St John Excursions

[bjornface]

We are thinking about doing St John on our own. There is a 9am ferry from Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay that takes 45 minutes. Once on St John, we (5 of us) will either rent a car or hire a taxi for approx 3 hours taking in sights and stopping at Trunk Bay of Hawksnest Beach for a bit. We plan on being back in Cruz Bay by 1-1:30 for a quick look and take the 2pm ferry back to Charlotte Amalie which should allow us 1-1.5 hours to shop before heading back to the ship.

Our Question... On the DCL excursions to St John, two mention taking a 45 minute ferry to St John followed by taxi to Trunk Bay for 1-1.5 hours of beach time before heading back to Cruz Bay. Total excursion time was 4-4.5 hours. Does anyone know what the itinerary is for this excursion? Did they take the 9am ferry to St john and return on the 2pm? Trying to figure out what else is done on the excursion to make up the time not at Trunk Bay.

The costs between the two would be similar, however the DCL excursion would take the pressure of getting back to the ship on time, however it might limit the activities we have St John. By my calculations, we would be gone from 9am-2:45 using the ferry schedule listed totaling close to 6 hours. Why does the excursion only list 4.5 hours?

Anyone been on this excursion? Please give details.
Thank You

 

[CM_Mom]

We did the St. John Island tour and the Trunk Bay and Eco hike excursions were on the same boat with us. It's not really a "ferry" in the sense that you think of one that can carry cars also. I believe the name of the boat we took was the Island Queen, it was a double decked boat "scenic ferry" with the lower deck enclosed and had a guide that gave excellent info about the islands as we sailed over not the regular one that anyone can ride.

The Island Queen docked beween and the Magic and another cruise ship so you just walked on after leaving the Magic. The Island Tour didn't have any beach time but had an extensive tour of the island with stops at the Virgin Islands National Park and Anneberg ruins and a couple of other places.

I believe the Trunk Bay group boarded the same type of open air taxis we were in for the tour but were taken directly to Trunk Bay.

I don't think any of the DCL excursions use the Charlotte Amalie public ferry. They use private contracted boats to "ferry" you over.

 

[maminnie]

We did the DCL Trunk Bay Beach Day. The ferry was located right off the ship. It was 45 minutes to Cruz Bay. Then we took a very fast open air vehicle to Trunk Bay; about 15 minutes. (Hold on because they drive really fast!!) Our driver stopped very briefly at a few look-out points to other beaches/bays. We were at the beach for about 1 and a half hours. The beach is beautiful but it is rather narrow and not a long walking beach. It is a bay/large cove type beach. It looks just like the pictures you see in tourist magazines and books.

All in all it was a good day. I personally was intimidated to go to St. John on my own because the ship leaves around 4:45pm. If I were to go again, I would likely do it on my own only because I have personally done it already. Although, my concern when doing an excursion on my own to another island is the what it; what if the seas become rough and the ferry can't run. It you are on a DCL excursion, the ship will wait.

Hope this helps.