St. John 1/31/09 trip report
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:55 pm
Well..... because of the economy worries the wife and I decided to forgo our weeklong St. John trip this year and opted for a cheaper cruise that at least got us to St. John for one day. We had a credit card that had cruise rewards on it, so we cashed them in and were able to get the cruise for $712 for both of us. We were on the RCCL Adventure of the Seas that sails out of San Juan and stopped at Aruba, Curacao, St. Martin, and St. Thomas. When we arrived at St. Thomas at 8:00am we were anxious to get off the ship and get a taxi to Red Hook. We grabbed our snorkel gear and soft sided cooler and headed down to the gangway. Customs held us up for about 25 minutes, so we were starting to worry that we may miss the 9:00am ferry. Since our ship set sail at 5:00pm we did not want to have to wait for the 10:00am ferry. We finally got off the ship a few minutes before 8:30am and grabbed a taxi as quickly has possible. We made it to Red Hook with about 5 to 10 minutes to spare. I sent the wife to get our ferry tickets and I went down the street with our cooler to get beer and ice. I went to where I remembered a small grocery store was and there was a sign in the window "space for rent." I thought I was in the right place, but I had run out of time to continue my search, as it was about 3 minutes to 9:00am so I headed back to the ferry. When we arrive in Cruz Bay we grabbed a taxi to Cinnamon Bay, but first told the taxi driver to stop at Pine Peace first so we could get our beer and ice.
We finally arrive at Cinnamon Bay around 10:00am. Last year at Cinnamon Bay the wind chased us away, but today everything was picture perfect. We strapped on our snorkel gear and headed out. We went left of the small island and circled it clockwise seeing the usual St. John marine life. The juvenile sea turtle that was on the right side of the island last year was still there, his shell about the diameter of a basketball. After snorkeling about an hour it was time to get our drink on. We headed in and the rest of the time was spent on the beach with drink in hand. There was much talk about hopefully coming back in 2010 and were to stay and which friends to invite. Around 1:20pm we decided to head back to town and stopped at Woody's for a couple more drinks and a burger. We caught the 3:00pm ferry and headed back to Red Hook and grabbed a taxi to head back to the ship. Although we only had a few short hours on St. John we both agreed it was the highlight of the trip.
There are a few pictures we took of St. John mainly of Cruz Bay and Cinnamon Bay. Just go the Adventure of the Seas set. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_m/
We finally arrive at Cinnamon Bay around 10:00am. Last year at Cinnamon Bay the wind chased us away, but today everything was picture perfect. We strapped on our snorkel gear and headed out. We went left of the small island and circled it clockwise seeing the usual St. John marine life. The juvenile sea turtle that was on the right side of the island last year was still there, his shell about the diameter of a basketball. After snorkeling about an hour it was time to get our drink on. We headed in and the rest of the time was spent on the beach with drink in hand. There was much talk about hopefully coming back in 2010 and were to stay and which friends to invite. Around 1:20pm we decided to head back to town and stopped at Woody's for a couple more drinks and a burger. We caught the 3:00pm ferry and headed back to Red Hook and grabbed a taxi to head back to the ship. Although we only had a few short hours on St. John we both agreed it was the highlight of the trip.
There are a few pictures we took of St. John mainly of Cruz Bay and Cinnamon Bay. Just go the Adventure of the Seas set. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_m/
Thanks for the day...sounds like you planned it perfectly and the price was right.