Welcome! Go back up to the top of this board, click on St John to "getting here" and you should see the ferry schedules. Please note that other message boarders have recently posted changes in the schedule from St Thomas (STT) to St John (STJ). You have 2 choices- fly to STT then take a ferry from the city there, Charlotte Amalie, or fly to STT and take a shuttle/van/taxi to the other end of STT called Red Hook and take a much shorter ferry from Red Hook. That one runs more often and is cheaper but you have to take the shuttle first so I think it about breaks even. I forget the schedule off hand but the Red Hook one runs till late in the evening.
This is never a budget type of trip so be prepared to open the wallet more than you might have planned on. We camp on STJ at the Maho Bay resorts, partly to keep costs down and mostly because its our taste/style. YOu can eat off food stands, buy your own food, things like that but overall, its not a cheap place to visit. Enjoy this message board as you will find, with a tiny bit of searching, answers to many or most of your questions.

The last ferry out of Red Hook is at midnight. It will cost you $4.
They have a charge for luggage at $2 per bag not including carry-ons. Arriving at 9pm; you should be able to make the 10 if not 11 ferry. If you fear missing them, then stay the night in St. Thomas and go over in the morning.

RL

More importantly, where do you need to go once on STJ? You will be arriving fairly late in the evening.

Jen,

What was said above is right on and you have good reason to be asking. Getting a cab from the airport is not a problem at that time of night. Red hook is not a problem to catch the ferry. But getting on STJ that late may be (with luggage in tow). How far are you going on STJ? I would consider staying at Best Western near the airport or Island Beachcomber, then going to STJ the next morning. Hotel 1829 might be a choice also in town (they have some cool rooms at reasopnable rates, if available). If going far on STJ check some resources like Frommers on hotels on STT and then do a search here and ask more questions.

PS Isn't this board great! (I'm addicted)

Rick

Jenny - You may want to look at different airlines, or try flying out of O'Hare instead of WI. We found flights that get us to St. Thomas at approx 3:30 pm, via O'Hare and San Juan. I thimk it was on AA.
Lisa