Fascination Pre-cruise & Excursions 8/31 - 9/9

Booked aft balcony cabin U241. Prepaid gratuities and purchased CHEERS. Did receive on board credit of $50. Thanks to this site saved $330 using AARP Carnival gift cards. Check in time of 1 – 1:30 pm. Early dining for the 4 of us at 6 pm. The Tues before cruising I sent an email to the maître requesting a table for 4. As it turns went to the dinning room to inquire about our seating. Was told maître doesn’t do seating until Sunday night. She was kind enough to set us up with a table for 4.

PRE-CRUISE PURCHASES: Since there are no refrigerators on Fascination I purchased a collapsible cooler to keep in the room and another smaller one to take on excursions from Amazon. Suppose to be leak proof. It wasn’t. Also picked up some cruise tag luggage holders, a six pack of disposable ponchos (only took 2) just in case (didn’t need them), 2 mini fans that were battery or electric operated since some had said the rooms were hot (room was cold so didn’t use), and 1 six pack with funnel of 100 cc plastic bottles for the airport carry on. And last an electric 6 outlet power strip

I emailed the Puerto Rico Tourism Company months prior to cruise date and received all kinds of information. Just like the stuff you get at any state welcome center. This along with my research I had the trolley routes, map of Old San Juan, etc.

I had purchased the America the Beautiful Life Senior Lifetime Pass from the Parks and Recreation Dept ($20).

Pre-booked Excursions

Independent booking - 2 tank scuba diving for myself and diving partner on St Thomas,Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, and St Kitts. We both have our own gear so dive ops only supplied tanks and weights and priced accordantly. Have dove all these islands before with the same dive op on previous cruises except for Barbados. Each shop answered emails within 2 days and gave time and locations for pick up and some also supplied maps as where to meet. Some required deposits.

Wives pre-booked with Carnival for St Thomas and Dominica. I have always booked independent excursions but wives felt safer doing a Carnival one when by them selves. For St Lucia booked a beach day at Ti Kaye Resort. The same resort we were diving with. Booked a private tour for 5 – 6 hrs for 3 adults on St Maarten with Joyce Prince Tours – 1 decided to dive.

Arrive on Friday at 3:22 pm having left Huntsville at 7:25 am with a stopover in DFWbefore our cruise. Since my wife had never been to PR she wanted to see Old San Juan before the cruise.

San Juan – Pre-Cruise

Arrived at the airport at 3:16 pm after a 3:15 hr flt from Atl. At baggage claim there are folks in red shirts that are like the local ambassadors. Very polite and will answer any questions. They give directions to taxi booth outside, etc. Once at the taxi booth the yellow shirts take over. You tell them were you want to go and they give you a ticket with the price and direct you to your taxi. Cost to Sheraton Old San Juan was $28. Base fare $21 + 4 pieces of luggage - $4 + $3 airport tax.

Check in was easy at the Sheraton – 2 nights $355.52. The porter brought our luggage to the room right away. Room is adequate with a small frig. On the top floor (roof}there is a small pool with lodge chairs. Before you enter the pool area the hotel has towels for you to use. Since we came in on a Friday before our Sunday sailing my DW took advantage of this after our tour the city. There is a restaurant on level 2 – we didn’t use. Get a room as far from the elevator as possible. Room Tip. People are loud after a night of partying. Tip: The hotel will store your luggage. We didn’t use so don’t know about cost.

Rested for a bit then off to explore. If you are mobile then walking isn’t to bad.Heading North is up hill which makes it easier on the return trip. Our goal for the first outing was a Pandora charm for my DW. She collects one from everyplace we visit. We walked around for about 3 hours. Went to the East fort but didn’t go in today. Tip: It was hot and humid. So, bring something to wipe the sweat off your forehead.

The Walgreens is next door to the hotel on the left as you face the water and the CVS is a block right opposite pier 2. There is a tourist information center on the corner of Calle Marina and Callie Tanca which is right past the CVS. Get city maps and trolley routes, etc. We didn’t use the trolley just walked everywhere.

If you have ever been to Key West – it’s chickens everywhere. Here it’s cats. Not in downtown but around residencies and forts they are all over the place. People putout food and water for them. My DW loves cat so tried to pet or take a picture of almost everyone. Makes for a long day.

We ate dinner at Tijuana’a Bar & Grill Old San Juan.It’s right on the water down from the hotel. 2 frozen Margarita’s - $9 each. Small dip, Chicken Burrito, 2 soft chicken tacos and a side of beans. $46.83. We didn’t care for the food since we spent 3 weeks every year in MX. The taste was just off for us but not for the locals because the place was packed.. On

Day 2 -SAT

There were 2 ships in port which made it a lot more crowded than the day before.

Ate a quick lunch at Burger King early since we didn’t have breakfast. Had some ice cream at Chocolato. 2 scoops $6.14. It was very tasty and great on a hot day.

Went to both forts but only entered the one on the east point. My Senior Parks Pass gave us entry with no cost. Make sure you have small bills, they couldn’t change 20’s but they do take CC’s.

Started at 10 am and finished at 3 pm. We headed North up hill and then West to see the smaller fort. Continued back to the East to the larger fort and then back to the hotel following the walkway along the coast. I forget how many shops we went into. Wish my DW wore her fit bit today

Surprising number of what I can only call homeless and beggars around. We would see about 6 to 8 each time out. Of course, in 2 days we spent over 8 hrs walking around town. There is a large police presence. Would see them either in cars,motorcycles, or just standing around. Always felt safe. People are extremely friendly. Streets are narrow and mostly 1 way and sidewalks so narrow you barely can walk side by side on them.

Our friends arrived so we went out for dinner. On the recommendation of some Army Corps of Engineers staying here we went to Raices located a block away from the hotel. The food was excellent and the drinks good. 7 drinks and 4 dinners $166 before tip. Dinner prices were between $20 and $35.

St Thomas – Port Times 8 am to 5 pm.

Husbands- Dove with Coki Dive Center. 2 tank boat dive $95. Had to take taxi $9 each one way to Coki Beach. We dove off a boat that had been sunk during the hurricane. Moorings had all been destroyed so we anchored shallow and swam out to the reefs. Diving was good.

Wife’s – Carnival Magen’s Bay Beach & Skyride to Paradise Point - $54.99 each. They commented the driver didn’t communicate with anyone. Basically, just took the group from place to place. Skyride was just okay. They saw better views going and coming back to Magen’s Bay. They wished that they had just taken a taxi to Magen’s Bay

Dominica – Port Times 10 am to 6 pm.

Husbands- Dove with Nature Island Dive Shop. 2 tank dive $115.Picked up at the pier followed by a 30 min car ride by the owner. Along the way he showed us all the damage and told us how his house was destroyed with him init. Like having a personal tour guide. He had no power for 8 months. Lack of tradesmen on the island. A lot of them left he said. His dive boat still wasn’t up and running so we drove off a small fishing boat. Diving had just started back up and so the lion fish were everywhere in great numbers since no one has been hunting them for months. The other 2 divers were lion fish hunters, in a 2 tank dive they speared over 50 of them. For those who don’t know lion fish are an invasive species and most Marine parks allow the spearing of them. They make great fish tacos. This was by far the most damage we saw from the hurricane on any of the islands.

Wife’s just shopped around the pier.

Barbados – Port Time 8 am to 5 pm.

Husbands –I didn’t dive today. Had a sore throat. Partner said diving was good.

SHIP’S DOCTOR VISIT: Woke up the morning of Wed the 5th with a sore throat on my rt tonsil. It started the day before and now it really hurt. Believe it was from my CPAP going dry followed by a 2-tank dive breathing dry air. My DW a RN looked at it and told me to go see the ship’s doctor. I cancelled my dive for this day. The doctor wasn’t in the office in the morning.Told to come back at 3 pm by the nurse on duty since the Doc was sick. He checked my vital signs – everything normal except for my sore throat. I had no fever and the antibiotics took care of it. Doctor cost $125, like $160 if she comes to your cabin during normal business hours, more if after hours. Generic antibiotics cost $60 for 10 pills for a total bill of $185 which is added to your S&S account. They give you all the information, so you can file with your insurance once home.

Wife’s -Carnival Beach Hopping – Family Fun - $57.99 each. Wife’s really enjoyed this.The tour guy talked all about the island as they drove, stopped whenever asked for pictures, and of course rum punch. They enjoyed the beach.

St Lucia – Port Time 8 am to 5 pm.

Everyone- Ti Kaye Resort – Island Divers. Husband’s 2 tank dive $90. Wife’s beach day$61 each. About a 35 min boat ride to resort. Very scenic looking at all the million-dollar houses. Wife’s enjoyed the beach but as for the diving not good.We were the only 2 divers, so they were losing money on us and we dived around the resort not to any of the good sites that you had to travel to.

St Kitts – Port Time 8 am to 5 pm.

Husbands- Pro Divers. 2 tank dive $106. Great diving. The best dives so far for me. The first dive was like a shark dive. Had as many as 10 reef sharks swimming around and following us. Of coarse the DM was spearing lion fish and feeding them to the sharks.

Wife’s just shopped around the pier.

St Maarten – Port Time 7 am to 5 pm.

Private tour with Joyce for 3. One member of our group decided to dive this island. A great tour. As we drove around Joyce gave a running commentary of everything we saw. Stopped at great places for picture. She mentioned how tradesman had increased their hourly rate after the storm. Many couldn’t afford them. Supply and demand. Joyce had to get 2 workers from another island to work on her house.

Thanks for sharing. Tough start but you came through like a champ. Activities sounded interesting. Though we're not divers, we're looking forward to some snorkeling. Stay well!

Just curious. Would you go back to the Sheraton or would recommend a different hotel? I'm going in April with my daughter and want to make sure the place is clean and kid friendly.

:)

Ti Kaye would not take my bf and I out back in April because they said they did not have enough time for the trip with the ship schedule. Sounds like we didn’t miss much. We ended up going with Dive Fair Helen and it was phenomenal. We did a discover scuba because my bf isn’t certified, so we stayed shallow along the shore. Soooo many fish, corals, crazy amount of eels, a few lobsters. It’s my favorite dive I’ve ever done. I’d recommend looking them up if you make it back to St Lucia.

Thanks so much for your review. We will be on the Fascination next month with a pre stay also at the Sheraton OSJ, as well as Cheers. How were the bartenders at the Alchemy Bar? Friendly?

Also, do you mind sharing which cooler you purchased off Amazon that leaked? Ironically I was JUST about to purchase one on Amazon today for the trip but want to make sure it isn't that one :)

The cooler that leaked:

GigaTent Blue Insulated Collapsible Cooler - Soft Lunch Box from Amazon.

Avoid any issues by having steward put ice into 1 gal zip lock bags

Thanks so much! That is super similar to the one I was going to buy!