Trunk Bay

[62travelDisney]

We've been hearing so many things about the beauty of Trunk Bay and are hoping to get there on our 3/20 cruise. We have already signed up for the Atlantis Submarine excursion in the morning which takes a couple of hours. Does anyone know if that still leaves us with time to get to and enjoy Trunk Bay? If not, would you suggest canceling the excursion and heading for the beach? Any input would be great!

 

[jel0511]

No, it wouldn't leave you enough time to do an excursion on St. Thomas and then head to St. John. You need to take a ferry to St. John and they only leave every hour on the hour. The ride from the dock to the ferry is approx 20 minutes, with the ferry being 20 minutes long. It is possible it could take you over an hour to get to St. John, and then it's approx another 10 minute cab ride to Trunk Bay. Then you have to reverse everything and get back to the ship by 4PM, to ensure you won't miss the ship!! The latest ferry I recommend people being on, since traffic on St. Thomas can get horrible when a lot of ships are in port, is the 2PM ferry from St. John. It gets back into Red Hook around 2:30, so with even tons of traffic (it has taken me 45 minutes to get from Red Hook to the dock area before) you'll have plenty of time to get on the ship. The 3PM ferry would be cutting it close too IMO. If you have a morning excursion, you probably wouldn't get over to ST. JOhn before 1PM, leaving you almost no time to see anything. If you really want to go to St. John, you'd have to cancel your excursion. We travel to St. John frequently (usually once a year) and it is truly a beautiful place!!

 

[IrishCowboy]

I agree with jel0511. St John is a beautiful island. But I don't think you could do a morning excursion and then visit St John in the afternoon.

I've never been on the Atlantis submarine excursion, so I can't compare the two. But, you will not be disappointed with a visit to St John.

Have a great cruise!

 

[62travelDisney]

Love these boards, thanks so much for your instant replies! Looks like we can't do both on the same day, if there's anyone out there who has experienced both and could share an opinion on which to do that would be great.

Laurie

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

jel0511 is absolutely right. You'll have to choose one or the other. I would recommend St. John over Atlantis Sub any day!

mrsfuzzmo

 

[62travelDisney]

Thanks for the replies. Thinking now about cancelling excursion. Just wondering whether it will be a hassle trying to get my family of 6 over to St. John. Anybody know????

 

[jel0511]

There will be no problem whatsoever. Most of the taxi's on St. Thomas and St. John hold around 12 passengers each, and the ferry around 100. So, just get off the ship, and head to the taxi stand. Ask one of them to take you to Red Hook, and they will drop you off right at the dock. Buy your tickets (the ticket booth doesn't open until 15 minutes before departure) and get on board. Once you're on St. John, walk down the dock, and the taxi's will be waiting. Just tell one of them you want to go to Trunk Bay, and they will take you there. Many taxi's wait in the parking lot of Trunk Bay so you won't have a problem getting back to town for the ferry. Just make sure to catch the 2PM ferry from St. John, get off the beach by 1:30 to ensure you'll make it. If you leave earlier, Cruz Bay is a great little town to walk around.

 

[mickeyboat]

Also, don't forget to factor tendering time into your schedule if you tender at St. Thomas.

Also, try to find companions to share a taxi with on the way to Red Hook. The four of us were alone in a cab at $8.00 a head, we waited almost 30 minutes for others to join (none did) and then were switched to another cab for a hairy 30 minute ride to Red Hook.

There were 7 ships in port last week and traffic was heavy. We elected to take the downtown ferry back to St. Thomas (leaves at 15 minutes after the hour) which dropped us off right at the tender station.

St. John is not to be missed. We stayed in town and didn't visit the beaches this time but they are truly beautiful.

Enjoy!

Denae

 

[jlawall]

Personally, I would skip the Atlantis and just enjoy St. John for the day!