I won my first cruise, and need some advice!

[Summerofstarz]

Hello!

 

I won a cruise from my previous employer, and I have been looking at the different options that I have, so far I have found two cruises I am interested in taking, I am looking to get a couple good opinions on the areas, the boats, and previous experiences if you have taken the same one. My fiance and I are in our early 20's and want to go on a nice fun cruise, I have never been on one, and he has only been on one to Alaska. We have to pay for airfare and excursions, but everything else is covered so we aren't too worried about the price, Let me know your opinions as he is no help!;)

 

The first is on the Carnival Freedom-here is the itinerary:

 

Ft Lauderdale, FL 4pm

Fun Day at Sea

San Juan, Puerto Rico 5-12pm

St. Thomas, USVI 7-6:00pm

Antigua 7-6:00pm

Tortola, BVI 7-3:30pm

Fun Day at Sea

Nassau, the Bahamas 12-7:00pm

Ft Lauderdale, FL 8:00am

 

The second is on the Carnival Victory:

San Juan, Puerto Rico 10pm

St. Thomas, USVI 7-5pm

Fun Day at Sea

Barbados 8-5:00pm

St. Lucia, WI 8-5:00pm

St Kitts, WI 8-6:00pm

St. Maarten, NA 7-5:00pm

San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00am

[mizLORInj]

Hi. Pretty cool to win a cruise!

Those 2 ships are sister ships for the most part, so one doesn't hold an advantage for me.

I prefer the latter itinerary of the two because they cover destinations I've been to less often and one I've never been to--St. Kitts. You start out deeper into the Caribbean sea from SJU so you head to islands farther south than the one that leaves from FLL.

You may want to compare airfare for r/t to FLL vs. SJU. It's less $ for us to fly to FLL usually.

Still, either looks good to me!

[runner15km]

Are you limited to Carnival? If not I would look at Oasis or Allure of the Seas by Royal Caribbean. If it has to be Carnival, I would go with the Freedom. A newer ship and the airfare to SJU is a consideration.

[ferfoodle]

If it was me, I would choose the Freedom as it has 8 days vs. the 7 on the Victory. Also, flying from WA is going to be more expensive to SJ than to FLL.

[janina]

I would do the Freedom for 8 days, plus airfare to FLL is most likely a lot less expensive than SJU. Remember that along with the cruise price, you will have expenses such as gratuities, unless pre-paid, and cost of drinks on the ship, etc.

[Summerofstarz]

We aren't restricted to Carnival, but we were given a list to choose from and 98% are Carnival. We decided to do the one out of San Juan, we aren't worried about price at all, more so just what we thing will be more interesting. We are going to fly into San Juan a few days before, we are thinking of leaving seatac Thursday night so we arrive Friday, then we can play on the island for a couple days. We are also debating just getting a hotel room for the Sunday we return to port, so that we can fly out early Monday and not have to worry about any delays, etc. So we aren't too worried about which one is longer, plus, in comparison the extra day is really only a day on the water, which we can spend in San Juan! :D

[Sheffie]

What a fabulous prize to win!!

 

We love San Juan, so I like your idea of flying in a couple of days early. If you want to save some $$, check out the San Juan board on how to do Priceline for your hotel. We have done it 3 times and have gotten great hotels.

 

My Dad lives in Federal Way on Dash Point Road. I love Washington!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

congratulations

[Summerofstarz]

What a fabulous prize to win!!

 

We love San Juan, so I like your idea of flying in a couple of days early. If you want to save some $$, check out the San Juan board on how to do Priceline for your hotel. We have done it 3 times and have gotten great hotels.

 

My Dad lives in Federal Way on Dash Point Road. I love Washington!!

 

I agree! It is just the vacation we needed!!!

 

I have looked at priceline and I am seriously considering doing it for the hotel and airfare, since we are on such flexible schedules, plus we are young, so if we get a crazy timed flight we wont care. :D

 

Your dad lives RIGHT down the road from us! What a small world, I love it here too!

[Sheffie]

I agree! It is just the vacation we needed!!!

 

I have looked at priceline and I am seriously considering doing it for the hotel and airfare, since we are on such flexible schedules, plus we are young, so if we get a crazy timed flight we wont care. :D

 

Your dad lives RIGHT down the road from us! What a small world, I love it here too!

 

He lives in a log cabin, which was probably the first home around there.

[Zezzie]

For what its worth I like the destinations on the 2nd itinerary better. :) Have fun whatever you decide!

[Summerofstarz]

For what its worth I like the destinations on the 2nd itinerary better. :) Have fun whatever you decide!

 

We decided, and booked today, the one leaving from San Juan! So exciting!

 

 

Sheffie- That is SO cool, we love the area it is a perfect mix of city and rural :D

[spny84]

We decided, and booked today, the one leaving from San Juan! So exciting!

 

 

Sheffie- That is SO cool, we love the area it is a perfect mix of city and rural :D

 

We love San Juan and Puerto Rico and not only do we cruise out of it we have had several land vacations there. Just a couple things, if you don't already know them. JetBlue also flies to San Juan and personally I love the JetBlue planes. Since you are staying several days in Puerto Rico, you do not need to stay in Old San Juan (My Opinion). Buses are on "island time" but they are easy to use to get in OSJ and taxis are all fixed price so not horrible. If you are in decent shape you can even walk from Condado area into OSJ (2-3 miles), we usually only do it into town and then take the taxi back (we are much older :)).

 

My list of things to do so you can research and pick what you want.

 

OSJ - visit both forts, and just walk around there are shops, museums and many restaurants (El Jibaro sp? is a great cheap/local cuisine). Nightlife is also good in OSJ. Can also ferry over to the Bacardi Rum Factory from town (think it was a dollar or two).

 

Fajardo - you can usually get trips through the hotel, or rent a car (can do from some hotels). You can snorkel out of Fajardo (very good snorkeling), do a Bio-Luminescence Bay Tour (this is the 2nd best in Puerto Rico - Vieques is the best), you can take a ferry to Culebra or Vieques (Culebra is great, Vieques is on our to do list)

 

El Yunque - again can get trips through the hotel, or rent a car. This is the rainforest and is a US National Park. So there are things like ranger tours. Plenty of trails can do on your own, some are very steep and wet. We need to go back because we went after a bad hurricane and the canopy was gone, people now say there are canopy tours.

 

Other than the northeastern beaches, there is not too much else you can do on a short vacation, unless you want to spend a lot of time in the car. Again my opinion, Arecibo and Ponce/Mayaguez are too far away for a quick trip though both are wonderful places.

 

Have fun planning and a great trip.

[cruiseman40]

Congrats on winning the cruise! I loved the Victory, but flying to SJU would be more expensive in my opinion; so leaving out of FLL would be my option. Carnival Victory is an awesome itenirary especially St Lucia! I'd go with the less expensive cruise in my book because it's just me....

 

 

Hello!

 

I won a cruise from my previous employer, and I have been looking at the different options that I have, so far I have found two cruises I am interested in taking, I am looking to get a couple good opinions on the areas, the boats, and previous experiences if you have taken the same one. My fiance and I are in our early 20's and want to go on a nice fun cruise, I have never been on one, and he has only been on one to Alaska. We have to pay for airfare and excursions, but everything else is covered so we aren't too worried about the price, Let me know your opinions as he is no help!;)

 

The first is on the Carnival Freedom-here is the itinerary:

 

Ft Lauderdale, FL 4pm

Fun Day at Sea

San Juan, Puerto Rico 5-12pm

St. Thomas, USVI 7-6:00pm

Antigua 7-6:00pm

Tortola, BVI 7-3:30pm

Fun Day at Sea

Nassau, the Bahamas 12-7:00pm

Ft Lauderdale, FL 8:00am

 

The second is on the Carnival Victory:

San Juan, Puerto Rico 10pm

St. Thomas, USVI 7-5pm

Fun Day at Sea

Barbados 8-5:00pm

St. Lucia, WI 8-5:00pm

St Kitts, WI 8-6:00pm

St. Maarten, NA 7-5:00pm

San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00am

[Sheffie]

We love San Juan and Puerto Rico and not only do we cruise out of it we have had several land vacations there. Just a couple things, if you don't already know them. JetBlue also flies to San Juan and personally I love the JetBlue planes. Since you are staying several days in Puerto Rico, you do not need to stay in Old San Juan (My Opinion). Buses are on "island time" but they are easy to use to get in OSJ and taxis are all fixed price so not horrible. If you are in decent shape you can even walk from Condado area into OSJ (2-3 miles), we usually only do it into town and then take the taxi back (we are much older :)).

 

My list of things to do so you can research and pick what you want.

 

OSJ - visit both forts, and just walk around there are shops, museums and many restaurants (El Jibaro sp? (I think you mean El Jibarito on Calle Sol) is a great cheap/local cuisine). Nightlife is also good in OSJ. Can also ferry over to the Bacardi Rum Factory from town (think it was a dollar or two).

 

Fajardo - you can usually get trips through the hotel, or rent a car (can do from some hotels). You can snorkel out of Fajardo (very good snorkeling), do a Bio-Luminescence Bay Tour (this is the 2nd best in Puerto Rico - Vieques is the best), you can take a ferry to Culebra or Vieques (Culebra is great, Vieques is on our to do list)

 

El Yunque - again can get trips through the hotel, or rent a car. This is the rainforest and is a US National Park. So there are things like ranger tours. Plenty of trails can do on your own, some are very steep and wet. We need to go back because we went after a bad hurricane and the canopy was gone, people now say there are canopy tours.

 

Other than the northeastern beaches, there is not too much else you can do on a short vacation, unless you want to spend a lot of time in the car. Again my opinion, Arecibo and Ponce/Mayaguez are too far away for a quick trip though both are wonderful places.

 

Have fun planning and a great trip.

 

 

See the red above.

[cruisinwithboys]

Carnival is great, you'll love it! We like Royal Caribbean too, but for our age (20s) Carnival has so much more to do. If airfare is not an issue, St Maarten is the best place on Earth!!!! It is such a cool laid back vibe. Make sure you get to Orient Beach and check out Bryce's Paradise, it's a little bar right on the beach. They will take great care of you and you'll hate to leave. Antugua is my 2nd favorite place, but still doesn't compare to St Maarten.