St. John & St. Thomas-possible to do both?

[tterry]

Our ship woll be in St. Thomas until 9pm. I've never been to St. John/Trunk Bay and would love to go. Only problem is that St. Thomas is only "shopping port" on itenery and my wife wants some time to browse jewelry stores. Is it possible to spend 2-3hrs at Tunk Bay and still make it back to St. Thomas for her to shop the stores before they close at 5:00pm. Do they have showers and changing facilities at Trunk Bay?

 

[AFStoneSoldier]

Ya know, thats a good question. I would really like to see the feed back on it as well. However, I think I am leaning toward "no, theres not enough time" 'cuz my wife can really spend some cash on jewelry stores. lol It would suck to came back and have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it all!!!!

 

[Mbandy]

I would say shop in the morning first thing then take your packages back to the ship. Since the shops close but the beach doesn't, take the ferry over St. John after a little early morning shopping. That should work. Susan and I didn't take catch ferry until 1PM but still had pleanty of snorkel time in St. John and our ship left at 6PM. :thumb

Michael

 

[Camelia]

We did both: went to Trunk Bay in the morning (actually it was 1pm by the time we finally got there), came back to the ship around 5 pm, changed and ate, and went back out to walk around the shops and then took the gondolaz up to Paradise Point in the evening. That was an awesome sight, to see all the cruise ships with the lights one. Truely unforgettable.

I hate to say that but I was disappointed in Trunk Bay and the snorkling. It was so crowded. I wish I had listed to some other posters that said some of the other beaches on St John, like Hawksnest Bay, are equally nice and a lot less crowded (and free). Also the cab driver promised to stop at some of the high spots on St John so we can take pictures of the breathtaking scenery, but he never did. Make sure you get a driver to take you around the whole island.

 

[nimbex]

well, have you jewlery shopped in the islands before? unless you have written down price per gold per ounce, price per stone per carrot..... you don't have a good comparison... so please do this while your wife cruie clothes shops in the mall. I spent two solid hours haggling a tanzenite bracelet from $999 to $299, only because the setting was so unique, they fed my husband beer while I haggled and I "eyed" some diamonds that I had NO intention of buying.... just planted the seed and pretended I was buying more, after the bracelet.

The haggling... true haggling is exhausting

To me it was very worthwhile as I look at the bracelet on my wrist now.... yet i'd rather had just bought a solid gemstone.... then brought it back to be hand made into a bracelet. I can buy jewlery at home.... I don't have St. Thomas at home. saving the $$ equaled vacation hours....

get that woman to a gorgeous beach.... buy her frozen thingy's and the time will pass where the shops are suddenly "closed" =confuse

sorry , devious, but this IS comming from a female... if that helps. I only once wasted some vacay shopping and just don't see the value of it, if you're looking for a true value on an island on jewlery, you will invest time or just be overcharged as you would at home.

 

[dmcculloch]

Going to St Johns to snorkle , do you have to have your own snorkling stuff or can you get it there?
Dianne

 

[Camelia]

Dianna - if you go there on your own, you need to bring your own. That's what we did. But as I said earlier, it was so crowded that I didn't see any fish. St. John, however, is gorgeous. I wish I had spent more time exploring the island, than trying to see a fish. Maybe next time....

 

[CarolinaBlonde]

If you go to St. Johns - take your own snorkle equipment and a small cooler with snacks and drinks to hawknest bay. It is great - not crowded - mainly because there is no beach clubs/or refreshment stands - just beach. You can snorkle right off the beach and see fish.

Email me at susan_wood@mindspring.com if you want pictures!

 

[dmcculloch]

Great info

Question, where do you get a cooler on the boat? Or are you telling me you packed one. =shrug

Dianne.

Yes please send me pictures. Love to see them.

d_mcculloch@shaw.ca

 

[CarolinaBlonde]

Dianne,

Toss a soft sided cooler in your suitcase - hey you are packing everything else right?

Picture is on the way.

 

[jgoergen]

Hi~

Been to St. Johns several times. Takes about an hour to get there and about $15 each way,, but remember, you must time when you leave the beach (only been to Trunk Bay, but there are many other less inhabited beaches too) so that you can make the ferry, which, if memory serves me right, leaves on the hour. I AM NOT sure when the ferries stop running. I like Trunk Bay from about 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., it is much less crowded! You CAN rent snorkle gear there, as well as have lunch (there is a small outdoor stand with ckn sandwiches, etc.) It is run by the U.S. Park System.

This is a really beautiful island, and outside of St. Kitts, my favorite!

 

[Don M]

There's also some shopping on St John, but definitely not like what' on St. THomas. However, there is a shopping area right by the pier in St. Thomas (Havensight Mall, I believe). It's got virtually all the same stores you would find in the downtown area and much more convenient and quick to get through. It doesn't have the same "charm" as shopping downtown, but if your wife's goal is to get a good bargain or just to SHOP, then that would definitely save you some time.

By the way, we walked to the downtown ferry area from the pier and asked a couple of guys sitting on a bench where to wait for the ferry. They said it was the dock right near where they were sitting. A little later we realized these guys were taxi drivers and the actual ferry dock was a couple of hundred yards further down toward town. As soon as the ferry pulled out they offered to drive us to the other ferry dock at the end of the island. Needless to say, we declined and went and found another cab driver who drove us out there. Make sure you allow time for getting to the ferry a bit early and tehn waiting for it to depart. I would say you could comfortably get from your cabin to the ferry to St. John, to the beach (via another taxi), do the beach, taxi back to the dock in St. John, ferry back to St. Thomas, and taxi back to the pier in 5 hours. I wouldn't allow less. You should be able to shop in 2 hours (5 minutes if it was me). So if you have 7 hours in port, you should be OK.