The Eastern Caribbean may not feature the most ports per cruise, but the overall trip proves to be quite satisfying for several reasons, not the least of which is the excellence of the ports. 
On a recent Caribbean Princess cruise, we visited St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Princess Cays. Because we had plenty of time to enjoy the ship on the sea days, we didn't find ourselves rushing back, instead making the most of each port.
Featured in many Southern Caribbean itineraries and essentially every Eastern Caribbean cruise, St. Thomas is a repeat destination for many cruisers, including us. This time, we elected to take the ferry to nearby St. John. Our good friends Mike and Linda, who joined us on this cruise, probably had a better idea: take a shore excursion on a boat from the cruise port over to St. John to visit a couple of great snorkeling spots. That is apparently too simple for our family. Instead, we caught a taxi to Red Hook, where we caught the ferry to St. John, where we then took a taxi to Trunk Bay.Someone wrote that visiting St. John without visiting Trunk Bay was equivalent to visiting France without seeing Paris. I'm not sure I would go that far, but it certainly is a beautiful beach with great snorkeling. The population of colorful tropical fish isn't as diverse and plentiful as in the South Pacific, but it definitely is quite a satisfying swim.
In the early afternoon, we caught another cab over to nearby Cinamon Bay. With fewer people to enjoy the beautiful beach, this is another excellent destination, though the snorkeling is not quite as good as at Trunk Bay. Soon we were hot and ready to head back to the ferry station at Cruz Bay, where we were supposed to have lunch in the little town at a restaurant regularly frequented by actor Kelsey Grammar of “Cheers” and “Frasier” fame, but somehow we ended up with a Subway sandwich on the ferry headed back to St. Thomas.We lucked out, finding a Lincoln Town Car to take us up the hill for a scenic view of Magen's Bay on our way back to the ship, and the driver charged only a few dollars more than the price of the regular taxi directly back to Charlotte Amalie. I guess we saved a couple of Jacksons by traveling as we did rather than on a shore excursion boat, and we were in complete control of our own day, which is extremely important to my wife. We had taxi rides instead of a fun boat ride, but the ride to see Magen’s Bay was a nice bonus.. You can decide what works best for you.
