St. Thomas/St. John Excursions

[jbrile]

Crusing on DCL first time in 1/2006.

Looking for advice on the St. Thomas excursion to Trunk Bay. Leaves at 7:40 AM and lasts 5-5.5 hours per Disney web site. Amount of time for snorkeling and sunning is stated at 1.5 hours. Seems to me like a long time investment for only a little time on the beach. Are there other things included (boat ride/bus ride), as description refers to "journey via land and sea"?

Have others traveled to Trunk Bay on their own via ferry and cab? How difficult is this? Want to be sure we don't have any trouble getting back to the boat on time as we leave St. Thomas at 4:30. Sure would like to see it as it sounds beautiful.

 

[Sox_Fan]

I've been to St. John many times, so I would take the ferry to Cruz Bay (St. John) myself. When you get to Cruz Bay, there will be open air taxis waiting for the ferry to arrive. They'll take you anywhere - I'd recommend any beach along the north shore. Trunk is very nice, but can get crowded when there are cruise ships on St. Thomas. Hawk's Nest, Maho, and Cinnamon Bay beaches are all very nice too.

Check: http://vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/
for the ferry schedule and decide ahead of time which ferry you want to take back to St. Thomas. Let your driver know when you'd like to return to Cruz Bay. I'd allow some time to walk around and/or grab a quick bite in Cruz bay before the ferry. There is a very nice shopping area adjacent to the Dock (Wharfside Village) that has a few restaurants.

It really doesn't matrer whether you take the ferry from Charlotte Amalie or Red Hook. Charlotte Amalie is closer to the cruise pier; about 5 min by taxi, but the Red Hook ferry is more frequent (and less expensive). If you go to/from Red Hook, the taxi between Red Hook and the pier is about 20 min). I'd decide based on the ferry schedule.

Have fun! I'm jealous - so wishing I was going to St. John!

 

[Lisa]

We did the snorkle excursion to St. John and you are right, there really isn't enough time at Trunk Bay. The beach is absolutely gorgeous, we wanted to spend more time there.

When we did the DCL excursion in January, 2005, the ferry picked us up right at the Magic (we were anchored in the harbor as opposed to being docked). We had a boat ride to St. John, then boarded a open aired bus which brought us to Trunk Bay.

However you decide to do it, I highly recommend going to St. John. What a beautiful island.

 

[Popovich]

We were on the 11/27 Eastern and did the Doubloon Sail and Snorkel with our 5 yr old DS and 7 yr old DD. It was truly one of the highlights of our cruise.

We all had a fantastic time. When we go again in '06 it will be the first thing we book. I can't say enough good things about the crew of the Doubloon and how they engaged the kids and the adults and made it an educational and fun day. Outstanding excursion!!

Gailyn