San Juan - Carnival Fascination for Cheap Cruisers

[nicnic96]

If you are one of those travelers who believe "I'm on vacation, I'm going to live it up!" this is not the review for you. Please just move on and save your judgement for another thread.

 

On the other hand, if you are looking to save money, you might find some things you can use here. We are the cheapest couple we have ever met and our friends and relatives are quick to tell stories about the extremes we have gone to (i.e. bunk beds on cruises, rebooking car rentals dozens of times to save a couple bucks each time, spending months doing daily searches for deals)! Someone may top us, but we have yet to meet them.

 

First, we booked the Carnival Fascination directly through Carnival during Wave Season (specifically Feb. 4th) for the Sept. 23rd 2018 sailing. The cost was $229 pp for an outside guarantee room plus we got a $50 on board cabin credit. We also got a $100 credit from American Express (an offer AMEX sent us around that time). This was by far our best deal on a 7 day cruise. I don't plan to use this price as a benchmark because I've never seen anything less than $300 for a comparable cruise.

We used the on board credit towards our gratuities (we actually didn't have any expenses on our sail and sign account except gratuities). We used points on Southwest (from signing up for their credit cards) flights and points on hotel the night before. There were no non-stop options for us from Columbus Ohio (or nearby), so we split the trip and flew non-stop to Fort Lauderdale the day before and then non-stop from Ft.Lauderdale to San Juan on cruise day. We knew the Fort Lauderdale area from previous cruises, enjoyed an extra beach day, and I felt better that we had a non-stop on cruise day (less risk of delays and cancellations). We stayed at the Hampton Inn Fort LauderdaleSouth Cruise Port but it was not up to Hampton standards. The rental car I rebooked the week before because I was able to get a better deal (Dollar Mid Size for $22 incl taxes and fees). I booked it through Southwest's website (Car Offers) and that's the best 1 day Ft. Lauderdale deal I've ever seen plus we got 600 Southwest points for the booking.

 

When we arrived in San Juan, I asked for the Uber pick up area and the “visitor info” people said you can’t take Uber from the airport. I explained that I read on the internet that this was resolved several months ago. They disagreed and then I tried the Uber app and it said pickup was unavailable at this location. By the way, my Total Wireless phone was totally useless in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas even though they are US provinces. I blame Verizon who controls the Total Wireless network. Thankfully, my wife’s Republic Wireless phone (Sprint’s Network) worked just like it did on the Mainland in both Puerto Rico and St. Thomas.

 

So we made our way to the taxi station. Yes there is a bus but we waited almost 30 minutes for the bus last time we were in San Juan and still never saw it and there are bag restrictions onit. At the taxi line they informed us it would be $27 for 2 of us with 3 bags total. The guy behind us heard us talking and said he too was going to the Fascination and was quoted $27 for just himself. It drives me nuts that the taxi coordinator knew we were headed the same place and didn’t automatically put us together. So we made our own connection and shared the taxi. I gave the other guy $15 and he covered the rest. I know someone here will say that Puerto Rico needs the tourism dollars, but taxi drivers are not my favorite charity. We gave the money we saved to the local church and a homeless man instead.

 

We boarded the ship and got back off later to get a 12 pack of Coke at Walgreens. Next time I will grab the Coke before boarding. By the way, the Walgreens only sold 12 packs of 8 ounce mini cans ($4). There was a sign at the port saying you could get a free shuttle to Walmart (about 7 min away). You’d have to be buying something Walgreens doesn’t sell to make it worth it. Had I not brought a camping chair with me, I might have taken the shuttle. I like buying the cheapest Walmart Ozark chair ($5) in our departure port and then carry it with me to the beaches in the ports of call. Not only does it save me the cost of a rental chair, it’s more comfortable for me. I give the chair away to a local in our last port.

 

In St.Thomas, we rented a car from Avis (Economy $42 incl taxes and fees). We got to Avis early (8:15 am) and they were not ready for us. We had to wait about 30 min for a car to be brought over from their airport location. You do have to drive on the wrong side of the road which is mostly a problem at intersections (especially if you are lost J). A taxi is generally $32 roundtrip for 2 people to Magen’s Bay. The last 2 times we’ve been to St. Thomas we’ve done this and drove to Sapphire Beach (good snorkeling) and Lindquist Beach (pure beauty). Both are uncrowded (almost deserted) and Magen’sBay has lost a lot of its shady palms in Hurricane Irma. Lindquist now has the same admission charge ($5 pp) and parking fee ($2) that Magen’s Bay has. We did think that a lady at Sapphire may have been checking out our bag while we were snorkeling (she walked away from the direction of our bag and our bag appeared to have been opened). She was raking the seaweed at the beach and recommended we put our stuff over by her’s in the shade. It may have been coincidence. We did see a school of squid (Sapphire) and a small nurse shark in 2 feet of water (Lindquist). We also drove to Mountain Top and Paradise Point (yes you can drive this but it’s hard to find and the drive is crazy steep and narrow). Driving in St. Thomas is not for everyone.

 

In Barbados, we walked to Browne’s Beach (Carlisle Bay). We had been here before so we were familiar with the walk (research it so you don’t get lost). We setup between Pirates Cove and the Boatyard. There is a little natural shade area and the beach and water are beautiful. Honestly, if you face the water, this beach is comparable to Half Moon and Grand Cayman with powder white sand (with a hint of pink) and that lovely blue Caribbean sea. We then walked to the middle of the bay where there’s a bathroom facility onshore and snorkelers off shore. We swam out to the shipwreck snorkel area (I recommend life vests forthis). You need to research this before attempting on your own but you can do it if you are careful (especially watching for boat traffic). We snorkeled above one of the closer shipwrecks and then followed the crowd to see a large sea turtle. Good visibility and calm seas made this trip better, but we saw more turtles last time. We shared a taxi back to the ship because I wore the wrong shoes for the walk. They wanted $10 for 2 people but the couple we shared with had already negotiated it to $6 for the two of them so we agreed to pay $12 for 4 of us.

 

In St.Lucia, it was raining heavy off and on when we got there and we had to be back on the ship at 1:30 to get ahead of Tropical Storm Kirk. The first time we were in St. Lucia we planned to take the local bus to Vigie Beach but the bus was full by the time it reached the stop just outside the port, so we walked (around the airport). We decided to risk the weather and do the same this time. It might not be the safest walk but we’ve made it roundtrip twice now. The weather cleared up. The locals greeted us when we got to the beach and informed us that we were the only ones from the ship there and the waves were unsafe. We hung out on the beach at the Rendevous resort. You can’t use their facilities or chairs and they have security to enforce that but we didn’t want either (I think they do offer day passes). Eventually a young man tried the waves, so I decided to risk it. Some of the waves were about 10-12 feet. It was fun, but borderline safe so I didn’t stay in the water long. The last time we were there the surf was up too, so maybe Vigie is not normally calm.

 

We had never been to St. Kitts. We decided to take a cab to Carambola beach club. We waited to share the cab and it cost us $4 pp and would have been double that if we didn’t share. We rented an umbrella $10 because there’s not much shade and this gave us access to the facilities. They were reluctant to just rent the umbrella (I brought my chair), but they relented. The locals offered 3 pictures with pet monkeys for $5. We snorkeled for free instead in the shallow isolated bay on the other side of the rocks. You need to snorkel near the rock piles to see anything. It was an easy swim, good visibility, with an assortment of fish. We also walked further down the beach to the bars to see more black sand and there wasn’t a lot of beach to work with down there. All in all another great day.

 

I had looked at the Rainforest Adventures excursion in St. Maarten including the Flying Dutchman, Schooner Ride, and Zip Line and thought this is what I want to do but I knew my wife wouldn’t want to spend the money ($130pp). As it turned out, she went to the Explore the Ports show and won this specific excursion. We were really excited! Our excitement turned to a little fear when the bus approached the mountain and we realized just how high this excursion was! We conquered our fears and had a blast. I can see where the weather (wind and rain) could affect this, so we were fortunate to have another great day. We asked the tour operator to drop us off in town for shopping and the beach and then we walked back to the ship. Last time we took the water taxi, but next time we will walk as it was easier than I thought (once we found the way).

 

When we got back to San Juan we called Charlie’s Car Rental to pick us up at theport. We had reserved an economy car ($25 incl taxes and fees) to be picked up at their Condado location (cruiseport area) and dropped off at Isla Verde (airport area shuttle). This allowed us time at the beach (tried both Condado and Isla Verde and we definitely prefer Isla Verde) before our afternoon flight.

 

Feel free to ask questions. You can also check out our review of the ship. Happy cruising fellow frugals!

Edited October 4, 2018 by nicnic96

[joern]

I noticed others also use Charlies Car Rental. The rate is good but the insurance is sky high so considering carrentals.com with insurance. I'm not american so believe that I need the insurance? have you used carrentals.com?

[nicnic96]

I noticed others also use Charlies Car Rental. The rate is good but the insurance is sky high so considering carrentals.com with insurance. I'm not american so believe that I need the insurance? have you used carrentals.com?

I have not. I'm American so my Geico offered coverage. I did have to show proof of insurance.

 

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[Stinger-pr]

Check with your credit card company to see if they offer any kind of insurance when renting a card. Some Visa cards have insurance covered as secondary and other like Visa Signature and above cover as primary insurance. Amex also covers as secondary insurance and I'm not sure if/how MasterCard does it, You should check with your card issuer.

[alfaeric]

Check with your credit card company to see if they offer any kind of insurance when renting a card. Some Visa cards have insurance covered as secondary and other like Visa Signature and above cover as primary insurance. Amex also covers as secondary insurance and I'm not sure if/how MasterCard does it, You should check with your card issuer.

+1- as a tourist to Puerto Rico, I can say that this works really well. Between this and knowing what your personal insurance covers, you will be all set without the supplement.

 

OP- question for you- that's kind of an unusual flight plan. Was that because the overall system price was the least? We are from metro Detroit, and face the same connections to Puerto Rico. But generally, we find that an overnight say someplace isn't saving us any money to get there, even when adding in hotel costs.

[Hillbillygram]

You embarked on the Fascination the day we disembarked. We had one more port of call than you--Dominica. We loved this cruise.

[nicnic96]

+1- as a tourist to Puerto Rico, I can say that this works really well. Between this and knowing what your personal insurance covers, you will be all set without the supplement.

 

OP- question for you- that's kind of an unusual flight plan. Was that because the overall system price was the least? We are from metro Detroit, and face the same connections to Puerto Rico. But generally, we find that an overnight say someplace isn't saving us any money to get there, even when adding in hotel costs.

 

We debated this. The problem was the best option on cruise day involved leaving the house at 3:00 am (we have a 90 minute drive to the airport). Rather than be dead tired the first day, we talked about spending the night at a hotel at the airport (I have points). But then we decided if we were going to do that we might as well stay some place nice (Ft. Lauderdale), split the trip up, and get some rest. Plus we got a really good deal on the airfare between Ft Lauderdale and San Juan that made the split trip almost the same cost (points) as flying in on the same day.

[nicnic96]

You embarked on the Fascination the day we disembarked. We had one more port of call than you--Dominica. We loved this cruise.

 

Yes this was definitely the best value (great itinerary for the price) we've ever had. Usually we like to try different ports, but I would repeat this trip for a great price.