skunkface

I was initially nervous too because Herod usually took about a week or so to respond to emails, but I had read the great reviews and warnings about delayed responses. I was glad we stuck with him. It's definitely frustrating, but he's worth hanging on for.

We did Herod's land and sea tour in March and it was our favorite day of the trip! Herod was a fantastic guide as was his assitant who joined us. Despite being told we'd need at least ten, we ended up a group of eight - four of us from the Jewel and another four from a Carnival ship docked that day. You do see it all in the land and sea tour - the towns, banana plantation, sampling of cassava bread, the sulfer springs, mud bath, waterfall, lunch at his mom's house (fantastic, home cooked meal!!), the beach and then the boat ride back. And the $80pp was, indeed, all inclusive. We did not pay any additional entry fees. Highly, highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants to experience it all.

No experience with the Brilliance, but just of the Jewel and escargots was on the everyday favorites menu and it was available all seven nights.

We were on Herod's tour just last week. He does make a stop there.

donovan52 - Glad to know it worked for you all. It such a good deal I felt like I was missing some sort of fine print, beyond the first two night, party of four or more, and needing to reserve before departing.

oracer - It's an option for our sail date under the pre-cruise planner tab - food & drink reservations - specialty restaurants & dining experiences. I came across it by chance. So glad we did as we had been talking about trying Portofino's on one of the formal nights.

We are sailing on the Jewel next month and I just noticed the availability of the celebration dining deal valid for the 1st or 2nd night only. Is this package really as good as it sounds? For the $20pp charge the table gets $30 worth of free drinks (that almost a free drink each, not bad)? We are a party of four and are not planning on formal night in the dining room so this appears to be perfect, but I'd love to hear if anyone else has booked the package in the past. Thanks!

We sailed on the Serenade - So. Caribbean two years ago and loved it so much we're doing it again in the Spring. I remember making reservations for MTD around 6/6:15pm, I think, to make muster and then sail away. Does this time sound right? TIA!

Just got the Sheraton Old San Juan for $88 per night plus tax for our stay in February on Hotwire. We're very happy considering we'll save on the taxi fares we'd be spending getting to OSJ to tour around.

Just curious to know what people are paying for their 2012 day sail with Calabaza? I've seen some say $100 others $110. Are they in the midst of a price increase? We're really interested in sailing with them, but wondering if it's better go with them for 12 people or lower rate of $92 with Silver Moon for the 24 passenger catamaran? If the 12 people sail is what people prefer, we're leaning more toward Calabaza than Silver Moon's 12-person.