Which Rccl St. John Excursion?

Taking the FreedomOTS to St.Thomas in a few weeks and we want to check out St. John. I know some people just take the cab/ferry on thier own and I understand that process. This is a question about Royals offerings and the experiences people have had with them. I am travelling with my wife & our 2 boys (late teens).

So, Whats the scoop with Royals Excursions to St.John?

If you're talking about the round trip boat ride to St John, I've done it three times to go to Trunk Bay. Basically you are paying for the boat ride which is competitively priced with the DIY cost.

Sometimes they offer shopping, walking tour of Cruz Bay, or a coastal cruise, but everyone goes on the same boat and you can do whatever you want when you get there. I just take a cab to Trunk Bay, but you might want to rent a car to explore on your own.

I wasn't happy on my trip there on the Freedom. The ship stayed on eastern time, so when we arrived at 11:00 am it was really 12:00 pm in St Thomas. By the time we got to St John and the National Park, it was almost 2 PM, so too late to get much use from a chair rental which had to be returned by 3 pm. I forget what time we left St John, but it was dark in Nov when we got back to the ship. I just felt they advertised a 6 hour trip and we really got 4+ hours.

This is the one time where I think an excursion is the easy way to go...Getting to St. John takes MANY steps...do it through the ship, and you have no worries!

We don't snorkel, but took the snorkel excursion just to get there....had a couple hours of beach time, while everyone else was thrashing about in the water!!!

We took the ship excursion to snorkel at Trunk Bay. It's a unique underwater national park. Your excursion includes gear and friendly expert instruction, You snorkel right off the beach in calm warm water, and just walk out when you want to take a break. The neat thing is the underwater "signage" . As you snorkel by, concrete plaques in blue and white tell you about the different coral, the fish you're likely to see, etc. Even if you're not into snorkeling it's pretty amazing.

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Trunk bay is one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen, used for some movies also, just a little bit of a pain to get too

Sounds great and I think we are gonna go this route. we are a little nervous about going to a different island on our own. Theres a $40/pp tour they are offering I think will work & we def wanna do trunk bay so me & the boys can snorkel. Is this the one recommended?

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=STO3&DestinationCode=

Sounds great and I think we are gonna go this route. we are a little nervous about going to a different island on our own. Theres a $40/pp tour they are offering I think will work & we def wanna do trunk bay so me & the boys can snorkel. Is this the one recommended?

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=STO3&DestinationCode=

Yes - that's the one. You will pay an additional $6/pp each way to go to the National Park plus the snorkel gear rental plus $4/pp park admission. Price it out - if they offer a snorkel excursion, it may be competitive in price once you add up all the extras.

You're going in July - ship time will be the same as local time during the summer.

We did the Self Explore St John (STO3) through Celebrity. While slightly more expensive that doing it ourselves (though it was surprisingly competitive), the convenience of the boat leaving from next to the ship vs. having to taxi to Red Hook then wait for a ferry convinced us.

Once on St. John, we visited the National Park Visitor Center and Cinnamon Bay, where we walked a trail and then the beach.

Sounds great and I think we are gonna go this route. we are a little nervous about going to a different island on our own. Theres a $40/pp tour they are offering I think will work & we def wanna do trunk bay so me & the boys can snorkel. Is this the one recommended?

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=STO3&DestinationCode=

Just to pile on, it's one of the very few RCI excursions we take. It's just too easy.

Just to pile on, it's one of the very few RCI excursions we take. It's just too easy.

Totally agree! It's the easiest way by far to do it!

When going from St. Thomas to St. John, we always take an excursion offered by the ship! :D

LuLu

We've taken the ship's excursion to St. John three times. Honestly, they don't really care if you are just taking advantage of the boat over and then do your own thing or do the excursion. One boat takes everyone signed up for the various excursions. Since we wanted to make sure we were signed up for the excursion, we did pre-book prior to boarding. Something we rarely do.

We arranged a private snorkel tour with my brother and sil prior to arriving at St. John. Had a wonderful time. Just rode the boat back to St. Thomas. Have to keep up with the time for sure.

The really nice part is the boat over is docked only a few steps away from the where the ship docks. Nice also when you arrive back to St. Thomas hot and tired. No having to grab a taxi to town, catch the ferry over, and back and hoping you run into no glitches. Just make sure you take note of where the boat will be docked when it leaves for St. John for St. Thomas.

Have a great time.

We've taken the ship's excursion to St. John three times. Honestly, they don't really care if you are just taking advantage of the boat over and then do your own thing or do the excursion.

 

We arranged a private snorkel tour with my brother and sil prior to arriving at St. John. Had a wonderful time. Just rode the boat back to St. Thomas. Have to keep up with the time for sure.

 

The really nice part is the boat over is docked only a few steps away from the where the ship docks. Nice also when you arrive back to St. Thomas hot and tired. No having to grab a taxi to town, catch the ferry over, and back and hoping you run into no glitches. Just make sure you are at the boat when it leaves for St. Thomas from St. John.

 

Have a great time.

Was that on your Allure trip and you picked up the excursion at Crown Point?

thanks for the advice!

should I just talk to the reps on the ship and see about me & boys doing snorkel pkg and the wife just doing the beach??

So, we did the basic RCCL package for $39pp and ended up on the same ferry to StJ as the guided tour that goes around the island, but we were dropped off at the 1st stop. The ride over was rough (he said rougher than normal) but it was only about 30 mins and there was air conditioned seating for anyone who wanted it. my wife gets sea sick easily and she was fine. The guide was great and pointed out some celeb homes & famous spots and also gave tons of information about the islands. He really seemed to enjoy what he was doing. When we arrived at StJ he asked what we all wanted to do and before he headed off for his tour, he got us all situated with taxis (clean, professional, open air group transportation) to where we wanted to go. We headed to trunk bay (10-15mins of nice scenery) and its the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. set up camp in a shaded area then me & the boys headed off snorkeling the trail & it was great. After snorkeing we hit the bar/snack shack and my teenage boys (17&19) bought their 1st beers and smirked at their mother as she gave them hell for it while they each enjoyed a cold one. Snorkel gear was rented for $5ea with a $20ea deposit but keep an eye on her when you return because she tried to stiff us saying we only gave 2 sets of flippers back after she had taken one pair off the counter. In fairness, she was definitely stoned and ended up giving back our deposit. Taxied back to pier & enjoyed some nachos and a couple more beers at some nearby bars, then explored the area and did some shopping before the meetup time for the ferry back. Ride back was smoother and more relaxed. I really cant recommend it enough and feel blessed my wife & I were able to share such a great day with our boys as we realize these opportunities are fading fast.

Taxied back to pier & enjoyed some nachos and a couple more beers at some nearby bars, then explored the area and did some shopping before the meetup time for the ferry back. Ride back was smoother and more relaxed. I really cant recommend it enough and feel blessed my wife & I were able to share such a great day with our boys as we realize these opportunities are fading fast.

Did you stop at The Tap in Mongoose Junction? One of the owner's is a Rhode Islander. Great assortment of beer brewed in their own brewery.

For those who have taken the excursions boat over to St John, how soon after the ship's arrival at St Thomas does it depart? Is it within the first hour? Then what time does it depart St John relative to the ship's departure?

I've always done St John on my own to maximize our time there, but if the exursions boat offered a comparable timetable, we'd consider it just to avoid the trouble and expense of taxis to and from Red Hook at St Thomas.

Thanks for asking, I've been to ST Thomas 3 times for far and not done this. The replies have been helpful.

We have taken the St John on your own trip, too. The boat eaves the dock about 1 hr after you dock. You have to be out there earlier. The shops were not even open yet. We got back within 30 mins of leaving St. Thomas. We were among the last one. We would never have timed it this close if we were DIY.

We would do this excursion again.

ive done the ultimate st john tour twice, you get off the ship right when you get there, then to the boat, what I hate is that i have gotten sea sick on those little boats twice as the water has always been rough between the islands.

first time i went we skipped the plantation and did all day beach, second time we went to see the plantation glad we did as the view is great.

enjoy.

Did you stop at The Tap in Mongoose Junction? One of the owner's is a Rhode Islander. Great assortment of beer brewed in their own brewery.

i did NOT, but we walked thru mongoose junction. had nachos & drinks at Margarita Phils right next door tho. I will make it a point to stop in next time. It was so nice in stJ we are talking about going there for a week

For those who have taken the excursions boat over to St John, how soon after the ship's arrival at St Thomas does it depart? Is it within the first hour? Then what time does it depart St John relative to the ship's departure?

 

I've always done St John on my own to maximize our time there, but if the exursions boat offered a comparable timetable, we'd consider it just to avoid the trouble and expense of taxis to and from Red Hook at St Thomas.

we left for the island at 9:30. woulda been sooner but had to wait for some stragglers. spent the day there and were back to the ship are about 45mins before we left. Ship itineraries are different so I imagine they would do the same. we were happy knowing that our excursion group wasnt going to get left behind

ive done the ultimate st john tour twice, you get off the ship right when you get there, then to the boat, what I hate is that i have gotten sea sick on those little boats twice as the water has always been rough between the islands.

first time i went we skipped the plantation and did all day beach, second time we went to see the plantation glad we did as the view is great.

enjoy.

the seas were :rougher than normal" for our ride over but the boat we were on for this excursion was pretty big. I did see a smaller boat go out with another group before us & I wonder if that was the "ultimate tour". the 2 tours on with us were the "self explore" & the "Coastal Cruise of National Park Beaches" so maybe thats why they use the bigger boat?

This is the one time where I think an excursion is the easy way to go...Getting to St. John takes MANY steps...do it through the ship, and you have no worries!

 

We don't snorkel, but took the snorkel excursion just to get there....had a couple hours of beach time, while everyone else was thrashing about in the water!!!

MANY steps? I guess it does if you consider a cab or safari truck from the pier to Red Hook, a ferry to St. John and a cab to Trunk Bay (and reverse) to be "MANY" steps. We have taken the RCI excursion to St.John on several occasions and found it convenient but we wouldn't consider the DIY option to be as onerous as you make it appear. The only steps your option eliminates are the rides between the pier and Red Hook,

The only real problem is St. Thomas traffic can be brutal sometimes making it not worth the savings.

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