silverbutterfly

I have these three hotels reserved for a night before our cruise. We come in on a red eye Saturday morning and our cruise leaves Sunday night so we will have about 2 full days. Our plans are some beach time, good food and exploring the forts. We are a group of 8 with three kids, ages 11, 14 and 16 and will have 2 hotel rooms. All seem fairly similar so I am having a hard time choosing.

1. DoubleTree- $358

2. AC Hotel- $430

3. Best Western Plus Condado- $480

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Are there any beach toys available here? Jet skis, boogie boards etc?

Is it possible to do zip lining at Loterie Farm in the morning and then take a taxi to Maho before getting back on the ship by 4?

Thank you! I have made about 3 fully refundable reservations, AC Condado included. That is the one I am leaning towards. I heard the bus is a pretty easy way to get to Old San Juan.

Thank you! We are going in June so hopefully most will be open by then.

When are you going? If it’s soon, you might be best off finding out which hotels are open to the public first.

 

The Embassy Suites in Isla Verde is not close to Old San Juan (not in walking distance, but you can get a cab for $20-$25), but it’s close to a big beach. You can walk to the beach in about 5 min. However, I read today (Jan 4, 2017) that someone had their reservations for March cancelled by the hotel, which says it won’t be open by then.

 

The Sheraton Old San Juan is a highly recommended hotel. It’s smack downtown in Old San Juan, and you can walk around everywhere once you’re there ($20-$25 cab ride from the airport). Not sure if it’s open or not. The website said it would be taking reservations after Nov 2017, then Jan 8, 2018. Not sure if it will really be open next week or not and I haven’t seen anyone give updates about this hotel.

 

 

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We are a family of 8, all adults except the 3 kids (16,14 and 11). We are flying in on a red eye the day before the cruise, so we'll have the day before and the day of the cruise to explore San Juan. I know we want to check out Old San Juan, the forts and would love the possibility of the beach (although this is not a necessity as I am sure we will get our share of beaches on the cruise.) We are open to taking the public bus to get to Old San Juan...but it might be cumbersome with luggage on the day of the cruise. Torn between the Condado area, Isla Verde or staying in Old San Juan itself. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for you help!

Yes. So if you can choose your cabin, then you will retain your ES status.

By guarantee rate, do you mean where they wait to assign you cabins until closer to the sail date? Because I believe it is just an onboard credit sale and it allows me to choose my cabins when I do a mock booking online.

You will never lose your ES status when price matching unless you price match to a guarantee rate which based upon what you said at the ends sounds like what the new sale is. So if that's the case, you can only get a price drop once and you will be put into the guarantee pool losing your assigned cabins.

I have tried calling and emailing my assigned PVP for a few days now and no response. I am assuming he has a few days off. :) I just tried calling Carnival to speak to another agent and he could not answer any of my questions and seemed confused. Hoping you experts can explain. We are currently booked with Early Saver, 2 interior cabins on midship deck 4. With the onboard credit sale, we can save $100 and earn an additional $100 in OBC. I know, I'll have to pay the difference in deposit but if I switch to the onboard credit sale, does that mean I'll lose the early saver perks? (like being able to get a price drop up until sail date).

I don't want to do the Early Saver sale because I would probably lose our deck 4 and the agent I just spoke with said the only cabins they have left near each other are deck 1, all the way in the back (not an ideal location for us).

Thanks for any clarification you can give me.

Thank you everyone! I think we are going to go for it!

I am looking to book this cruise for my family of 7 for a June/July sailing. I am assuming because it is an available option most things will be up and running as far as excursions and such after the hurricane. We really want to go to this area and I love the idea of putting some money into the local economy after such devastation. However, since we rarely get to go on family vacations I don't want to be disappointed either. Can anyone offer any feedback? Thanks!

Anyone know what beach they take you to?

I thought I read something at one time that said it is cheaper to buy the bottles of liquor through room service after you have set sail (due to no taxes once in international waters) than it is to preorder through Bon Voyage. Is this correct? How much of a savings is it?

Our non alcoholic drinks available for kids? Like a Pina Colada or something along those lines. Just trying o figure out if it the AI side would be worth it. Thanks!

Me too!

Does this require closed toe shoes or would athletic sandals (like Chacos) be ok? I hate having hot feet and don't plan on bringing my running shoes at all unless I absolutely have to. Thanks!

I was just talking about the first time I got a price drop. I did not try for this one per everyone's advice. :)

Yesterday I filled out the form and they denied it, saying the current price was more than my booked fare (even though it wasn't). So I called my PVP and he did it no problem.

Thanks everyone, I'll just hold onto this one and keep watching.

MY PVP applied a price drop for me yesterday. I got $20 off fare and $50 OBC. Not much but I'll take what I can get. :) I noticed today the fare has dropped another $20 but no OBC. If I call to get it changed to the new fare will I lose my OBC?

June- I stated that in the first post. Not sure how much more info you need... I am relatively new to this. We did compare prices of having 2 rooms and this ended up cheaper.

7 Days- OV

How many days?

Balcony, ocean view or inside cabin?

Can someone please send me the 9-11? Thanks!

silverbutterfly_24@yahoo.com

We are a family of 5 sailing out our PC in June on the Magic (western caribbean). Our rate before taxes and everything comes to about $801 a person. I have been checking for price drops every day and it's not budging. Just wondering if the rate we got was good or not and if I should not be expecting any PDs.

It's not about having the money to do it, it's about spending money on something he will never wear again. Especially, since he is growing so fast right now. If I knew he would get more use out of them, I wouldn't bat an eye. It just seems wasteful to me.

Always curious of the question. Dress codes are common for kids. For example, many schools have a dress code. When they become teenagers, they might work someplace and have a dress code. Adults in the workplace have a dress code. Why wouldn't the kids have to dress appropriately based on the current dress code for the establishment.....this goes beyond the cruise ship but in life in general.

 

With the price of drinks on the ship, just have one less drink and buy a pair of pants with the savings!

Ok, thanks, I guess I will force my 14 year old into something other than basketball shorts. He refuses to wear anything else so don't want to spend money on something he'll only wear once. But I guess he might be able to get away with wearing the same pair in the dining room every night. :eek: