Deb wrote:
>We are booked on HAL's Zuiderdam in November. One of the stops is St
>Thomas. HAl does not offer an island tour of St. John on our cruise.
>We have been to St Thomas three times and would like to take the ferry
>to St John and do a tour. Our ship docks in Charlotte Amalie and the
>stated hours are 7A-6P. Has anyone done this on their own?? When we get
>off the ferry will there be taxis waiting or is it best to arrange an
>independent tour ahead of time?? Anyone have experience with this??
>Can anyone recommend a guide?? Any suggestions on must-sees in St.
>John??
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Debbie
>
This is quite easy to do and is what we did last time we went.
Have breakfast on the ship
We got off the boat about 9 am, and took a taxi to Red Hook where we
took the ferry over to St. John. The ferry was supposed to leave on
the hour, but quite a few last minute people came on board at the end
- we didn't actually leave until about 10 after 10. We arrived in St.
John about 15 minutes later. The ferry was $5 each for this trip
The first thing I did was look to see when we'd have to return if we
were going to go back to Charlotte Amalie. It costs $10 each), but it
is a shorter cab ride to get to Havensight, where the ship is docked
and you don't have to contend with rush hour traffic on St. Thomas.
Those boats left Cruz Bay at 15 past the hour and got to Charlotte
Amalie 45 minutes later. They won't sell you the ticket until after
the Red Hook ferry leaves so that you don't get confused.
RED HOOK, St. Thomas - CRUZ BAY, St. John
$5 one way
15 to 20 minute ride Daily
Leaving Red Hook 6:30AM, 7:30AM
then hourly 8AM - Midnight
Leaving Cruz Bay Hourly 6AM - 11PM
CHARLOTTE AMALIE WATERFRONT, St. Thomas - CRUZ BAY, St. John
$11 one way, luggage
45 minute ride - Daily
Leaving Charlotte Amalie 9AM, 11AM, 1PM, 3PM, 5:30PM
Leaving Cruz Bay 7:15AM, 9:15AM, 11:15AM, 1:15PM, 3:45PM
http://www.usvi.net/usvi/ferry.htm
But look at the published schedule to check.
We didn't attempt to go anywhere but Cruz Bay - we spend a week on St.
John previously, and I just wanted to shop and eat and walk around
there, but you can get a taxi to take you around the island on a tour
just like you can on St. Thomas if you've done that.
http://www.stjohnusvi.com/tours.htm
Probably the first thing to do is go to the NPS Visitor's Center. The
park rangers can help you plan your visit. The Cruz Bay Visitor Center
is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is just a short walk from
the public ferry dock.
http://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/things2know.htm
http://www.stjohnusvi.com/gettin.html
Two hour island tours cost $30 for 1 or 2 passengers; for 3 or more
$12 per person.
If you go to Cinnamon Bay to the beach, there are generally taxis
there to take you back to Cruz Bay (fare will be $8 one way $16 round
trip for two or $4 each for two people for each segment). Otherwise
or at other places you can arrange for the taxi to come back for you.
VITRAN buses travel between Cruz Bay and Salt Pond Bay (on the
southeastern side of the Island) along Centerline Road (Route 10). The
buses leave from the public ferry dock at 20 minutes past the hour
beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 7:25 p.m. daily.
On your return, you will land in Charlotte Amalie across from the
cruise ship docks, and you can get a taxi from there around to the
ship.
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