Adventure of the Seas on a Budget

Let's make this a judgement free zone. Not everyone has the budget to do both a cruise and excursions in every port.

Just back from our 5/3 to 5/9 cruise on AOS. We definitely went to extremes to save money.

We wanted to stop at a pharmacy on our way to the pier so we decided to try the public bus to Isla Verde, walk to Walgreens, then catch a cab. We figured we would have a problem with our bags on the bus from Isla Verde to Pan American, thus the cab.

We just missed the bus and after waiting 30 minutes and not seeing another, we asked a cab driver about the cost of stopping at Walgreens. She said no extra charge so $23 plus $2 a bag and we gave a $2 tip.

I have always taken soda on the cruise (about 1 a day). There was soda available at the duty free store at Pan American Pier. It was about $9 for 6 - 12oz cans. I packed a few 24 oz bottles in my checked bag (on the plane and ship) and all was fine.

Barbados - we walked to the "The Boatyard". Once you got past the very pushy taxi drivers, the walk was pretty easy and safe. It probably took less than 30 minutes. Rather than pay admission, we laid our towels next door. No chairs, no umbrella, no problem. The beach was beautiful and so was the water. We also walked down to where the public beach facilities were and swam from shore there out to see the turtles as opposed to paying for a boat to do the same. We just looked to see where the boats were going. I recommend a life vest and full snorkel gear but we did it with just a mask and snorkel. The water was murky but we saw about 6 turtles probably 100 yards from shore. We used the free WiFi at the port. We had to be patient waiting for it to connect, but when it did we were able to call home using a WIFI calling app.

St. Lucia - we again walked past the taxi drivers (these guys were worse than Barbados). I told them we were headed to town and even though it was clear we could walk to town, they insisted we ride with them. We didn't. Town is literally a few blocks from the port. We asked a police officer for the city bus station. She instead pointed us to a bus stop just West of town. Because it was so close to town, and the buses leave town full, there was no room on the buses for us. Rather than walk back to town, we walked to Viggie. It was farther than I anticipated and was definitely not as easy a walk as we had in the Barbados. We were alone for this walk too whereas in Barbados there were other tourists around. The walk is next to a busy highway and the airport that you have to walk around is bigger than I thought. We carried on and arrived at the public beach access at the end of the airport and right next to Rendezvous resort. The beach was nice and the water was good (not great). A few big rocks in the water to watch out for. The locals made us a little nervous but we were never far from the security guard at Rendezvous (not that he would have helped). As for other tourists, we were alone on the walk and the beach. This is a better island for a tour than a beach day but we were too cheap! Wifi was $6 for the day at the port. A local said there was WiFi at the gas station/restaurant that we passed while walking by the airport.

Antigua - We walked out to the main street and then about five blocks right to the city bus station. Believe me when I say that we were the only tourists in site! We asked a local for the bus to Valley Church Beach. Eventually a guy waved us to his bus (just a compact mini van with "BUS" on the license plate). The bus doesn't leave until it's completely full. Locals were quiet, but friendly. It was a crazy ride to the beach on narrow, poor streets. A postal worker got on the bus and gave another rider a hard time about taking the bus instead of a taxi to the beach. She wasn't speaking to us but I think her message was meant for us too. The bus driver stopped at Jolly Harbor and then continued on to the drive entrance to Valley Church. We paid him $1.50 per person and we walked a very short distance to the beach. What a BEAUTIFUL beach! It was like a postcard! We loved it! It was coral blue, super soft sand bottom. We rented a jet ski for $40 for 30 minutes (forgot to check the time, so it was probably closer to 20 minutes). We had a blast! There were bathrooms and a bar further up the beach. About 3 pm, we walked back to where the bus dropped us off and another bus showed up almost immediately and honked and we waved him over. This bus was mostly empty on the way back so I didn't feel like we were taking a locals seat. We paid the $1.50 US pp again and we walked back to the shops at the pier. A sales rep at Tanzanite International gave us the password for their WiFi while we looked around.

St. Maarten - Took the water taxi to town (because of a sprained ankle) $7 US roundtrip. We walked a couple short blocks in from the boardwalk and caught a city bus to Maho for $2 pp US. They dropped us off right next to the beach. We watched the planes come and go and walked just past the taxis back to the bus (about 100 ft from the taxis). Actually the bus driver saw me coming and waved us over (again the only way to tell it's a bus vs. taxi is it says "bus" on the license plate). It was back to Phillipsburg where we hung out at Great Bay beach. We were offered 2 chairs and an umbrella for $10, but since we only had a couple hours remaining I swam and my wife laid in the sun. We bought a Coke at McDonald's and got the WiFI password.

San Juan - We rented a car from Charlie's $32 total US. Had to call them from the cruise port to pick us up (our phones wouldn't call San Juan numbers so we had to ask the guy at the taxi booth for help). We drove to El Yungue rainforest. Charlie's warned us about the toll road, so we took route 3 with lots of stop lights and traffic. Probably took 45 minutes to get from the rental car pickup to the rainforest. Drove back to Charlie's Isla Verde location and took their shuttle to the airport.

I did a ton of research before we left and I was glad I did. The poor man's itinerary is not for everyone but it works for us and now we are closer to our next cruise! I'd be glad to answer any questions except for the one that goes something like "Why are you so cheap on VACATION!?"

Good for you! I often tell people that a vacation is what you make of it...as long as it works for you, then that is all that matters.

Let's make this a judgement free zone. Not everyone has the budget to do both a cruise and excursions in every port.

 

Just back from our 5/3 to 5/9 cruise on AOS. We definitely went to extremes to save money.

 

We wanted to stop at a pharmacy on our way to the pier so we decided to try the public bus to Isla Verde, walk to Walgreens, then catch a cab. We figured we would have a problem with our bags on the bus from Isla Verde to Pan American, thus the cab.

 

We just missed the bus and after waiting 30 minutes and not seeing another, we asked a cab driver about the cost of stopping at Walgreens. She said no extra charge so $23 plus $2 a bag and we gave a $2 tip.

 

I have always taken soda on the cruise (about 1 a day). There was soda available at the duty free store at Pan American Pier. It was about $9 for 6 - 12oz cans. I packed a few 24 oz bottles in my checked bag (on the plane and ship) and all was fine.

 

Barbados - we walked to the "The Boatyard". Once you got past the very pushy taxi drivers, the walk was pretty easy and safe. It probably took less than 30 minutes. Rather than pay admission, we laid our towels next door. No chairs, no umbrella, no problem. The beach was beautiful and so was the water. We also walked down to where the public beach facilities were and swam from shore there out to see the turtles as opposed to paying for a boat to do the same. We just looked to see where the boats were going. I recommend a life vest and full snorkel gear but we did it with just a mask and snorkel. The water was murky but we saw about 6 turtles probably 100 yards from shore. We used the free WiFi at the port. We had to be patient waiting for it to connect, but when it did we were able to call home using a WIFI calling app.

 

St. Lucia - we again walked past the taxi drivers (these guys were worse than Barbados). I told them we were headed to town and even though it was clear we could walk to town, they insisted we ride with them. We didn't. Town is literally a few blocks from the port. We asked a police officer for the city bus station. She instead pointed us to a bus stop just West of town. Because it was so close to town, and the buses leave town full, there was no room on the buses for us. Rather than walk back to town, we walked to Viggie. It was farther than I anticipated and was definitely not as easy a walk as we had in the Barbados. We were alone for this walk too whereas in Barbados there were other tourists around. The walk is next to a busy highway and the airport that you have to walk around is bigger than I thought. We carried on and arrived at the public beach access at the end of the airport and right next to Rendezvous resort. The beach was nice and the water was good (not great). A few big rocks in the water to watch out for. The locals made us a little nervous but we were never far from the security guard at Rendezvous (not that he would have helped). As for other tourists, we were alone on the walk and the beach. This is a better island for a tour than a beach day but we were too cheap! Wifi was $6 for the day at the port. A local said there was WiFi at the gas station/restaurant that we passed while walking by the airport.

 

Antigua - We walked out to the main street and then about five blocks right to the city bus station. Believe me when I say that we were the only tourists in site! We asked a local for the bus to Valley Church Beach. Eventually a guy waved us to his bus (just a compact mini van with "BUS" on the license plate). The bus doesn't leave until it's completely full. Locals were quiet, but friendly. It was a crazy ride to the beach on narrow, poor streets. A postal worker got on the bus and gave another rider a hard time about taking the bus instead of a taxi to the beach. She wasn't speaking to us but I think her message was meant for us too. The bus driver stopped at Jolly Harbor and then continued on to the drive entrance to Valley Church. We paid him $1.50 per person and we walked a very short distance to the beach. What a BEAUTIFUL beach! It was like a postcard! We loved it! It was coral blue, super soft sand bottom. We rented a jet ski for $40 for 30 minutes (forgot to check the time, so it was probably closer to 20 minutes). We had a blast! There were bathrooms and a bar further up the beach. About 3 pm, we walked back to where the bus dropped us off and another bus showed up almost immediately and honked and we waved him over. This bus was mostly empty on the way back so I didn't feel like we were taking a locals seat. We paid the $1.50 US pp again and we walked back to the shops at the pier. A sales rep at Tanzanite International gave us the password for their WiFi while we looked around.

 

St. Maarten - Took the water taxi to town (because of a sprained ankle) $7 US roundtrip. We walked a couple short blocks in from the boardwalk and caught a city bus to Maho for $2 pp US. They dropped us off right next to the beach. We watched the planes come and go and walked just past the taxis back to the bus (about 100 ft from the taxis). Actually the bus driver saw me coming and waved us over (again the only way to tell it's a bus vs. taxi is it says "bus" on the license plate). It was back to Phillipsburg where we hung out at Great Bay beach. We were offered 2 chairs and an umbrella for $10, but since we only had a couple hours remaining I swam and my wife laid in the sun. We bought a Coke at McDonald's and got the WiFI password.

 

San Juan - We rented a car from Charlie's $32 total US. Had to call them from the cruise port to pick us up (our phones wouldn't call San Juan numbers so we had to ask the guy at the taxi booth for help). We drove to El Yungue rainforest. Charlie's warned us about the toll road, so we took route 3 with lots of stop lights and traffic. Probably took 45 minutes to get from the rental car pickup to the rainforest. Drove back to Charlie's Isla Verde location and took their shuttle to the airport.

 

I did a ton of research before we left and I was glad I did. The poor man's itinerary is not for everyone but it works for us and now we are closer to our next cruise! I'd be glad to answer any questions except for the one that goes something like "Why are you so cheap on VACATION!?"

Not everyone is made of money and every person likes to do different things. I would never do what you did simply because going to beaches bores me to tears, but I think it's great that you enjoy doing it and are willing to walk to get there if necessary. You still had a great time on your trip and I'm sure you have a greater appreciation for the locations simply because you walked and weren't speeding by in a taxi or bus most of the times. Don't apologize for saving money. All that matters is that you had a great time regardless of how much you did or did not spend. And as you said, you are that much closer to your next cruise!

Thank you! I am planning on riding the bus in Antigua and St.Maarten as well, so I love hearing more info. I have a family of 5, with kids ages 6, 9, and 10. The busses cost so much less than a taxi that I just can't pass them up. Even if we have to wait a little longer, it seems like it will be worth it. I am bringing enough cash for a taxi though, just in case we get stranded somewhere :)

Thanks for the tips! I usually prefer to do things the cheapest (or free) way if there's an option, even if I can pay for it. I don't see the point in paying more money for the same experience, and sometimes I choose to put my budget towards something else so knowing there's a bus or a short walk is a helpful way to save $20 or $40 bucks, which adds up with 5 port stops. That $100 saved could take me on a "free" scuba trip. That's how I like to look at it.

This is a great review! I think a lot of people don't realize that a "budget" cruise can quickly double with an excursion in each port! I know we paid almost as much for 3 people to take private or independent excursions over 5 ports as we did for the whole cruise itself! Each excursion was 65-120 pp per day, if you figure an average of 300 dollars a day (plus tips and spending money) we spent $1,500 - 2000 on excursions; or about 2/3 - 3/4 of what the cruise cost us. Another tip is to negotiate a bit on excursions, we booked a private trip for 30 less pp because I emailed back saying we were not going to use the onboard "bar" with our teenager with us. Also, if you like to bargain, you can use all those aggressive taxi drivers to compete for your tour price; get off a little later, after the mob, and have the guys left compete for your business.

I think your review is so helpful for people to decide which ports to go it alone, or use public transit; where it feels safe to do so and where it's logistically too complicated or risky (physically unsafe or not reliable enough for a cruise passenger with a set departure time) It seems you met with a mix of resentment and respect from locals who either saw you as competing with them (and taking away their livelihoods) or were pleased to see a visitor be unafraid to mingle with them and experience the island the way they do! I'm glad you shared this!

Another thing I noticed about many of the islands on this itinerary, is that there is a perfectly lovely beach within walking distance of almost every port, where if you wanted to bring your blue towel with you, you could walk off the ship and sit at the beach for a few hours for nothing!

We take an opposite approach though, we crusie for the experiences in the islands, and while we could afford a more expensive cruise line, or fancier suite we instead chose a less expensive "mass market" crusie like Adventure, and we don't spend money onboard drinking or shopping. We then use the money we've saved to splurge on independent or privately guided shore excursions. Its interesting to me how everyone has different ideas about how to "economize"!

Thanks for sharing your ideas! As you mention, it requires some advance planning, so this is very helpful!

Sounds great...no judgment here! We love to walk, I prefer that anyway (see your surroundings, burn off some cruise calories) and we love checking out the local beaches.

I read in another thread something complaining that there wasn't a shuttle to get them down the pier at Labadee...really?!?! :)

Great to hear you were able to get around the islands on a budget. Congrats!

It surprising that more people don't do this.

Questions / Comments:

1: SJU - I haven't heard anything positive about the bus system. Ridiculous that the US system is worse than local Caribbean islands. We have always stayed within walking distance for this reason. We had good luck with Charlie Car - will use them again

2) Barbados - I think I will try walking to the Boatyard based on your comments - thanks

3) St Lucia - Bummer that the buses were too full. Not an easy island to do without a tour

4) Antigua - We loved the bus system. We had the exact same experience going to Valley Church. The ride is fairly long - what a deal! The locals were very helpful

5) St Martin - short walk to town (with a good ankle). I recommend staying on the bus past Maho and dropping off at Mullet beach. Much nicer beach - then walk back to Maho to see the planes and pick up the returning bus.

Side Note - Grenada has a great "bus" system as well. 1 block from the port. $2 bucks to the beach, fun drive - great locals.

Thank you for the positive replies! It's clear that there are a lot of budget cruisers out there!

I agree with the comment about seeing the island differently from the bus! The bus was an eye opener to life, especially in Antigua.

I didn't mention it before but the St. Maarten bus from Maho to Phillipsburg was interesting for a different reason. There was an "animated" argument between the driver and his front seat passenger. It continued for the whole trip in spite of the passenger's willingness to stop it. I don't speak Spanish but based on a few words I recognized (Inglés - English, Diablo - Devil, Presidente - President) it was either about picking up tourists on the bus, religion, politics, or all 3! :)

That being said, I think you will be fine taking your kids on the bus in St. Maarten.

The Antigua bus seemed less welcoming to tourists. Below is a link on how to do the Antigua bus. It was a weekday and we were the only ship in port and we left the ship about 9:30 am. Your experience might be different. If I were to do it again, I might find other cruisers to join me.

http://antiguaislandguide.com/one-day-in-antigua-on-a-shoestring/

The St. Lucia bus might be okay too, we just gave up on getting to it.

I agree with the comments about Mullet Beach. I wish we had tried that.

I admire you guys. You visit ports the way I want to. We did a self guided tour of Nassau, but never really ventured far in any other port. You've inspired me to do more port research for our next cruise!

Some great money saving tips too. I have no problem taking a bus or walking. Thanks for the info! No problem bringing soda on the ship in san juan? My wife and I are energy drink addicts and I want to make sure I can bring a few cans on the cruise.

Some great money saving tips too. I have no problem taking a bus or walking. Thanks for the info! No problem bringing soda on the ship in san juan? My wife and I are energy drink addicts and I want to make sure I can bring a few cans on the cruise.

We've had no problem bringing water and soda onboard in San Juan. There is a duty free shop in the terminal, after you pass through security, that sells water, soda, wine, cigarettes, etc.

Interesting that your phone didn't work in San Juan- ours do. I know that some carriers consider Puerto Rico international, so perhaps that's what happened.

Nicely done vacation!

We try to not do any organized tour on each location, too- probably 80% of the time, we are on our own.

So IF you do the other, Southern route from San Juan- in Aruba, if you walk past the city toward the airport- there's a pretty nice beach just outside of town. If you look on a google map- it stretches from Renaissance Beach to Surfside Beach- and when we were there, it was just locals (it appeared), but very spaced out. Curacao was more difficult- but perhaps that's more the route we ran- across the bay and through town. We managed to find a pretty nice place to swim thanks to some local ladies who were doing the same thing- bit it was not a beach so much as a rocked in pool. Very nice, but not a beach.

Like other posters, we are not really beach people- just like to look around. So going to the local market is cool, seeing the free museums is nice, the highlights, and whatnot.

It's so much easier to get INTO the area when you are on your own.

Let's make this a judgement free zone. Not everyone has the budget to do both a cruise and excursions in every port.

 

Just back from our 5/3 to 5/9 cruise on AOS. We definitely went to extremes to save money.

 

We wanted to stop at a pharmacy on our way to the pier so we decided to try the public bus to Isla Verde, walk to Walgreens, then catch a cab. We figured we would have a problem with our bags on the bus from Isla Verde to Pan American, thus the cab.

 

We just missed the bus and after waiting 30 minutes and not seeing another, we asked a cab driver about the cost of stopping at Walgreens. She said no extra charge so $23 plus $2 a bag and we gave a $2 tip.

 

I have always taken soda on the cruise (about 1 a day). There was soda available at the duty free store at Pan American Pier. It was about $9 for 6 - 12oz cans. I packed a few 24 oz bottles in my checked bag (on the plane and ship) and all was fine.

 

Barbados - we walked to the "The Boatyard". Once you got past the very pushy taxi drivers, the walk was pretty easy and safe. It probably took less than 30 minutes. Rather than pay admission, we laid our towels next door. No chairs, no umbrella, no problem. The beach was beautiful and so was the water. We also walked down to where the public beach facilities were and swam from shore there out to see the turtles as opposed to paying for a boat to do the same. We just looked to see where the boats were going. I recommend a life vest and full snorkel gear but we did it with just a mask and snorkel. The water was murky but we saw about 6 turtles probably 100 yards from shore. We used the free WiFi at the port. We had to be patient waiting for it to connect, but when it did we were able to call home using a WIFI calling app.

 

St. Lucia - we again walked past the taxi drivers (these guys were worse than Barbados). I told them we were headed to town and even though it was clear we could walk to town, they insisted we ride with them. We didn't. Town is literally a few blocks from the port. We asked a police officer for the city bus station. She instead pointed us to a bus stop just West of town. Because it was so close to town, and the buses leave town full, there was no room on the buses for us. Rather than walk back to town, we walked to Viggie. It was farther than I anticipated and was definitely not as easy a walk as we had in the Barbados. We were alone for this walk too whereas in Barbados there were other tourists around. The walk is next to a busy highway and the airport that you have to walk around is bigger than I thought. We carried on and arrived at the public beach access at the end of the airport and right next to Rendezvous resort. The beach was nice and the water was good (not great). A few big rocks in the water to watch out for. The locals made us a little nervous but we were never far from the security guard at Rendezvous (not that he would have helped). As for other tourists, we were alone on the walk and the beach. This is a better island for a tour than a beach day but we were too cheap! Wifi was $6 for the day at the port. A local said there was WiFi at the gas station/restaurant that we passed while walking by the airport.

 

Antigua - We walked out to the main street and then about five blocks right to the city bus station. Believe me when I say that we were the only tourists in site! We asked a local for the bus to Valley Church Beach. Eventually a guy waved us to his bus (just a compact mini van with "BUS" on the license plate). The bus doesn't leave until it's completely full. Locals were quiet, but friendly. It was a crazy ride to the beach on narrow, poor streets. A postal worker got on the bus and gave another rider a hard time about taking the bus instead of a taxi to the beach. She wasn't speaking to us but I think her message was meant for us too. The bus driver stopped at Jolly Harbor and then continued on to the drive entrance to Valley Church. We paid him $1.50 per person and we walked a very short distance to the beach. What a BEAUTIFUL beach! It was like a postcard! We loved it! It was coral blue, super soft sand bottom. We rented a jet ski for $40 for 30 minutes (forgot to check the time, so it was probably closer to 20 minutes). We had a blast! There were bathrooms and a bar further up the beach. About 3 pm, we walked back to where the bus dropped us off and another bus showed up almost immediately and honked and we waved him over. This bus was mostly empty on the way back so I didn't feel like we were taking a locals seat. We paid the $1.50 US pp again and we walked back to the shops at the pier. A sales rep at Tanzanite International gave us the password for their WiFi while we looked around.

 

St. Maarten - Took the water taxi to town (because of a sprained ankle) $7 US roundtrip. We walked a couple short blocks in from the boardwalk and caught a city bus to Maho for $2 pp US. They dropped us off right next to the beach. We watched the planes come and go and walked just past the taxis back to the bus (about 100 ft from the taxis). Actually the bus driver saw me coming and waved us over (again the only way to tell it's a bus vs. taxi is it says "bus" on the license plate). It was back to Phillipsburg where we hung out at Great Bay beach. We were offered 2 chairs and an umbrella for $10, but since we only had a couple hours remaining I swam and my wife laid in the sun. We bought a Coke at McDonald's and got the WiFI password.

 

San Juan - We rented a car from Charlie's $32 total US. Had to call them from the cruise port to pick us up (our phones wouldn't call San Juan numbers so we had to ask the guy at the taxi booth for help). We drove to El Yungue rainforest. Charlie's warned us about the toll road, so we took route 3 with lots of stop lights and traffic. Probably took 45 minutes to get from the rental car pickup to the rainforest. Drove back to Charlie's Isla Verde location and took their shuttle to the airport.

 

I did a ton of research before we left and I was glad I did. The poor man's itinerary is not for everyone but it works for us and now we are closer to our next cruise! I'd be glad to answer any questions except for the one that goes something like "Why are you so cheap on VACATION!?"

What time was your flight out of San Juan? We also rented a car from Charlies but stayed in the condado to Isla Verde.

We took the local bus to Valley Church beach last time we were in Antigua and it was great - both the bus ride and the beach. I'm sorry you felt unwelcome by the comments of another rider. On the way to the beach we rode with several people heading to work and kids on their way to school. Everyone was jovial, helpful and kind - a great experience all around. Hope you have a better experience next time!

The first time we went to Barbados we also walked to the beach - we went to Lobsters Alive rather than the Boatyard. Another beautiful beach. We did have to wait 20 or so minutes at the draw bridges crossing the intracoastal for multiple fishing boats, so if anyone else plans to walk, don't wait to the last minute to head back to port.

With proper research, there is seldom a need to do "excursions"... Most things are quite easy (and cheap) to do on your own. The cruise line is counting on the passengers to be sailing "blind" and know nothing about where they're going...and for most, that is so true!

I'm always amazed at the folks who take a "beach break" excursion...what a waste of money!

"We used the free WiFi at the port. We had to be patient waiting for it to connect, but when it did we were able to call home using a WIFI calling app."

Can you explain further? I am not a techie and I need something like this next month. I don't want to pay for international service for 4 days.

We've had no problem bringing water and soda onboard in San Juan. There is a duty free shop in the terminal, after you pass through security, that sells water, soda, wine, cigarettes, etc.

Bob, we will be looking for a place to buy our 2 bottles of wine to take on board. Is the price a lot more at the terminal? Being duty free maybe it is best to just buy it there. When is it that they check out how many bottles of wine you have? Do you bring the water and soda onboard in your carry on? i.e. your other suitcase is long gone isn't it. I think I'm getting confused over the order of things.

Bob, we will be looking for a place to buy our 2 bottles of wine to take on board. Is the price a lot more at the terminal? Being duty free maybe it is best to just buy it there. When is it that they check out how many bottles of wine you have? Do you bring the water and soda onboard in your carry on? i.e. your other suitcase is long gone isn't it. I think I'm getting confused over the order of things.

The prices dont seem bad at the duty free shop, much less than onboard. However, the selection is rather small, so if you are particular about your wine, then you should probably look elsewhere.

Thhey check for the number of bottles in two places: security before you get in the terminal, and again right before you go up the escalator to the ship.

We put the bottles in our carry-on.

every port you go into, there will be places to eat and drink that offer free wifi...there is not reason to buy it on the ship

The Free Wifi in Barbados is horribly slow. You have everyone logging on plus all the crew members. Only place I found free wifi and at a great speed was a bar on the beach in St johns called "The Nest"

A lot of other places you have to buy a t shirt or a drink or something and they will give you the code.

The prices dont seem bad at the duty free shop, much less than onboard. However, the selection is rather small, so if you are particular about your wine, then you should probably look elsewhere.

 

Thhey check for the number of bottles in two places: security before you get in the terminal, and again right before you go up the escalator to the ship.

 

We put the bottles in our carry-on.

If we are doing a B2B and buy 4 bottles of wine, will they take two of them away for later at one of these check points?

Not really particular about my wine. I like certain types best and prefer Italian or Spanish over California but am pretty easy to please. So if there are a few to choose from of different types I should probably not bother running around trying to find another spot. Thanks.

If we are doing a B2B and buy 4 bottles of wine, will they take two of them away for later at one of these check points?....

They might take two bottles away, but more often than not, they don't say anything.

Thanks for the great review with handy tips.

:)

Tom

"We used the free WiFi at the port. We had to be patient waiting for it to connect, but when it did we were able to call home using a WIFI calling app."

Can you explain further? I am not a techie and I need something like this next month. I don't want to pay for international service for 4 days.

Download Tango or WhatsApp. You can text through them AND you can call through them, using wifi.

Sorry everyone I got busy with life after the cruise and forgot to check back in to see if there were more questions.

First, no problems with packing soda in San Juan. I did put them in our checked bag to avoid any issues.

Calling from wifi is built into our Republic Wireless phones. Republic Wireless offloads calls and texts to wifi (just like a smartphone uses wifi for data where available) by default to save on the fees they pay Sprint to use their network. However, prior to Republic Wireless, I used Skype to call from wifi on cruises. Also, we could use our phones without wifi in San Juan, but only to call back to the US. That's because it viewed local calls in San Juan as international calls. We also used this phone without wifi in St. Thomas on a prior cruise. I have also used WhatsApp to text over wifi.

I also wanted to add that the comment on our bus about using a taxi to get to the beach was not said to us or in a mean way and not intimidating, it was more of a subtle message that I picked up on. My guess is that some locals feel this way and would not vocalize it. We have now taken the bus in Grand Cayman, Antigua, and St. Maarten. We have felt out of place at times but never unsafe and generally the locals are accomodating.