Help me with Trunk Bay Excursions in St. Thomas on Carnival

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snorkelman

Guest
Trunk Bay Excursions in St. Thomas on Carnival

My wife and I will be on the Carnival Victory in June. We want to go to trunk bay for the beach and a little snorkeling. A few hours at the beach is good enough for us (we don’t need to spend the whole day). My wife also wants to do some shopping in downtown (not just next to the ship). We are comfortable grabbing a taxi from the ship to downtown and shopping on our own. We don’t need an excursion for that part of it (we have been jewelry shopping in St. Thomas several times).

So, regarding the Trunk Bay part, I looked on Carnival’s website and I see the following excursions offered:

1) St. John Trunk Bay Beach & Snorkel, 4 hours, $49/person

2) Five Star St. John & Trunk Bay, 4 hours, $59/person

It appears that the 5 star excursion offers travel aboard a 115 ft boat, anchors at trunk bay for ONLY 90 minutes, they provide you with snorkel gear and free rum punch.

It also appears that the cheaper St. John Trunk Bay Beach and Snorkel excursion gets us there by a ferry and bus. No comments listed about snorkel gear or how long we are actually on trunk bay.

I am leaning towards the cheaper excursion, but I need to know whether I should plan on renting snorkel gear there (if yes, how much per person) or if I should bring my own (which I have) or whether it’s free.

Also, how long are we actually at Trunk Bay and how long is the travel part of this 4 hour excursion?

We are in port from 8am-6pm, so I see no problem with doing both the trunk bay and shopping downtown. In fact, it looks like we can do one, then come back to the ship for lunch and do the second.

Do either of these excursions have time of departure limitations (such as only departing at 8am or only at noon or something like that)? Thanks in advance.
 
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snorkelman

Guest
Just a follow up, someone suggested that I do this on my own, so I looked into it and this is what I found:

It appears that if I do this on my own, I have to:

1) take a taxi from the ship to Red hook – how much is that per person each way?
2) Take the ferry from red hook (St. Thomas) to Cruz Bay (St. John) which costs $3 per person each way
3) Then the entrance fee into Trunk Bay is $4 per person

Do we just walk from Cruz Bay (where the ferry drops us off) to Trunk Bay, or do we need another taxi?

So, it appears that my total cost will be $8 (entrance into beach for 2 people) plus $12 (ferry for 2 people for both directions). So that is $20, plus whatever the taxi cost is.

Does anyone know what the total taxi cost is for 2 people?

I apologize if this info is already posted somewhere, and if so, just provide a link. Please don’t bash me because I couldn’t find it.

I am trying to figure out any troubles in doing this myself. If it really is easy, then I will. I heard about problems with rush hour and to not stay at trunk bay too long in the afternoon.


Also, I still have the same question about snorkel gear. And, do they make me pay extra to sit on the beach?

All of the hidden charges add up, so I need to know them all to decide if it is worth it to do it myself.
 
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tamlyn63

Guest
when we were in STT Jan 05 a taxi from Havensight area to Red Hook was $8 per person each way. Check ferry schedules at: vinow.com.
 
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red stripe

Guest
some more info on this subject, using the questions raised by the first poster.

You can do this trip on your own.

BUT.. if you do, then make it the first trip that you do that day.
Remember.. the ship will not wait for you if you are late, so it is always best to do any self trip as early as you can . You can always do ship trips in the afternoon, as if they are late, the ship will wait for you.
So get off the ship early and catch a taxi over to Red Hook.

The cost of the taxi can vary a little, depending on if you have a small group of friends going, and if you are a smooth talker :lol we have got them from $6 to $8.
The taxi will take approx 20 mins.

When you buy your ticket for the ferry, (new price $4 ) go ahead and buy your return ticket at the same time. It will not save you any money, but it can save you time . ON one trip we had to stand in line and wait for the lady to come and open up the ticket booth.. and the ferry was there and loading. For a while it looked as if we would not make it.

I think the ferry ride is also about 20 mins, but honestly.. I have never bothered to time it because the ride is so nice.
When you get to St. Johns, you will catch a taxi to whatever beach that you want. So the cost can vary from about $5 ... It is only about 10 mins to trunk Bay.
Your taxi driver will ask you what time you want him to pick you up.
Just tell him what ferry you want to catch, and he will tell you what time to be out in the parking lot.

We are usually over there by 10 am. so we find that the 3 pm ferry is a good time for us. That gives us some time to shop in the havensight mall area when we get back.

Now as Trunk Bay is a national Park, there is an entry fee of $4. BUY.. remember.. this is a US National Park, so if you have a park pass for the states.. it can be used here also.

As you go onto the beach, there is the marked snorkel trail to your right, the rest of the beach is to the left.

There is a place to buy food and drink, and pick up some supplies and memento's, and there are very good bathrooms and showers.

link to the information on this ferry and a lot of other locations ferry service..
http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/

This is a very good site, it also has info on taxi rates etc.
 
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snorkelman

Guest
Seems like my thread has been resurrected. Anyway, I did that excursion on my own and had a blast.

It is not that hard at all, even with the two taxis and one ferry ride each way.

As for the above comment, "When you buy your ticket for the ferry, (new price $4 ) go ahead and buy your return ticket at the same time" I have to agree that this is a good idea.

When we were returning there was a short wait but it would have been nice to just skip that and get on the feery (which would also allow you a better choice of seats).

Anyway, the next time I go I may try one of the nearby beaches such as cinnamon, but trunk was very nice, but got very crowded as the ship's excursions started showing up around 10 or 11. You will see significantly less fish as the crowds get bigger,even though some people will feed the fish.
 
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red stripe

Guest
snorkelman, glad that you enjoyed the trip.

I have to agree that Trunk bay is getting very crowded these days.. another good reason to go early.

Cinnamon bay is also very nice. In fact.. it is hard to find a beach that isn't good over there :grin

I know that a few of the other beaches we visited.. we also found more wild donkeys and more diving Brown pelicans :)

I need to do a complete report of the beaches there.. as I did for St. Thomas.
 
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