St. John Travel Forum

Hello...my fiance and I will be going on a Royal Caribbean cruise stopping in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas on Tuesday Dec. 12 and we've heard great things about St. John. Is there a way to get off our ship at 9am in St. Thomas and get to St. John and back by 8pm? What should we see in St. John? Thanks!

There's ferry service back and forth between the islands. Long ago, we took a catamaran across but I'm not sure if that still exists and it would be much slower.

I found this on Google:

There are two ferry routes. The shortest route is between Red Hook on St. Thomas and Cruz Bay on St. John. That trip costs only $3.00 each way, takes approximately 20 minutes and runs hourly between 6:00 am and Midnight. The longer ferry route runs from downtown Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas also to Cruz Bay on St. John. The earliest ride leaves Cruz Bay at 7:15 in the morning and the latest returns from Charlotte Amalie at 5:30 pm in the evening. That run costs $7.00 each way and takes approximately 40 minutes.

The site is:

http://www.varlack-ventures.com/vvfiles/4_ferry-schedules.htm

To be honest, there's a lot more to see on St. Thomas than on St. John - but that's just my memory of it. If nothing else, there are some great beaches and nice resorts.

Hi,
I agree. We took a tour on St. John and really thought that there was not that much to see. The tour guide took us to a beach on the other side of the island but wouldn't leave us alone as he said it wasn't safe to be by yourself.
Mike

If you have never been to ST then stay there and tour. We have been several times and love the island. If you want to shop then the downtown area is one of the best buys anywhere. My wife always buys perfume as it is cheap compared to the US. Also, go up to Mtn Top for a drink and look over Megan's Bay, then go down to Megan's and spend a few hours. It is rated at one of the top 10 in the world. Beware of the "Brain Killer" served at the beach bar the name tells it all.

Last time we were there we hired a taxi driver to take us to all the places and stay with us all day. It worked out great. When we went to Megan's Bay we told him to come back at a certin time and take us to the ship and it was great he showed up on time and we needed an "escort" back so all was well.

In Charolotte you will find some of the best duty free shopping in the caribbean. There is much to do in St. Thomas. It is a beautiful island with wonderful people. If you wish to visit St. John you can do it many ways.

-You can take a ferry directly from Charlotte Amalie St.T to Cruz Bay St.J.
-You can take a taxi ride to Red Hook St.T and catch a ferry to Cruz Bay.
-Your cruise ship probably has an excursion that will take you to St.J.

Once in Cruz Bay you can take a taxi, tour or thumb a ride to one of the world class north shore beaches.

My recommendation would be to take the CA ferry to Cruz Bay, take a taxi ride to Hawksnest Beach, have the taxi return in 3 hours, sit in the sun and shade on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, snorkel out to the reef, ride back to Cruz Bay, return to Charolotte and spend a couple of hours at the shops and resturants before returning to your ship.

Here is a website with the ferry schedule and current prices.
http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/

Visit this website for useful information about what to do on St.J
http://seestjohn.com/

Visit this website for usefull information about any of the four US virgin islands.
http://www.vinow.com/