Heather,

Just curious, what cruise ship will you be traveling with? What day of the week do you come on the island? We are planning a wedding this summer and have a few family members that love to "cruise". Thought they might be able to combine with the wedding.

This will be our first trip to St John, so I am far from the expert. I would encourage you to enjoy the beaches, time at a local bar to enjoy a few "pain killers" and visit with the locals. It will be hard to choose with only one day!!!!

Heather:

You may be trying to do too much.
With your ship arriving at 12:30 and your departure from the ship sometime after that. The taxi ride to Red Hook and Ferry trip, if not timed right, could put you on St. John about 2:30-3:00. It starts getting dark around 5:30/5:45.
That doesn't give you much time to rent a car and get to a beach....don't even count on time for lunch.

If you want to see St. John and hit the beach...do the above and use a taxi from Cruz Bay..spend an hour or so on the beach and them enjoy yourself in town before taking the ferry back to Red Hook.

Another option is to stay on St. Thomas. Visit Coki or Megan's Beach (this gives you more beach time) and take the taxi to Red Hook or Charlotte Amalie for dinner or return to Havensight do some shopping or go back to the ship.

Have a great time.

F.I.

Hello Heather

I'm with FI, stay on STT and enjoy the beaches there. STJ is beautiful but not at 100 mph the way you are describing. IMHO the best thing about the VI is 'island time' and the energy it provides. If you stay on STT and slow down to 'island time' I think you will find the overall trip much more enjoyable.
Beaches and restaurants are plentiful on STT.

Heather,

Stay on STT, there are plenty of beautiful beaches to enjoy there. I suggest Magen's Bay. You'll be trying to fit too much in on a short stay. On your next trip to the USVI, stay on either STT or STJ and enjoy the beauty of both islands as well as the BVI, then you'll have time for the horseback riding and that wonderful lunch on the beach, plus much, much more. Have a wonderful time!

Hi. I will be arriving on the Holland America Westerdam but this is a once a year itinerary on this ship since it is a charter/ We are a bunch of Blues fans that pick our own itinerary. all of the ship entertainment gets the week off and we bring on all our own music. very non traditional cruise .... www.bluescruise.com
but since St. Thomas is one of the most popular ports in the Caribbean I'm sure they will be able to find a cruise ship arriving when you are there! check out https://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/cruiseship/cruise_2007/STT-Jan.php for the cruise ship schedules for St. Thomas... and congrats on the upcoming nuptials!

I disagree that your best choice is staying on St. Thomas. I think, as long as you plan it correctly, you will have time to enjoy St. John - if that is what you would like to do.

I do think, however, you should not plan more than hitting one beach and milling around Cruz Bay. I would suggest getting a taxi in Cruz Bay and heading over to either Cinnamon Bay or Hawksnest - both are GORGEOUS and GREAT-FOR SNORKELING and far less crowded than Trunk!

Have the taxi driver come back for you at a pre-determined time and take you back to Cruz Bay where you can enjoy some time in town... Cruz Bay has some lovely little shops - they're not predominantly tacky t-shirt shops like in so many port towns on other islands.

As for a restaurant on the beach in Cruz Bay, I only know of Panini Beach Trattoria- but have never gone there. Here is the link: http://www.paninibeach.com/index.htm

Among my favorite restaurants in Cruz Bay are
Banana Deck (great outside deck to sit on - situated on the 2nd floor - quite casual and moderately priced): http://www.stjohnspice.com/bananadeck.htm
Rhumb Lines (a little bit more expensive and more "gourmet" than Banana Deck ) dining: http://www.rhumblinesstjohn.com
Zozo's (which is not right on the water, but has a wonderful view of it! - it is more expensive than Rhumb Lines): http://zozos.net/

If you made time to go out to Coral Bay, Miss Lucy's would be my first choice - it is on the water and it is where we have found the best meals on the island!

The first time my wife and I went to St. John, it was on a side trip during a cruise much as you describe. The only difference, we got to St. Thomas at 8:00 in the morning.

We rented a car in Havensight at Budget (make sure you have reservations), and then we drove straight out of Charlotte Amalie and down to Magen's Bay. The view is beautiful. Then we drove to Redhook and caught the ferry.

We managed to snorkel Hawksnest and Cinnamon, and get all the way out to the parking lot on the way to Waterlemon, before we had to turn back to catch the ferry.

I highly recommend that you go to St. John. It's beautiful. And the prettiest part of the island is the North Shore.

Eat lunch on the cruise ship before you dock. Trust me, the allure of St. John is in beauty of it's beaches, not in it's cuisine. So drive the North Shore Road and stop at Hawksnest, Maho, and Trunk on the return. By the time you return, Trunk should be pretty empty.

Just be forewarned - Island Time does happen. Which means, things do not move at the same pace that they do on the mainland. You're liable to get hung up at the car rental counter and at the ferry dock. Although they are better than they used to be, the ferries are notoriously LATE.

All you have to do is be the first one off the boat, and be willing to drive back at dusk or even in the dark, and you'll have a great time.

JFP