If you are taking three sons on the trip, it will be cheaper to rent a car than to take taxis. You might want to rent a car for at least a couple days and make your excursions on those days. Other days you can stay close to home.

Thank you for the info STX Realtor. We are only on the island for the day though. We are going to be on a cruise. Now I need to know if there is enough time to come over to STJ. My husband is so worried we will miss the boat coming back! Thats why I am trying to find out appox. how long it takes to get from the ships dock in STT to Cruz Bay.

HELP!!!!

You will have enough time to visit STJ. I would limit the trip to one beach as it will be cheaper and less stressful. Make it Trunk Bay and let the boys snorkle around the Cay.

Are you sure the Disney ship doesn't already offer a trip over to Trunk Bay for you? I know this is a pretty popular destination but I've never cruised and don't know how its done. You might want to check that. Otherwise, you would grab a taxi to get to either Red Hook or Charlotte Amalie and take the ferry to STJ then a taxi to Trunk Bay (which is a great place to take the kids on a hurried trip, has facilities, etc). Check the top of the Board for the ferry schedules and taxi information. Do you have snorkling gear ready to go? If not, maybe the other Boarders can tell you if you can rent gear at Trunk Bay. Enjoy, you might find you don't want to go back to the ship as its such a fabulous island.

Thank you so very much for the help! I was really getting upset with the thought of not having enough time! Yes the ship does offer excursions but I really don't want to pay their price tag and then be on their time. I would love to be able to grab a bit at WOodys before heading back!

Again if some one can tell me how far and how long a trip from the dock to Red Hook is I know the ferry from Red hook to Cruz Bay is about 20 minutes.

Thanks again and anything else would be great

A taxi ride is about 25-30 minutes from the dock to Red Hook. You know, you can also catch a ferry from Charlotte Amalie (which is only about 5 minutes (1 mile or so) from the cruise ship docks) to St. John (Cruz Bay as well). That would be a much cheaper taxi ride for your family. The ferry trip is about 30 min. The schedule for that ferry is above as well.

My vote would be to just go to Trunk Bay as well. THe kids will love it.

Trunk Bay was my favorite beach. Yes, it IS popular with cruise ship expeditions but when I was there, it wasn't overcrowded at all. We saw enough people to make "people watching" fun but we had plenty of room. Not like the typical "wall-to-wall-people" on a Florida beach. There's plenty of shade. Services include changing rooms,rest rooms, showers, a snack bar with sandwiches, drinks, and beer. There's also a beach shop that sells typical beach junk like sunscreen but they also rent snorkel gear and beach chairs. The prices were not bad. I think I got a couple of Heinekin beers and a couple of hot dogs for $12. The beach was clean, had lifeguards, and unformed Park Rangers provided security. There WAS a $4 per person admission charge. I didn't rent snorkel gear there but I saw it listed on the sign. While we were there a large boat appeared and moored, and then started shuttling people into the beach. Like 50 people. They were obviously on some kinda of day trip, so perhaps you can take Karrie's advice and see what kind of day trips that the Disney ship offers to Trunk Bay. There's a marked UNDERWATER snorkel trail there, perfect for beginners.
I echo Chris' advice. Just one beach would be cool. More would be pushing it.

It is very easy to get to STJ when on a cruise (we had 17 "friends" visit us for the day 3 weeks ago when they were on their cruise) I would try to be on the 9am Red Hook ferry (or the 9am downtown ferry IF it is runing) that would get you to STJ by 9:20 or so. Catch a cab, and head for Trunk, you'll be in the water by 9:45 🙂 At that time it won't be too crowded. Give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship. If your ship leaves at 6:00pm (meaning you need to be back on board by 5:30pm ) I would be on the 3pm from Cruz Bay. The 4:00pm is doable but the traffic back to the ship can sometime cause peaple to panic if it is bad. Enjoy

Too bad you dont have more time, but while you are there definately go to Trunk or Cinammon and grab some lunch at Woodys if that is where you want to go. Make a nice short but yet lasting day of it, you wont regret it.

Felicia - Print the ferry schedule (see link at top of page) and take it along. That way you can decide which ferry to take upon debarkation (and for your return as well). It will also help to give your husband a "warm fuzzy" with regard to the ship schedule. Definitely do not miss STJ!!!

Haven't read each post very carefully so not sure if this was mentinoed...if you are planning on renting a car when you get to st. john, make sure you call ahead and reserve. My family and I did a bit of walking around from Rental place to rental place before we were picked up by a taxi on the side of the road 🙂 we gave up, there was absolutely NOTHING available...(this may be an obvious point, but thought it was worth mentioning...)

We were there at the beginning of December. I don't know what January is like, but Trunk was absolutely the worst place we snorkeled. Maybe it was just because the water was rough. It was rough at Cinnamon too. Surf warnings both places, but at least at Cinnamon the snorkeling was worth it. We went around the cay in both bays. The water was so stirred up at Trunk that it was a waste to go around the cay (a lot of work with the waves). Maho Bay was much calmer and the snorkeling is much better (all three times I have been there). On the right side out to the rocks and around to Little Maho and then around to the other side of Francis. Hawksnest was fairly rough too. If other places are rough, Maho was by far the calmest along the north shore. I am assuming you won't be able to get to Waterlemon, which was probably the best snorkeling.

Don't worry. If the Christmas Winds are blowing from the north making the north beaches rough it's a pretty safe bet that Salt Pond is calm. Snorkeling is good out in the center by the rocks. It's a bit of a swim but there are turtles and rays to see on the way out and back. We usually see lots of squid too. And like Iggie said, Maho is usually pretty good even if the north swells are up. Frances is another beach that is sometimes protected enough to be calm at that time of the year.

Hello FeliciaInFlorida,

If you want to do both beaches and have no other plans for the day... like trying to squeeze in shopping then it can be done. Head to Cinnamon Bay first, since its further from Cruz Bay. Then hop a taxi over to Trunk Bay for a bit. And then you'll need another taxi ride from Trunk Bay back to Cruz Bay to catch the ferry. If you really are enjoying Cinnamon Bay and don't want to leave than you will at least see Trunk Bay from the overlook on the way to/from Cinnamon Bay.

You'd take a taxi from the cruise ship to which ever ferry you are taking. Only exception to that is if you ship happens to be anchored in the harbor and you are tendered in - in this case you could walk to the Charlotte Amalie - St. John Ferry.

Time:
Havensight to Red Hook is about 17-20 minutes in low/moderate traffic. (In the early afternoon when cruisers are heading back to the ship, kids getting off school etc. traffic can get blocked up around the cruise dock and downtown so keep this in mind when setting your time for heading back to the ship - basically that the traffic could add say 30 minutes to the driving time.)

The Red Hook ferry takes 15-20 minutes.

Taxi from Cruz Bay on St. John to Trunk Bay is about 12 minutes and Cinnamon Bay is about 3 minutes from Trunk Bay.

If you took the Charlotte Amalie ferry then the taxi ride from Havensight (where most ships dock) or Crown Bay (where some ships dock) would be about 6-8 minutes (low traffic). And the ferry ride takes about 45 minutes.

Hope this helps.

--Islander

Thank you guys for all the info! I guesss I will do some pre planning based on the info I have and go from there. I have the ferry schedule and I hope all goes well! I can't wait! Thanks again