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Spending a Day on St. John


Host Anne
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I'm noticing that the beaches on St. John are part of the national park service. Does that mean there'd be no way to get any alcoholic beverages while there (specifically Cinnamon and Trunk)? That would probably be a deal-breaker for us. We aren't big drinkers but I can't imagine my husband sitting on the beach all day without at least a few beers or rum drinks.

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I'm noticing that the beaches on St. John are part of the national park service. Does that mean there'd be no way to get any alcoholic beverages while there (specifically Cinnamon and Trunk)? That would probably be a deal-breaker for us. We aren't big drinkers but I can't imagine my husband sitting on the beach all day without at least a few beers or rum drinks.

 

I would also like to know what kind of refreshments are at trunk.

 

But, the next beach is Cinnamon which gets very good reviews, and, it has a bar. We might be going there.

 

Check it out.

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I would also like to know what kind of refreshments are at trunk.

 

 

 

But, the next beach is Cinnamon which gets very good reviews, and, it has a bar. We might be going there.

 

 

 

Check it out.

 

 

Going next week. Will be happy to report back.

Been gathering info from this thread, now its my turn :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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There was a refreshment stand at Trunk Bay. It offered burgers, hot dogs, etc. there was also a bar in the same location where you could pick up drinks or beer and take them to picnic tables or elsewhere. I accidentally entered the bar side of the shack when I went in to order burgers. I don't know prices or what the selections were as that was not what I was purchasing that day. We were there two weeks ago today.

 

DSC00523-L.jpg

 

You enter at the OPEN sign in the building on the left for alcoholic beverages.

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Whats not permitted on the beaches as far as drinks go is "bottles or glass." Not an issue if you are purchasing drinks from the concessions at Trunk and Cinnamon. But for those stopping and picking up drinks to bring to the beach, remember to bring cans. I have seen a park ranger throw people off the beach for bringing beer bottles. For cruisers, the easiest thing is to buy from the concession stand (and prices aren't terrible).

 

ENJOY!

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We arrive Monday, July 14, 1:00pm until 9:00pm. How late does the ferry run? How long are the beaches/National Parks open for? There are Six of us, if I rented a car in St Thomas and took the car ferry, would it be cheaper? Thanks in advance!

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Raps ~ the last ferry back to Red Hook leaves Cruz Bay at 11:00 PM. It leaves every hour on the hour. You won't have any problem getting a ferry back to your ship! I'd recommend the 6:00 PM ferry for the return to St. Thomas. You'd probably be OK on the 7:00 PM as traffic shouldn't be as bad getting back the ship at this time of night but I'm not a big risk taker. Although, if I had to miss the ship, this would be the place :-) ENJOY!

Edited by Host Anne
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Thanks, O2B for noting that I was listing the "people" ferry time. Sorry, Raps, that I missed that. I would only suggest renting a car if you've done it before. St. Thomas can be kind of crazy with traffic and ensure your rental agency permits taking the car to St. John. Don't know the price of one day car rentals but I'm guessing something that holds six people is going to run at least $150 for the day with all the taxes. Gas is extra.

 

We do like having a car and the freedom it provides but I don't think we would have done it the first couple of times we visited the islands.

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eat see do ~ you have to go past the National Park Visitors Center to get to Honeymoon, both hiking or taking the taxi to Caneel. You can easily stop either going to Honeymoon or coming. It's only a five minute walk between the ferry dock and the National Park Visitors Center. The trail head leading to Salomon and Honeymoon is just past the Visitors Center.

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Um, the taxi to Caneel doesn't go past the Visitors' Center if you take the taxi from the Red Hook. It passes Mongoose Junction, and the Visitors' Center is a short walk across the park from Mongoose.

 

The ferry for the ship tours stop at the National Park dock.

 

You can walk to NPS HQ from the people ferry dock.

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If you are taking a taxing from the passenger ferry arriving into Cruz Bay to Caneel Bay, you indeed pass the National Park Visitors Center, which is across the street from Mongoose Junction. The only road to get to Caneel is the North Shore Road which goes past Mongoose and the National Park Visitors Center.

 

If you look at the attached map, https://www.google.com/maps/place/St+John/@18.3316611,-64.793669,18z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x8c05129077807895:0xb54f25da25d3699a

you can see where the passenger ferry comes into Cruz Bay from Red Hook, St. Thomas. This is where taxis pick up and head out the North Shore Rd. past Mongoose Junction on the right and the National Park Service Office on the left. To get to Caneel, they continue on past both and head out the North Shore Road.

 

Hope this is helpful.

Edited by Host Anne
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Thanks, Ginny for posting a link. Loved seeing the photos and your underwater photos at Trunk were beautiful. Looks like taking the ship excursion worked well for you.

 

For those wanting to read about Ginny's day on St. John, scroll to the bottom of page 7 when you follow her link and then go to page 8 to read the rest of her report. She has some great photos of the underwater trail at Trunk Bay.

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Thanks, Ginny for posting a link. Loved seeing the photos and your underwater photos at Trunk were beautiful. Looks like taking the ship excursion worked well for you.

 

For those wanting to read about Ginny's day on St. John, scroll to the bottom of page 7 when you follow her link and then go to page 8 to read the rest of her report. She has some great photos of the underwater trail at Trunk Bay.

 

Thank you, Anne. I didn't meant to confuse things, but also didn't have the time to repost the entire St. John part of our excursion here. For those interested in just the snorkel trail pictures they are here.

 

We had a great experience with the cruise ship excursion, but we were the only ship in port that day, so getting to the beach early was not as important as it is on a busy day. We also had a little longer of a port day than some. I have noticed that the same excursion will vary it's length depending on how long the ship is in port. The next time we go to St. Thomas on a cruise we will have to try Cinnamon Bay!

 

I think that St. John is an island I would like to check out for a week long resort vacation, also. The relaxed atmosphere and natural beauty is exactly what we love.

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Anne, I have been to St. John a few times and love it. Great job laying out all of this useful information. In addition to the map you provided here, I came across this website http://stjohnfun.com with a map of the restaurants and some other information. This would be most useful to the cruisers staying overnight in STT that have more time to spend on St. John.

 

By the way, was looking at your photos of St. John and you are a great photographer! :)

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Thank you, Anne. I didn't meant to confuse things, but also didn't have the time to repost the entire St. John part of our excursion here. For those interested in just the snorkel trail pictures they are here.

 

We had a great experience with the cruise ship excursion, but we were the only ship in port that day, so getting to the beach early was not as important as it is on a busy day. We also had a little longer of a port day than some. I have noticed that the same excursion will vary it's length depending on how long the ship is in port. The next time we go to St. Thomas on a cruise we will have to try Cinnamon Bay!

 

I think that St. John is an island I would like to check out for a week long resort vacation, also. The relaxed atmosphere and natural beauty is exactly what we love.

 

Great pictures thank you:)

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Anne, I have been to St. John a few times and love it. Great job laying out all of this useful information. In addition to the map you provided here, I came across this website http://stjohnfun.com with a map of the restaurants and some other information. This would be most useful to the cruisers staying overnight in STT that have more time to spend on St. John.

 

By the way, was looking at your photos of St. John and you are a great photographer! :)

Thank you for posting that map. I am going to bookmark it for when we are able to go spend more time in St. John.

 

Great pictures thank you:)

You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed them.

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Thank you, Anne. I didn't meant to confuse things, but also didn't have the time to repost the entire St. John part of our excursion here. For those interested in just the snorkel trail pictures they are here.

 

We had a great experience with the cruise ship excursion, but we were the only ship in port that day, so getting to the beach early was not as important as it is on a busy day. We also had a little longer of a port day than some. I have noticed that the same excursion will vary it's length depending on how long the ship is in port. The next time we go to St. Thomas on a cruise we will have to try Cinnamon Bay!

 

I think that St. John is an island I would like to check out for a week long resort vacation, also. The relaxed atmosphere and natural beauty is exactly what we love.

 

 

No problem, Ginny. Just didn't want anyone to miss your review of the day on St. John. Gets hard sometimes when the links don't take you to the exact spot. I hope you'll also share your review in the Cruise Critic REVIEWS section. Great info for other cruisers! I highly recommend a visiting St. John for a longer spell when possible. I'm always happy to get there on a cruise and even happier when we can stay longer :)

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