St. John on our own, yes or no?

[TrpngBilly]

Family of four in port from 8am-6pm with two other ships also in port at the same time on Tues Feb 19th.  From those of you who are experienced with an on your own venture to St. John, are we in good shape to enjoy the day without having to buy the excursion offered by the ship.  It's a considerable savings and I figure if we get to St. John by 10:30am we will stay until probably 2pm and head back.

 

I see that a taxi to Red Hook seems to be the overall favorite method for those on their own, then the ferry to St. John and then another taxi to Trunk Bay.  Anyone done that trek recently that can share thoughts, tips, tricks, suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

[GMoney]

> It will be tough for you to make the 9am ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay.

 

> If you have time before the 10am ferry leaves, walk across the street to Moe's Fresh Market and buy drinks / snacks.

 

> When you disembark the ferry in Cruz Bay, approach the taxi "loader" and let me know you'd like to go to Trunk Bay. > As an alternative to Trunk, consider Honeymoon Bay. You can hike in or take a zodiac from Cruz Bay.

 

>  You should arrive at Trunk by 10:45am.

 

> At Christmas, the NPS was not staffed, so there was no need to pay the entry fee.

 

> The bar and food truck accept credit cards.

 

> For the return trip from Trunk to Cruz Bay, don't expect to just jump in a taxi and go. The driver will wait to fill the taxi.

 

> To make a 530pm all aboard, the absolute latest ferry you can take departing Cruz Bay is 4pm. There will be traffic as you get closer to Charlotte Amalie.

 

 

[soonernstlouis]

You know, I thought about doing all this taxi-ferry-taxi on our upcoming September cruise & quickly realized there is little fun worrying about making each leg of your trip there.  Also going to the beaches  on St Thomas will give me about 2 hours more to enjoy.

[CruisinCrow]

On 1/25/2019 at 7:23 AM, GMoney said:

> The bar and food truck accept credit cards.

 

Is this food truck at Trunk Bay?  I was wondering if there was any kind of food or drinks there.

[GMoney]

1 hour ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

Is this food truck at Trunk Bay?  I was wondering if there was any kind of food or drinks there.

Yes - there;s a food truck and a bar. News of St John posted an update on this today.

 

http://newsofstjohn.com/2019/01/27/great-news-from-trunk-bay-2/?fbclid=IwAR2aIYDSe0ueb_Q99EDx4v4dzs7XQxtNZO7jSDZV_WLQHzwjukUF5TGztEo

[akowilm]

2 hours ago, GMoney said:

Yes - there;s a food truck and a bar. News of St John posted an update on this today.

 

http://newsofstjohn.com/2019/01/27/great-news-from-trunk-bay-2/?fbclid=IwAR2aIYDSe0ueb_Q99EDx4v4dzs7XQxtNZO7jSDZV_WLQHzwjukUF5TGztEo

 

Its almost like pre-hurricane!  I even see the old menu boards!  Can't wait to visit again!

[CruisinCrow]

3 hours ago, GMoney said:

Yes - there;s a food truck and a bar. News of St John posted an update on this today.

 

http://newsofstjohn.com/2019/01/27/great-news-from-trunk-bay-2/?fbclid=IwAR2aIYDSe0ueb_Q99EDx4v4dzs7XQxtNZO7jSDZV_WLQHzwjukUF5TGztEo

 

Thank you!  This looks great.

[Zach1213]

On 1/25/2019 at 6:23 AM, GMoney said:

> It will be tough for you to make the 9am ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay.

 

 

It's worth a shot. We've made it from Crown Bay...be in line to get off the ship before it's even ready (I think we got down to the exit at 7:45am for a 8:00am "arrival", but we didn't actually get off until 8:05am), hop a taxi ASAP, and you can make it. Of course, it's no guarantee, but I think we made it by 8:50-8:55. We were sitting on the beach at Trunk Bay by 9:45am.

[FMZ]

Trying to figure out budget for the day, approximately how much is cab to from Cruz bay for 4 to trunk bay? 

Edited February 3, 2019 by FMZ
Spelling

[Zach1213]

18 hours ago, FMZ said:

Trying to figure out budget for the day, approximately how much is cab to from Cruz bay for 4 to trunk bay? 

I don't remember the exact amount but maybe $7 per person? It's cheap, and not far.

[GMoney]

Ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay is $8.15pp.

Taxi from Cruz to Trunk is $6pp

[Russ Lomas]

I am not sure of the total cost of the Red Hook ferry not coupled with the cab rides you would need to get to the Red Hook terminal.

 

When we went to St. Johns (which is gorgeous by the way), I picked a tour on Celebrity that just picked you up at the pier right where you get off the ship, took you to St. Johns for the day where you could explore by yourself (we took a cab to Cinnamon Bay for a couple hours, then took a cab to Trunk's Bay for an hour - felt a bit rushed, but enjoyed both of them).  The cost of the ship tour to St. John was only 3 or 4 dollars more per person (at that time) than taking a cab to the Red Hook ferry terminal would have been with the price of the ferry added.  It was worth the couple extra bucks since they picked us up right on the pier (plus they had unlimited rum punch on the return trip).

[EganFire]

Are taxis easy to find back from Trunk Bay?  Is the food truck the only choice for food and drink at Trunk Bay?

 

Thanks in advance for your assistance. 

[GMoney]

11 hours ago, EganFire said:

Are taxis easy to find back from Trunk Bay?  Is the food truck the only choice for food and drink at Trunk Bay?

 

Yes to both questions.

 

You will emerge from Trunk and exit past the ranger booth. Often, there are taxis parked to the left and to the right. The taxis to the left are usually for people who specifically booked cruise ship excursions. The taxis to the right are for general use. You may have to wait a bit until the taxi fills up. Just ask. You really can't go wrong.

 

As far as food goes, you could walk to North Shore Deli at Mongoose Junction and get sandwiches prior to departing for Trunk, but then you'd have to double back to the ferry dock to get a taxi, and you may have to wait to find someone to take you to Trunk.