Day Trip to St. John

My husband and I are on the Celebrity Summit, arriving in St. Thomas on April 7th. This is a 25th anniversary cruise, and we were hoping to visit St. John, where we went for our honeymoon. I see that the ship is docking at Crown Bay, and that we should probably allow an hour to get to Red Hook, then the ferry ride, then the cab to the beach. While we would love to go to St. John, we also want a relaxing day, and this sounds like a lot of work to get there. My question is: is the transportation to St. John not seem as complicated as it sounds (we want to maximize the time there, 8-5) What St. Thomas beach is closer? We have been to Megan's Bay twice. Was thinking of maybe Water Island? but never been there. Any suggestions are most appreciated.

I have done the Red Hook Ferry to St. John on-our-own previously and you're right - it's not relaxing. While I LOVED it, I did have an underlying feeling of concern all day. What if we can't find a taxi when we need it? What if the ferry is behind schedule? What if we hit traffic and it takes us longer to get from Red Hook to the ship? None of those things happened, but this time I booked the "St. John On Your Own" excursion offered through RCCL. Maybe they offer it on Celebrity as well? I called today. The ferry they use leaves from near the ship and takes about 45 minutes to get to St. John. Still, you end up with about the same amount of time on the island without the complications and stress of missing the ship. And it's actually CHEAPER!

Thank you for your reply. I did some research yesterday and booked this exact excursion. It was $79 for two and four hours on St John. We would probably get less than one hour more on our own and the stress of getting back to ship for 5:00 depart time. I don't mind going off on my own but this felt a little like planes, trains and automobiles and we are on vacation! No stress desired!