St John excursion??

[indymom1]

I have a question about going to St John... When we went to ST Thomas on DCL in 2001 we did the excursion to Sapphire Beach on our own. We were really wanting to get to St John's on our next cruise but are nervous about doing the excursion on our own. I was looking at the excursion sheet and for most of the excursion is says 5 and older. Does this mean that they will not book it since my youngest son will only be 4?? Does this mean my only way to go to St John is to do it on my own? Has anyone done St John's on their own?? Is it easy to figure out or should we just stay put in St Thomas??

Thanks in advance

Kathy

 

[bah]

we did st. john on our own in september 2003. we also had a 4 year old with us.

we ended up renting a car (and brought our own car seat) from Budget (right outside of Havensight Mall) for about $50. we took the car ferry from red hook ($30RT, if I recall), explored St. John, swam and had lunch at Trunk Bay and then got a ferry at 2:30 back to St. Thomas.

You can get taxis from the pier over to the St. John Ferry in Red Hook, and there are tons of taxis waiting at the ferry and at the beaches. But be warned...taxi in this situation refers to an open bed truck with a canopy and some wooden benches attached to the back...and no seat belts. And those taxi drivers drive like madmen! we preferred the safety of an car with a car seat for our 4 year old, and found that navigating the roads was really no problem at all.

in our opinion. st. john was truly worth the effort. a beautiful, pristine island with to die for beaches.

enjoy!

 

[indymom1]

thanks for the great info. So does this mean that we can not book the excursion with Disney since he is under 5 and that our only option to see St John will be to do it ourselves?? Thanks for any help...sorry I am so confused on this one.

 

[the4nitz's]

We were on the 1-22-04 cruise with DD4 & DD23mo, we booked the St. John's Island tour thru Disney. It was an open bus tour of the island. We stopped at a couple of beaches to take pictures, also at a shop at the top of the island.

 

[indymom1]

I do see that they would let all ages go on the St John Island Tour but we are most interested in the St John Trunk Bay Beach tour and according to the excursion listing it states 5 and older?? Does this mean they have to be 5 to be able to snorkel?? Does is mean they have to be 5 to be able to even book through DCL?? Thanks for all your help

 

[bah]

as far as booking an excursion through disney, i can't say. we certainly thought that with the age limits a 4 year old was considered too "young" for the disney excursions. but we never looked into it, preferring instead to explore on our own.

If I were you, I'd call DCL (there must be a phone # to call to ask questions about excursions) and see what they say.

good luck!

 

[jel0511]

Originally posted by indymom1
I do see that they would let all ages go on the St John Island Tour but we are most interested in the St John Trunk Bay Beach tour and according to the excursion listing it states 5 and older?? Does this mean they have to be 5 to be able to snorkel?? Does is mean they have to be 5 to be able to even book through DCL?? Thanks for all your help

Yes, if the age limit is 5 and up, than a 4 YO wouldn't be able to go. It is for insurance purposes and there is no way around it. If you want to go to St. John, you'll have to go on your own. It really isn't difficult. You can grab a cab at the port and go to Red Hook. The ferry to St. John leave every hour on the hour. Once on St. John there are TONS of taxis to take you to whichever beach you like. They will return to pick you back up and take you back to the ferry to return to St. Thomas.