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Good morning! How would you suggest we spend our time in St John that day after revisiting our wedding beach?
Hubby and I cancelled our proposed trip to St John for this summer, but instead are booked on a cruise the week of Thanksgiving. Fortunately, our port times for St Thomas are 8A - 11P. We are looking for a relaxing day to explore beaches we have not experienced yet (on St John). Along with our ship, I am seeing that there will be three other large ships in port at St Thomas that day (just by looking at specific ship schedules online).
What we are envisioning this trip for our one day:
- have ordered another wedding cake from Chef Mulcare to pick up around 9:30 at ferry dock in Cruz Bay
- plan to share wedding cake on our wedding beach (Hawksnest)
- ??? on St John (hiking, relaxing beaches, lunch)
- Back in Charlotte Amalie around 7ish
- Shopping (he's promised to purchase me earrings; thinking of returning to the store where we bought our wedding bands)
- Dinner in Charlotte Amalie (any suggestions? or we can just head back to the ship for 8:00 dinner seating - but we're very happy with open-air restaurants)
What we have been to previously (cruises / land vacation on St John):
- Trunk, Cinnamon, Maho, Salt Pond Bay, Great Cruz Bay (Westin)
- married on Hawksnest
- have stayed at Concordia (LOVE Shipwreck Landing!)
What we would like for St John that day after Hawksnest...
- Quiet, secluded beaches for relaxation
- Hiking trails would be fine (probably needed for secluded beaches)
- Maybe a cab from Hawksnest to Caneel, then take a leisurely walk from beach to beach - is there a good map somewhere of trails in this area?
- maybe lunch at Caneel? or would it break the bank? we could pack foods from the ship and take a backpack - no big deal.
- don't want a beach that will have lots of boats pulling up to the beach (such as from cruiseship excursions)
- transportation would just be with cabs (unless we decided to head towards the east end, then we'd try to rent a vehicle, but understand that might not be an option for a one-day rental during a holiday week; I drove on St John each day the week we were there in 2002 and feel comfortable driving though)
- we are doing a day sail out of Tortola the next day, so we definitely want to maximize our time on St John for this particular day
- we have even thought of hiring a photographer for Hawksnest so we could have Christmas card pictures (somewhat like we did in 2002 for engagement pics) but I have not run that idea across hubby (or told him the cost of the wedding cake!)
How would you suggest we spend our time in St John that day after revisiting our wedding beach?
Many thanks for suggestions, and have a great day!! 🙂
mandy it sounds like you have the right idea.....i would say that lunch at caneel would be a special treat! tell them at the desk it is a special occasion and i am sure they would let you enjoy the facilities for the afternoon......lunch should be more moderately priced than dinner.....and it is a special day so go for it!
enjoy!!!
Hello Mandy,
I have asked this question before but I am going to run it by you.... Your ship stays in port until 11pm... but can you stay on island until that time or do you still have to be back on the ship by 5pm-6pm as is the case with other ships that leave earlier? (Please confirm this with your ship representative what time you have to be back on the ship and share the info. with us.)
Cake and visit to "The Beach" sounds wonderful. Have you hiked Reef Bay Trail... you could do a picnic lunch for that hike? or you could do the hike from Caneel Bay around to Honeymoon Beach and then when you hike back.... have lunch at the resort at Caneel Bay and then you might still have time to shop in Cruz Bay for the earrings. If you are shopping on St. Thomas you will have to shop before 7pm... shops do not usually stay open that late unless its some special event. Banana Tree Grill (which is at Bluebeards Castle, above town) for a beautiful dinner... open air, great view, good food and service.
Have a great time.
--Islander
As always, Islander, you are the BEST!!
We've been up there to Blubeards, but had forgotten about the restaurant there. Definitely a great suggestion!! And shopping before 7P - thanks for that tidbit. I'd love to do some shopping in Cruz Bay. Have I ever mentioned I just love the USVI??
At this point, we understand we can stay on land until 30 minutes prior to leaving. The next day is Tortola, so if we miss the ship... big deal. 🙂 Currently, the ship has switched with Tortola and is only at St Thomas 7A-6P, but beginning in late October she will revert back to our actual schedule of the "long day". There was quite the little uproar on the cruiseboards about the switching of days and shortening of time, but the cruiseline has clarified that after Oct 23, our ship will be on the original schedule. 🙂
Again - thanks so much for your suggestions! I really appreciate you!
