Is St Johns much better than St Thomas??

[zanemoseley]

We're leaving on the Carnival Victory on Sept. 4th going on a Southern Caribbean route. I'm trying to get all my excursion in line as we usually do them outside the cruise line and are thinking we'll use St. Thomas as a "beach day".

I've read Magens Bay can get crowded and that Sapphire Beach is pretty nice. I've also heard of a lot of people taking the ferry over to St. Johns and visiting Trunk Bay and other beaches.

Is it worth the trip over? I'm not worried about a little of travel. Especially when we have 10 hours at St. Thomas (7am - 5pm). Its not like we'll want to be on the beach in St. Thomas at 7 am so we could use this time for travel to St Johns. However I don't want to make the trip if its not much better than destinations in St. Thomas. If we went to a beach in St Thomas we could sleep in a bit and get to a beach by 10am.

[zanemoseley]

I just looked a pictures of Trunk Bay on tripadvisor.com and all I can say is OMG!!! I may have to visit this place, I'm not sure if I could forgive myself if I didn't go.

[Donna]

St. Johns is absolutely beautiful and well worth the time in travel to get over there. I would get up early, check the ferry schedule and go accordingly...You can easily spend a few hours there before heading back, or just go with a ship excursion if you are worried about the time factor.

[Trip]

The number one reason cruisers go over to St. John, is to snorkel, and, to enjoy the beaches. There is tons of conservation land, with natural beauty,and the entire feeling of this island is quiet, as compared to Charlotte Amalie. Small shopping district as well.

If you like hustle & bustle, shopping till you drop, lots of places to nosh, stay in town.

[MercedMike]

Originally Posted by Trip

The number one reason cruisers go over to St. John, is to snorkel, and, to enjoy the beaches. There is tons of conservation land, with natural beauty,and the entire feeling of this island is quiet, as compared to Charlotte Amalie. Small shopping district as well.

If you like hustle & bustle, shopping till you drop, lots of places to nosh, stay in town.

Trip summed it up well. I would add that there are beautiful spots to see on the St. Thomas side as well, especially Drake's Seat, as well as more things to do such as the mini submarine to the reef.

Staying on St. Thomas gives you a chance for a more mixed day -- beach, scenery, attractions, and shopping! St. Johns is basically the nature lover's island, beach and scenery alone. Trunk Bay is splendid.

I do have to say that I don't quite understand the idea of taking a cruise to spend time in an exotic port lying on the beach. But we live two hours from the beach, and almost never go there anyhow. I suppose to somebody from Idaho or Iowa a day at the beach is a big attraction.

OTOH, why not consider the days at sea to be a "day at the beach" lying around the pool, and spend your port time on seeing the more unusual attractions?

[johnthed0g]

After spending a fair bit of time in the Caribbean & done a few cruises too we think of most of the islands as beach stops now. We missed St John because of weather, got there OK but the locals just said Trunk Bay was closed so we got the ferry back again...waste of time in the end!! As they say.. I shall return!!

[LisaK]

it is definatley worth the trip to go to St. John's Island. Yes St. Thomas has some beautiful beaches, but St.John's is just gorgeous. Got Virgin Islands Travel Information for some great beach info and ferry schedules. Maegan's Bay Beach is beautiful but it gets very crowded, Sapphire is very nice also, as is Emerald. On St.John - all the ships excursions hit Trunk Bay, it is gorgeous but tends to get a bit crowded, Hawksnest, Cinnamon and Honeymoon are all good options to consider on St. John