What to do with 5 ships in port and only there until 2pm

[jaowel]

Hey all! For those that have been here, what do you suggest? Our ship is only here until 2pm and there are 5 ships in port. We like the beach, drinks, food, shopping....pretty much anything. Lol! We are open to all suggestions. Ages are 8yrs - 46ys and there are 10 of us.

Thanks!!!

[JT1962]

We used Godfrey Tours in December and were very satisfied. They offer several options at reasonable prices and even offer private tours. If you are more interested in beach time that doesn’t include an island tour, I would just take one of the open air trams to Maegan’s Bay and spend the time you have there.

Edited January 25, 2019 by JT1962

[jaowel]

Are there any more suggestions for such a short time in port? Any input is appreciated 🙂

[jean87510]

We will be there in April from 7a to 1p and we are hanging out at secret harbour to snorkel and relax. We tried booking an am snorkel excursion but none were available or if they were, it was 100s of people looking at one poor turtle or 800/hour to charter. If there are 10 of you, you could easily charter a boat and do whatever you want. That would be my suggestion.

[brookie848]

What are your other ports? For us, St. Thomas has become a bit of a relaxation, no-plans port. It is easy to navigate and we feel safe walking around, so we rarely make plans. We save the big spend excursions for other islands.

 

It looks like you are on the Epic, so you will dock at Havensight. Taxis into town for shopping are $4 each way. You can also walk over and do the Skyride (if you have the shore excursion credit, buy your tickets on the ship using that to save some money). There are also shops/bars at Havensight.

 

You could definitely try to hit the beach early -- do some research on here to see which fit your needs. There are also plenty of safari bus tours that last a couple of hours and take you to Mountain Top and other highlights.

 

NCL does offer a few high-rated excursions in St. Thomas that involve catamaran sailings. If you are interested in something like that, those may be a good bet with your awkward port times.

[jaowel]

33 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

What are your other ports? For us, St. Thomas has become a bit of a relaxation, no-plans port. It is easy to navigate and we feel safe walking around, so we rarely make plans. We save the big spend excursions for other islands.

 

It looks like you are on the Epic, so you will dock at Havensight. Taxis into town for shopping are $4 each way. You can also walk over and do the Skyride (if you have the shore excursion credit, buy your tickets on the ship using that to save some money). There are also shops/bars at Havensight.

 

You could definitely try to hit the beach early -- do some research on here to see which fit your needs. There are also plenty of safari bus tours that last a couple of hours and take you to Mountain Top and other highlights.

 

NCL does offer a few high-rated excursions in St. Thomas that involve catamaran sailings. If you are interested in something like that, those may be a good bet with your awkward port times.

Thank you for the information! We are on the Epic (assuming she’ll be good to go) and our other stops are Tortola and Great Stirrup Caye. I’m a little hesitant to book an excursion with the events that have unfolded over the last few days though. I sure hope everything gets worked out on the ship. 😞 

[brookie848]

39 minutes ago, jaowel said:

Thank you for the information! We are on the Epic (assuming she’ll be good to go) and our other stops are Tortola and Great Stirrup Caye. I’m a little hesitant to book an excursion with the events that have unfolded over the last few days though. I sure hope everything gets worked out on the ship. 😞 

If you book and excursion through NCL and things change, they'll refund your money.

 

If something happens that you wouldn't dock in St. Thomas and you booked with a third-party vendor, you should have no problem getting your money back, but double check just in case.

 

There is a taxi staging area where they will be filling vehicles to go to all the popular beaches (Coki, Magen's Bay, etc.) and taxis to downtown. If you just want to go to the beach or downtown, there is no reason to book before you get there. There will also be vendors there booking island tours. Skim the board here to see which ones are reputable (Sunny Liston is one that is mentioned, but there are others) and maybe look for one of those in port if you don't want to pre-book.

 

Enjoy the trip. I hope to do the Epic for a third time next year when she sails out of San Juan.

[OCruisers]

Since the ship will be leaving so early in the afternoon (needing to be back on the ship by 1:30 PM) so would have to get up very early to do anything,  we would just stay on the ship.    

[jaowel]

11 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

Since the ship will be leaving so early in the afternoon (needing to be back on the ship by 1:30 PM) so would have to get up very early to do anything,  we would just stay on the ship.    

We probably would stay on the ship as well it wasn’t our first time visiting. There aren’t too many options through NCL for this port, but think we’ll take a closer look at them. I don’t want to stress about the ship leaving us behind 😉 Thanks so much! 

[OCruisers]

5 minutes ago, jaowel said:

We probably would stay on the ship as well it wasn’t our first time visiting. There aren’t too many options through NCL for this port, but think we’ll take a closer look at them. I don’t want to stress about the ship leaving us behind 😉 Thanks so much! 

 

Agree,  since it's your first time there, booking something with NCL to keep from stressing about making it back to the ship is a good plan. 

Enjoy your time there.  

[Chippytoes]

Hi there! We're on the same cruise as y'all and just planning on the PP tram and then going to the Tap and Still "brewery". Figured since it's such a short stop, those 2 things will be perfect 🙂

[teesmc]

On 2/13/2019 at 9:09 PM, jaowel said:

We probably would stay on the ship as well it wasn’t our first time visiting. There aren’t too many options through NCL for this port, but think we’ll take a closer look at them. I don’t want to stress about the ship leaving us behind 😉 Thanks so much! 

We are on Epic end of the month and trying to decided on what to do in STT for such a short time period.  The excursions through NCL are pricey for the length IMO.  Thinking of hopping in taxis to a beach for a few hours and hopefully miss the crowds with the later ships coming, but that's an early wake up!

[jaowel]

On 3/7/2019 at 3:36 PM, teesmc said:

We are on Epic end of the month and trying to decided on what to do in STT for such a short time period.  The excursions through NCL are pricey for the length IMO.  Thinking of hopping in taxis to a beach for a few hours and hopefully miss the crowds with the later ships coming, but that's an early wake up!

I thought they were pricey for the length of time we are in port too. The only excursion that has a beach stop available through NCL is the Kon Tkik Beach and Sightseeing tour. Everything else that is comparable says it's "available" for me, but "unavailable" for my family. I'm sure it's because I've been dragging my feet to book something. LOL! 

[Karysa]

On 2/13/2019 at 9:09 PM, jaowel said:

We probably would stay on the ship as well it wasn’t our first time visiting. There aren’t too many options through NCL for this port, but think we’ll take a closer look at them. I don’t want to stress about the ship leaving us behind 😉 Thanks so much! 

I was just going to suggest a ship excursion. They might have one to St. John that you may like. That’s what I would do in the situation. Many people will just walk around the port and make it a ship day as well so I bet it will seem much like a sea day on the ship that day.

[mets123]

How far from the tram to the Tap and Still brewery? It sounds like a great combo.

[Chippytoes]

mets123, both are within walking distance. We will go to the Paradise Point tram first, then hit the brewery up on the way back to the ship 🍻😎

[mets123]

Thanks. Just what I wanted to hear.😀

[beshears]

We are coming to St. Thomas next week.  We have been there more than one time, and I understand St. John is not too far from there? What is the best way to check out St. John as we will be arriving at 7:00 and leaving at 5:00.  I don't want to be stranded some place, and not have a way back "quickly." 🙂

[teesmc]

We went over to STJ from STT while on Oasis 2 years ago.  We did an excursion through the cruise ship to insure we did not get stranded.  The boat ride is about 40 minutes over.  There is a ferry if you choose to go on your own.

[TTEllis]

On 2/13/2019 at 8:49 PM, OCruisers said:

Since the ship will be leaving so early in the afternoon (needing to be back on the ship by 1:30 PM) so would have to get up very early to do anything,  we would just stay on the ship.    

I would take this advice.

I thought Princess was cutting us short by leaving STT at 5pm, these cruise lines you folks are on that are porting on STT at either Havensight or Crown Bay at 7 am, and pulling out very early in the afternoon are playing a trick on you.

So that's your day on St. Thomas until 1-2 pm?? Hmmmm I might be looking for another cruise line. I'm not really sure how anyone could actually plan or book a nice tour of anything on STT with that kind of time frame. St. Thomas is a whole lotta fun, your getting shorted badly. Later Todd

[TTEllis]

On 3/23/2019 at 4:12 AM, beshears said:

We are coming to St. Thomas next week.  We have been there more than one time, and I understand St. John is not too far from there? What is the best way to check out St. John as we will be arriving at 7:00 and leaving at 5:00.  I don't want to be stranded some place, and not have a way back "quickly." 🙂

You don't have to get stranded or have to get a way back "quickly", catch the 8am ferry over to St. John and the 3pm ferry from St. John back to St. Thomas and you'll have plenty of time for everything. Done this many time's in this exact same time frame never a problem.

[TTEllis]

On 2/13/2019 at 8:49 PM, OCruisers said:

Since the ship will be leaving so early in the afternoon (needing to be back on the ship by 1:30 PM) so would have to get up very early to do anything,  we would just stay on the ship.    

The best your going to get is brunch and cocktail's. Do lunch and cocktails and you miss the ship. I love that!! Cause it's true. 1:30PM?? I'm just working the bugs out by 1:30PM, my second(maybe 3rd) Bloody Mary, 2PM ship leaves?? gimme a break. 

Stay on the ship. 

[soonernstlouis]

2 hours ago, TTEllis said:

I would take this advice.

I thought Princess was cutting us short by leaving STT at 5pm, these cruise lines you folks are on that are porting on STT at either Havensight or Crown Bay at 7 am, and pulling out very early in the afternoon are playing a trick on you.

So that's your day on St. Thomas until 1-2 pm?? Hmmmm I might be looking for another cruise line. I'm not really sure how anyone could actually plan or book a nice tour of anything on STT with that kind of time frame. St. Thomas is a whole lotta fun, your getting shorted badly. Later Todd

I’ve held a similar view about cruising-I only book cruises that go (in general) where I want to go, spend at least 8 hours in port and I will at least research items like Crown Bay vs Havensight port (which also can limit your options) and # of ships in port.

 

Better to know the basics in advance than complain after the fact.

[beshears]

Ttellis, thanks for your reply back.

[TTEllis]

3 hours ago, beshears said:

Ttellis, thanks for your reply back.

It's not a problem I have done St. John on several occasions in the exact same time frame you have, just make sure😉you catch the 3pm latest ferry back to Redhook from Cruz Bay. On St. John the snack bar and restaurant are back open at Trunk Bay don't have too much. If you go to Trunk at 2:20pm grab your stuff walk out to the parking lot and catch a cab back to Cruz Bay so you don't miss the 3pm ferry . Take care Todd