Day 2 on Carnival Fascination was a lot of fun! Our first day in port was at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. Prior to the cruise, I had researched like crazy some fun things to do. My parents had visited St. Thomas in the past and talked about how beautiful it was and that the snorkeling and the ocean was so incredibly beautiful in this destination. My In-laws had never been snorkeling so I started looking into activities that where we could spend time on the water and snorkel the majority of the day. With all of that being said, I decided to book a private charter for the day.
Once docked in the cruise port, around 7 or 8am, passengers were allowed to get off the boat and get right to their daily agenda. In Charlotte Amalie, you will find that there is TONS of shopping! and...it's duty free! Most people hit up the shopping in St. Thomas because of the duty free experience. You will find shopping right in the cruise port as well as taking a taxi into Charlotte Amalie for more shopping downtown. Our crew passed on the duty free shopping, but only because we really didn't have time.
Coming into the port, we caught a taxi to the other side of the island to American Yacht Harbor where we met up with our charter and captain for the day. We had a great day, but I don't remember and cannot find any of my records that tell me who our charter was.... :( Sorry!!! You can find a lot of different options for charters if you choose to go that route. Checkout Trip Advisor to find what other reviewers have said:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?geo=147404&searchNearby=&pid=3826&redirect=&startTime=&uiOrigin=&q=Charters&supportedSearchTypes=find_near_stand_alone_query&enableNearPage=true&returnTo=__2F__&searchSessionId=8DE8CC0E9AB468917BCCF1341F86A3851541343232428ssid&social_typeahead_2018_feature=true&sid=8DE8CC0E9AB468917BCCF1341F86A3851541343253895
Once on the charter, we were off! Unfortunately, a storm was passing through and the day we spent in the U.S. Virgin Islands was cloudy and overcast. We were disappointed, but still had a wonderful experience. However, we did get pretty wet, which made for a pretty cold day outside of the water!
Due to the storms, the captain had to keep us out of certain bays and we ended up snorkeling two different locations. One was right off of Cruz Bay, St. John and the other was closer to St. Thomas on the east end of the island.
To avoid the storms, the Captain took us to Cruz Bay for lunch. We ate at Joe's Rum Hut.
Highly recommended! The view is just incredible and our meal was very good. Prices are more expensive on the island of St. John, but the exclusivity of this island is unreal! It's very cool to see all of the boats in Cruz Bay and the vibe of this area is very caribbean.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147410-d2528130-Reviews-Joe_s_Rum_Hut-Cruz_Bay_St_John_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html
Overall, our day in the U.S. Virgin Islands was fantastic and great way to start off our cruise! After boating past a few islands and seeing the beauty of St. John, I knew that I wanted to return and spend at least a week on the island.
I am excited to say that after months of researching and planning, Chase and I will be able to share our week experience with you on St. John, US Virgin Islands very soon :)
Follow my instagram over the course of the next week to see what cool adventures we are able to go on in St. John :)
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