OHRiverRats

Caribe Hilton claims the first Pina Colada was made there in 1954, 9 years earlier than Barrachina claims the first one was made there. I vote we try them both!

We were on Breakaway during the Super Bowl last year. It was everywhere. The Atrium, O'Sheehans, the theater and H2O. Tailgate party at O'Sheehans. Pick your spot and get there early!

We stayed at Marbella Amazing Oceanfront Condo.  Beautiful 2 BR/2 bath apartment with amazing views from every room. 

Yes!  Wish there hadn't been an upcharge when we last cruised. We'd have used all out specialty dining there!  

We've always made reservations for the comedy shows as soon as we board. There is a standby line for the shows, but the venue is small so it fills up quickly.  The usually offer a show in the theater. But we prefer the ambience of the smaller shows in Headliners. 

8 minutes ago, julig22 said:

If I remember correctly, there are also a number of touch-screens placed around the ship where you can make your reservations.

There are. What I liked about going to the Box Office was they had a list of entertainment for the entire cruise.  I could see the schedule for the whole trip and pick the shows I needed to book. I'm one of those crazy planners that doesn't freestyle well!

On Breakaway you can make your entertainment reservations at the Box Office, Deck 7 forward. Definitely book comedy shows as well as Rock of Ages (great show!).

If you need to book shows or specialty dining, that can be done as soon as you board.  We generally arrive at the port between 10-10:30. Never a long wait and board as early as possible. Gives us plenty of time to explore the ship and enjoy a tropical drink on the pool deck before the muster drill. ☀️🍹😎🎉

I would treat it like tipping a taxi driver or porter for handling your luggage. I think we gave him $2 per bag.

Don't be disappointed. San juan is a wonderful port. So much to see in Old San Juan. Take the Paseo de la Princesa from the port to El Morro. Explore the forts and come back through the town. So much history to see. Enjoy a Pina Colada at Barrachina......Oops, you only have 6 hours. Make sure you get back to the ship on time. Enjoy your cruise!

1.  Our favorite place in the Caribbean, the north shore.

2.  Lunch at Bathsheba.

3.  Harrison's Caves.

We loved everything about Barbados. Trying to decide what we're going to do there in January. Would like to see St Nicholas Abbey which was closed last time we were there. 

Our party of four did the Los Barbados tour with Glory Tours.  One of our favorite excursions ever. We were the only ones signed up for the tour, so we had a van all to ourselves. We went on New Years Day so some places were closed, but they more than made up for it. It wound up being like a private tour of the whole island. 

We enjoyed Harrison's Caves. Glory Tours offers some great tours and do an excellent job. Barbados is our favorite island. There are so many must sees including Bathsheba and our favorite Caribbean spot, the north shore. Whatever you decide on, enjoy. It's a beautiful island. 

They're OK, but certainly not the largest or nicest caves in the Caribbean. I wouldn't call it a hard pass, but I wouldn't choose an excursion specifically because the caves are included. 

We also booked an 11 day on the Epic (Jan 5).  We cruised on the Breakaway at the end of January last year. There were maybe a dozen kids on the ship. It was fantastic! (no offense to those of you traveling with children LOL) We love a longer cruise. With all of the wonderful ports on your itinerary you probably won't feel up to staying up late partying, but it makes for a fantastic vacation. 

We're sailing Jan 5. I really think this will be resolved long before Epic moves to San Juan in December. We do have insurance if things really go awry. 

They're both wonderful, but if I could only do one it would be El Morro

You can easily spend a day exploring Old San Juan and the forts. We stored our luggage at Barrachina and had a delicious lunch there before heading to our Airbnb that evening. Isla Verde is a beautiful beach to relax on once you've had enough walking. 

We've done all of these. Dawn is the only smaller ship we've been on. We loved it. Our cruise was very port intensive so your mileage may vary.   It was nice not to have to have reservations for shows.  They had a great variety of entertainment.  There were none of the fancy new bells and whistles, but we enjoy just relaxing in the hot tub. Haven't done the Haven so I cant answer that one. Hope you enjoy her as much as we did. We were unsure since we had only done mega ships, but were pleasantly surprised. 

They are fantastic! Huge balcony. The third closest to ship is covered. Outer part is not, which is great for sunbathing. Never noticed any passengers above us so bored that they had time to watch us. I wouldn't hesitate to book one again. 

We loved both Allure and Oasis and feel the service is generally better on RCCL. The Breakaway is a little smaller and the layout is much simpler. We were still somewhat lost on the last day of our RCCL cruises but found it easier to find our way on Breakaway. The standard balconies are pretty small on Norwegian.  The thing we loved most about the Breakaway was the entertainment.  Rock of Ages was really well done and the house band in Syd's Pour House was excellent.  If you like 70's rock, you'll have  a blast!  Only drawback is you need to get to Syd's about an hour early to get seats. For us the must have pool deck drink is the Mango Meltdown.  O'Sheehan's is a great breakfast/lunch option or for grabbing a late night snack before turning in. The smoke really didn't bother us and my husband has asthma so he usually notices if it's a problem. Those are a few random thoughts on the ships, while they're pretty different we had a great time on all of them. Enjoy!

Assuming someone is willing to sell the Cruise Next Certificate for the price they bought it for, you would receive a $250 certificate for $125. Right now you can apply 2 certificates to each room saving you $250. 

Sounds like a great plan. I'd grab an Uber to Isla Verde Beach, about $10. Beautiful stretch of beach, quiet waves and a few beach bars to grab a drink or quick bite to eat. Enjoy!

We loved our time on the Breakaway. The entertainment was incredible.  NCL's mega ships aren't nearly as big or as hard to find your way around on as Royal's. We absolutely loved Oasis and Allure, but the Away ships are laid out more like the smaller ships. 

I'd have to go with the Epic for the itinerary. We're doing an 11 day out of San Juan in January. We love the Southern Caribbean. As long as the ship has a pool and a few hot tubs we'll be happy. And while it's a little pricier to get to, San Juan is amazing.