walking. Double check the schedule for the water taxi.

[GingerCandy]

I am leaving on a cruise next week, and when I went to the Princess personalizer the information is no longer available to book the excursions. Does anybody have any information on boat trip to st. Johns?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Jenn

 

You should be able to book it once you are on the ship. :)

[jfv379]

The site with schedules and prices for the ferry is vinow dot com:D

 

Very easy to do.