St. John on your own excursion question

[Sherrilatte]

We have booked St. John on your own excursion for our upcoming cruise on the Fantasy in January. The time is 8am-12pm. Is anything open at this time? I would not like walking around with nothing open but breakfast eateries. Has anyone experienced this excursion?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There won't be much open. You can get to one of the beaches or hike the National Park.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We have done this excursion. We hiked the national park. It was lovely, but there is not much open at this time. Few shops opened around 10 or so. Back to the boat way too quick. Wish we had more time.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

In our experience, it's easy to do St. John without an excursion. Catch the cab to the Red Hook Ferry (about a 15 minute drive) then the ferry to St John. There's taxi's right there. We took the cab to Hawksnest bay (first bay on the north road) and got there in ten minutes. Pretty much start to finish, we were on the beach in 40 minutes after leaving the ship. Did the reverse to get back. I just waited on the road to flag down a taxi (in the rain, it was AWESOME) and headed back. We had a fantastic day snorkeling and relaxing on the beach and were on the ship by 3 pm and only paid for the taxi & ferry. Lotsa fun

 

[Sherrilatte]

In our experience, it's easy to do St. John without an excursion. Catch the cab to the Red Hook Ferry (about a 15 minute drive) then the ferry to St John. There's taxi's right there. We took the cab to Hawksnest bay (first bay on the north road) and got there in ten minutes. Pretty much start to finish, we were on the beach in 40 minutes after leaving the ship. Did the reverse to get back. I just waited on the road to flag down a taxi (in the rain, it was AWESOME) and headed back. We had a fantastic day snorkeling and relaxing on the beach and were on the ship by 3 pm and only paid for the taxi & ferry. Lotsa fun

Thanks!

 

[kathi]

I really want to take the ferry to St. John, but I'm so concerned with running late. It seems like a lot to navigate when you are not familiar with the area. We have done it in Martinique, but this feels more risky, not sure why.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

I really want to take the ferry to St. John, but I'm so concerned with running late. It seems like a lot to navigate when you are not familiar with the area. We have done it in Martinique, but this feels more risky, not sure why.

I get it. We were nervous too. In the end, it was incredibly easy and we were back to the ship 2.5 hours before all aboard after a full day in the water.

 

[dcassetta]

I really want to take the ferry to St. John, but I'm so concerned with running late. It seems like a lot to navigate when you are not familiar with the area. We have done it in Martinique, but this feels more risky, not sure why.

Lots of cruise guests do this, and the ferry ride is quick and regular. Our favorite beach is Waterlemon, but I might suggest Trunk for you. Since it is the most popular, there will be no issues getting a return taxi.

 

[frozenmania]

St. John on your own is possible during COVID? If we are all vaccinated, we shouldn’t have any problem exploring ports on our own?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

In our experience, it's easy to do St. John without an excursion. Catch the cab to the Red Hook Ferry (about a 15 minute drive) then the ferry to St John. There's taxi's right there. We took the cab to Hawksnest bay (first bay on the north road) and got there in ten minutes. Pretty much start to finish, we were on the beach in 40 minutes after leaving the ship. Did the reverse to get back. I just waited on the road to flag down a taxi (in the rain, it was AWESOME) and headed back. We had a fantastic day snorkeling and relaxing on the beach and were on the ship by 3 pm and only paid for the taxi & ferry. Lotsa fun

I agree. We did this exactly except we visited Cinnamon Bay. The restaurant was closed (2012) which was slighly annoying. There was a small place selling snacks so we ended up eating a bunch of chips and candy for lunch which really wasn't cutting it for us. That is one sure way to avoid overstaying and missing the ship. We were back onboard with plenty of time.
We were able to rent chairs and boogie boards. Also our boys did some stand up paddleboarding.