Saint John Resort Excursion on Mykonos- Beach access?

I just booked the 30 Euro package with St. John. They pick you up at your ship and you have your own beach chair and use of their gym, sauna and pools. It looks beautiful!! My question is about beach access- do they have a private beach? They responded to my request for a shore excursion form immediately and were just as quick confirming my purchase. For anyone interested, their web address is: http://www.saint john.gr and email is info@saint john.gr

We will be in Mykonos on August 26th on the Ruby Princess. Please, anyone who has done this excursion write a few lines about your experience! Thanks!

Lots of info in this thread(Which has a misleading title)

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1391327

We are using them in Sept so if you get there before us please let us know!

I just booked the 30 Euro package with St. John. They pick you up at your ship and you have your own beach chair and use of their gym, sauna and pools. It looks beautiful!! My question is about beach access- do they have a private beach? They responded to my request for a shore excursion form immediately and were just as quick confirming my purchase. For anyone interested, their web address is: www.saint john.gr and email is info@saint john.gr

 

We will be in Mykonos on August 26th on the Ruby Princess. Please, anyone who has done this excursion write a few lines about your experience! Thanks!

Yes, their beach is private.

We were among the first on Cruise Critic to do the Saint John package. We were there last July. They will pick you up right at the ship at the time you arrange with them. The property is on a steep hill and you "check in" at the top. You can either walk down to the pool area or wait for a ride. The ride might make sense just so you know where you are going. The pool area is where everything is going on. There is a full service beach restaurant and a snack bar. They will take orders for sandwiches, burgers, snacks, drinks, at tables and chairs by the pool. While it wasn't cheap, it was good and ran about €10 to €12. The pool is big and runs into two areas with a pedestrian bridge running over part of the pool and jacuzzi (water is not hot) inside of two parts of the pool and overlooking the ocean/sea. You take a 25 step walk down to the beach and I think there are chairs also at the beach. I went for a swim in the water and the temperature is mild and the water is clean. We booked massages in their spa ahead of time as prices were significantly less than Princess prices.

We were just there last week. We learned about it on CC and did the 30E package. I concur with the previous post entirely and recommend St. John highly. It is even prettier than the website. The staff was great and we had an excellent experience.

The beach is larger than I had expected...some prior threads made it sound like the beach was quite small but not so. If I could figure out how to upload a picture, I have a few shots of it, but it’s quite nice. PM me with your email address and I'd be happy to send some pics, if you like.

30E is a bargain; Celebrity wanted 25E just to shuttle us to the beach!

A few notes:

We arrived around 1030am and the pool and beach were pretty much empty, but by 1130-1200 the chairs were filling up, particularly at the pool. It does not feel crowded at all, but if you want your pick of the chair locations, I'd say get there mid-morning.

A few of the day pass folks wanted the resort shuttle to drop them off in town for some shopping rather than returning to the dock. This is not possible; from what I gathered, dropping off in town requires a taxi permit which the hotel shuttle does not have, so if that's your plan, expect to call a taxi for the return ride.

There were a few ladies who were sunbathing topless. Our teenage sons were delighted but if this is an issue for you, consider yourself advised. Definitely an adult orientation. Our teenagers were fine there but not ideal for children.

how did you find out about the 30 euro package-I've found their website but cant find any info about this package

Lyn

E-mail them at info@saint john.gr and they will send you the booking form and rates.

I'm still undecided about this resort even though it looks lovely I'm considering the alternative as I don't want to miss out on exploring the town (Hora). Any thoughts?

Thank you all so much for your informative replies!! I'm thrilled to have already booked the St. John and my 26 year old daughter can't wait, although dear old Mom hopes she doesn't take part in the topless sunbathing, LOL!

how did you find out about the 30 euro package-I've found their website but cant find any info about this package

Lyn

They don't promote it actively but just let them know you are interested in a day pass. They will offer you a 30E package and a 140E package. Both include transportation, use of the beach, pool, sauna, gym and shower facilities; the latter also includes lunch and a 30 minute massage in the spa.

It's great promotion for the resort. I'm sure they hope that people will return for land multiple-night stays. I'd love to do that, maybe a few years down the road combining it with an Israel trip.

I was at the resort a little over a week ago and wanted to be dropped off in town afterwards. The resort shuttle did drop me off, but the Princess shuttle wouldn't let me buy a one way pass back to the ship. I was lucky enough to find one of the few taxis to take me back to the ship. If you want to stop at the town and then take the shuttle back, be sure and buy a round trip ticket for the ship's shuttle before leaving the ship.

The beach is larger than I had expected...some prior threads made it sound like the beach was quite small but not so. A few of the day pass folks wanted the resort shuttle to drop them off in town for some shopping rather than returning to the dock. This is not possible; from what I gathered, dropping off in town requires a taxi permit which the hotel shuttle does not have, so if that's your plan, expect to call a taxi for the return ride.

I was at the resort a little over a week ago and wanted to be dropped off in town afterwards. The resort shuttle did drop me off, but the Princess shuttle wouldn't let me buy a one way pass back to the ship. I was lucky enough to find one of the few taxis to take me back to the ship. If you want to stop at the town and then take the shuttle back, be sure and buy a round trip ticket for the ship's shuttle before leaving the ship.

At the end of May, we had no problem with the resort shuttle dropping us off. We had already purchased the round trip ship shuttle to get back to the ship from town.

BTW - We thought the beach was small. I guess it is what you are used to. It was about the size of most Caribbean and Med. beaches. Disappointing after you have seen the beaches in South Carolina (leaving for a week long vacation this weekend ..YAY! )or the Cayman's.

We stayed by the edge of the pool and enjoyed the ocean from above. here's some pics.

Beach - Not very wide or long

Infinity Pool

Bar and Grill

Villa's

View from suite

Lobby

BTW - We thought the beach was small. I guess it is what you are used to. It was about the size of most Caribbean and Med. beaches. Disappointing after you have seen the beaches in South Carolina (leaving for a week long vacation this weekend ..YAY! )or the Cayman's.

 

Well, it is a private beach and very uncrowded. It's all a bit relative. You will never feel crowded at this beach or really anywhere at the Saint John.

Thanks everyone for the responses! Now I'm really psyched to spend a relaxing few hours there! After long days in Florence, Rome and Capri, I will need to chill out by the sea.

Thanks to all who shared their photos. I think this is just what my DH and I will be needing after 8 days of touring ancient ruins. The water looks beautiful!

Hey Calif. Girl, can you please tell me how much was a taxi from town back to the port?

It's great promotion for the resort. I'm sure they hope that people will return for land multiple-night stays. I'd love to do that, maybe a few years down the road combining it with an Israel trip.

Ljberkow, sounds like a great plan! We'll be at the resort in August and hope to travel to Israel soon.

At the end of May, we had no problem with the resort shuttle dropping us off. We had already purchased the round trip ship shuttle to get back to the ship from town.

 

BTW - We thought the beach was small. I guess it is what you are used to. It was about the size of most Caribbean and Med. beaches. Disappointing after you have seen the beaches in South Carolina (leaving for a week long vacation this weekend ..YAY! )or the Cayman's.

 

We stayed by the edge of the pool and enjoyed the ocean from above. here's some pics.

 

Beach - Not very wide or long

 

Infinity Pool

 

Bar and Grill

 

Villa's

 

View from suite

 

Lobby

Thanks for the great pictures! We are so looking forward to our day at this resort. This will be day 11 of our trip and I think we'll be all toured out by then. The beach looks great!

I'm thinking of making a reservation here, but we don't arrive in Mykonos until 1:00. Does it make sense to book the package for just a few hours?

Also, how did people send Credit info? for the reservation? I won't email my info and I'm not thrilled about faxing it. Thanks for any advice!

Hi Pats75 - I think we are on the same cruise as you! We have booked a day pass at the Resort as I looked at the weather forecast and it seems OK at that time of year. I have completed the form but would not, like you, send my cc details to an insecure site. It's funny coz they have a secure site for ordinary bookings of the hotel! They were quite happy to leave details outstanding and acknowledged the booking. I said I would phone them the first week in September. I will still not be happy to give my card details on the phone as, again, anyone can use them. However, on the form they do say bank transfers are accepted so this may be a way forward. I fully understand that they want some form of authorization in case of non show on the scheduled day -but it works both ways. Are we 100% sure that a driver will be there if the money is paid direct???? Look forward to meeting you at the Meet & Greet - Pam and Keith.

i did email them about this, and they said they could take the credit card info my fax. Still not preferable! I understand that they will not charge the card if the ship cannot make the port (as weather could keep us from tendering...) and I fully plan to pay cash. I understand that they want to protect their interests as well, as taking a lot of reservations and having no=shows can hurt their business.

I'll try again to see if there is a way to use the secure server.

Look forward to meeting you as well...yes, we are on the same cruise! I visited Mykonos in May previously and it was very warm. A beach day for sure will be great.

Just off the Ruby princess and I would like to throw my opinion in. The Ruby only ports for a half day for Mykonos and with the limited day, we opted to go to beach as well. We did DIY and went to Platis Gialos, used the public bus. The beach was lovely, chairs and umbrellas plentiful. It was crowded but perfect. The water was great, food stations all available. It cost us 10 euros for three lounge chairs with cushions and umbrella. The folks that went to the Saint John resort loved it as well but felt it would have been better spent if they had the entire day. The half day for us was 7:30am till 1:30pm. The town of Mykonos was lovely as well.

Hey Calif. Girl, can you please tell me how much was a taxi from town back to the port?

I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I do remember I was just so happy to find a taxi and I would have paid just about anything. I think it was around 15 euro to get back and it wasn't even that far. It was hot and I wasn't sure if I had enough time to walk back. The walk back didn't look very easy either.

I am resurrecting this thread as our family is seriously considering a day at Saint John during our stop there in June. We have a full day on Mykonos.

Does anyone know if we could walk back to the ship from the town? I read somewhere that the shuttle is a rip off given how close the port is to the town?

And do you think we could 'tour/shop' in the town in the morning and then go to the resort?

I just booked the 30 Euro package with St. John. They pick you up at your ship and you have your own beach chair and use of their gym, sauna and pools. It looks beautiful!! My question is about beach access- do they have a private beach? They responded to my request for a shore excursion form immediately and were just as quick confirming my purchase. For anyone interested, their web address is: www.saint john.gr and email is info@saint john.gr

 

We will be in Mykonos on August 26th on the Ruby Princess. Please, anyone who has done this excursion write a few lines about your experience! Thanks!

A couple of things.. First, We are on the same cruise, so sign onto the roll call here on the board, as there may be some excursions we can share.

Second, we are also looking at that same resort for our time in Mykonos as well. It looks beautiful and, as far as going to a beach, it seems to be an excellent option.

Third, and possibly most important. We will be there with you on August 28th not the 26th, when we will be in Kusadasi. I am hoping the your post was just a simple mistake. If you have booked the resort for the 26th, better let them know of the correct date!

Ok, forget the first and third items. I just realized that the OP was talking about 2011 not this year!! OOPS..

We will be there in June and may do St. John's. I have the form printed out but just not sure yet. I would love to get some recent reviews. We are traveling with our 5 kids so I think this would be a good option now that I see the beach pictures.