St. John questions

[Jane]

We are taking the NCL Dawn 4/19 to the Eastern Caribbean. I am going with my 2 sisters and our 87-year-old mother. This is the 2d cruise for the 4 of us together, leaving our families at home to get along without us.
I was think of us taking the ferry from St. Thomas over to St. John then transport to Trunk Bay. Then we will sit my mother and one of my sisters on the beach while my other sister and I go snorkeling. Can you get chairs at the beach?
Does this plan sound to those of you who have been there - I ask particularly as my mother's comfort is involved. (She is in very good health for her age, but obviously we will not be rushing around.)
If we stay there for a couple hours, will there be time enough to get back to St. Thomas and see that aquarium (Coral World)?
Any other suggestions?

6/01 - HA Ryndam - Inside Passage.

 

[jlynd53]

If you want to save time, snorkel and see Coral World you may want to try Coki Beach. It is a beautiful beach with great snorkeling and it is right next to Coral World. They have rental chairs and if you pay admission to Coral World you can use their showers and lockers. This would eliminate a lot of travel time for you.

I do not know how long you will be in port so I can not tell you if you will have enough time to do Trunk and Coral World. They do have rental chairs at Trunk and there is a nice snack bar there and showers.

I hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions. Happy planning!

 

[kdl]

We go to Trunk Bay whenever we are in St. Thomas. Take the Red Hook ferry to St. Johns and catch a cab to Trunk Bay. There is a gift shop that rents chairs and snorkeling gear. I think the chairs are $7.

We will be there in four weeks. Counting the days . . .

 

[lia]

The rental chairs are $7.00 per person. There is also a $25.00 deposit per chair that will get returned when the chair is returned.You say your mom is in good shape, but there is a bit of a walk from where taxi drops you off down to the beach. You also have to walk down a little hill in deep sand to get to the beach. You will have plenty of time to make the trip to St. John. The ferry leaves both Red Hook and St. John on the hour. It's about a 30 minute drive to the ferry from the ship. Give yourself 45 minutes. The ferry ride is 15 minutes long and it costs about $7.00 per person? After you get to St. John, it takes about 15 minute drive to the beach in a taxi that is $4.50 per person. When you want to leave
Trunk bay keep in mind that the taxi drivers don't like to leave until their busses are full. You could possibly miss the ferry you want to catch because your driver will wait till he has a full bus . We missed the 2:00 ferry because we were waiting for other people. We left on the 3:00 ferry and got back to the ship around 3:45. I also wanted to mention that the chairs that you rent, are the type that sit real low to the ground. Some of them have reclining backs. If you have any further questions, I'd be glad to help.
Bon-Voyage,
Lia

 

[Jane]

Thanks so much to jdlynd, kdl, and Lia for all the extremely helpful tips - I will keep that info in mind. It is about 10 degrees here in New Hampshire right now and April seems so far away.

About the timing in St. Thomas and St. John - the ship arrives at 7 am and departs at 6 pm. Maybe we'll be able to do both if we get off the ship as soon as possible.

It is about 10 degrees here in New Hampshire right now and April seems so far away.

Happy cruising!