first time cruiser

[shellsWI]

Bear with me I have a lot of questions, this is going to be me and my fiance's first cruise. We are cruising on the Triumph to the Eastern Carribean for our honeymoon. We will be visiting San Juan, St Thomas, St John and St Maarten, is there anything in particular we should see? What are the sign and sail cards and the fun passes all about? How do we get them? Do we need a passport or will our drivers license and birth certificate work? We do live in the US. What is the easiest and cheapest way to get around the port? Thanks for all of your help, I am sure I will have many more questions in the future.

[Terre]

Welcome! You will love these boards almost as much as you'll love cruising!

I personally recommend passports, especially since 911. It's just easier getting through security at the airport and at the port. You don't have to worry about holding on to your drivers license and birth certificate in addition to your tickets. Just show 'em the passport and your tickets and you're set.

 

You use the sign & sail cards to pay for everything on board the ship. You will give them your credit card number and everything that's put on your S&S card will be charged back to your credit card. You can also settle up with cash on the last night if you prefer that. Things go on it like items purchased in the gift shops, drinks from the bars, pictures purchased at the photo gallery, etc. It is also your cabin key. You also must have it to get off and back on the ship so DON'T lose it!

 

San Juan is not much. We would love to see the fort, but the ship always gets in after it's closed. We've walked around San Juan just to say we've seen it, but there's not that much to do, everything's closed after dark except for Hard Rock Cafe and there are cabbies who will take you to a casino, but we've never done that.

 

I love St. Thomas, it's very beautiful. The first time we were there we took a tour around the island with a driver, who had lived in Charlotte, NC where we're from! Small world! The next time, we took a ferry over to Megan's Bay. St. Maarten, the same -- first time we walked through town, not much (we're not shoppers) and took a bus over to the nude beach. That was interesting. :eek: The next time there, we got chairs at a beach at the pier, but I forgot the name of the place (Everything's Cool, I think). Seems I read that it closed down, but I'm sure something's in its place! I forgot your other questions. Did you say you were going on the Triumph? We liked the Triumph and are going again in December on the Western itinerary.

 

Enjoy your cruise, just have fun, and don't worry about anything!:D

[hstrybuf]

You fill out the Fun Pass on Carnival's website then print it out. When we were waiting to board the Legend the Carnival rep asked to see it. We got a sticker and then waited for our turn to board.