ColoradoGurl

If they don’t fix the charge, show your credit card company the receipt they gave you on the last night, and dispute the charge.

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We are flying nonstop Newark to San Juan in April for $119/pp one way. We are also staying at Hyatt House for $150 inc. taxes (plus $19 hotel fees) the night before our embarkation. I think these prices are fantastic and they weren’t hard to find and booked less than 4 months in advance.

 

 

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That’s a good deal on the hotel. I’m not surprised that your flight was cheap though; you’re on the east coast. The second leg of all my flights start in the east coast and are always less than $150. It’s the first leg that costs so much.

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We booked a fairly cheap sailing on the Jewel in March, but a heads up that I underestimated hotel costs significantly. I can usually find a nice hotel for $100 US most places and $225-325 US seems the going rate in San Juan depending on the night. I have no idea if this is the norm or only due to the hurricane closures and hotels taken up by workers/residents, but a significant additional cost for us, especially since we are in Canadian dollars.

 

 

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Yikes....must keep that in mind!

Also keep in mind when you look online for prices that the price posted is quite a bit lower than you will actually end up getting once you complete the reservation. Puerto Rico has very high tourism taxes (17% hotel fees and 9% state tax) so add an additional 26% to the cost it lists.

Airfare can also be extremely high to get to Puerto Rico, depending on where you’re flying from (around $500-$800 per person from northern or western parts of the United States, but I’ve also gotten prices under $350 when booking super early).

If the hotel and airfare doesn’t take you outside of your budget, then I would recommend a southern Caribbean cruise over an eastern or western ANY DAY!!! I’ve done all of them and you just can’t beat the beauty of the southern islands over the more heavily traveled eastern and western ones.

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New to cruising here - so it looks like mine went down $70 but so did the onboard credit - was $175 when I booked, now $75. I've already applied that $175 to a drink package.

 

Is it still a decent idea to call? Booked myself online, final payment isn't due yet.

Why whould you want to do that? The cruise went down $70 but the obc dropped $100 which means you would owe them $30.

Perhaps I asked because I wasn't clear on how it works. Thanks.

Sorry for being a little snarkey. When you find a lower price, you get the perks based on the new pricing, not the ones tied to your original booking, for better or worse.

I think Zach1213 was wondering if they would keep the credits from the original booking and then get the additional credits with the new offer (although they didn’t ask that question specifically, I think that’s what they were wondering).

I can see how someone might wonder if the OBC ends up separating itself from the “price” portion of the cruise; meaning once you get the credit you keep it, and if that’s the case, can you “double up” on OBC offers if the new price comes with more OBC.

They didn’t pose the question that way, which is probably why geezer assumed they knew that OBC went together with the price offers and would therefore be changed along with the price change.

If OP had been more specific geezer would have known they didn’t realize this, but instead ended up wondering why any rational person would take a deal that left them worse off.

Sometimes longer posts when asking questions that explain a person’s rationale will eliminate assumptions and confusion.

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Thanks for the heads up! I didn’t save anything more because the price is the same as it was from the last price drop, but I got the $50 OBC.

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Good points by both bouhunter and cruisin’. You certainly shouldn’t feel obligated to fit in every highlight of an island if you don’t want to. I took your question to be wondering if there were Puerto Rico specific activities that you were missing in your plan since you’ve never been there, but as bouhunter said, those activities add significant time, planning and money to your current plan. And as cruisin’ said, the rainforest is currently closed. Who knows if it will be open by March or not. The biobay is open though.

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You’re missing lots of good stuff to do in Puerto Rico.

If you’ll be renting a car (or are willing to pay for a tour bus), visiting El Yunque rainforest is a must.

Another great experience is the bioluminescent bay. It’s a kayaking excursion you do at night, through a bay that has organisms that light up in the water (kind of like fireflies) when they’re disrupted. Kayaking Puerto Rico has lots and lots of good reviews. https://www.kayakingpuertorico.com

My only caution is to check the moon cycles for when you’ll be visiting, because the biobay should only be done when the moon is very small to nonexistent https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/

There’s also an area with “food trucks” that open at night. They’re actually restaurants that are in a bunch of garages, but the idea is similar to a “food trucks in the park” experience. I think it’s called the Luquillo Kiosks. Those are near the biobay tour and would need to be reached by rental car or expensive cab ride.

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Must a female dog wear a top? 🤪

 

 

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And can it be a tank top?

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Does that mean the don't do the excursions on that day? Or their office is closed those days?

They don’t do tours that day ☹️ I’m not sure if the office is open or not, but they don’t take tours on those days. Seems odd to be closed half the week, but maybe the company is owned by someone who does this as a hobby in retirement and only wants to work part time.

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Ha!! [emoji23]

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On radiance, I saw a dog in a stroller all dressed up for formal night.

 

At least they should write a law requiring the service animal be licensed.

 

 

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[emoji23] At least they followed the dressing guidelines

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The dog issue has gotten out of hand everywhere. At least where I live. People bring their dogs into the grocery store, the mall, Target, and even inside dental offices and some restaurants. They don’t even bother trying to claim they are service animals.

The unwritten rule here is that if the dog is well behaved and doesn’t bark, then everybody looks the other way. I’ve gotten used to it, but at the same time feel it’s a little obnoxious.

More annoying to me personally are the people who come to other people’s homes with their dogs in tow, as though they are their children, without asking if it’s ok. I’ve had to start putting out invitations that say, “no dogs please,” every time I have a function at my home, otherwise, several dogs show up with their owners.

Not everybody likes being around dogs all the time, and not everybody thinks it’s adorable that you treat your dog like a human being, and talk to it like a baby. And I especially hate the dog hair. I avoid visiting those of my friends who have gone blind to how dirty their homes are because of their dogs (or have just given up cleaning up after them), and if I can’t avoid it, I have special clothes I wear so I don’t ruin my nice ones.

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I prefer the late 8:30pm seating for a couple reasons.

First, it allows you more time to get back to the ship and settle in on a port day. If you have a 5:30 or 6:30 dining time, and the “all aboard” time is 5 or 6pm, you wouldn’t get to maximize your time on the island because you’d have to get back earlier than “all aboard” in order to get ready for dinner. We like to get back on board, grab a snack at the cafe or the buffet, rest and shower without being rushed.

Second, we are from the west coast (mountain time zone), so our stomachs aren’t necessarily ready for a large meal at 5:30 (because that would be 3:30 in the afternoon for our stomachs). 8:30 is much more reasonable time for us to eat a big meal (6:30 our time).

Personally I prefer the buffet, but I’m usually forced to go to the dining room (ugh). I like being able to just show up when I’m actually hungry (not when I’m scheduled to be), grab food (a little of this, a little of that), then get up and walk out and get on with my fun. Eating isn’t fun for me, I eat because I have to or I would starve to death, so I hate making such a production out of it since I’m not a foodie to begin with and rarely crave anything beyond what fills me up.

But, if forced to do the dining room, my vote is for 8:30pm.

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That was great, thank you.

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I noticed just after the new year, they updated their web page and removed the red notation stating they were not taking reservations until after January 8th. I tried to book on their page and can book for the upcoming week so I think they are back to normal and accepting new reservations. I have a reservation booked months ago with Air Miles, for January 21st to 23rd. I emailed the hotel reservations desk direct and received two replies, three minutes apart... First one telling me they had a three night minimum and then the second confirmed my pre-booked reservation, and advised me that they looked forward to seeing me. I printed off that email and I'm taking it with me, just in case.

Thank you! I’m so glad to hear this. Have a great trip.

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We snorkeled on our own, from the beach at Carambola Beach Club (which I believe is Cockleshell Beach). We thought it was fun, very clear water, plenty of fish and sea urchins, very little coral.

The water was so salty that we could easily float on our stomachs without life jackets comfortably.

We didn’t see any fire coral when we were there, but a couple of us did get stung by jellyfish.

I’ve had to swim through massive amounts of fire coral in the middle of the ocean in Belize. No choice but to swim through it, and we weren’t wearing wet suits, just bikinis, so we definitely got initiated into the world of fire coral. Ouch. We still enjoyed our snorkel because Belize is AMAZING for HUGE colorful coral that comes all the way out of the water, tons of exotic and colorful fish etc. We’ve snorkeled in a dozen different islands and have never seen anything so beautiful.

If we’d come across fire coral at cockleshell, the views wouldn’t have been worth the pain of staying in the water, but we had a good time and the kids snorkeled for about 4 hours.

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Does anyone have any recent information on the Sheraton in Old San Juan? Is it still housing FEMA workers and cancelling reservations? I've looked through this thread, but see no mention of it since mid November. Thanks :-)

I have had my eye out as well, and it’s odd that such a popular pre-cruise hotel has had no updates since the hurricanes to let us know :(

I did read a review on Trip Advisor from January 5th that I assume is recent and from an actual tourist (not a FEMA worker), however that person didn’t say when they actually stayed there. Every now and then someone will post a review for somewhere they stayed a year or so ago, so who knows.

All the previous reviews were from FEMA workers (the last one being Dec 26th).

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I believe that is “Carolina Beach.” Not sure if the shape it’s in, but when we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Isla Verde a few years ago, we walked to a beach that was about 2 blocks from the hotel and it was Carolina. I’m not sure if there’s another beach you’re thinking of, but you can read Trip Advisor to see if there’s recent reviews of it.

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My family will be enjoying the Carnival Freedom on Spring Break, and my son asked me tonight, "So can I hang my hammock on the balcony?" I of course told him I had not thought about that, but I bet him that SOMEONE would have tried it, figured it out, AND posted pics of it on Cruisecritic. Lo and behold, I was RIGHT. Bad news is I cannot see the pic that was attached to this post, something about 3rd party hosting or such. So does someone have this pic (or pics) of hanging a hammock on a side (not aft) balcony specifically on the Freedom? Thanks in advance!

The photo says the “3rd party hosting” thing for me too; I can’t see it. The hammock idea is cool though. Some photos look comfortable, others (like the red & black hammock photo) look miserable and uncomfortable. It must depend on the type of hammock you buy.

Has anyone ever had luck hanging a hammock at the beach between trees? Costco sells a hammock that comes with hooks that make it easy to hang around anything sturdy and solid (like trees). People out here use them when camping or hiking, and just find two trees and string them up. I’m not sure I’ve been to a beach with easy access to 2 trees for a hammock though.

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This sounds like just what we are looking for as well. ColoradoGurl, when are you going to be there and on what ship?

 

 

 

We are traveling with two other seasoned middle aged snorkelers as well, just like us. I think I will be sending an email too.

We’ll be there on the Freedom during the second week of June

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Sometimes the men would prefer not to have to deal with all the planning. If she wants a cruise for a honeymoon then so be it. Just because you wouldn't like it many others do. Also, it never hurts to plan ahead. That's part of the excitement for some people an it doesn't mean that she is young or whatever else you're thinking. Be happy for her it's an exciting time in her life.

 

 

 

To the op, have fun exploring the different cruises, but I also wouldn't try to get to emerald or platinum for the benefits. Now if it's an excuse to cruise more before your honeymoon then go for it.

My point was that SHE’S NOT EVEN ENGAGED YET! Maybe that doesn’t seem weird to anyone else, but it did to me. She’s counting her chickens long before they hatch.

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I am pretty sure you will hear back promptly when they are back in the shop. They were exceptionally responsive I’m their detailed emails. They will give you the snorkel pricing. We could have given a deposit but given how reasonable the cost was we just prepaid.

 

 

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They did get back to me, thank you. They said they don’t have the capacity to take bookings online because they don’t have access to the same web services as the United States and some other places. They are going to send me pricing for snorkeling, and are working on adding the prices to their website.

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Colorado Gurl...

 

We were just in St. Kitts last week and my 22 and 27 year old sons did this hike. They are quite fit, we have family in Colorado and regularly visit. Two years ago they climbed three 14ers in a week. They did not like this hike, said it’s an overpriced disappointing view at the top, literally snapped a few pictures and ate a protein bar, and turned around to hike down.

 

 

 

We went to Reggae Beach, and had a blast! (I can recommend the mango coladas, coconut shrimp and the aloe massage!)

 

 

 

My son said save the hiking for Colorado and go to the beach!

Thanks for this comparison. It is hard to beat the view from 14,000 feet in the air, and the difficulty of a 14er hike is really no comparison to any other hike. Most reviews I read from people who hike, do not have the same reference point for hiking that we do, so it’s really hard to read between the lines to see what we’d think of it. It’s really helpful to have your boys’ opinion, having done the kind of hiking we’re used to and also having done the volcano. Perhaps I’ll rethink our plans. Mango coladas and coconut shrimp does sound enticing. Thank you!

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Hmm this thread is making me nervous. Was thinking of switching from our usual Princess and NCL to Royal in 2019. Not loving the issues I'm reading about here.

 

And does Royal really have some deposits that are non-refundable? That's crazy to me. Even if it was a swinging deal I can't imagine paying a non-refundable deposit a year and a half out.

Me neither. A non-refundable fare would have to save me at LEAST $1,000. At least.

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I envision them doing all these cruises now before the 'potential' honeymoon that if and when he does propose she announces the big honeymoon plan and he declares (having not been part of this planning process and having no clue why they cruised so much) that they need to do something different seeing as they just did a half dozen cruises.

 

 

 

The last thing I would want to do as my honeymoon trip is repeat something we've done a dozen times leading up to that trip...for a free bottle of water as a reward of that status!

I’m with you on this one. I wouldn’t recommend a cruise for a honeymoon, but I definitely wouldn’t do it if it’s the same thing I’ve done every year beforehand. A honeymoon should be a special and unique experience, not the same old thing you always do.

I’m also envisioning the poor boyfriend suddenly realizing how much planning went into their honeymoon and engagement without his participation and for so many years prior to them even deciding to get married. A sudden “oh no what did I get into” kind of thing, haha! Geeze. Well, maybe this girl is really young. If so, I’ll give her a pass.

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