St. John excursion

[mesb]

We are trying to decide between:

 

St. John On Your Own - STH2

Caribbean Sea Safari, Beach Snorkeling & Fun by Power Cat - STL5

St. John Beach and Snorkel Tour - STE8

 

We would really like a tour that leaves from the cruise pier area and not have to travel to Red Hook.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these excursions? Any help would be appreciated.

[Big_G]

We are trying to decide between:

 

St. John On Your Own - STH2

Caribbean Sea Safari, Beach Snorkeling & Fun by Power Cat - STL5

St. John Beach and Snorkel Tour - STE8

 

We would really like a tour that leaves from the cruise pier area and not have to travel to Red Hook.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these excursions? Any help would be appreciated.

 

What ship are you on?

[mesb]

Oasis

[johneeo]

We are trying to decide between:

 

St. John On Your Own - STH2

Caribbean Sea Safari, Beach Snorkeling & Fun by Power Cat - STL5

St. John Beach and Snorkel Tour - STE8

 

We would really like a tour that leaves from the cruise pier area and not have to travel to Red Hook.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these excursions? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Go to the St. Thomas port of call board and do your research there.

[Big_G]

Oasis

 

I don't know that a ferry pickups at Crown Bay. We were picked up at the Havensight dock while sailing the Freedom. We did the 'On Your Own' and hired an open air taxi on the island with some other couples. The driver gave us a great tour and dropped off some people at Trunk Bay. There are taxis running from Trunk Bay to the ferry terminal all the time.

 

Look at the times of the other excursions. Some started a little earlier than ours and people just signed up for the ride and cut out to do what they wanted. They had a little more time on the island.

[cb at sea]

We did the beach/snorkel tour, although we had no intention of snorkeling. The beach is GORGEOUS!!!! Truly the prettiest beach I've ever seen...ever.

 

This is one time we did a ship's excursion...getting to St. John and to the beach seemed like a lot of trouble and planning....this was easy-peezy....took us and brought us back and we had a great day!

[mesb]

SPDBigG and cb at sea,

 

Thank you! It is great to get some current information! All three of the excursions start at the same time and last the same amount of time! This is the only port we will do a ship's excursion.

 

Thank you again!

[bajathree]

We are trying to decide between:

 

St. John On Your Own - STH2

Caribbean Sea Safari, Beach Snorkeling & Fun by Power Cat - STL5

St. John Beach and Snorkel Tour - STE8

 

We would really like a tour that leaves from the cruise pier area and not have to travel to Red Hook.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these excursions? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Yes....I do have experience with the St John tours off Oasis. Royal does have a chartered ferry that will pick you up right at Crown Bay. My first question to you is what are you trying to accomplish....are you looking just for transportation over to St John with the most free time possible...or are you looking for a tour on St John?....that will determine what best tour to do.

[mesb]

We are open. We wouldn't mind going on a tour or winging it on our own. We would like to spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours at the beach. We don't really care which beach, but would prefer one that we don't have to hike for 30 minutes to get to - since we will have limited time.

[janetz]

Here is an option from Crown Bay...This is just one link but if you google water island there is alot of info online. You can do this on your own. Our daughter in law ran the ferry over for a few years and it is beautiful.

http://www.waterislandadventures.com/

 

The link was blocked. Just google Water Island.

[FOXTROT]

The easiest way & the best way to get to St. John imho. Book the Destination St. John Historical Tour or Shopping Tour. They cost 40 @ it leaves right by the ship. On the way over Captain Jack gives you a very informative talk about the history & the area. As soon as you get to St. John you may leave & do as you wish. This gives you about 4 1/2 hrs. on St. John. It is about $3.00 more than traveling to Red Hook & catching the ferry. It is a RCCL excursion so no worries about missing the ship. Did I mention a great rum punch on the ride back.;)

This is one RCCL excursion that is worth it.

[mesb]

Thank you!

[bajathree]

We are open. We wouldn't mind going on a tour or winging it on our own. We would like to spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours at the beach. We don't really care which beach, but would prefer one that we don't have to hike for 30 minutes to get to - since we will have limited time.

 

Well then it really comes to how much time you want to spend on the island. The St John on Your Own Tour is going to give you about that exact 1.5hrs to spend at a beach...no more. For beach I would recommend Trunk Bay....I live in FL where we have some fantastic beaches....yet I still take the time to go over to Trunk Bay because it is just that nice. That said I think the St John on Your Own tour is a bit rushed.....you get to the beach....settle in.....take a swim and it's time to start to head back.

What I have found as a much better option is the "Destination St John" tours...STG3, STG4 and STC2. All these tours combined will take the same ferry over to St John. These tours all have something combined...like a historical walk....or shopping tour....BUT, you don't have to do that....as soon as you get to St John they will tell you if you like you can go off on your own.....and these tours will give you about 3.5hrs free time. That is a lot nicer amount of time to hop a 15 minute open air taxi over to Trunk Bay....spend some beach time....and you will have time left over to stop off at Mongoose Junction on the way back and do a bit of exploring...or have a couple drinks or grab some lunch. The ferry that services those tours will also leave right from Crown Bay .....gives you a narrated tour on the way and serves rum punch on the return trip....those 3 tours will give you max time to enjoy St John without felling rushed.

[tennisstar28]

I am sailing out this Sunday on the Allure and my husband and I booked the St. John shopping excursion through Royal Carribean. We only booked this so that we could take the fairy to St. John than grab a taxi to the beach. Spend a couple of hours there and then grab a taxi back to the shopping site so that we would have a little bit more peace of mind doing it through RCL than completely on our own.

[Host Faith]

I am sailing out this Sunday on the Allure and my husband and I booked the St. John shopping excursion through Royal Carribean. We only booked this so that we could take the fairy to St. John than grab a taxi to the beach. Spend a couple of hours there and then grab a taxi back to the shopping site so that we would have a little bit more peace of mind doing it through RCL than completely on our own.

 

That's exactly what we did when we sailed the Serenade last year. We took a taxi from the ferry pier to get to Trunk Bay. Incredibly beautiful beach, and I think using Royal's excursion to get there is worth it.

[mesb]

Thank you! All of this information was very helpful in making a decision! We are going to do one of the St. John Tours that leave straight from Crown Bay and then go off on our own once we arrive in St. John. That way we will have plenty of time to go to the beach without being rushed.

[Let'sGo!]

Great info on this thread - thank you all!

 

Been to St. Thomas several times and I am determined that this next time I will get to St. John! I too was a little concerned about negotiating my own way to and from Red Hook.

 

Ann

[Kassy220]

Isn't this the board for St. Thomas/St. John? Please provide the link.

I'm looking for excursions once I get on the Island. We will be on the Disney Fantasy and of course looking for something kid-friendly, 4 years old. Was told to check out Trunk's Bay. What tour operator is relatively inexpensive compared to the ship's tour? Thanks.

 

Go to the St. Thomas port of call board and do your research there.

[jerry2457]

I have been to St Thomas 6 times with one of those being a land vacation and the others off a cruise ship. Ferries pick up in 2 areas if you want to go to St John's: in the town of Charlotte Amie in the downtown area which requires a short 10 minute cab ride & think its $12 per person each way. The one at Red Hook is about 15 minutes by taxi but the ferry is $6 per person each way. A group of 25 of us went last year in November via the Red Hook ferry and the cost shook out this way: taxi from the ship dock to Red Hook & then from there back to the ship, $10 per person each way ($20 total); $12 round trip per person for the ferry; and about $6-$8 per person each way for taxi from the ferry dock to Cinammon Bay. Trunk Bay has a reef right off shore but they charge a park fee and both beaches have chairs, umbrellas, snorkel equipment, etc. We did Cinammon Bay so we spent $44 a person for a great day at Cinammon Bay. The ferry leaves on the hour and takes about 20 minutes to arrive then its about 10-15 minutes to the beach but we stopped at 3 overview areas for scenic pictures.

 

I did once do a snorkel tour that went to Buck Island where they picked us up right next to the cruise dock but it was arranged through our group director with an upcharge. If you want a budgeted tour with staying on St Thomas take the suggestion that others have posted as there are plenty of options with negotiated tours right outside the cruise dock gate. Your other option is to also take a short walk from the cruise dock to Havensight Mall, a series of orange roof top shops that runs parallel to the dock. Within these shops is a St Thomas tour office where you can ask prices.

 

For kid friendly you could easily stay on St Thomas and take a taxi to Coki Beach. Right next to this beach is Coral World Ocean Park, a very kid friendly aquamarine park. Coral World has a sea turtle pool, petting tanks, an hourly nurse shark feeding pen by the workers and lots of cool things. However you can drop a quick $60 here for a family of 4 for tickets so an option would be just to cab to this beach or Sapphire Beach to relax and swim. Sapphire Beach is the prettiest beach, in my opinion, of all the ones on St Thomas but none of the beaches are within walking distance of the cruise port dock.

[Cherrock]

We are trying to decide between:

 

St. John On Your Own - STH2

Caribbean Sea Safari, Beach Snorkeling & Fun by Power Cat - STL5

St. John Beach and Snorkel Tour - STE8

 

We would really like a tour that leaves from the cruise pier area and not have to travel to Red Hook.

 

Does anyone have any experience with these excursions? Any help would be appreciated.

Per my brother in law on st John don't miss the snorkeling in the park that has underwater trail. Says points of interest are marked underwater and was good for the novice.