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Looking for suggestions for excursions on St John.


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I am sailing on the Januaray 19th , 2025 sailing on Wonder and had an excursion set up for St Thomas but the tour operator canceled the tour. While I booked through Royal, I got my money back, but have not found anything really appealing on St Thomas as far as excursions. I even looked at booking a resort pass and was not impressed  by what I found. I found that we could ferry over to St John and was wondering what resorts you would recommend to hang out at. I will be traveling with my wife and 9 year old daughter.  We will be in St Thomas on Jan 23rd, 2025. 

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Get off the ship early. Take a taxi to Red Hook and buy a round-trip ferry ticket. When you get off in St John, take a taxi to Trunk Bay. One of the most beautiful beaches in the world! It is a NP so you will pay a fee to get in. No resort needed. Give yourself plenty of time to return and make note when the ferry returns to Red Hook. If you have the time, there is good food and shopping at Mongoose Junction when you return to Cruz Bay to catch the ferry back.

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15 minutes ago, Rory said:

Get off the ship early. Take a taxi to Red Hook and buy a round-trip ferry ticket. When you get off in St John, take a taxi to Trunk Bay. One of the most beautiful beaches in the world! It is a NP so you will pay a fee to get in. No resort needed. Give yourself plenty of time to return and make note when the ferry returns to Red Hook. If you have the time, there is good food and shopping at Mongoose Junction when you return to Cruz Bay to catch the ferry back.

Sounds like a mice destination. Thank you. I will have tondo my research on this. 

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21 minutes ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said:

Sounds like a mice destination. Thank you. I will have tondo my research on this. 

I think they are running the Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay ferry again. So that is a 45 minute ferry ride but a much less taxi ride. Since you are there only 7-3  I would suggest getting an early start and returning on the 1 pm ferry. 

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23 hours ago, Rory said:

I think they are running the Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay ferry again. So that is a 45 minute ferry ride but a much less taxi ride. Since you are there only 7-3  I would suggest getting an early start and returning on the 1 pm ferry. 

Thanks. While I am sure I could find a beach or some shopping places to visit, I was hoping to buy a resort pass on St. John and just hang out by the pool with the family. I will be doing some additional research later. So far I have found nothing on Resortpass.com or Resortforaday.com

 

Otherwise, just 150 more days to go.

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7 hours ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said:

Thanks. While I am sure I could find a beach or some shopping places to visit, I was hoping to buy a resort pass on St. John and just hang out by the pool with the family. I will be doing some additional research later. So far I have found nothing on Resortpass.com or Resortforaday.com

 

Otherwise, just 150 more days to go.

Only one resort in St John. 2/3's the island is National Park land. Westin is your only option. Try calling them to ask about a day pass. St. John Beach Vacation Resort | The Westin St. John Resort Villas (marriott.com)

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7 minutes ago, Rory said:

Only one resort in St John. 2/3's the island is National Park land. Westin is your only option. Try calling them to ask about a day pass. St. John Beach Vacation Resort | The Westin St. John Resort Villas (marriott.com)

Thank you. I did not know the island is mostly a National park. I will have to check out the Westin. 

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While we will often explore on our own or participate in an independent excursion, I opted to do the ship's excursion (we were on the Anthem in January) to St. John. We took a ferry right from the dock near the ship, and they transported us from the ferry dock in St. John to Trunk Bay. It was one of our favorite port days of the cruise. Trunk Bay is idyllic. My pictures look like stock photography. 

Our excursion didn't include any beach chairs or umbrellas, but did include snorkel equipment. The open air "bus" provided amazing views back and forth to Trunk Bay with a driver who provided the history and background of St. Thomas and St. John. The ferry was nothing fancy, but we had no issues and arrived back to the ship on time. 

If St. Thomas is a port stop on on a future cruise I would contemplate doing the ferry and hopping a taxi/bus to Trunk Bay, but I definitely felt more confident w/ the ship excursion for our first visit where it included traveling to another island.

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Take the Red Hook Ferry.  If you like walking, google Lindberg trail.  It will take you to Honeymoon beach.  No cab fare needed.  You can either walk back or pay for a zodiac to take you to ferry.  

Trunk Bay is really nice but extremely busy and crowded as that's where st. John's dumps the day trippers.  

I would look at either planning a land tour with a taxi service that will take you around island and to a nice beach or getting a cab to Cinnamon Bay.

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My family spent a week on St. John Island a few years ago.  I agree with earlier posts that Trunk Bay Beach is one of the best in the world.  There is even an underwater snorkeling trail with a coral reef which gets rave reviews.  As one review states "Its like you have seen in shows but your living it. Literally the best snorkeling I have ever done and I have snorkeled the world."

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On 9/4/2024 at 1:00 PM, minniemouse27 said:

We must have visited Trunk Bay on a slow day because it was practically empty when we were there!

One of my favorite photos from that afternoon. 

PXL_20240122_172825675.jpg

lol you were lucky!!  Ive only seen it like that before 9am!  And of course after 2pm.  Much like most of the Caribbean.

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On 9/5/2024 at 4:13 PM, Janedoe9964 said:

lol you were lucky!!  Ive only seen it like that before 9am!  And of course after 2pm.  Much like most of the Caribbean.

We were on a ferry from the cruise port after breakfast and back on board for a late lunch. Probably a 4-5 hour excursion during prime beach time. It was extremely relaxing and definitely not even close to approaching crowded. 

I grew up on Long Island in NY and we were overrun every summer all along our beaches. This was more like October beach numbers on LI.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/22/2024 at 9:00 PM, Rory said:

Only one resort in St John. 2/3's the island is National Park land. Westin is your only option. Try calling them to ask about a day pass. St. John Beach Vacation Resort | The Westin St. John Resort Villas (marriott.com)

I called the Westin and found out they do not offer any day passes. I checked out the resort and found even if I wanted to book a room for the day, they were sold out. Oh well. It is a BEAUTIFUL place that I hope one day I can visit. I will keep my eye out for other options. Thanks. 

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On 9/4/2024 at 12:00 PM, minniemouse27 said:

We must have visited Trunk Bay on a slow day because it was practically empty when we were there!

One of my favorite photos from that afternoon. 

PXL_20240122_172825675.jpg

That looks like a fabulous place to visit!. I think we will do the ferry over to Cruz Bay and then take a taxi over to Trunk Bay. I read there is a nearby taxi station so hailing a cab will be easy for the return. I know my wife would like to see some places to do some shopping and I love a good local restaurant. 

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20 hours ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said:

That looks like a fabulous place to visit!. I think we will do the ferry over to Cruz Bay and then take a taxi over to Trunk Bay. I read there is a nearby taxi station so hailing a cab will be easy for the return. I know my wife would like to see some places to do some shopping and I love a good local restaurant. 

After you enjoy Trunk Bay, ask the taxi to drop you at Mongoose Junction for lunch and shopping. Then it is walkable back to the ferry.

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