Self Excursion to St. John

[acct4woof]

Hi Everyone. My husband, myself, and daughters age 5 and 7 will be cruising on NCL Epic in November 2013 and I would like to try head to St. John for the day while the ship is in St. Thomas. The ship's itinerary shows us in St. Thomas from 8 AM - 4 PM. We have never been to St. John or St. Thomas and it sounds like our best bet is to spend the day at St. John on Trunk or Cinnamon Bay Beach. We are trying to determine our best plan for the day.

 

I was thinking we could catch the 9 AM ferry from Red Hook and head to St. John for the day. I was thinking we could leave Trunk/Cinnamon Bay by 1:30 to catch the 2 PM ferry back to Red Hook. Does this allow enough time to get back to the ship by 4 PM?

 

We are trying to save a little $$$$ by doing it on our own. We will going on Soualiga Destinations excursion the day prior in St. Maarten and would like to spend a day relaxing and somewhat low cost day if possible.

 

I know there is an entry fee for both the beach which is fine. We thought it best to go to them as they have bathroom facilities and food, which will help with the kids.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. We are so very excited!

[mizLORInj]

You can take a taxi for ~$10 per person each way(plenty of taxis when you get off the ship in St. Thomas) to the ferry to St. John and back. Many do this. It is do-able IMO. You may want to check out the Caribbean Ports of Call board on this site, and look at St. Thomas for details and others' experiences.

 

Note that your ship's all aboard is likely 30 minutes prior to sailing.

Have fun!

[lakeguy]

acct4woof, looks to me like you have your day pretty much planned. We have done this many times and it is very doable. With my only cravat being return time, afternoon traffic can be a big problem. Look at which pier is your ship docked Havensight or Crown Bay. How many other cruise ships will be in port that day. Explore the ferry times and leave a little safety net. I'm betting that you and your family will have a really great day, it is a beautiful place. Trunk Bay has a snack bar and a place where you can rent snorkels etc but take some extra cash because they require a pretty high (returnable) deposit.

[acct4woof]

acct4woof, looks to me like you have your day pretty much planned. We have done this many times and it is very doable. With my only cravat being return time, afternoon traffic can be a big problem. Look at which pier is your ship docked Havensight or Crown Bay. How many other cruise ships will be in port that day. Explore the ferry times and leave a little safety net. I'm betting that you and your family will have a really great day, it is a beautiful place. Trunk Bay has a snack bar and a place where you can rent snorkels etc but take some extra cash because they require a pretty high (returnable) deposit.

 

I believe our ship will be at Havensight, which is apparently closer to Red Hook. We really just don't want to miss the ship on the return. We plan to catch the 2PM Ferry and be back on the ship by 3 PM. If this cuts to close, we could leave by 1 PM, just to be safe.

Thanks!

[marco]

We did it on our own, once. Between the cab, the ferry, the jitney on St John the beach entrance and then the reverse it was WAY WAY less hassle to just do the ship'a tour to St John and I think it ended up costing about $7 more pp then doing it on our own. It was worth it to not have to worry about getting caught in traffic, breaking down, missing the ferry, etc etc. In the past is was on Princess and HAL, so I don't know what the cost comparison would be on NCL.

[GranysT]

If you decide this is what you want to do, I highly recommend Trunk Bay. It truly is a gorgeous beach. We did this a few years ago, but we did it as a ship tour. The tour included getting us to the ferry, then on to the beach. From the beach, back to the ferry, then back to the ship. No worries about finding transpo, when we needed it, and no worries about missing the ship. Peace of mind is Priceless.

[lakeguy]

We did it on our own, once. Between the cab, the ferry, the jitney on St John the beach entrance and then the reverse it was WAY WAY less hassle to just do the ship'a tour to St John and I think it ended up costing about $7 more pp then doing it on our own. It was worth it to not have to worry about getting caught in traffic, breaking down, missing the ferry, etc etc. In the past is was on Princess and HAL, so I don't know what the cost comparison would be on NCL.

 

marco make good points, the cost is about the same and there is something to be said for not worrying about getting back on time. There is plenty of expense and hassle doing it on your own but the pay off comes when the tours depart (they only stay about an hour). Then the beach is way less crowded. While the tours are there and there are more than one tour that uses Trunk Bay try snorkeling on the back side of the little island or on either end of the beach

[janetz]

If you have that much time I would do it on your own. You can get there early and settled in before the tours hit. There is not a lot of shade to be found a the beach and when we went with the ships tour by the time we got there, there were no shady spots to be found. :)

[cb at sea]

This trip is MUCH easier if you let the ship take you and bring you back!

[anastasia3939]

We've done it on our own twice, and will do it again. Your plan sounds perfect and leaves you plenty of wiggle room. Not only is it cheaper than the ship tour, you will be on the beach before the herd arrives and chilling on the beach after they leave. As for beaches, we liked Trunk Bay better than Cinnamon. Trunk was more crowded, but the beach just seemed nicer. Have fun!!!!!

[slidergirl]

I'm the opposite of some posters here on which beach to choose. I spent a week camping at Cinnamon Bay back in time. It is still one of my all-time favorite vacations. Smaller than Trunk Bay, but without the thousands of other people who came over from whatever ships are in port.

 

One thing to be aware of: Cinnamon Bay is part of Virgin Islands National Park. If the shutdown continues, I imagine it will be closed.

[Bonnie J.]

You can also get a ferry from St. Thomas. Or go to a beach on St. Thomas.