St. Thomas Shore Excursions

[Disneycrazymom]

I was just looking at the shore excursions on the official site and noticed that many of the snorkle tours child prices start at age 5. I assume that no one younger is allowed to go along. I have a 4 year old so what have others done? She loves the water and the beach so I do not want to leave her in the clubs. We have vacationed in St. Thomas before and I remember there being a water taxi over to St. John, is it still there? Is there time to get off the ship, take the water taxi, rent a jeep and swim, then reverse it all? I am open to all your wonderful ideas! Thanks!

 

[mickeyboat]

We are doing st. John on our own in March. We are taking a taxi to Red Hook, taking the ferry to St. John, taking a taxi to trunk Bay in the morning and back to Cruz Bay for lunch and shopping. Make sure you get the 2:15 ferrry back to St. Thomas as there tends to be a lot of traffic on St. Thomas in the afternoon and you don't want to miss the boat. (We are going with DD3 and DD4).

We are going to use taxis instead of renting a jeep. I don't think we would get our money's worth because there is such limited time on St. John. I checked into pricing and it was like $85.00 to rent one on St. John for the day.

Another poster has rented a vehicle in St. Thomas and taken it over to St. John.

Mrs.Fuzzmo suggested taking the Charlotte Amalie ferry to St. John instead of going over to Red Hook. The ferry ride is a bit longer and rockier but you avoid all the St. Thomas traffic.

Another poster has said he/she is going to Cinnamon Beach to avoid the crowds on Trunk Bay.

A lot of people have done St. John on their own, you should get a lot of info and suggestions here.

Denae

 

[jeanie]

Hi,

If you do a search on "st john on your own" or even St John you will find lots of ideas on this board. I received enough info from everyone here that I know exactly what to do and where I want to go...


We are taking the ferry over (either one, depends on the time and where we dock)and then a taxi to Cinnamon Bay. There are a couple of hiking trails nearby and we plan to do that and if time shopping in Cruz Bay too! All this before 2:15!!

have fun!

 

[Grumbo]

We are renting a sailboat for our group. There are 6 of us including two children. We have the boat for the day, it includes that food, drinks, and they take you over to St Johns, snorkel, you can even do some fishing and relax. We are really looking forward to this day and saw it as a great opportunity to sail the caribbean and go and do what we wanted.
Hoping this will be the highlight of our cruise.

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[NYdiscuisers]

We are also doing a sailboat for the day at St. Thomas. The advantage of this (in addition to the food and drinks included) is there is a max of 6 people on the boat and if some place is crowded we can go someplace more secluded. In addition, our Captain has arranged for a taxi to pick us up and bring us back to the Magic. Some of the providers will also do a tandem excursion with a second sailboat, if you have more than 6 in your party. As Grumbo said, we are hoping this is one of the highlights of our cruise.

Grumbo, who did you book for your excursion? We chose High Pockets. I'd also like to hear what you thought of your experience. When you get back, could you please post your thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Grumbo]

Yep I'll post how it went and if we enjoyed it..
We're going with Captain Jim from the Jester.

Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[musicgirl]

One that we are considering if we are unable to get the 5-star is the St. Thomas beach day for all ages. It is at Sapphire Beach. From the info I've found here and on the internet it sounds pretty good.

Good water rentals,good snorkeling and I believe you can use the pool at the resort. I understand it is about a 25 min. ride.

I'm a little nervous about the time on the island, so we will be booking through DCL for our excursion.

Have fun!

 

[rae519]

I have done Disney and non-Disney excursions, so I don't want to sound like a know-it-all - but if you are late on a Disney excursion the ship will wait for you or make arrangements, if you aren't, the ship sails and you are on your own.

This has happened TWICE during our 7 cruises - that I have heard and it makes me think twice about heading off to St. John by ourselves. Things happen and at least with the Disney excursion, you have some protection if your group is late getting back.

(We were once stuck on the island of Murano (Italy) due to a boat strike - spent the whole day there and missed out on most of Venice due to that. But the wine and cheese were outstanding as we waited it out!)

Rae

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thank-you everyone. Does the ship tender or dock in St. Thomas? If it tenders do they send tenders to both islands? I know what you mean about being late, its a long story but in my single days a friend and I almost missed the ship in St. Thomas. She met somone. It did turn into an adventure, but not one I care to repeat with kids in tow! (In the end her new someone took us out on his boat to meet the ship. )I haven't even thought of that story in a long time. I'll have to call her later!

 

[rae519]

All four times we have been Eastern - we have docked. I have heard of the Magic being tendered there, but that's rare.

There is both DCL excursions that go to St. John and you can get there on your own (ferry boat).

I am smiling because I remember the wild and crazy days of youth and wow! Your story must be a doozie!!!

Rae

 

[Disneycrazymom]

It was an exciting day! She ended up MOVING to St. Thomas the next summer to work on one of the sail boats. I almost missed the ship and lost a roomie the same day! I love her dearly though! I did get to go spend some time with her on the island. She is happily married and seems to be over her "sun stroke" now. The moral to my story is be careful of island romance!

 

[rae519]

Is she still on St. Thomas?! WOW! We had friends who had friends who moved there, stayed a year then came back - they went through one bad wind season! I think I could handle wind - I'm stuck in Indiana!!!

Rae

 

[Disneycrazymom]

She has slowly worked her way back to the midwest (and sanity she would say. ) She was in St. Thomas from 89 - 92 then moved to Boca, then home. She loved the island life but missed her family and when the romance was over came home and started what she would call a "normal" life. She did have to go hide the boat from one of the hurricanes while she was there, but never complained about the winds.

 

[minniemoms]

Just got back from the Magic, and we tendered into St. Thomas. Just a note for all of you, if you want to book an outside excursion, Godfreys does a 2 hour tour of the Island. It was a great trip. He is very knowledgeable, and shows you a lot. Don't go with the taxi drivers out there. We started out on one, and the guy didn't tell us anything, and what little he did, he kept repeating what he had just said. We ran into Godfrey at one of the stops and we got off and switched to Godfreys halfway through. WE had tried to find Godfreys and asked other drivers where he was, and they wouldn't tell us, but there IS a difference. So, if you want an overall view of the Island, that shows you several beaches, go with Godfrey He is recommended quite a bit on the cruise critic message board.