Tips, Advise,Info

[Hrc568]

I am posting this as we are new Cruisers and would appreciate any input. We will be cruising the Eastern Carribean leaving Miami on June 26 stopping at San Juan, St Maarten and St Thomas. Besides taking the usual clothing items we will be packing an alarm clock, power bar (for the extra plug ins), duct tape (because you never know), medications (to handle everything from a sniffle to motion sickness to a hangover :D), a rolling cooler with the checked luggage to hold the beer, cola and water (taped shut with the duct tape!), fly spray, ziplock bags and lots and lots of sunscreen, all tips from experienced Cruisers who have posted in this forum. We plan to arrive early to board and hopefully have lunch onboard the Victory. In San Juan we are planning to walk around and shop as we only have a few hours and then hit Senor Frogs! In St Maarten we are thinking about the Divi Little Bay Beach excursion through Carnival (should we book now or wait until we get onboard?) In St Thomas we are planning a tour with Godfrey (have heard lots of great things about him). I think we will do the self disembark when we get back to Miami and go straight to the airport for our return trip. Any thoughts , info or advise would be appreciated.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

What do you get with CCL's excursion to Divi Little Bay in St.Maarten? We did this ourselves last summer. Cost was about $3pp each way to the beach.

 

It was nice last summer but if the cruiselines are going to start having excursions there I bet they ruin that like they ruin all the otherr places with overcrowding. :(

 

Bill

[fla gang]

Carry along some Betadine just in case anyone has a problem with sea lice. When we did Carnivals private island several people were itching from the sea lice. My sister found out that Betadine works well.

 

Barry

[gypsyrose]

Ooh, what are sea lice? That sounds awful. Do you actually see them or just get bites? Thanks for adding betadine to our packing list.

[IBEEMOM]

If you plan to book a tour thru Carnival, I would recommend that you do it early. Some of the tours have a limited number of places and some of the more poplular ones fill up quickly. You will also be able to choose the time you wish to leave. You will also be given priority for leaving on the tour, especially if you must tender from the ship to the port. Enjoy your cruise.

[rez4jc]

Don't forget the nite light plug-in air freshener! Makes your cabin smell nice and you can find your way to the bathroom at night...

[Hrc568]

Thanks for the input so far.

 

SS Oceanlover...the Carnival excursion includes transportation, use of the resort facilities, beach chair, meal, and 2 drinks.

SEALICE:eek: ! I guess I'll have to add this to the list! Hopefully I won't have to use it.

Can't forget the nightlight!

Thanks again:)

[mc'smom]

We sailed the same itinerary in January on the Victory...

 

I loved Godfrey ! He is wonderful and trustworthy !.

 

I would pack for on shore excursions, light weight rain ponchos from the dollar store. we did'nt have them and needed them for about an hour at the market in st. Thomas. Nobody sold umbrellas until it rained for about 30 minutes and then they wanted $ 20 for one umbrella.

 

 

Enjoy the cruise and Godfrey :)

[BettyB2]

We are on that same itinerary in December and look forward to hearing about your excursions etc. We are thinking about Godfrey's...still not sure about San Juan. we will see.....keep us informed..

 

thanks

[mc'smom]

We are on that same itinerary in December and look forward to hearing about your excursions etc. We are thinking about Godfrey's...still not sure about San Juan. we will see.....keep us informed..

 

thanks

 

 

San Juan for me personally was a waste of time !

Getting in so late, at that time of year, when you arrive it is already night fall.

We did a horse drawn carriage ride for 4 blocks around the port, for $ 35.00 for the two of us.

 

If I had only known there was a Marshall's and a Ross store so close to the port I would have gone there before they closed at 7pm. Most of the American land based stores closed early and the local ones stayed open real late.

 

But hey being in San Juan at 5:00 Pm on any day was better than being in Canada in January ............. LOL

:)

[Green4me]

hey Hrc.. Not sure what your group includes as far as ages or tastes, but I'll pass on my 2 cents.

 

We did a similar stop in San Juan on the Christmas cruise on carribean Princess last december. The forts are all closed by the time you get in to port. They have a big coach outlet there that the ladies hit for way over priced bags in MHO, but I went along for the walk. There is an excellent restaurant I would recommend called the Parrot club on Cale Fortaleza. An easy three block walk from the pier. They do not open until 7pm if I remember correctly. Get there early as they fill up fast. While not cheap, the food was excellent. There is a small bar just around the corner for a drink or two if you get there early. We were two families with a group of 8 ages 11 to 46. Everyone enjoyed this stop. After we got the kids back on board and had plenty of time to enjoy Sr. Frogs. if you are expecting a similar experience to Cozumel, it is not. A bit more toned down, at least when we were there.

 

We have been to both St Thomas and St Martin twice. Each time we took cabs and beached it. Megans bay in St Thomas is beautiful. They have rental chairs and floats, a store for trinkets and a restaurant for lunch. On St Martin we had an adults only day at Orient Beach where you can find all kinds of beach bars to check out.

 

I have also heard only good things about Godfrey tours, so enjoy. realize you can not do it all, just enjoy what you can and take notes for your return trip.

 

Smooth sailing...

[Hrc568]

Another question for all you experienced cruisers.....Would you recommend Cash, VISA, or travellers cheques for making purchases while inport or would it depend on the type of establishment ?Thanks so much

[Wennfred]

We usually use Cash since we never buy anything pricey on land, on the ship we use our credit card.

 

I love Carnival but if you go to their Spa, make sure you are going to pay for that service they offer and nothing more, they will push you to buy their lotion products etc. So ask again in advance before you go to your appointment what you are getting and how much so thats you know what you are about to pay for and not get the sticker shock :eek: later at the end of the cruise.

[MTinGA]

Are the sea lice the little tiny, clear, floaty things that look like baby jellyfish? I see them snorkeling sometimes...

[Hrc568]

Thanks for all the tips so far.

[Tomcruiser48]

I like travelers cheques for 2 reasons.

Easy to cash on boat, you can do this the night before going ashore.

And i like to get travelers cheques far in advance so i don,t have so much to pay around cruise time.

But the most important TIP is to have a Great cruise and not let the little things

that may bug you take away from a good trip.

[Nliedel]

Sea lice are baby jellyfish.

[MrsBoo]

I'd be careful what store I used a credit card at, you never know how trustworthy those stores are. (Depending on where you use it, extra $$ could be added for exchange rate) Also advise your credit card company where you'll be traveling. Mine was rejected on board because a shopkeeper didn't do something correctly, which caused a "fraud alert". Of course ship can't tell you why - sure was glad I had another card with me.