St. John Scenic Cruise, Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel - Princess excursion?

[canadarocks]

We are considering this excursion: St. John Scenic Cruise, Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel. Your tour begins as you board a ferry for a 45-minute, narrated cruise to St. John, known as the "Emerald of the Caribbean".

 

Can anyone tell me how many people we can expect on the ferry and if we will be able to hear the narration if we are outside during the cruise?

[chrysalis]

Lots....of people. Doubt there is much narration on the ferry.

 

We did this a number of years ago.....we really felt that we were herded like cattle. It was disappointing, and the snorkelling that day was awful. The water was very cloudy from recent wave action.

 

You will find more info on the ports of call area of CC

[Times Prince]

We've done this twice - the narration I recall consisted of identifying the islands we saw by name, and some of the celebrity owned houses and hotels we passed. We had no problems hearing this either time.

 

Snorkeling was good each time (first time was fantastic!), and if you have your own gear and are experienced you can get extra time in the water while everyone else is getting fitted.

[canadarocks]

Two very different opinions for sure! Hopefully someone will "break the tie". ;)

[Llmtax2000]

We did this excursion during a spring break cruise in 2012. While the beach was beautiful and the water was clear, the ferry ride was VERY hot, at least on the unshaded top deck. The passengers up there were MISERABLE on the way back.

[kendon]

Getting to St. John and back eats up too much of the day. The time spent at Trunk Bay is relatively short and rushed, and the snorkeling is disappointing as the reef is in bad shape due to the crowds. I'd skip it. Look into a private sail from St. Thomas perhaps if snorkeling is what you want. Enjoy your cruise!

[Seafoam Green]

RE-voting here!

 

What's wrong with multiple catamaran snorkel trips? How many of those do you take at home during the Canadian winter?

 

:D

[canadarocks]

re-voting here!

 

What's wrong with multiple catamaran snorkel trips? How many of those do you take at home during the canadian winter?

 

:d

 

lol.... 3. ;)

[canadarocks]

RE-voting here!

 

What's wrong with multiple catamaran snorkel trips? How many of those do you take at home during the Canadian winter?

 

:D

 

I tried to explain why I'm rethinking the Champagne Snorkel excursion on my original post, but for some reason the thread was closed. :confused:

[Seafoam Green]

I tried to explain why I'm rethinking the Champagne Snorkel excursion on my original post, but for some reason the thread was closed. :confused:

 

Good times sailing, great company, sunshine and heat, snorkeling and delicious rum punch - it won't seem repetitive!

 

:D

[canadarocks]

We did this excursion during a spring break cruise in 2012. While the beach was beautiful and the water was clear, the ferry ride was VERY hot, at least on the unshaded top deck. The passengers up there were MISERABLE on the way back.

 

Getting to St. John and back eats up too much of the day. The time spent at Trunk Bay is relatively short and rushed, and the snorkeling is disappointing as the reef is in bad shape due to the crowds. I'd skip it. Look into a private sail from St. Thomas perhaps if snorkeling is what you want. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks, sounds like we should pass on this one.

[canadarocks]

Good times sailing, great company, sunshine and heat, snorkeling and delicious rum punch - it won't seem repetitive!

 

:D

 

It is just two days after a private one in Barbados (just 12 people) and I'm not so much worried about repetition, but that it will not be as good. And it's hard not to think about the expense too! :o

 

But I think I could be swayed! ;)

[Putterdude]

This past January we did the trip on our own. We took a taxi to Redhook, caught the ferry to St. Johns then a cab to Trunk Bay, it was pretty simple trip. The beach is a lovely white coral sand beach and with that come the chance that the water will be cloudy if there is a wind up.....which was the case the day we went. However, it's a lovely trip and island. For some great snorkelling on St. Thomas head for Coki Beach.

[canadarocks]

This past January we did the trip on our own. We took a taxi to Redhook, caught the ferry to St. Johns then a cab to Trunk Bay, it was pretty simple trip. The beach is a lovely white coral sand beach and with that come the chance that the water will be cloudy if there is a wind up.....which was the case the day we went. However, it's a lovely trip and island. For some great snorkelling on St. Thomas head for Coki Beach.

 

Were you docked at Crown Bay?

[Dbld777]

This past January we did the trip on our own. We took a taxi to Redhook, caught the ferry to St. Johns then a cab to Trunk Bay, it was pretty simple trip. The beach is a lovely white coral sand beach and with that come the chance that the water will be cloudy if there is a wind up.....which was the case the day we went. However, it's a lovely trip and island. For some great snorkelling on St. Thomas head for Coki Beach.

 

We did the same as Putterdude last November. Lot of good info. on how to get there on the St. Thomas/St. John port of call board. Couple of advantages to taking the ferry from Red Hook. A much shorter ferry ride and if you get off your ship early and get one of the first taxis to Red Hook and then an early ferry over to St. John, you'll have the beach almost to yourself for and hour or two when the excursions start showing up and the population on the beach and in the water goes up exponentially. Very easy to do on your own.

[Putterdude]

Were you docked at Crown Bay?

 

Yes, we were in Crown Bay. For what it's worth, as I recall the taxi fares, ferry fares and park entrance fees totalled about $125 in total for the 2 of us.

[canadarocks]

Definitely something to consider. We dock at Crown Bay at 7:00am, so we could get an early start for sure. It just seems like an awful lot of travelling.... taxi, ferry, then taxi again. And obviously the reverse to return. But I would like to see Trunk Bay and St John.

[MustangGT]

We took this excursion in March this year while on the Emerald. We had heard wonderful things about St. John and Trunk Bay and it was gorgeous! However, the actual 'in the water time' was not long enough. Next time, we will take a taxi to the ferry on our own and not have to rush back. Another disappointment was the tour people ran out of room on the busses and we had to wait for them to find a van for 4 of us. While the driver was fine, we didn't get the 'tour guide' experience.

[canadarocks]

Yes, we were in Crown Bay. For what it's worth, as I recall the taxi fares, ferry fares and park entrance fees totalled about $125 in total for the 2 of us.

 

Thanks for the added info. The price seems so expensive... are the ferry and taxi ride to the beach an excursion in themselves (by that I mean very scenic and special). Or are they pretty much just a means to an end? :confused:

[Putterdude]

Thanks for the added info. The price seems so expensive... are the ferry and taxi ride to the beach an excursion in themselves (by that I mean very scenic and special). Or are they pretty much just a means to an end? :confused:

The ride to and from Redhook is just a ride. The ferry ride is a pretty journey and the ride to Trunk Bay is rather picturesque. The village on St. John is small but quaint.

[Times Prince]

I tried to explain why I'm rethinking the Champagne Snorkel excursion on my original post, but for some reason the thread was closed. :confused:

Did that one also. Boat ride was pleasant, crew was really nice, and we anchored in a cove off of St. John's (Honeymoon cove?) snorkeling was deeper water with rocks, but still nice. Had much better snorkeling the same trip at other islands (Champagne Reef in Domenica, Bonaire), so it kind of paled in comparison.

[msg_girl]

I've done this trip twice - first time from Crown Bay and it was great, nice boat with shade and space to move around. Second time from Havensight - boat too small and not enough seats for everyone, I ended up perched on a life jacket box on the outside deck with no shade. On the way back I made sure I got back to the boat early enough to get a seat inside but it still wasn't nice - I did raise the issue of insufficient seats with shore excursions but no feed back.

Snorkelling was good both trips. G.

[canadarocks]

Did that one also. Boat ride was pleasant, crew was really nice, and we anchored in a cove off of St. John's (Honeymoon cove?) snorkeling was deeper water with rocks, but still nice. Had much better snorkeling the same trip at other islands (Champagne Reef in Domenica, Bonaire), so it kind of paled in comparison.

 

That's what I'm thinking as well. We are going out with Calabaza in Barbados two days before, snorkeling at the Underwater Sculpture Park in Grenada the week before that, as well as the Champagne Reef in Dominica. So I think we will be "snorkeled out". :D

 

It's too bad that the Princess ferry excursion that goes to Trunk Bay only spends 1 1/2 hours there. We dock at 7:00am and for some reason the excursion doesn't start until 11:00!

[OCruisers]

We are considering this excursion: St. John Scenic Cruise, Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel. Your tour begins as you board a ferry for a 45-minute, narrated cruise to St. John, known as the "Emerald of the Caribbean".

 

Can anyone tell me how many people we can expect on the ferry and if we will be able to hear the narration if we are outside during the cruise?

 

When we've taken this through Princess several times over the years, a big tour boat picks you up directly at where your ship is docked in St. Thomas. There are 3 or 4 Princess Tours that go to Cruz Bay, St. John to begin whatever on St. John so there are lots of people on that tour boat.

In the a/c area downstairs you can't hear the narration very well.

In the open air section upstairs you can hear without a problem.

Quite a pretty ride.

 

When you arrive in Cruz Bay small safari busses are waiting to take you to Trunk Bay. It stops from time to time for photo-opts. It's a beautiful island with fantastic views. Takes about 15/20 minutes to get to Trunk Bay.

 

When you arrive you'll be told the time to return to your safari bus.

At Trunk Bay snorkel gear is passed out to those who wish or you can just go on to the beach. It's a lovely beach with gentle clear water and white sand. :)

 

Note: We like to take the ship excursions for port stops when we're doing this sort of thing. We have no wasted time taking taxis and dealing with ferry schedules.

When we've taken "land trips" to St. Thomas for vacations, we go to St. John via Red Hook Ferry.

 

Continue to have fun planning your cruise. :)

 

LuLu

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[canadarocks]

I was hoping you would post LuLu. :) The timing of this is what bothers me, I think. The tour doesn't leave St Thomas until 11:00am. We will spend just 90 minutes at Trunk Bay of a 4 hour excursion, and by the time we get there it will probably be very busy. So I need to be sure that the trip itself to and from St John is worth it.

 

Doing it on our own sounds like it will cost even more! :eek: And I agree with you about not wanting to worry about schedules, etc. So that's not an option.

 

I'm now down to deciding between the ferry, or staying on St Thomas for a beach day either at Sapphire or the Best Western Emerald.