Let'sGo!

Thank you SOOO much for this review. I have been wanting to try Disney, but we don't have kids and my hubby is worried everything would be geared toward kids.

I'm sending him your review in an effort to change his mind!

Ann

Yes, as other's have said, it is the norm to pre-pay your gratuities for MTD. However, you can always ask your rep to waitlist you for traditional dining, or ask about it once on board.

Also, if for some reason you want to have your pre-paid gratuites removed from your account, you can always go to guest services once on board and request them to credit them back to your account.

Enjoy your cruise!

Ann

I'm sure there are others who can chime in here with more recent info... but last year we had a late flight out of SJU the day our cruise ended.

We took a cab over to Barrachino's, where they stored our luggage for "whatever we wanted to tip" and we were able to walk around Old San Juan for several hours. We returned to the restaurant after our walk, ordered a couple of their famous Pina Coladas, tipped them for watching the bags and then caught a cab to the airport.

We arrived at Barrachino's about 8:30am, well before they were scheduled to open, but the owner was there with his keys opening up and he graciously took our luggage for us.

The airport is not very entertaining - just fyi.

Personally, I would love to see them do something like this on Jewel -- since it doesn't have a dedicated Diamond lounge. At least we would have options other than beer or wine at the "nightly diamond event."

I hope we can hear some positive feedback from those participating in the pilot.

Ann

Yes their name is Deep Purple and they only play Smoke On The Water.

LOL! I was waiting for someone to say something along these lines!

:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by theOSU1

.... 1) It is beyond me why "persons of large structure" cruise and believe me this cruise had some large structures. Maybe I'm missing something but seeing this can really be hard on the eyes. ....

I must assume you meant to use the term "stature," and I interpret this aside as meaning you don't like to look at overweight people. As someone who refers to your travelling companion as a "partner" instead of a wife or girlfriend, I'm kind of surprised you would be so judgemental.

Live and let live, my friend. It's the best way.

Now - on with the review.

Ann

I'm subscribing to this thread because I'm dying to hear how it all works out!

I too am the planner for our vacations. Most the time my husband doesn't even know what ports we're stopping at!

For our cruise next May, not only have I booked us in our first Grand Suite, it will also be our first cruise as Diamond. He does not know about the suite and I'm sure he has no clue about any of the perks we'll get, so I'm just keeping it all hush hush as long as I can. Since we're cruising out of San Juan, I know there's no special check-in stuff... so hopefully he won't figure it out until we get to the suite. He will probably presume the gold cards are for Diamond C&A members.

It's actually kind of fun doing this!

Good luck Toddcan!

Ann

We were in St. Thomas on Oasis earlier this year. We did exactly what you are talking about.

We booked one of the least expensive St. John's excursions through the ship. It was basically a big ferry that took passengers on several different tours over to the St. John. Once there, the ferry captain told everyone they could stay with their tour, or go off on their own -- just be back by a certain time to catch the ferry back to STT. He found a group of us that wanted to go to Cruz Bay and he arranged a taxi for us over there. We spent the day laying on the most beautiful beach, then shared a taxi with another group coming back.

Oasis doesn't dock at Havensight, where most of the touristy shopping is in St. Thomas. There is some shopping in St. John... in fact, I thought it was a really cute town.

I don't remember the exact time of when we arrived back in St. Thomas... but I remember we were pretty tired, so we just headed back to the ship. Since there was such limited shopping at that pier area, I didn't feel like we missed out on much.

Enjoy your cruise! Planning is the great prelude!

Ann

thanks for the info, NJGem... we're pretty adventurous types, so I'm sure we will give the bus a whirl.

My dad used to live in Barbados years and years ago, and I asked him about it as well, and he told me the bus system is definitely the way to go.

Now if you know how to make 7 months go by more quickly... :rolleyes:

Ann

Is there a link you can provide that shows the how I can see exactly what's above or below my cabin? I'm also in a promenade on allure. Thanks!!

Just take a look at the deck plans on RCCL's website. You can see how they overlay and where the cabins are by flipping through the decks.

Funny, my ranking is a little different than Ernies -- again, it's all in what is interesting to you! I only ranked 1-5 since I hadn't been to many of the places on your list -- YET!

Antigua - Going in May of 2014!

Barbados - 5 - Very commercial

Curacao - 4 - Different

Dominica - 3 - Beautiful mountains and scenery

Martinique - Haven't been there

St. Croix - Haven't been there

St. Kitts - 1 - loved that is it not all built up with resorts - yet.

St. Lucia - Going in May of 2014!

Tortola - 2 - only to get on another boat and go to Jost Van Dyke!

Ann

Hello all, I have been reading your thread with some interest. Frankly I think cutting calories drastically for two days doesn't sound all that hard! I might have to pick up this book and learn about it.

While I do believe dramatic weight loss is not healthy, I believe carrying around extra weight is even more dangerous. This past Spring I decided to try a medically supervised weight loss plan. I ended up getting a couple of very valuable tests done as part of the plan: a V02 rate, (determines your best fat-burning and aerobic zones) and RMR -- resting metabolism rate.

Turns out I need approximately 2340 calories a day just to get through life. Nutritionists look at this as a weekly number rather than daily... so if you multiply 2340 kcals x 7 days = 16,380. But since I'd like to lose weight, I need to do some more math.

There are approximately 3500 kcals in a pound, so you subtract 3500 from 16,380... divide by 7 and come up with your daily calorie intake = 1840. If you want to aim for losing 2 pounds in a week, you would subtract 7,000 (2x3500) from the 16,380 and that comes to 1340 calories per day.

Knowing that, I don't see anything wrong with cutting calories by a big amount two days out of the week, and eating within proper range the remainder of the week. As you can see, if you're looking for a weekly weight loss, you should look at a weekly calorie total. I'm sure that is the premise behind this.

I am seriously considering giving this a try!

Ann

This thread is making me reconsider our plan... I have already booked El Convento for our pre-cruise stay in May of next year. We have sailed out of SJ twice, and both times we stayed there, so I just automatically contacted them to book our stay for next year.

Yes - it is pricey, but we just love walking about OSJ in the morning before leaving for the cruise port, and usually try to eat breakfast at La Bombanero (which apparently is reopening) or Cafe Majorca.

I'm thinking I might try seeing what is available elsewhere though, just to save a little $$$, since we are going to be forking out some big $$ on our port stops.

I got confused by the posts about the Hilton, Sheraton and Marriott --- which one has the city bus you can catch to go to OSJ? And where does it let you off once there? How often do the busses run?

thanks for your help,

Ann

I've been looking at photos of Bathsheba and it's looks awesome!

I've seen several "tours" that make a stop there, but I would hate to be limited on time because of a tour schedule.

I do recognize it's not a traditional beach, but that's fine with us.

Any feedback on how we might be able to get there without doing the traditional tour?

Thanks,

Ann

I can give a very hearty two thumbs up for Calabazza. We went on their tour in May of 2012. The service provided by the crew was on par with anything you'd experience in a fine restaurant! The lunch was fabulous and the fact they limit the guest count makes it so enjoyable.

On the day we went out, the usual cove they go to was very cloudy -- the captain said it had something to do with the tides. So with that in mind, he pulled away and found us another spot to snorkle. If I recall, we stopped at two turtle spots and a shipwreck.

I know this is a pretty costly excursion, but it is top notch all the way. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Ann

I am just going to state the obvious here... all of the quick one or two liner reviews talking about how great Noel's tours are are posted by relatively new users. If you look at their number of posts, they are usually 10 or less.

Yes, I agree everyone has to start somewhere -- but as just about anyone on CC knows, these port boards often have the least traffic of all.

I usually try to book my port tours outside of the cruise ship, so I am always looking for reviews, thoughts, etc on tour operators. Just this thread in particular has got my "bunny ears" up! :eek:

Just my two cents... I'm sure this tour is fine. Just some of the positive "review" posts seem a little suspicious.

Ann

For what it's worth... we stopped at this beach club as part of a tour a couple of years ago in April. If I recall correctly, we arrived about 11:30am, but the club was totally packed. Every chair, bed, etc was taken. It was a beautiful spot, but the sand wasn't the kind where you'd want to just plop down on a towel, because it was so hot.

Several of us on the tour ended up asking the driver to just take us back to town, where we ate an awesome lunch at a spot he recommended.

If you are able to make reservations ahead of time, I definitely would.

Ann

I tend to book with a travel agent that gives as an incentive prepaid gratuities.

Because of this - I can not pre- book my time dining because RCCL requires that to be paid at time of booking and the prepaid gratuities are applied once I am actually on the cruise.

Twice I have been unable to get in my time at embarkation because it was sold out.

Just an FYI... my TA does this as well. What I have started doing is going ahead and prepaying them myself anyway, then that "gratuity gift" amount from the TA gets turned into OBC credit. If you don't use it, you can get back from Guest Services. We've opted to do it this way for our two previous cruises without a hitch.

Comes out the same, AND you will then be able to prebook your MTD times.

Ann

Our last cruise on Oasis was the first cruise we ever opted to secure as a "cash" account, rather than with a credit card. I prepaid $250 OBC before the cruise, I had an additional $100 OBC from my TA, and although we had pre-paid gratuties so we could do MTD, my TA also gifted those to us, so that showed up as additional OBC. Since we had purchased the Premium Alcohol Beverage pkg, I really didn't see what in the world we would be spending a lot of $$$ on, so that's why I decided to do the cash account option.

Sure enough, I checked at GS about two days later to ask about it... and was told we would get absolutely everything on our account back, if we wanted it, since it was all either "gifted" from the TA or our own money. They told us the only $$$ you can't get back is any OBC you get from RCCL, (such as $100 OBC for booking on board, etc). Their systems are set up in a way that they use the "non-refundable" credit first.

We opted to just let our credit ride, until the night before disembarking, in which they refunded about $90 back. If you know its your money, rather than something being charged to your credit card, I definitely wouldn't go to the casino and pay the 3% penalty. Just get it from GS.

Ann

Yikes - I just booked #1554!!! Should I see if someplace else is available? I tend to spend a lot of time reading on my balcony - if it's nice.

Ann

I have also run into the 2-night minimum thing before in San Juan, but at a different property. The first time I was able to get around it by booking the hotel through my travel agent. They just added the cost to my final payment.

The second time I called the hotel directly and told them we so enjoyed our stay there the last time we were in San Juan that we just had to stay there again! They waived the minimum.

I just did the same thing again for our cruise in May of next year -- but this time I was able to do it by email because I found the person I had spoken to before on their website.

I'm not saying this is ALWAYS going to work for you, but at least it's some suggestions to get you started.

Good luck!

Ann

"Sweet tea" is definitely a southern thing. In most restaurants here in San Antonio if you order iced tea, the waiter will ask you if you want sweet or unsweet.

I didn't realize RCCL had pre-sweetened tea either. I became a fan of the Strawberry/Kiwi drink on Oasis, though.

Ann

I just booked our pre-cruise night at El Convento. Yes, it is pricey, but we just love that location and old world charm. The complimentary evening wine and cheese is just part of our routine.

They typically have a 2-night minimum, but I just emailed the hotel and they waived it for us.

This will be our third time sailing out of SJ and our third time staying at El Convento. I guess we just can't think of somewhere else we would ever stay!

Ann

Also thinking of a cruise from San Juan. So the Pan Am pier is very close to the airport, if I am reading the map right. Any hotel near the pier/airport?

I agree with Bob, I don't think there are any hotels near the port or airport... but honestly, it's not the best area to spend a day in San Juan anyway.

Look for something either in Old San Juan or the Condado (hope I spelled that right) area. If you're going to go at least a day before your cruise, you might as well enjoy the city.

Ann

To the OP:

Book yourself a nice hotel in Old San Juan and then plan on taking a taxi to the pier. San Juan is one of our favorite embarkation ports -- we've booked our third cruise out of there for next year!

Ann