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You've had this question a million times but I'm going to ask it again just to make sure that I am correct. We are going to St. Thomas on the Explorer of the Seas on the week of Sept. 20th. The ship is in port from 7:00 to 5:00. Here is my itinerary and tell me if you think that we can do it.
First: Get off the ship around 7:00 and head to Red Hook to catch the 8:00 ferry. What time would be the latest we could leave from Havensight and still make the 8:00 ferry? And how long does the ferry take?
Second: Get to St. John and take an island tour for two hours and try and take the 11:00 ferry back to Red Hook, does that work?
Third: When we get back to St. Thomas we want to take another tour of St. Thomas, can we get a cab driver to take us from Red Hook or do we have to go back to the cruise ship first? I'm guessing we can take it from Red Hook.
Those are the questions I have, if you think that I am pushing it to much let me know and I can adjust. I want to see both islands, and even though I know that we will be rushed I think that it can work. Thanks!
That is exactly what I had planned for when I go in January. I'm curious to hear what they have to say.
Michelle
It works but I would spent more time on STJ.
You will be on island time. The ferry leaves fairly promptly, especially from red hook to STJ. If you miss the 9am ferry just hit the ten. Then, take your tour.....stop at a nicebeach for an hour(the sun is intense)...by then it is around 1 or 2 and hit the next ferry out and head to havensight. If you rush through STJ, it is defeating the purpose of the island. If you only spare 3 hours for STJ, it will only be a quick tease. But you'll be back next year for at least a week. heheh
Hello!!
It takes 17 minutes to get from Havensight to Red Hook. To catch the 8am I would say be there by 7:45am so you would need to leave Havensight by say around 7:20 or 7:15 to be on the safe side... The ferry takes about 20 minutes.
Island tour get back on 11ferry - sure you could do that... or spend a bit more time in St. John, grab some lunch in Cruz Bay and then catch the noon ferry. There are taxis right on the ferry dock in Cruz Bay St. John.
Yes there are taxis at the ferry dock in Red Hook. And no you don't have to go back to Havensight just tell the taxi driver you want a tour and he/she can start from Red Hook. So it would be around 11:30 or 12:30 depending on the ferry you took. And you can then take an hour and half or two hour tour of St. Thomas that ends in Havensight.
If you aren't going to the beach at all then you can do both islands more leisurely. Its hard to fit beach time and both tours in though.
Are you planning to go to the beach?? Or to shop?? And what on St. Thomas did you want to see on the tour??
--Islander
I've been to St. Thomas twice but never to St. John's. My brother and his wife are coming with us and so we want to do another tour of St. Thomas for them, go to Mountaintop, Drakes seat, etc. Because of time we want to make sure that we get over to St. John's early and tour the island a bit, we wont do beach time just take a tour of the island for a couple of hours and then head back. It's a good idea to do lunch in Cruz bay and then head back, we will probably just do that. Any other advice from you, the Islander, would be helpful.
Eric,
Your day sounds fine, you will be able to do both island tours. If you don't have lunch in Cruz Bay then take the ferry to St. Thomas and walk from the ferry area to one of the restaurants in Red Hook and have lunch and then go on the St. Thomas tour... sure you won't want to do the St. Thomas hungry!! LOL. Sounds like a great day Eric. Additional advice; take a look at the taxi rates on this site so you have an idea of what the tours/taxi should cost and then if you have a group maybe consider negociating with the driver, be sure to agree to a price before setting off on the tour though.
Have a great time.
--Islander
