smurfm69

Thanks a bunch for the info!

Thanks for reading! The food tour was $69 per person and we booked it independently through the company directly - sanjuanfoodtours.com.

Enjoying your review and pictures. We are doing this same cruise in May and can't wait! How much was your food tour in San Juan and did you purchase it through Carnival or independently?

We have done porthole rooms on the Elation and on the Empress deck. It's a little more convenient being higher up but I think it's personal preference.

Enjoying your review so far. We are doing the Eastern route in May. We enjoyed the Glory years ago and look forward to seeing it now after the 2.0 upgrades.

We always book these 4J cabins and love them! Enjoy having that big open deck in the front to hang out and watch as the ship sails into and out of the ports. Never really noticed a big difference in the motion in those cabins compared to others and the price is a great deal!

We try not to cruise when school is out because of the large population of unsupervised kids running around and jamming up the hot tubs. I have been on quite a few different ships and will agree with you on the gym. The cables are a great way to work out and don't take up too much space.

We love the 4J rooms and always book them for our cruises. The balcony cabins are the best but usually cost an extra $500! That's a lot of money we could spend on drinks, excursions, drinks, souvenirs, did I mention drinks? LOL

go to the back of the ship on the Lido deck and then go up one level. It's usually a little less crowded there. Hope you have a good time down here and a fun cruise.

We love the 4J cabins and never really noticed a big difference in motion from other locations. We enjoy being rocked to sleep every night.

We have had both and prefer the balcony but we usually book the 4j cabins because of the price. The balcony cabins run about $500 more for a 7 day cruise. If the cost was the same or similar, I would take the balcony!

We always book the 4J cabins on the Conquest class ships and love them! Can't beat the price as it's usually about $500 cheaper than a balcony room. We like to walk out on the open deck in front when going into the ports and also when leaving.

Nice job on the review Kim! We are planning to do this itinerary in May 2015. We have been to San Juan and St. Thomas before but not the other two ports.

Ok now y'all are confusing me a little bit. lol I was looking at the Carnival website and going by 2014 cruises to get a general idea since 2015 isn't on there yet. I know they have the round trip cruises from Seattle, but also saw one starting in Vancouver and ending in Seattle. Maybe that was a repositioning cruise? I do appreciate all the feedback. I am excited to finally plan a cruise to Alaska. We don't get snow down here in Nola. I can give up the Caribbean beaches for this trip.

We are thinking of doing a Southbound Alaska cruise from Vancouver on the Carnival Miracle. Looking at Early May 2015 and was wondering about the weather and flight costs.

We loved El Morro too. We did the 2 hour segway tour and enjoyed riding them and got a lot of info on old San Juan's history. We also got to see the fort and ride the segways to the front of the fort while other people had to make that long walk by foot. I believe we paid $65 per person for this tour and plan to do it again on our next visit.

We have done a few cruises in a balcony cabin and loved it! We did one cruise in an inside room and won't do that again unless we absolutely have to. On Fantasy class ships we do the porthole rooms that are priced less than oceanview but still have plenty of light coming in. On Conquest class, we have discovered the 4J category cabins that have the window and large open deck directly in front of the ship. These 4J cabins run about $500 cheaper than balcony cabins on a 7 day cruise. With our budget, this allows us to cruise more often.

Just got back from a cruise on the Elation a few weeks ago and the crew was very friendly. The ship itself definitely needs to get a facelift.

We did this itinerary in 2011 on the Victory and it was our favorite! We plan to do it again in May 2015. I have a link to my review of that cruise with pics in my signature. We were in St. Maarten on a different cruise last October and we too rented a Jeep. We drove to Marigot for shopping and yummy breakfast pastries as well. After that we drove to Orient Beach before heading back to the ship. I believe we spent $92 for the jeep rental. There is one major road that circles the island so it is quite easy to navigate.

Just got off the Elation a week ago and the gift was a tote bag with an insulated cooler at the bottom. It's really nice and hopefully y'all will be getting that.

Apparently they don't give them out on the ship at the end of your cruise anymore. Now they e mail you a link to do the survey online. I always complete the survey and like to recognize by name particular employees who did a great job.

Maybe Funship Freddy can battle it out with the big towel elephant on the Lido deck. lol

The price difference between a 4J cabin and balcony cabin is about $500 on a 7 day cruise. That's one of the main reasons we choose those rooms.

We always book the 4J cabins because it's such a great value. Never felt any extra movement in those cabins.

We usually share the big plate of nachos with the meat and cheese and get a few drinks each and that takes care of it. Paradise Beach is really nice with great facilities. Enjoy!

Puerta Maya pier This pier is about a 10-15 minute taxi ride from downtown.